vb.org Archive - Show Thread Enhancements - Limited Guest Viewing -- Motivate Guests to Register

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- - Show Thread Enhancements - Limited Guest Viewing -- Motivate Guests to Register (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=231352)

Ted S

05-24-2011 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikevet1984 (Post 2199358)

At least do you examine if your mods are compatible with the latest vBulletin versions when released?

For example I see in the mods install info inside the rar file that this mod is 4.o.x compatible. Did you check if this mod is 4.1.3 compatible?

My contributions are exactly what they are, no reason to sell them as anything else, right? :D

"dot" updates are fairly minor and rarely conflict with mods, especially mods that add new features [rather than extending core ones]. When I was a heavy vB user I'd test within hours, but these days I find that to rarely be needed. So yes, I do check but other users generally check far faster and report issues back. Crowd sourcing is awesome.

Bugs are squashed when discovered. :D

Ted S

05-24-2011 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Videx (Post 2199393)

You can never count on a mod's author to check function in the newest releases. They can only guarantee it works with whatever release they are using. They, like the rest of us, depend on people with the latest versions to let us know if there are problems.

Since it's incumbent on you to read the entire thread before installing any mod, chances are you'll know just from the last page if anyone's having trouble. In this specific case your answer appears not more than a half dozen posts above yours: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....postcount=314.

Good answer, thanks for chiming in!

Even testing it's easy to miss an issue or not experience one due to a different combination of settings. As such crowd sourced information is hugely important in an open develop system like vB mods and it's great to have the help of users in developing and handling updates.

Ted S

05-24-2011 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikevet1984 (Post 2199358)

I see....You are hosest. Thank you for that!

I've gotten out of the habit of mentioning this lately, but since your question brings it up, I should reiterate a little wisdom on my mods.

I'm a marketer before a programmer and my mods, while now many years old, stemmed from making experience improvements to drive up registrations and activity. The idea was to share relatively portable solutions that my startup, and later on my client's sites, had success with. But while it's tempting to just download and install what you see, websites thrive when they are driven relative to their userbase. As such I have the high hopes that no one just uses my mods out of the box... whether it's extending the features or customizing the messaging, generic is never the ideal solution.

These days forums are taking a back seat to the social networks of the world and that's a function of our own creation. One can point fingers as the software vendor and while there's fault there, ultimately as community owners we should be ideating as much, if not more, for ourselves and as a community of communities. The more we innovate in sharing, interaction, and even integration with networks, the more opportunity we have.

While I'm not the active contributor to this community that I was 7 or 8 years ago, I'm supportive of those looking to build and grow their sites. So if you need a little help, by all means ask, but if you want to do something novel, that's when I get really interested.

ChromeDome

05-28-2011 03:09 PM

Anyone use this for a new forum? Any comments about registration rates before and after using this plugin?

Videx

05-28-2011 04:19 PM

Personally I would not use it on a new forum myself, for fear of scaring away potential members. But once the forum starts generating some traffic, that's when you can set the hook.

rajubd

05-28-2011 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Videx (Post 2200931)

Personally I would not use it on a new forum myself, for fear of scaring away potential members. But once the forum starts generating some traffic, that's when you can set the hook.

fine I am using this mod in pick hour to reduce server load...

ChromeDome

05-28-2011 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Videx (Post 2200931)

Personally I would not use it on a new forum myself, for fear of scaring away potential members. But once the forum starts generating some traffic, that's when you can set the hook.

I feel the same way, thanks. I'll just row with the welcome headers for now.

sweetpotato

06-15-2011 02:08 PM

Thank you for the nice mod, it's very useful for my site. Is there any way I can change style of the reminder message? I want to make it look like vb default notice style.

Ted S

06-17-2011 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpotato (Post 2208082)

Thank you for the nice mod, it's very useful for my site. Is there any way I can change style of the reminder message? I want to make it look like vb default notice style.

You can customize the css style however you like, or just edit the template to use the notices class elements.

sweetpotato

06-18-2011 02:52 AM

How to find css style of this mod message and replace it by notices style?
Thanks,

Ted S

06-18-2011 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpotato (Post 2209270)

How to find css style of this mod message and replace it by notices style?
Thanks,

Open the template, look at the class elements and pick the ones you want to customize.

rughis

06-25-2011 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldSchoolDSL (Post 2132735)

1/2 works

Register Take-Over Message never seems to show.

However, the Register Block Page works fine.

4.0.8 PL2

I've the same problem.

Is it a known issue?

Ted S

06-25-2011 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rughis (Post 2212797)

I've the same problem.

Is it a known issue?

did you add the required variable to your navbar template?

DNN	06-26-2011 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 1939676)

Held for Future Use

What are you holding for future use?

Ted S

06-26-2011 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNN (Post 2212823)

What are you holding for future use?

As mods grow I use the first post to share common hacks. This one has not had any such contributions apparently.

K!nG	06-27-2011 12:14 AM

When we do limited guest viewing does that affect to search engines as well ? I meant to ask if its a good thing or a bad thing since my forum is new. ? Thanks

Ted S

06-27-2011 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K!nG (Post 2213302)

When we do limited guest viewing does that affect to search engines as well ? I meant to ask if its a good thing or a bad thing since my forum is new. ? Thanks

Read the install file as the main thread indicates. Explains this at length.

I'm glad to answer any follow up questions but start with what's already explained.

Dave84311

06-27-2011 10:39 PM

You mentioned not limiting bots by cookies, why not check their USER AGENT? Generally bots have static user agents.

Ted S

06-27-2011 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave84311 (Post 2213766)

You mentioned not limiting bots by cookies, why not check their USER AGENT? Generally bots have static user agents.

Cookies insure any basic spider makes it through without having to worry about listing every bot known.

With hundreds of bots and evolving names [a smart bot would certainly check with another user agent to detect content gaming] it's not the primary method I went for. 5 or 6 of the biggest are whitelisted this way however. You are free to add as many more as you like.

BadgerDog

07-05-2011 01:42 PM

After expanding the capability of Ted's excellent mod into support our vbCMS extension, we've started to look at ways to ensure people just don't clear cookies and start over using our site research resources without registering.

So, here's what we'd like feedback on ... :)

Ted offers a method to log users as an option in his mod, but before we turn it ON, we wanted to query ...

Quote:

Enable Database Logging ON/OFF

This option allows you to turn database logging on or off. When turned on guest views will be stored in a mysql table. This is more effective than using cookies alone for tracking but adds queries to every thread view causing additional server load and may have spider implications. See the support thread for more detail.

Combined with storing the IP log forever (if you wanted), this seems to be an obvious method of getting people who clear cookies (or have that browser option OFF) be forced to register to continue to view our site all, unless of course they change IP addresses.

We get about 600 members logging in every 24 hours with about 3,000 guests (supposedly no bots as per Paul M's mod). Is there anyone here with a medium sized site who uses this option and if so, what kind of performance hit do you get using it? Also, did you find it affected "spiders" in a negative way?

Thanks for any feedback .. :)

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-05-2011 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadgerDog (Post 2217015)

The issue is less about your users and more about your server.

Far larger boards run this mod with IP logging on but also have large servers, or clusters in some cases, to support it.

Thus the question is really how much load you are already placing on your system and how much it adds too it.

BadgerDog

07-05-2011 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217038)

Thus the question is really how much load you are already placing on your system and how much it adds too it.

Thanks Ted ... :)

We're on a dedicated server...

According to the list that our host shows me, here's our configuration ...

Quote:

Intel2.0 GHz 1333FSB - ClovertownXeon 5335 (Quad Core)
Intel2.0 GHz 1333FSB - ClovertownXeon 5335 (Quad Core)
Generic1024 MBDDR2 667 FB DIMM
Generic1024 MBDDR2 667 FB DIMM
Dell1066/1333FSB Dual XeonPowerEdge 1950/2950
Maxtor 250GB:SATA:7200RPM
MaxLine Plus II Dell9G Drive Controller - SAS/SATA
SAS 5/i Dell4 Drive MaxDrive Bay for 2950

Our home page is currently showing this as performance for 470 users online (55 members and 415 guests)....

Quote:

Page generated in 2.12171 seconds with 30 queries [Server Load Averages (1:5:15) 0.16 : 0.29 : 0.36]

Does that help?

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-05-2011 04:33 PM

Quote:

seconds with 30 queries

Yikes :eek:

Still... you've got pretty low load averages. Lots of room to grow.

Quote:

[Server Load Averages (1:5:15) 0.16 : 0.29 : 0.36]

Run the option for a couple days and compare them against those benchmarks when you have similar traffic on. If you rise to more than 0.50 let me know.

BadgerDog

07-05-2011 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217078)

Yikes :eek:

Still... you've got pretty low load averages. Lots of room to grow.

Run the option for a couple days and compare them against those benchmarks when you have similar traffic on. If you rise to more than 0.50 let me know.

Thanks Ted..... :)

I assume you would NOT recommend the "Never" setting for the IP "Activity Log"?

I wonder whether using the IP activity log set at 7 days is more effective than the life of a "cookie" in which gets cleared first so an unregistered guest can start the cycle over again?

If I turn IP Logging ON, is the "cookie" method still active and used also?

By the way, great mod and has really helped in driving increased membership .. :up:

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-06-2011 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadgerDog (Post 2217241)

I assume you would NOT recommend the "Never" setting for the IP "Activity Log"?

Never is a long time and the table will grow so ya, I'd stay away from that. It's very easy to go from 7 days to 15 or 30 if you so wish.

Quote:

If I turn IP Logging ON, is the "cookie" method still active and used also?

Yup yup. Cookie check comes first as there's no sense in a query if we're already going to say no.

BadgerDog

07-06-2011 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217249)

Never is a long time and the table will grow so ya, I'd stay away from that. It's very easy to go from 7 days to 15 or 30 if you so wish.

Yup yup. Cookie check comes first as there's no sense in a query if we're already going to say no.

Thanks. :)

I see e log clearing check box up to 7, so if I wanted 30 days before it clears, how do I set that?

Regards
Doug

Ted S

07-06-2011 05:17 PM

Open the file lgvdb.php and replace

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (". $vbulletin->options['lgvcleardays'] ." * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

With code

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (30 * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

BadgerDog

07-07-2011 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217474)

Open the file lgvdb.php and replace

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (". $vbulletin->options['lgvcleardays'] ." * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

With code

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (30 * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

Thanks Ted ... I did that ... :)

I just turned ON logging ...

I notice that the AdminCP options do not show 30 days, but still the "Never" to 3 day range ...

I left the "Never" checked, but I assume your code change above overrides that and the cron job will clear it out at 30 days now?

Appreciate your help ... :up:

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-07-2011 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadgerDog (Post 2217716)

Turn it to one of the other options so it runs but you are correct, we manually overwrote the date so 30 won't show up.

It's Damn Real!

07-07-2011 05:00 PM

Fantastic mod. Works incredibly well for well-timed events. I run a hockey forum and utilize this on specific dates like the trade deadline, major trades, singings, etc. Works PERFECTLY.

tutorials.de

07-15-2011 08:44 AM

Hi there :)

Is there anyone, who has modified the code, so that the add-on works with CMS articles? Would be great to get a little code snippet :cool:

Thank you very much!

BadgerDog

07-17-2011 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217806)

Turn it to one of the other options so it runs but you are correct, we manually overwrote the date so 30 won't show up.

Thanks Ted .... :)

Have turned it ON with the 30 day patch. Seems to be running fine and I haven't noticed any server performance issues so far ...

Quote:

This option allows you to turn database logging on or off. When turned on guest views will be stored in a mysql table. This is more effective than using cookies alone for tracking but adds queries to every thread view causing additional server load and may have spider implications. See the support thread for more detail.

Using this option, has anyone ever reported problems with spiders being blocked and affecting search engines from being able to index a site?

Regards,
Doug

wildheart

07-18-2011 11:09 AM

Works perfectly on 4.1.4 patch level 1. Thank you very much and I clicked install.

BadgerDog

07-20-2011 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2217474)

Open the file lgvdb.php and replace

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (". $vbulletin->options['lgvcleardays'] ." * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

With code

Code:

$vbulletin->db->query_write("

  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "lgv

  WHERE (lastactivity + (30 * 86400)) < ". TIMENOW ."

 ");

Hi Ted ... :)

Just checked the vBulletin error logs and it's showing me lots of SQL errors (same ones) when LGV executes the 30 day patch, at least I think that's what it's trying to tell me?

Quote:

Database error in vBulletin 4.1.3:

Invalid SQL:

DELETE FROM lgv
WHERE (lastactivity + (*30* * 86400)) < 1311049245;

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '*30* * 86400)) < 1311049245' at line 2
Error Number : 1064
Request Date : Tuesday, July 19th 2011 @ 12:20:45 AM
Error Date : Tuesday, July 19th 2011 @ 12:20:45 AM
Script : http://www.xxxxxx.com/cron.php?rand=1311049242
Referrer : http://www.xxxxxx.com/showthread.php?t=12345
IP Address : xx.xx.xx.xx
Username : Unregistered
Classname : vB_Database
MySQL Version :

Did I enter the code change incorrectly? :confused:

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-21-2011 06:05 PM

Those stars around 30 (*30*) shouldn't be there. Are there any other characters that may have been added to the code you pasted? Maybe a single quote or something?

BadgerDog

07-21-2011 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted S (Post 2223305)

Those stars around 30 (*30*) shouldn't be there. Are there any other characters that may have been added to the code you pasted? Maybe a single quote or something?

Thanks Ted... I didn't see that .... :rolleyes:

What a dummy I am ... :D

I have no idea how that got in there, but I re-did the edit on a fresh PHP file and I re-installed it in /cron

Appreciate the support ... :up:

Regards,
Doug

Ted S

07-21-2011 07:58 PM

Perfect!

Hannigan

07-23-2011 09:18 PM

Fantastic add-on. Thanks.

gox	08-09-2011 02:48 PM

Hi Ted,

Is this MOD compatible with VB 4.1.5?

Thanks.

Ted S

08-10-2011 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gox (Post 2231390)

Hi Ted,

Is this MOD compatible with VB 4.1.5?

Thanks.

It's marked for 4.1.x unless someone knows otherwise

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