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, uploading of images, 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
This modification will import your settings and data from the 3.5/3.6 mod version
Frequently Asked Questions
I don't see the Activity Settings section or Activity Maintenance link on the AdminCP navbar
You're probably seeing a cached (old) copy of the navbar. Try pressing Ctrl-F5 in IE or FF, or whatever your browser requires to force it to load the current version of the page.
I installed this mod and nothing shows up
First, go to AdminCP|Activity Settings|Display and make sure the dropdown settings are not set to None. If they aren't set to none, the most likely cause is using an old style which does not have template hooks; verify this by creating a new style without a parent and checking to see if the mod displays on it (the images probably won't load, though). If the mod displays on the default style but not your normal one, you need to add template hooks, otherwise post here for help.
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
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
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
Why don't the images don't show up?/Why does the postcount have 's's in front of it?
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.
Update 3.03 release
Fixed a PHP error that some people were having
Update 3.01 release
Fixed a PHP warning that did not break anything. It should no longer be added to your error logs.
Update 3.00 release No changes
Update 3.00 beta 3
Fixed template to use correct forumhome location
Separated text-version stat block into its own template
Moved settings into their own navigation group on the left (refresh AdminCP page after upgrading)
Added new customization reference page to install zip
Update 3.00 beta 2
Fixed a bug which prevented the postbit display option from working
Fixed a bug where the Top Activity link could be in the navbar without the Top Activity page being enabled
Fixed a bug where certain users have postcount of 'n/a' in Top Activity
Added diagnostic screen
Set minimum forum version
Version 3 (3.00 beta 1) vs Version 2 (2.80)
Added template hook and DOM based styling; manual template modification no longer needed
Split the options page into four options pages
Added many options to control the style of the mod
Added "Countdown to 100%" feature in the Top Activity page
All new profile page display for vB3.7
Support
Please click the install link if you install this hack
I will support this hack in this thread on about a weekly basis.
Show Your Support
This modification may not be copied, reproduced or published elsewhere without author's permission.
This mod is to creates an absoluteactivity metric, whereas the one provided by vbexperience is relative. This mod has a curve on the value of contributions in previous weeks, whereas vbexperience's activity stat is linear. This mod caps valued activity per day, whereas it would appear that you can spam up vbexperience's activity stat in one day.
Basicly, this mod allows you to set up an activity metric where you can look at the value the user has and have a good feel for how active they are. The way mine is set up, I can look at it and know that 20% is lurkerish, 50% participates, and 100% participates a lot. In the activity mod, multiple people can reach 100%, because 100% is a fixed goal, not based on the comparison of you to others.
That's because there really wasn't anything that needed to change, though I did add that "Countdown to 100%" feature on my own forum during 2.80.
Speaking of changes, I'm open to considering actions with new features of vB3.7 as posts, but I haven't really had the time to poke arround and figure them out, so if you'd like me to add the option to consider taking some action to be the same as posting, please post with:
The name of the action
Any steps needed to enable the action
Steps to perform the action
A brief explaination of the action
Any technical details you might have such as table names and field names involved
This will help me quickly come up to speed so I can consider the additions.
Activity Modification Details »»
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DB Changes 
No support by the author.
04-28-2008, 12:23 PM
