Miscellaneous Hacks - Ultimate Side Columns

Ultimate Side Columns
By Kerry-Anne www.peterska2.co.uk

Welcome to Ultimate Side Columns!

Introduction

Following the success of the left and right side column modifications, and building on their weaknesses, the Ultimate Side Columns system was born.

Ultimate Side Columns (USC) is your one stop shop for all your side columns needs. It is an easy to configure, all in one solution.


Features

USC uses a standard vBulletin Options Interface with minimal template editing involved, to display content in columns on your site.

USC controls both the left and right columns on your site, both of which work independently of each other, and can be displayed on a range of pages through some very simple options.

The only editing required for a standard installation is the header and footer template. For advanced users, the templates for the two columns can also be edited if required. Most users of this system will not need to do this.


Installation

Import the product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns.xml file as a product through your product manager.

Open your header template and at the very end add

<!-- USC header edit start -->
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
<tr>
$usc_left
<td valign="top">
<!-- USC header edit end -->

Open your footer template and above

$spacer_close

add

<!-- USC footer edit start -->
</td>
$usc_right
</tr>
</table>
<!-- USC footer edit end -->

That is all your template editing done.

Now, go to vBulletin Options > Ultimate Side Columns Options

Here you can set which column you wish to use, and where you want it to appear. Content is also controlled through the options on this page. HTML is allowed in all content boxes.


Configuration

As there are a number of options available, this section explains them all.

First, you have the settings for enabling and disabling the two columns. As these work independently of each other, you can have the left column turned on, the right column turned on, or both turned on. If you need to turn them off for any reason, you can also turn them off here. Also, if you need to disable plugins for any reason, the code is completely disabled meaning that no unsightly white gaps are left on your pages.

Next, we have the width settings for the two columns. If you find that your columns are too wide, or too narrow, then they can be adjusted independently here.

The display pages settings allow you to control where your columns are displayed. These are pretty straightforward, with the exception of the setting adsense appropriate. This option stops the column from being displayed on the following pages in line with the adsense TOS:
- search
- search results
- registration
- contact us
- usercp
This is correct as of todays date. Any changes in the TOS for adsense will only be reflected in any updates as appropriate.

Next are the settings for the content of the left column, followed by the content of the right column. Both sections are prefixed by a blank setting. This is by design and there is not a bug with the code or anything missing.


Adding More Blocks

By design there are five (5) blocks per column. Some people may require more than this. To allow for this, comments have been added to both the usc_sidecolumn_left and usc_sidecolumn_right templates. The comments include a commented out section of code to use as a template for additional blocks. There are also some warning comments present in both templates. Take heed of these as editing other than the places indicated will result in the templates being malformed and the USC system not working correctly.


Support

Support for this modification is extremely limited. However, as everything apart from the two small template edits is controlled directly through the vBulletin options and not through template editing, issues should be minimal.

If you have any other combinations of pages that you would like to see available for the column options, please post them in the support thread ensuring that you add the title "USC Page Combination Request" to your post, or use this as the first line of your post ensuring that it is in bold text. This is very specific as due to the limited nature of support and time, the support thread will only be quickly skimmed through and therefore requests may be missed if it is not clear what they are.


The screenshots attached to this post and the next one show a range of pages with a range of column combinations. They are not labeled but they are pretty self explanatory.

Enjoy the USC system.

Kerry-Anne




PLEASE NOTE: This modification is unsupported. You may not receive a reply right after posting. Please try and help each other out. I do not support custom styles. If this does not work in your style, and you can confirm that it does not work in the default style (with a link and screenshot) then you will need to resolve the problem yourself. I also do not support any versions earlier than 3.6.5 in any way, shape or form. If you are using it on a version prior to 3.6.5 then no support at all will be provided.



Version 2.0 information


Version 2.0 has been released and can be found here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=175181

[Pale Jewel]

Hi,
I'm new to this and so far I've been doing pretty well with customizing. I've hit a snag though, and I'm wondering if someone could help. I'm using the Ultimate Side Column to display a right side column on my Forum home page. I know that it said that I could customize this column to include anything I want, but I can't seem to figure out what I need to put there in order to display one of the mini calendars that show on the Calendar page. I've tried so many different things and I'm at the end of patience. Can someone help me? Please forgive me if the answer turns out to be really simple as I've just been fumbling my way through this thing. Thanks so much!!

[jderouen]

How would I best display a random image from a directory in one of the blocks? I've tried some javascripts and can't get them to work.

Basically, I have a directory and just want it to snatch one of the images at random and put it into the chosen block every time the page is reloaded.

Thanks!
Joe

[newforum]

I have installed it. this is one of the best hack.

[newforum]

Originally Posted by q22inc

My problem is similar.

Except it's not just when I'm logged in or off, it is always like that. But not for the whole forum. It is only like that when you open a thread. For everything else the allignment is fine. But when you click a thread, the allignment goes thinner like in the above pics.

I have the same problem. Can anyone help?

[newforum]

Please upgrade this to add "N" numbers of columns( i.e default is 5 colums). So that it will be easier. And the main problem is when we open the thread its becomes still more thinner. So i think the developer has to fix this bug.

[basilrath]

Hi,
I'm new to this and so far I've been doing pretty well with customizing. I've hit a snag though, and I'm wondering if someone could help. I'm using the Ultimate Side Column to display a right side column on my Forum home page. I know that it said that I could customize this column to include anything I want, but I can't seem to figure out what I need to put there in order to display one of the mini calendars that show on the Calendar page. I've tried so many different things and I'm at the end of patience. Can someone help me? Please forgive me if the answer turns out to be really simple as I've just been fumbling my way through this thing. Thanks so much!!

if its a mini calendar as ive shown in the below demo pm me the code is quite complicated

www.thebigfatsofa.com

[Pale Jewel]

Originally Posted by basilrath

if its a mini calendar as ive shown in the below demo pm me the code is quite complicated

www.thebigfatsofa.com

Hi basilrath,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I've seen alot of people asking for this and most of them don't have any responses so I wasn't expecting much!

My boss wants a mini calendar on their new homepage and as I've said, I'm new to all this and have managed everything else so far. But this mini calendar is just breaking my brain!! It looks like it should be so simple since it's being displayed on the calendar pages, so I would have thought that I would just cut and paste a bit of code to add it to the right side column of the main page. I've tried some of the hacks that have been posted but I think they probably work on older versions. I'm using 3.6.5.

If possible, I'd like to just use a hack with what I've got set up so far using Ultimate Side Columns. I know that it's easy enough to do with the VBAdvanced CMPS, but when I used that, it caused problems with the display of the forums page which is something that another programmer set up as the index.php page.

What I'd really like is just some nice neat code to paste into the template of my USC right side column. Is this possible. If not, shoot me the code if you don't mind and I'll do my best with it.

Again, thanks so much for getting back to me!!

[hcmagix]

Originally Posted by q22inc

My problem is similar.

Except it's not just when I'm logged in or off, it is always like that. But not for the whole forum. It is only like that when you open a thread. For everything else the allignment is fine. But when you click a thread, the allignment goes thinner like in the above pics.

Please read Post #12 in this Thread for solving your Problem

[J.R. Rogers]

Very nice mod! Would you consider updating to allow more flexibility in which pages get the columns and which ones do not? For example, VB Ad management lets you simply specify the names of the scripts to be excluded... Like this:
register|private|search|showthread

I'd much rather use this mod but I can't specify index and forumdisplay at the same time.

Cheers!
JR

[Tourmeister]

I need help with a simple formatting issue. I am trying to make my site so that it will display for anyone using a minimum of 1024 X 768 screen resolution. I want to have a 100 px wide column on the left and the right side of the page. You can view the site here:

www.twttestvb.twtex.com

username: guest
password: guest

You may have to login twice.

If you resize the browser window, you can see that it is the center section that includes the Navbar and the content under it that will not resize below a certain point even though the stuff in the header is still resizing smaller.

I checked the "Main table width" in the Syle Manager --> Style Variables and it is set to 100%. I have checked the Navbar template to make sure I don't have a hard coded table width present and everything is set in terms of percentages. Using the CMPS control panel I even disabled the Navbar for when a person is viewing the homepage and I still have the same problem, so I am pretty sure it is not the Navbar causing the problem. I also checked the FORUMHOME template and it too is set to 100% for the table width. Checked the HEADER template and it is also set to 100%.

I must be missing something real simple and it is driving me bonkers!