New Posting Features - [Ajax] Check for similar thread before posting a new one

You love the 'similar threads' function and you are sick of duplicate threads just because your users don't use the search function?

Why not just combine them?

This Add-on will grab the thread title the user typed in and it will load a small box (using Ajax magic ) with 5 similar threads just like the 'similar threads' function that you can normally find under an already posted thread.

The box also tells the user to search through the similar threads first BEFORE starting a new one.


Features:
- no edits whatsoever needed, just import the product file, enable the Add-on and it works (well, it should )
- you can turn it off for certain forums or
- you can turn it off completely without leaving any code that messes your templates/files
- it can be translated
- don't like it anymore? Remove the product and you'll never see that Add-on again


Known issues:
- none


Things to consider:
It uses jQuery to get the information from ajax.php. jQuery is great and you can do many great things with it and unlike the vBulletin method it's quite easy to understand.
The jQuery file is compressed and only 20kb large.
To download the file, visit the homepage at http://jquery.com/
The link to download the file is on the right hand side.

Here's the version I use: http://code.google.com/p/jqueryjs/do....1.3.1.pack.js

Just download it and put it into the 'clientscript' folder without renaming the file.


Installation:
Download jQuery as described above.
Import the attached file using the Product Manager. Go to your vBulletin settings and search for 'Check for similar threads?'. Enable it.


Important:
It adds 2 new templates, it changes 1 template and it edits 2 files. I highly doubt that it will break you vBulletin but do a back-up and be on the safe side.



Version history:
1. initial release
2. current release
*** fixed some browser issues. The attached file is up to date.





How to fix the Opera problems in the first release:
The first release of this Add-on didn't work on Opera. To fix the problems, please follow these steps:
Open the template 'mrnasesimilarthreadcheck_header' and REPLACE the content with this code:

    <script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/jquery-1.1.3.1.pack.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        $(function(){
            $("#inputthreadtitle").bind("blur", function(){
                var value =$(this).val(); 
                $('td#similarthreadcheckcontent').html('<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_misc]/13x13progress.gif" />');
                $.ajax({
                    type: "GET",
                    url: "ajax.php",
                    data: "do=getsimilarthreads&title="+value,
                    success: function(msg){
                        $('td#similarthreadcheckcontent').html(msg);
                         }
                });
            });
        });
    </script>

The attached file is up to date.


Support will only given to those who have clicked 'install'.

[sunnylikbeckham]

tried
after enabling just an message nothing else
so removed aswell

[Gotmian]

Hey, i installed it as well but after activating it it gives absolutely no result back... any ideas?

3.6.12 vB

[t134aa]

After some initial difficulties I got this hack to work in 3.6.8

Had the same problems as many others, the first being finding the area to enable/disable the hack. After a bit of searching I found it.

VBULLETIN OPTIONS > MESSAGE POSTING AND EDITING OPTIONS.

Second to last setting, "check for similar threads" (set to YES)

So I turned the hack on and got the message when posting new thread indicating that it would search for similar threads but it never did. After reading every reply to this hack I followed the advice of others with the same issue. Rebuilding seach index did not solve the issue, but upon reverting jquery from 1.2.6 to 1.1.3.1 (version referenced by the author) the hack works fine.

The only two notable issues are that it suggests some rather old threads and you have to either click in the thread title box or move to the post text box to execute the search query. The latter issue is not really a big deal but I would like to limit the threads retrieved to the last 30 or 60 days. Might be something I can do with my regular search options to help out with this but it would be nice if a future version of the hack had some options to direct or limit the search.

I use fulltext search on my board and have went from 4 letter word minimum to 3 letter to see if it improves on search relevence, but with my size board this could ultimately be too resource hungry.

Overall I do like the hack, and the concept sofar, and it should save on at least some of the same old questions being posted over and over.

[andy1074]

thank u for this
i have a persian forum when i crate a persian languge topic this mod dos not wordk
i am very angry

[kalleklorin]

great

[scottct1]

Working for me on vb 3.8rc1 with no modifications needed.

[adnedarn]

Hello, I've used this mod for quite some time and always through it did a great job. But someone today contacted me with a question and I don't know the answer. They were creating a new thread with the title Red sphagnum and some suggestions came up but were all pretty old, newest of the 5 being from 08-28-2005... Even though there was a thread titled sphagnum that was created on 11-22-2008. So we're confused on why that topic would not have been shown instead of the older ones. When I was testing it, I used his thread topic and sure enough it didn't show that thread from Nov. but it also isn't showing the new thread that he created today with the exact title I was using to test it... I'll add a screen show of this with the newer topic that was not shown in the results to the right...
Thanks for your time- it's a great mod!
Andrew

edit: This may be a larger copy of the screenshot- the uploaded one seems to have been scaled. http://cpforums.org/gallery/d/26756-3/simthrsea.jpg

[adnedarn]

Also- I'm using this on 3.7.... any word on if it works on 3.8?? If not, any plans to make it?
Thanks,
Andrew

[The Vegan Forum]

I have been using this mod, and also have some problems with the 3.8 update (but don't know of this mod is causing our problems).

Will uninstalling the plugin/product change the edited files back to their original state?

[MrNase]

Wait a second, I'll test it on vB 3.8.0

When you uninstall it, it's completely gone.


Here's the new thread for the new version of this Add-on: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=201651