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

[sR Craig]

Hi there,
would it be possible to get a 'forumhome and forum display only' option?

Love the hack...thanks

[DefenceTalk]

Originally Posted by DefenceTalk

Thanks for the mod!

Is there anyway to parse php includes in the sidebars?

Never mind, got it. Goes in the templates.

[techspot]

Hi,
I just installed the plugin in Element skin by Vbulletin.com but it does not seem to be working properly. It shows the left column above the main forum list.

I have followed the instructions provided in this thread but for some strange reason it does not work.

Any ideas?

P.S.: Screenshot attached below.

[wizardan]

Running this most excellent hack on FORUMDISPLAY only, with the right column enabled.
Thread titles become centered in IE7, while good ol' Firefox behaves normally, with thread titles still aligned left, where they belong.

Anyone got a fix for that?

[shlomot]

Originally Posted by wizardan

Running this most excellent hack on FORUMDISPLAY only, with the right column enabled.
Thread titles become centered in IE7, while good ol' Firefox behaves normally, with thread titles still aligned left, where they belong.

Anyone got a fix for that?

That's exactly what I'm also trying to get support for. Firefox reads <table> and <td> attributes from the style's css while IE (6 or 7) ignores it or maybe overwrites these attributes with other definitions that are maybe nested somewhere.

I wish we could at least get a hint as to the cause. Then it may be easier to solve it on our own.

[tuslic]

i upgraded to 3.6.7 and the columns don't have a space between the actual forums, its all connected, does anyone no how i can fix that?

[dpatel304]

Nice mod! Installed it, but had a few questions. I am currently using Zoints, and want to add a Profile link in my sidebar. The link to a profile is this:
http://www.afkay.com/forums/z/?id=1

But the id is going to be different for each user. Anyway I can make the '1' a variable, and have it link to user's profiles?

Also, I want to add user's avatars as a picture in the sidebar. How would I go about doing that?

thanks in advance.

[Philipaclayton]

awesome. going to install tonight

[cormee]

This is great! I'm just in the process of switching over to vBulletin from phpBB (this is my first modification install) I hope it all goes as easily and works as well as this one! Thanks.

[nymyth]

anyone have this working on an extremepixels skin....its messing up the whole look....thanks

Peace