[vaskies]

Long post up ahead! I'll split this into two parts. The first part shows what I've tried. The second part is what I think might be a good idea to try next. This will make more sense once you read it. Stay with me.



What I've Tried:
I found the function you were referring to inside external.php. Unfortunately, I'm having some trouble using the values inside the javascript mouseover.

For example, I tried threaddate below: (this code snippet is from the forum home template mod)

for (var x in threads)
{
document.writeln("<a onmouseover=\"Tip('threads[x].threaddate')\" onmouseout=\"UnTip()\" href=\"showthread.php?t="+threads[x].threadid+"\">"+threads[x].title+"</a> <span class=\"time\">($vbphrase[posted_by]: "+threads[x].poster+")</span><br />");
}

Instead of showing the actual date of the thread's creation, it prints out the actual text threads[x].threaddate and treats it like any other string.
I tried variations too such as +threads[x].threaddate+ without any luck.


Bad news is, I have no clue why it's not parsing that value. Good news is, I think I may have found (possibly) a better approach to my needs. I'll need some help though if I'm going to get the values I need inside of it. I think it should be much simpler and to the point because it's not dealing with javascript. What I'm referring to is this plugin.

Quick and to the point:

Here's the plugins php main code: (I bolded what looks relevant)

global $db, $vbulletin;

switch ($vbulletin->options['devel_lastx_ord'])
{
case 0:	$ord = 'dateline'; break;
case 1:	$ord = 'lastpost'; break;
    }

$forumdevel1 = $vbulletin->options['lastxforumid1'];
$forumnamedevel1 = $vbulletin->options['forumnamedevel1'];
$limitdevel1 = $vbulletin->options['lastxlimit1'];
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx'])
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx1'])
$lastxdevels1 = $db->query_read("
     SELECT threadid, title, postusername, replycount, lastposter, views, attach
     FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread
     WHERE forumid IN ($forumdevel1)
     AND visible = 1
     order by $ord DESC
     LIMIT $limitdevel1
     ");

while ($lastxdevel1 = $db->fetch_array($lastxdevels1))
{

   if(strlen($lastxdevel1['title']) > $vbulletin->options['lastxmax'])
    {
        $lastxdevel1['title'] = substr($lastxdevel1['title'], 0, $vbulletin->options['lastxmax']) . ' ...';
    }


	
	
	    

	
$lastxdevelt1.="<div class='smallfont'><font size='2'><a onmouseover=\"Tip('Some Text')\" onmouseout=\"UnTip()\" href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel1[threadid]'><span style='width:200px;text-overflow:hidden;'>$lastxdevel1[title]</span></a></font></div>";
}

$forumdevel2 = $vbulletin->options['lastxforumid2'];
$forumnamedevel2 = $vbulletin->options['forumnamedevel2'];
$limitdevel2 = $vbulletin->options['lastxlimit2'];
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx'])
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx2'])
$lastxdevels2 = $db->query_read("
     SELECT threadid, title, postusername, replycount, lastposter, views, attach
     FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread
     WHERE forumid IN ($forumdevel2)
     AND visible = 1
     order by $ord DESC
     LIMIT $limitdevel2
     ");

while ($lastxdevel2 = $db->fetch_array($lastxdevels2))
{
    if(strlen($lastxdevel2['title']) > $vbulletin->options['lastxmax'])
    {
        $lastxdevel2['title'] = substr($lastxdevel2['title'], 0, $vbulletin->options['lastxmax']) . ' ...';
    }
$lastxdevelt2.="<div class='smallfont'><img border='0' src='$stylevar[imgdir_button]/lastpost.png'> <font size='2'><a title='$vbphrase[pobydevel]$lastxdevel2[postusername] | $vbphrase[lasdevel]$lastxdevel2[lastposter] | $vbphrase[redevel]$lastxdevel2[replycount] | $vbphrase[viewdevel]$lastxdevel2[views] | $vbphrase[attcodevel]$lastxdevel2[attach]' href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel2[threadid]'>$lastxdevel2[title]</a></font></div>";
}

$forumdevel3 = $vbulletin->options['lastxforumid3'];
$forumnamedevel3 = $vbulletin->options['forumnamedevel3'];
$limitdevel3 = $vbulletin->options['lastxlimit3'];
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx'])
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx3'])
$lastxdevels3 = $db->query_read("
     SELECT threadid, title, postusername, replycount, lastposter, views, attach
     FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread
     WHERE forumid IN ($forumdevel3)
     AND visible = 1
     order by $ord DESC
     LIMIT $limitdevel3
     ");

while ($lastxdevel3 = $db->fetch_array($lastxdevels3))
{
    if(strlen($lastxdevel3['title']) > $vbulletin->options['lastxmax'])
    {
        $lastxdevel3['title'] = substr($lastxdevel3['title'], 0, $vbulletin->options['lastxmax']) . ' ...';
    }
$lastxdevelt3.="<div class='smallfont'><img border='0' src='$stylevar[imgdir_button]/lastpost.png'> <font size='2'><a title='$vbphrase[pobydevel]$lastxdevel3[postusername] | $vbphrase[lasdevel]$lastxdevel3[lastposter] | $vbphrase[redevel]$lastxdevel3[replycount] | $vbphrase[viewdevel]$lastxdevel3[views] | $vbphrase[attcodevel]$lastxdevel3[attach]' href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel3[threadid]'>$lastxdevel3[title]</a></font></div>";
}

Keep in mind, that the code for outputting the latest threads is repeated three times because this plugin allows for three columns, all from different forumIDs. Once we can figure out how to get the values into one column, it would be a matter of copy and pasting for the other two.

As a reminder, the 4 values I need are:
$thread[title]
$thread[lastposter]
$thread[preview]
$thread[lastpost]

As you can see in the above bolded code, the first two values,title and lastposter are already read from the table and actually work! And after a couple days of learning PHP, I managed to get $thread[lastpost] to work in the correct time format too! The last value however, thread[preview] causes the error:

Invalid SQL:

     SELECT threadid, title, preview, postusername, replycount, lastposter, lastpost, views, attach
     FROM thread
     WHERE forumid IN (2)
     AND visible = 1
     order by lastpost DESC
     LIMIT 10;

MySQL Error   : Unknown column 'preview' in 'field list'

To make a long story short: where is $thread[preview] located?




One Last Thing:
In addition to getting this plugin to work, I'm really trying to further my knowledge on vbulletin's syntax. I'm currently learning PHP (I just finished up learning functions) but I'm finding a lot of vbulletin's documentation to be pretty inconsistent. Aside from the vbulletin manual, are there any resources available that really explain vbulletin's structure? In particular, I would like to know all the values for $thread array but have no idea where to look. $thread is an array correct? Since the syntax is $thread[value].

Take your time replying to this one haha I tried to be concise as possible, but I really wanted to convey that I've been working to improve and learn more, as opposed to seem like I'm simply leeching off more knowledgable people such as yourself. You've been invaluable and thank you for your help and patience with me.