Activity Modification

For vB3.7, see The vB3.7 version

This is the plugin/vB3.5/vB3.6 version of this hack

This mod was developed on vB3.6.4, and tested for compatibility with vB3.5.4

Description
This hack adds an activity metric for users to your forum; this metric takes into account a variable number of weeks. Also provided is a Junior/Normal/Senior member system based on this metric, and a longevity metric (user registered time as a percent of the amount of time the first user has been registered).

Visiting each day and posting the configured amount of times per day for the configured number of weeks will yeild 100% activity. Posts are checked individually for each day, so days cannot be skipped then spammed up afterwards. The weight of visiting for the day relative to posting is configurable. Weeks are weighted so the most recent has a bigger impact on the activity percent than the most distant.

When a user logs in with activity above the configured threshold, they are promoted from Junior Member to Member. When they log in with the configured amount of time as Member, they are promoted to Senior Member. You can configure the mod to also add secondary usergroups when these promotions happen.

Complexity
This modification requires 1 XML import, modification to 3 templates, and the addition of some CSS, depending on what options you choose

Technical
This hack adds 1 query to showthread for each user who posts in that page (or only 1 for the logged in user by configuration). In addition, the first time a member's post or profile is accessed during a day (GMT), 3 queries are performed to find that user's activity. By configuration, 1 query may be added to each page load to find the logged in user's "activity today". By configuration, 1 query may be added to each member profile view to find that member's "activity today".

Upgradability
This modification will import your settings and data from the 3.0/hack version

Frequently Asked Questions

• I installed this mod using the Download/Upload Plugin page and there was an error/it doesn't seem to work
  To install this mod, you need to use the Add/Import Product link on the Manage Products page
• I just installed and everyone's activity seems low
  1. Part of the activity calculation is what days users visited on. This information isn't collected before the mod is installed, so no user can have 100% activity untill you've been running the mod for the full period of time you have it set to monitor
  2. Please realize that there is no "roll over" for activity; if you have it set to look at 4 posts per day, your users must post 4 posts on each individual day to obtain 100%.
• I founded this forum, but I don't have 100% longevity
  Somehow a user's join date has been set before yours. When you install, the mod looks for the earliest join date to use to find longevity, but you can change the baseline date. To change the "Start of board" time, go to Maintenance>Activity Maintenance>Set Start of Board, enter your user number in the text field, then click Set Start of Board
• I'm using the images template version, but the images don't show up
  Be sure to upload one of the activity directories from activityimages.zip to the misc directory for each of your styles. To find a style's misc directory, goto the Style Manager, then from the dropdown next to the style, choose Stylevars. The setting Miscellaneous Images Folder contains the path to that style's misc directory, where you need to upload the activity directory
• Can I use activity for promotions?
  The project to build a full-blown promotion hack for use with this mod has been cancelled, after losing all of my work, however a much simpler system that adds secondary groups based on two thresholds has been added to the main hack.
• Can you make X number get split up into digits?
  I understand where you're coming from with this one, but I just can't figure out a way to work this that would be simple to use.
• The tooltips don't wrap and get cut off with FireFox
  The same thing happens to other vB tooltips (the thumbnail ones, for example). If you know a way to add line breaks to FF tooltips without scripting, please let me know.

Change log

Note: To upgrade, with the old version still installed, go to the Add/Import Product link on the Manage Products page, select the XML file for the new version, choose Yes for overwrite, then click Import.

2.80 release update

• Added AdminCP option to disable display of activity ranks (ranktext)
• Modified template changes to support the above change (for most people, your templates should work as is)
• Modified template changes for image horizontal postbit to always locate activity information in the upper right of the postbit, so it doesn't move arround from post to post (if you're happy with how it is now, no need to update)

2.80 rc3 update

• You can now control the number of entries on the Top Activity board from the adminCP
• Top Activity templates are properly cached
• Changes for XHTML 1.0 validation (requires template reedits if you want XHTML validation)

2.80 rc1 update

• Added improved built-in Top Activity page
• Added option for activity breakdown in activity bar tooltip
• Added option to promote users when their activity is calculated instead of just when they visit to help admins that are having trouble with the promotion system
• Fixed issue with maintenance section with other languages. It should display correctly now for all languages.
• Added admin help in 3.6.x
• Added 3.6.x version and link in product list
• No template changes since 2.70 (there are new templates, however)

2.71 update

• Corrected a bug where users on forums with "Weeks reflected" set to 1 could not reach 100% activity

2.70 update

• Full info available to MEMBERINFO template
• Full info available for the logged-in user (see template customization in install file)
• Fixed % issue with different vB versions
• "Midnight" for activity hack is configurable. Note that it may be desirable to set this to a time other than true midnight for your users.
• Options to control calculation of activity today in MEMBERINFO and for logged-in user
• Simple promotion system adds secondary usergroups when members are promoted in the ranktext system
• Reworking of internals
• Default templates should not try to display activity information when it is unavailable (a generic fix that covers vbA gallery)

2.51 update

• Updated phrases for vb3.5.1
• Updated options activity refresh for vb3.5.1
• Fixed problem with activity-based ranks

2.50 Release update

• Added fix for reversed posts field in images version templates when user is using a right-to-left language. (Manually update the postbit and postbit_legacy templates)

Beta 6 update

• Added extra checks for excessive activity
• User activity is now automatically refreshed when settings changes make it neccessary
• Fixed guest bug

Beta 5 update

• Removed the query added to PM views in beta 4
• Removed the post digits setting; it causes trouble since the majority of users seem to be using the image version, and the load impact is slight anyway.

Beta 4 update

• Fixed the problem where activity panel displayed incorrect information in PMs
• Moved start of board into settings, removed 1 query from showthread, view PM, view user note

Beta 3 update

• Fixed a critical issue with activity caching. Everyone should update
• Fixed an issue with a query not working when using table prefixes
• Added template modification instructions
• Added image template mod version screenshot

Beta 2 update

• There was an issue with % signs in the phrases, this has been corrected.
• Screen shots added.

Changes from the hack version

• Thresholds for promotions are configurable
• Ranktext system is configured from the options page instead of by a file
• You can now prune the visit log from the adminCP (Under Maintenance>Activity Maintenance)

Support

Please click the install link if you install this hack
I will support this hack in this thread on about a weekly basis.

[weaver]

Originally Posted by WetWired

You need to use the "Manage Products" page to import this plugin.
You're using the "Plugin Manager" page, aren't you?

I was using the Download/Import page. I'll go try Manage Products.

ETA: It worked... Thanks

[jesus likes pie]

Um. O.K There seem to be numerous issues.

First of all I registered before anyone else on the forums and my longetivity is 99% while userid 7 (im 1) has 100%.

Also it says my activity is a mere 33% when I have the hughest post count.

[Logikos]

Originally Posted by jesus likes pie

Um. O.K There seem to be numerous issues.

First of all I registered before anyone else on the forums and my longetivity is 99% while userid 7 (im 1) has 100%.

Also it says my activity is a mere 33% when I have the hughest post count.

The amount of your post count has nothing to do with activity.

Remember that 100% activity means that you've visited and posted 'X' times each day for the past 'Y' weeks. If you've recently missed a post or visit, you cannot achieve 100% activity untill 'Y' weeks after that date. Especially if you've only missed once, it may seem like your activity bar is stuck, but if you keep active it will eventually rise.

You can't spam it up.
The activity bar is updated once per day, at midnight GMT. Your activity for today is shown in your "today" bar. Also note that once your today bar is full, you cannot recieve anymore activity credit for that day. It takes almost 'X' weeks to get to 50%, and you cannot miss a point for 'X' weeks to get to 100%.

This all depends on your settings. As for the longivity, make sure that your member that has 100% longivity doesn't have a join date eairler then yours.

Originally Posted by WetWired

Longevity is based off of the join date of the user with the oldest join date, the current date, and the join date of the user in question. If you have members with falsified join dates (before the start of the boards), this could be an issue. If the oldest user joined a year ago, and a member joined 6 months ago, then that member would be displayed as having longevity of 50%.

[WetWired]

Originally Posted by jesus likes pie

Um. O.K There seem to be numerous issues.

First of all I registered before anyone else on the forums and my longetivity is 99% while userid 7 (im 1) has 100%.

Also it says my activity is a mere 33% when I have the hughest post count.

The base date for longevity is settable from AdminCP>Maintenance>Activity Maintenance>Start of Board (it defaults to the earliest join date from all the users). Just enter your userid in the field, and run the maintenance activity. The start of board date will be syncronized with your join date and any members that somehow have a join date before you will just have 100%.

As for activity, it is just as LiveWire said. The whole point of the activity metric is that it can't be spammed up; an activity of 100% should indicate your dedicated users who visit and post every day. People who visit and post 100 posts once a week will have a less-than-stellar activity rating. Also note that activity only looks back the set number of weeks; if you made 100,000 posts two months ago, but the activity only looks back 4 weeks, then those posts won't be reflected. If you experiment with the settings, don't forget to run "Refresh User Activity" from Activity Maintenance.

[WetWired]

Released beta 5. (Someone complained when I didn't bump the thread last update)

[weaver]

I've got 102% for my activity. There's a red x because it's looking for an "activity21.gif".

[WetWired]

This may happen if you change settings and do not run the "Refresh User Activity" maintenance. However, I will still look into this and add a check for this condition.

[womensden]

I upgraded to Beta 5 and it seems to be working properly.

However, I'm noticing one little issue. Before it was showing each users daily activity. Now, it isn't showing, but shows "Activity today is only shown for the logged in user". Is this new in beta 5 or does it just need time to update?

[WetWired]

I've been writing up a configuration guide to include in the next release. I'd like oppinions on its usefullness, understandability, and so forth.

[WetWired]

Originally Posted by womensden

I upgraded to Beta 5 and it seems to be working properly.

However, I'm noticing one little issue. Before it was showing each users daily activity. Now, it isn't showing, but shows "Activity today is only shown for the logged in user". Is this new in beta 5 or does it just need time to update?

That means that the setting for this has been turned off. You should be able to just renable it from the settings page. Why upgrading would cause that, I can't say, but I'll look into it. What version did you upgrade from?