[vaskies]

I thought I would remedy the situation by modifying the plugin's code. I tried a zillion things, but only two of them are really worth mentioning. Here's the original snippet:

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

	    $agdate1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['dateformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost], true);  
    $agtime1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['timeformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost]); 

	
$lastxdevelt1.="<div class='smallfont'><font size='2'><a onmouseover=\"Tip('<b>Title:</b> $lastxdevel1[title]<br/><b>User:</b> $lastxdevel1[lastposter]<br /><b>Last Post:</b>$agdate1<br/><b>Preview:</b>will go here... <br/>')\" onmouseout=\"UnTip()\" href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel1[threadid]'>$lastxdevel1[title]</a></font></div>";
}

And here's what I added:

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


$threadPreviewThings = $db->query_read("
     SELECT pagetext
     FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "post
     WHERE threadid IN ($forumdevel1)
     AND visible = 1
     LIMIT $limitdevel1
     ");

$threadPreviewThing = $db->fetch_array($threadPreviewThings);

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

   if(strlen($lastxdevel1['title']) > $vbulletin->options['lastxmax'])
    {
        $lastxdevel1['title'] = substr($lastxdevel1['title'], 0, $vbulletin->options['lastxmax']) . ' ...';
    }
	
	    $agdate1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['dateformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost], true);  
    $agtime1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['timeformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost]); 

	
$lastxdevelt1.="<div class='smallfont'><font size='2'><a onmouseover=\"Tip('<b>Title:</b> $lastxdevel1[title]<br/><b>User:</b> $lastxdevel1[lastposter]<br /><b>Last Post:</b>$agdate1<br/><b>Preview:</b>$threadPreviewThing[pagetext] <br/>')\" onmouseout=\"UnTip()\" href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel1[threadid]'>$lastxdevel1[title]</a></font></div>";
}

Which caused the mouseover to not show up at all (i.e. breaking it). I obviously am approaching this from the wrong angle. So I did a google search of how to read from two tables at once and many sites said it was impossible. But as you see in the code, that variable $lastxdlevels1 has to be assigned to a query_read. But the 4 values I need are in two different tables, yeah? This is problematic.

So I decided, why not try assigning what table I'm using into an array of two different values.

$dbTables = array(thread, post);
$forumdevel1 = $vbulletin->options['lastxforumid1'];
$forumnamedevel1 = $vbulletin->options['forumnamedevel1'];
$limitdevel1 = $vbulletin->options['lastxlimit1'];
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx'])
if ($vbulletin->options['endislastx1'])
$lastxdevels1 = $db->query_read("
     SELECT threadid, title, postusername, replycount, lastposter, lastpost, views, attach, pagetext
     FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "{$dbTables}
     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']) . ' ...';
    }
	
	    $agdate1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['dateformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost], true);  
    $agtime1 = vbdate($vbulletin->options['timeformat'], $lastxdevel1[lastpost]); 

$lastxdevelt1.="<div class='smallfont'><font size='2'><a onmouseover=\"Tip('<b>Title:</b> $lastxdevel1[title]<br/><b>User:</b> $lastxdevel1[lastposter]<br /><b>Last Post:</b>$agdate1<br/><b>Preview:</b>$lastxdevel1[pagetext] <br/>')\" onmouseout=\"UnTip()\" href='showthread.php?t=$lastxdevel1[threadid]'>$lastxdevel1[title]</a></font></div>";
}

Which turned out this error:

MySQL Error : Table 'vb3.array' doesn't exist
Error Number : 1146

Hindsight that was a stupid idea, since $dbTables simply outputs "Array". In summation, I tried splitting the code up into two separate query reads with no luck. And then I tried consolidating them via an array which probably never would have worked anyway, because even if I could display the values, they would not translate with the SQL syntax!

If I'm ever going to figure this out, one thing is for sure: I'm going to need to improve my knowledge on vbulletin's database structure as well as my understanding of SQL syntax. Which is exactly what I'm going to attempt today. I just learned I could view the database tables in phpMyAdmin which has been expontentially helpful...

And by the way, you were right! Taking out the single quotes worked. I still need the thread preview, though, so using the external data provider thing, as you said, wouldn't be the best approach.