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

[LewisAinslie]

Works fine in vbulletin 3.7.x
Great mod, just what i was after!

Demo: http://forum.xzorbix.com/

[xcingix]

Is there an update for 3.7.0.
They tell me that one of the plugins on my forum is preventing "Rebuild Custom Avatars" from working and this is one of the only 3 mods I have installed.

[LewisAinslie]

It works fine for me on 3.7.x i installed it, its just inactive whilst i add content to it.
You can see it here: http://forum.xzorbix.com/ (as posted above)

[DuitFX]

hi,

i'm newbie here. i still confuse how to make 2 left column. Each column has 1 title.

currently by default there is 1 left column provided and you can add block inside it.

Is there any way to do add another 1 or 2 more column at left side.

Tq.

[kronnos]

Ok, got everything working just the way I want it to with just one last tiny problem that cant seem to fix. When viewing site on a big/wide screen the spacing between the left column and the rest of the site is great. As soon as i shrink the viewing area to about less then half, the left column colapses to the rest of forum without any space in between. I added style="padding-right:5px; to the TD width but that only helped a little. Now it only collapses to the 5px and not completely but the gap at full screen became bigger then before. Any ideas?

[Shanj]

Am I right that this doesn't support php code in the boxes?
Because Ive just spent hours rtying different variations of php code snippets
like who's online
link to my profile
etc

Reading through this thread it does look like no php will work other than a simple page link URL
but it doesn't say so in the description of the product itself. I think if this is so it should.

If it IS possible to make php links work could someone tell me how?

For example I have

<tr><td> <a href="member.php?$session[sessionurl]u=$bbuserinfo[userid]">My Profile</a></td></tr>

which copies the php code from the navbar to open my Profile (3.7beta profile not userCP)
As Ultimate on my board is inserted on the end of the navbar I dont see why it doesn't take whatever it needs for php off the navbar template.

[Alibass]

I just installed this on 3.7b3 test board and it seems to be working as designed

[kronnos]

How would I make the side column not sure for certain pages, for exp: test.php?

[cc8balla]

Installed. Is there a way to make this fluid though. Know what I mean? Like when someone stretches the forum with a pic, it makes it look like crap.

www.dsmpurity.com

[kronnos]

Can you show for exp: latest 5 posts, in one of the blocks and how?