Integration with vBulletin - YAFB - Yay! Another Facebook Bridge

This is not just a "port" for vBulletin 4 of this modification, this is the next version of the modification which support both vBulletin 4 and vBulletin 3 family

IMPORTANT: FILE ISSUES HERE: http://code.google.com/p/vbulletinfacebook/issues/list (require a Google Account)

Yay! Another Facebook Bridge 3.3.2
Tested to work with vBulletin 3.7.x and 3.8.x (3.6.x requires some manual edit, contact me for detail instruction)
Tested to work with vBulletin 4.0 (use different .xml import file)
Please note: this product requires PHP5. If you get weird error messages, please check if you PHP version is still 4 (which is very old and you should change to PHP5 as soon as possible). Also, MySQL 5 is strongly recommended

[WHAT IS IT?]
There are many vBulletin - Facebook bridge out there but installing is always the problem for most of forum owner. So I decided to build this product from scratch and provide you the ability to install this Facebook Bridge into your forum in 10 minutes. The detail install instruction can be found below (under the Feature section). A few technical notes: This product uses Facebook Connect to maintance connection between vBulletin forums and complicated (and awesome) Facebook servers. All most everything is automatically done by the script, even the Administrators don't need to do any manual editing (yeah, I'm talking about manual templates editing, you WON'T need to edit templates each time you implement a new style). Once again, most of everything is options which can be enabled/disabled via AdminCP or UserCP interface. All possible type of caching is use to improve performance and reduce heavy PHP load on server side or javascript load on client side. Well, it's quite a long paragraph for introducing. Let's make it work!

[SEE IT IN ACTION]
Screencast:
1. Installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ComjeipReE4
2. Connecting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7m85O_iX70
3. Posting and Notifications: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBwwiffLvJ8
Demo board:
vBulletin 3.8: http://daohoangson.com/vb38
vBulletin 4: http://daohoangson.com/vb40
Authentication Username: demo. Password: demo.

[MAIN FEATURE]
*** Damn easy to install!
1. Loaded with long list of actions/notifications: posting thread, posting reply, rating thread, sending pm, sending visitor message, uploading image (avatar/profile picture), uploading pictures, comment on pictures. This list are designed to be expandable easily later by me or other people who loves to develope this product (well, if you do, contact me right now!)
2. Ability to quick register with Facebook credential but Administrator can disable this function via AdminCP. Facebook proxied email addresses are handled completely and vBulletin can send email without any problems (of course, the member must grant the Email extend permission). There is a setting in AdminCP to disallow Facebook proxied email addresses also for boards that need email explicitly
3. Ability to auto login with Facebook session (Administrator can turn this on or off in AdminCP and members can enable or disable this feature on their accounts either)
4. Other abilities: Display a profile block on vBulletin member page. Display a wall tab/box on Facebook profile page. Synchronize avatar from Facebook.
5. [AdminCP] Administrator can "edit" template bundle easily. Actually the old template will be deactivated, the new template will be registered and then all action associated with the old template with be updated with the new template bundle id. Oops, why you need to care about all of it? I did it for you already! Just go the the editing page and click Edit. Yay! All done
6. [AdminCP] Staffs can manage connected users and see basic information about them (including granted permissions)
7. [AdminCP] Administrator can decide to: migrate connected users from other products to YAFB, restrict private forums from being posted to Facebook, view detail log of YAFB in action, send notifications to connected users
*. [Experimental] I have added a fun feature that generate the Fans List, the photo will be posted to new thread with friend tagged (if available). The main purpose of this bonus feature is to demostrate the ability of the bridge. If you have an idea, contact me and I will implement it if I can
*. [Experimental] Friend Inviting functionality is added. Access from UserCP > Facebook Bridge > Invite Friends

[CHANGE LOG]
Version 3.3.2 (released on Jun 10, 2010): Register On-the-fly issue with vBulletin 3.8.4 fixed
Version 3.3.1 (released on Jun 08, 2010): Bug fixes and Migration for vBulletin 4.0.3
Version 3.3 (released on Apr 06, 2010): Auto login related features added. User experience reached a new higher level!

[NEW INSTALLATION]
*. Upload all files/folders in folder "upload" into your forum root (Please upload before importing product)
1. Import Product:
1.1. Go to AdminCP
1.2. Plugins & Products ~> Manage Products ~> Add/Import Product:
1.2.1. Browse to the .xml file (use product-yafb.xml for vBulletin 3 and product-yafb_vb4.xml for vBulletin 4)
1.2.2. Click Import

2. Fill the settings:
2.1. Go to AdminCP
2.2. vBulletin Options ~> vBulletin Options ~> Yay! Another Facebook Bridge
2.2. Create a Facebook Application if you haven't had one for your forum. Refer to the Creating Facebook Application below if you don't know how to do it
2.3. Fill the API key and Secret into the approriate fields. You can leave the Template fields untouch (the will be filled automatically). If you want to use the Account Reclamation feature, please place http://domain.com/forums/register.php?do=fbb_reclaim into Account Reclamation URL field. With other fields, it's your decision to made
2.4. Click Save and you are done!

2.* Creating Facebook Application:
2.*.1. Go to Facebook Developer > Create Application page http://www.facebook.com/developers/createapp.php (login if you didn't)
2.*.2. Enter the Application Name. Suggestion: Put your forum name here. Don't forget to tick the Agree radiobox and then click Save Changes
2.*.3. Now you can get your API Key and Secret (that are needed in step 2.3)
2.*.4. And go to the Connect tab, fill your forum url into Connect URL, fill your domain into Base Domain.
2.*.5. You are done with required information. But you can go through other tab and enter more detail about your forum, your application. I suggest putting a nice icon, banner into it. Happy customizing!

[UPGRADING]
Just upload overwrite files/folders then reimport the xml file. Do not forget to check "Yes" under "Allow Overwrite" to upgrade

[CONFLICT]
Since this product interfere with the registration procedure, I have found some other plugins/products that conficts with this product. Below is the full list of known confict and action taken to resolve the issue
No Spam (Human Verification): Temporary disabled during Facebook registration
vMail (Email Verification): Temporary disabled during Facebook registration

[OTHER PLUGINS/PRODUCTS]
I have developed an easy to use options/permissions system that allow other plugins/products to add it's actions into this bridge and let the forum members experience a whole new era of connections. I did a small demostration with my kBank System (which is a money system with award/thank functionality and a useful hiding feature) and it runs pretty well. If you are interested in testing kBank in action with YAFB, contact me. If you are a developer who wants to integrate your plugins/products with this Bridge, contact me either! You are all welcome
*Also available: Publishing Blog (vBBlog) to Facebook [New! Updated on Jan 10th, 2010]


[KNOWN ISSUES]
FILE HERE: http://code.google.com/p/vbulletinfacebook/issues/list (require a Google Account)

[RedTrinity]

Originally Posted by BBR-APBT

Do you think something you edited hours before this happened could interfere with the facebook modification?

I'm really not sure, BBR-APBT! What sort of change would cause it to do this, do you think?

The fact it all started happening a few hours later (when I wasn't doing anything) and then at different times for different users, is really bizarre. The first reported incident was at 10.30pm, with about 2-3 reported after that... I didn't see them until 12.30am, that's when it started happening for me, too. I had been online and regularly posting that entire time.

Its a pity the developer isn't around at the moment, maybe he would have some ideas on what I could check for troubleshooting.

[Zaiaku]

Try turning all all your mods except for this one and see if the problem is still there.

[Kingdombuilder]

I uninstalled the mod and then after a couple of days reinstalled it and It worked for me. I still have the missing button issue and the panel does not show up in my profile, but it is working for the time being... Anxiously awaiting the updated release...

[kall]

Originally Posted by Kingdombuilder

I uninstalled the mod and then after a couple of days reinstalled it and It worked for me. I still have the missing button issue and the panel does not show up in my profile, but it is working for the time being... Anxiously awaiting the updated release...

Are you certain that your navbar (or header) template contains the requisite hook?

[vespillo]

What is runbox, and why is that in the mod, more importantly How do i disable it. If you need money ask for donations. I am certain people will gladly donate for a functioning mod. But don't go sneakily advertise affiliate links.

[BBR-APBT]

Originally Posted by vespillo

What is runbox, and why is that in the mod, more importantly How do i disable it. If you need money ask for donations. I am certain people will gladly donate for a functioning mod. But don't go sneakily advertise affiliate links.

Go in to your plugins manager, and uncheck the box for that plugin(it is plain as day). Press save at the very bottom of the page.

[vespillo]

Originally Posted by BBR-APBT

Go in to your plugins manager, and uncheck the box for that plugin(it is plain as day). Press save at the very bottom of the page.

I did disable the mod as soon as i noticed this source of concern, and i didn't intend to sound harsh in this regard. It just seems highly suspicious that this "feature" is added to the product but not to the product description. Were i not changing the phrases into understandable English terms (work which i wanted to help the dev with) I would simply not have noticed this near spamvertisements existence, thing that might be against the guidelines of vb.org modding, if not that just plain unethical. I must stress I appreciate the effort the developer has put into this plugin.

Had i to chose between giving $50 or advertising a service i never heard of and risking users privacy, i'd give the $50 in a hearthbeat.

So in this regard, Mrpaint. My point of view : it does not make sense to deceive and trick your client?le. How are you going to regain the trust of the people that when finding this out will likely disable the mod, and think twice before installing anything you coded.

Frankly whats next ? Backdoors in mods; fine as long as nobody finds out?

[BBR-APBT]

Originally Posted by vespillo

I did disable the mod as soon as i noticed this source of concern, and i didn't intend to sound harsh in this regard. It just seems highly suspicious that this "feature" is added to the product but not to the product description. Were i not changing the phrases into understandable English terms (work which i wanted to help the dev with) I would simply not have noticed this near spamvertisements existence, thing that might be against the guidelines of vb.org modding, if not that just plain unethical. I must stress I appreciate the effort the developer has put into this plugin.

Had i to chose between giving $50 or advertising a service i never heard of and risking users privacy, i'd give the $50 in a hearthbeat.

So in this regard, Mrpaint. My point of view : it does not make sense to deceive and trick your client?le. How are you going to regain the trust of the people that when finding this out will likely disable the mod, and think twice before installing anything you coded.

Frankly whats next ? Backdoors in mods; fine as long as nobody finds out?

Disable the plugin for that file not the whole product. I already mentioned this in this thread and he will not be on till some time in the next week or so. Chill out and let him answer before bashing him. Maybe it was for his site only and he accidentally added it into the release for public.
vBulletin.org also knows this is in the mod as I reported it to them. I did not find a affiliate ID in the code. So it does not work it just causes a error.

[mrpaint]

it looks like it ' s really hot here . regarding the runbox affiliating plugin , one of my friend suggested that website for me since his old modification doesn ' t work when using in combination with yafb . i tried to make it for him but i haven ' t had enough time to test it properly so i left it out in the latest release , no word is given in description or no option in admincp is available ( i removed them )

so , to vespillo , i do understand your concern regarding your members privacy so it ' s your decision to use yafb or not but please do not say it that way . thank you

also , i really appreciate your help , bbr-apbt and zaiaku . i will come back soooon

ps : to vespillo , if you are kind enough , you may find the paypal link somewhere in the first post . i ' m pretty sure that vbulletin.org has built in donating feature : d

[Megatr0n]

Originally Posted by mrpaint

it looks like it ' s really hot here . regarding the runbox affiliating plugin , one of my friend suggested that website for me since his old modification doesn ' t work when using in combination with yafb . i tried to make it for him but i haven ' t had enough time to test it properly so i left it out in the latest release , no word is given in description or no option in admincp is available ( i removed them )

so , to vespillo , i do understand your concern regarding your members privacy so it ' s your decision to use yafb or not but please do not say it that way . thank you

also , i really appreciate your help , bbr-apbt and zaiaku . i will come back soooon

ps : to vespillo , if you are kind enough , you may find the paypal link somewhere in the first post . i ' m pretty sure that vbulletin.org has built in donating feature : d

mrpaint, please check your e-mails as it is urgent!