Major Additions - Synergy by Zoints - A system like Digg integrated into forums.

Index

Installation and Upgrading
FAQ, Changelog and Troubleshooting
Pre-written threads

This plugin is not currently available for vBulletin 3.7.x. Several users have reported serious incompatibilities, and we would not suggest attempting to install it on a forum running 3.7.x at this time.

Foreward

Awhile back, two visionaries by the names of Sal Collaziano and George B realized that a Digg-like system for forums could be highly beneficial. Kudos to those two for their understanding that by working together, we can all benefit.

What is Synergy?

How often does this happen to you? You or a member write a great thread, Google indexes it a week later, but it is buried in the search results so the masses never end up reading it. Frustrating, isn't it? Zoints solves this by taking a system like Digg, then integrating and mirroring in across all forums in a manner that allows great threads to be read by the masses. Synergy is designed to bring you more traffic and inspire your members to create higher quality content in order to obtain "Top Author" status.

Demos (with forums like these using Synergy, you're sure to get some traffic)

You'll notice all the demos look virtually the same except for the skins. This is due to the system mirroring itself across the forums. When a link is clicked, it takes the reader to the originating forum.

Ubuntu Forums
NASIOC
ThumperTalk
LWS


How Synergy Works

You have a lot of high quality threads on your forum. When you (or a trusted usergroup member you permission via the admincp options) decides a thread is worthy of Synergy, you select the "Add to Synergy" link as seen below.




During the next step, you write a short description for the thread and select which category it should go into.




Your thread is then added to a queue on your forum. Once every X hours, the top thread in your queue is added to Synergy.




When your thread is added to Synergy, the system distributes the link and description you wrote to all participating forums. If someone on any forum around the net clicks on your thread link, they are redirected back to your forum to the actual thread so they can read it. If people like your thread, they can vote on it which ranks it higher. Higher ranked threads, especially those that make it to the front page will in turn bring you more traffic.




The admincp settings are as follows:




Proof of Traffic

If you submit good content to Synergy that gets to the front page, you WILL get a lot of traffic. The following screenshot is from a small forum early in our testing. Guess which day it got a thread on the front page?



As more forums join Synergy, more and more people will be reading your threads. Let's work together to remove our reliance on search engines to send us traffic. Our communities are full of great content, it's time for it to be read!

[blogtorank]

Great job Mr. Chapman!

[ColdFyre]

Originally Posted by puertoblack2003

i use Fire Fox i just have it disabled for now. but never looked into IE not a fan but will look at it later.

edit: everything appears to be fine in IE not to sure unlike FF after clickin in two post and that's when that long script appears.Is this mod ok for FF can you confirm?

I use FF at home and school and it works fine at both places.

[projectego]

Man, this hack just plain rules!

[Zoints]

Originally Posted by puertoblack2003

i use Fire Fox i just have it disabled for now. but never looked into IE not a fan but will look at it later.

edit: everything appears to be fine in IE not to sure unlike FF after clickin in two post and that's when that long script appears.Is this mod ok for FF can you confirm?

It should be fine for FF.

If you would like to submit a support ticket to http://zoints.com/support.z with the following, we'll look into the issue for you:

1. A temp admin account
2. A temp FTP account
3. A description of the problem

Thank you.

[fxs158]

I installed and removed the mod. At present is not doing anymore than Digg and with digg I do not have to share my members with other forums. The mod seems to be listing for the most part the same threads from other forums on a daily basis.

There did not appear to be any turn over in terms of members, I do not think I even noticed traffic spikes as some people claim. Good try none the less, the concept sounded nice, but I think in this case since all the boards are sharing their members then they should all have the same amount of time on the front page.

[Deadly Assassin]

I have installed it and it all works fine apart from the submitted threads, dont go anywhere.

I can use the 'Z' in the drop down to get it in the queue, but they just sit there forever?

Any help would be appreciated.

[harmor19]

You and your team have created a great hack. Infact I'm going to nominate it.

[Zoints]

Originally Posted by fxs158

I installed and removed the mod. At present is not doing anymore than Digg and with digg I do not have to share my members with other forums. The mod seems to be listing for the most part the same threads from other forums on a daily basis.

There did not appear to be any turn over in terms of members, I do not think I even noticed traffic spikes as some people claim. Good try none the less, the concept sounded nice, but I think in this case since all the boards are sharing their members then they should all have the same amount of time on the front page.

You have a GREAT site, but to be honest, I think the majority of people find your content a bit dry. I know I'm not going to click through to read a story about credit repair or something along those lines. That's nothing against your site as it serves a great purpose and I wish you great success with it.

[Zoints]

We've started a debate regarding the future of Synergy. We'd love for those of you who have installed to take part here.

[Zoints]

Originally Posted by Deadly Assassin

I have installed it and it all works fine apart from the submitted threads, dont go anywhere.

I can use the 'Z' in the drop down to get it in the queue, but they just sit there forever?

Any help would be appreciated.

When you use the Z, are they in the moderation queue or the approved queue? Using the threadtools dropdown sends them direct to the approved queue.

Can you take a screenshot?