Updated Community Bulletin Generator

SPECIAL NOTE for those upgrading to vBulletin v2.0.0: You will need to make changes to the default RC3 files, as you did with the previous version files. The files are member.php and admin/index.php. After you upgrade to RC3, the link in your Admin CP will no longer be there. In order to find instructions for upgrading, go to http://yoursite/forum/admin/commbull.php and click the link for Instructions. Make these changes to your files, and reupload the two modified files. The link will then be back in your Admin CP.
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With Kier's permission, I am rereleasing this hack. It has been updated, but most of the credit still goes to Kier. I just added a couple things. Namely, I took Kier's starting point for birthdays and reworked it a bit so they can now be included. I also added 3 new sets of Latest Threads input, and added a sorting option to get topics with no replies (aka "Virgin" topics).
I also added a box to change the section separation character (Kier had it as a "-", now you can change it) and the list item character (Kier had it as an "o"). There are also instructions on how to integrate it into your Admin CP.

To install, just upload it to your Admin directory and go to it in a browser.

If you had previously installed Kier's original version, simply overwrite the commbull.php file on your server, and make this change to your admin/index.php file:
Find

<a href="email.php?s=<?php echo $session[sessionhash]; ?>"> Email users </a><br>

and right below it, add

<a href="commbull.php?s=<?php echo $session[sessionhash]; ?>"> Send Community Bulletin </a><br>

Upload your admin/index.php file and go to your Admin CP. You should see the new option under "Users" on the left-hand side.

Hack version: 0.98

Changes since v0.97: Fixed a stupid bug that screwed up the script when you posted a copy to a forum and that forum didn't count posts toward post totals.

Changes since v0.96: Fixed a minor bug that was causing large problems when the number of emails to send was more than it was set to per page.

Changes since v0.95: Minor cosmetic changes; fixed "copy post to board" function so it actually works; added option to exclude threads from being used more than once (if doing multiple blocks); fixed sorting by most replies/most views so they don't return threads with 0 replies or 1 view, respectively;

Changes since v0.93: Option to post a copy of the email to your board, to a forum you specify using a username your specify (If you do this, there is a function to exclude certain parts (for example, the user info section that details username/password etc) and it parses URLs so the message on your board has hyperlinks to the threads/polls/etc); various cosmetic upgrades; minor little things here and there; fixed/changed "Only include threads that have been started or replied to since this date?" so it doesn't defeat the purpose of specifying a date.

For version: v2.0.0

Info for Clean Install -------
Files needed: commbull.php

Files to edit: admin/index.php, member.php

Templates to edit: none

Instructions are in the script itself. When you first run it, it will tell you what you need to do. If upgrading from Kier's original version, see instructions above.
End Info for Clean Install -------

Info for Upgrading from v0.90, v0.91, v0.93, v0.94, v0.95, v0.96, v0.97 ------
Files needed: commbull.php

Files to edit: none

Instructions: Upload the commbull.php file from the commbull98.zip file.
End Info for Upgrading -------

Please do not bug Kier about this hack!
Please also DO NOT contact me via AIM, ICQ, PM, or email about this hack. Post your question/problem here and I will try to help you.

[Rcooper]

2.2.5 approved Only change is to Admin.php

After

makenavoption("Email Users","email.php?action=start","<br>");

add

makenavoption("Send Community Bulletin ","commbull.php?s=<?php echo $session[sessionhash]; ?>","<br>");

[tanster]

Thank you, tubedogg, this is wonderful!

Jennie

[pran]

On vBulletin version 2.2.6, the password being sent is in encrypted form.

[Gholsie]

Hi all,

Please forgive me if this has been discussed already. I did a search and couldn't see many things about it. But, here it is:

How does this community bulletin generator compare to the generator by Christec? I've got that one installed and it seems to run pretty good. Does this have better features or does the email look better?

On that same note, is it a pretty easy upgrade from Christec's generator?

I guess I'm really trying to determine why there are two bulletin generators on this site unless someone wanted to make changes on their own.

Anyway, help on this is appreciated. A sample email is also cool. Any links?

[christec]

The version that I released of the community bulleitn generator is based on this version.

[Gholsie]

Originally posted by christec
The version that I released of the community bulleitn generator is based on this version.

Ah, ok. Thanks Christec. Straight from the developer himself. :bunny:

I found it confusing that we have all these comm bulletin generators on the site all 'sort of' related to each other in some way.

[dprice]

Is there a fix for this? On 2.26 it sends the password encrypted...

[DestyNova]

tubedogg

Are you still work on this or what? I d like to use this hack whenever it update with some modifications as you stated at your few latest posts.

Thanks

[DestyNova]

aw, never mind.. I didnt see christec's last post, thanks anyway =P

[Floris]

Uhm, what do I need to do in order to have the option included in the register page? So when someone registers on the forum, they can choose to receive the bulletin or not?

By the way, installed it without any problems, and it works great on vB2.2.6 with php 4.2.1

And to the user who asked about the encrypted passwords, on 2.2.x version of vB all passwords are stored in a md5 hash, and therefor are in the email as encrypted. They can't be decrypted and shouldn't be. The password is only for the user and should remember it in his head

Anyway,
I hope tubedogg could explain to me (or someone else) how to include this on the registration page. Would be great!