vB Spy
 

Simply put, a mod that opperates like http://www.digg.com/spy

Showing a realtime feed of everything that is happening on the board. New posts, polls votes on, threads deleted (if you are a mod/admin), etc. etc.

Hard? Most likely.
Server Intensive? Very likely.
Fun? Hell yeah!

XD

this is actually quite interesting
i mean this is really interesting

uhm, i think i'll look into it tomorrow

I like it.

I just created some code that will get the last spy from the database and show it on a page and refresh every second using a xmlhttprequest object so the page itself isn't reloaded.
This works pretty good, now what I have left to do is create plugins that will save new spy info into the database (for example, a new thread is being made, a new user is added, poll vote, etc)
then i'll need to create a neat vB Spy page with vbulletin layout

So I guess i'll have some beta code ready within a few days (maybe even tomorrow)



getting the last spy info from the database takes about 2-20 ms on my localhost (centrino laptop doing all kinds of things)
so quite possibly the server load will be low enough to use this hack on smaller boards
Because if a request takes 10 ms, you will need 100 users to look at the vbSpy page to make 1000ms = 1 sec = refresh time = server fully loaded.
if you have 1000 users online simultaniously and everyone likes this hack and 10% of the users looks at the page, you're ++++ed :)
anyhow should be great for smaller boards

w00t! Thanks Dutchman, I've been watching this thread. Can you post back here even if open a new thread for the hack?

Wow, cool, thanks Dutchman!

Idea: Why not code in an option that will allow the user to specify which usergroup gets access to it. And that it only will allow X number of members to view it at any given time. Possible?

And, what about making two types of pages. admin view and member view. Admin view will lett admins and moderators to "spy" on different aspects. While member view will only allow the viewing of polls crated, posts made etc. but nothing else. Should also be less server intensive. :) Or better yet, buttons like on Digg that lett you deselect what you don't want to see, and one to stop the stream all together.

PM me if you need a layout for it, I'll be happy to help test it and make it.

P.S. Digg runs this smoothly, and they have A LOT of people using this feature. I guess that have insane servers. :P

FlyingDutchman - any progress on vb Spy? I was thinking of attempting my own, but would love to see your code.

Is this not like:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/online.php

It shows what every member and gues is doing, just not presented as pretty or as easy to find...

That's the point of it, making the information pretty and easy to find.

How is who's online not easy to use and find?

Exactly. Just rework the current template if you don't like it, throw a lin kni the navbar called "Spy" and you're done.

i think that's a great start. you'd then have to group the threads they're reading and rank them and then number how many members are doing what. since online.php is already pulling the info, there shouldn't be more server load right?

I created a forum spy using sajax. It caches the results every 10 seconds using crontab (for better performance, instead of running a query for each user viewing the page).

I am NOT a vb coder though, and would not know how to set this up for a release. If an experenced VB coder wants to work with me I'll gladly set something up for a release.

Here is a VERY basic rough draft:

http://www.friendcodes.com/forums/view.php?pg=priv_spy

This is hardly my peak time, check back in the evening hours to see it in action.

LOL.. HOTM! ;)

This mod would be great to have!

yeah, something like this:

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/spy.php

Nice idea but yeah extreme server intensity :p Good luck to anyone who tries it ;)

What a fantastic piece of work this he has done.

digitalpoint is keeping the source code unique to his forum.

digitalpoint clearly is very good coder.

I also think that on a quiet forum drop the refresh period down to about 3 mins it would hog too much server load.

Fab coding digitalpoint you genius!

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showt...hlight=spy.php

EDIT: URL Added

Has anyone tried this using AJAX?

I've been toying with it. I have a completely separate online environment setup that I've been working and testing with, it hasn't been easy, at least for me with all the calls and div's to deal with but I am making progress when I find the time to work on it. If I have something before anyone else does, I'll post it up.

Very nice this hack !!
No on vb.org ?

With all due respect to DP forums, I think the backbone to this is here: http://blablist.crowdiq.com/iqueue/votespy_howto.jsp

This may also be helpful: http://leftlogic.com/info/articles/jquery_spy

They may be using some of that frame work but I am sure they've utilized the vB built in ajax system. That would be the best way to approach it IMO.

Looks very interesting. :)

Precharge, you should take a look at the link below, and try to make your version look like vBulletin.

Nice! I'm looking forward to it precharge. :)

another private version

http://spy.macrumors.com

Wow, the macrumors one is great too.
Looks like he's got options to choose specific forums as well.

I like the idea too! Could someone provide it in a mod?

That's nice!

If someone can find a workaround for the extreme server load this would be a great hack.

Do you think it would really add much server load?

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=125947" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=125947</a>

Here's some code to get you all started; I'm sure it could easily be modified to include new users, new photos, etc. I'll probably add those as we go, but at least you have something to work with.

For the novice guys, please explain what exactly this does for a site? I cannot get its benefit from this thread (I am dense). If it helps build traffic, please explain how.

Thanks!

Look at the post above you.

yeah I read that. It links to another post that says "Showing a realtime feed of everything that is happening on the board. New posts, polls votes on, threads deleted (if you are a mod/admin), etc. etc."

Again, you guys are techies. How about bringing it down to earth for us who do nto see the forest from the trees? What does this realtime feed do for a site? SEO? How does it help?

This might be useful for you... http://leftlogic.com/info/articles/jquery_spy

It does nothing but put a real time feed of new posts and threads.

Thanks

So no real SEO or traffic advantage? Just something pretty to add to the board..

Exactly. :)