Major Additions - Announcing Forum Runner - vBulletin Android/iPhone/iPad App

Introducing Forum Runner for the iPhone/iPad/Android vBulletin!

Forum Runner now supports ANDROID Devices!!!

Forum Runner now supports vBulletin 4.0/4.1 CMS!!

http://www.forumrunner.com

What is Forum Runner?

Forum Runner is a vBulletin mod that allows your users to browse your forum using a native Android/iPhone/iPad client. This means faster access for those users since it only downloads the actual forum information rather than all the extraneous images that slow down the mobile connection.

Forum Runner now supports the iPad natively! Download the Forum Runner app once and support both iPhone and iPad versions in one universal app!

iOS 4 multitasking on the iPhone is fully supported by Forum Runner.

Forum Runner is FREE for forum owners to install, and takes less than 5 minutes. The client for the iPhone/iPad/Android costs 1.99$ which is LESS THAN THE COMPETITORS, and has more features. Please see the list below for full information on Forum Runner's features.

Forum Runner inherits all the security built into vBulletin, so users running Forum Runner will only be able to see the same forums and threads as they could using a regular browser.

Forum Runner Feature List

• Native Android/iPad/iPhone support
• vBulletin 4.0 CMS support
• iOS 4 multitasking support
• Browse your favorite forums in an easy-to-use-interface with multiple notification types (private message, subscription, etc)
• Fully customizable home screen with your favorite forums
• FREE PUSH NOTIFICATION SUPPORT : Get private message and subscribed thread updates from your favorite forums in the background!
• Poll updates (private messages/subscriptions) from favorites on home screen - shows you a summary of which forums you have new messages or subscriptions on!
• Graphical display of polls - view results and vote on polls
• Moderation tools for your moderators/admins (close/open thread, stick/unstick thread, move thread, delete posts, etc)
• Image attachment thumbnail and full size viewing from threads
• View a thread's image attachments in one convenient screen (much like the native iPhone "Photo" app)
• Save thread images to your iPhone/iPod touch library
• Fully searchable forums!
• Multi-quote support
• View embedded links without leaving the app, including YouTube videos
• Supports portrait AND landscape mode
• Full posting options (quote posts, start new thread, etc)
• Attach unlimited photos from your library (or take a photo from the camera and attach it)
• Full support for private messages and private message folders
• Full support for thread subscriptions - track your favorite threads and be updated via push when they have new posts!

Forum Runner currently supports vBulletin 3.6.x, 3.7.x, 3.8.x and 4.0.x. We are adding support for other mobile phones as well as forum software.

There is a Free version available in the iTunes App Store and Google Market as well which allows your users to try out Forum Runner before making a decision to buy it. It has all the features of the full version except that it does not have the ability to post threads and a few other differences which are outlined on http://www.forumrunner.com.

Some screen shots of Forum Runner running on various devices:

iPhone: Home Screen with customizable icons and notifications:



Push notification updates while outside the app:



Image attachment browser from a thread:



Fully searchable forums:



Full forum browsing:





How do I get the Forum Runner vBulletin Add-On?

You can download the latest version from vBulletin.org below. However if you download this version, you still need to register your forum on our directory list so it shows up in the iPhone/Android client. Please note that if you download the addon from vBulletin.org, you will need to download the unique sitekey.php file from http://www.forumrunner.com after you register your forum.

To register your forum, simply head over to http://www.forumrunner.com/?p=register. Full instructions to register your forum in the Forum Runner database are there. Once you register your forum, you can download the sitekey there. Simply place this file in the "forumrunner" directory that is created when you unarchive the add-on.

Also, there is a support forum located at: http://www.forumrunner.com/forum Please post up your ideas or any issues you have with the App there.

How can I get the Forum Runner iPhone Client?
Either search "Forum Runner" in the App Store on your iPhone, or click one of the links below:

Get Forum Runner Full Version from App Store

How can I get the Forum Runner Android Client?

Either search "Forum Runner" in the Google Market on your Android device, or click one of the links below:

Get Forum Runner Full Version from Google Market

BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE RIGHT VERSION FOR YOUR FORUM!

This is the vBulletin 4.x thread. For other versions, look below.

Forum Runner for vBulletin 3.6.x
Forum Runner for vBulletin 3.7.x
Forum Runner for vBulletin 3.8.x

[hilaryl]

More questions...

Our viewers are asking for the following features - are these available on forum runner:

• view signatures & tickers
• use/view smilies
• see view post count
• delete pms

thx

[ClemsonJeeper]

Originally Posted by hilaryl

More questions...

Our viewers are asking for the following features - are these available on forum runner:

• view signatures & tickers
• use/view smilies
• see view post count
• delete pms

thx

* Signatures - we can add support for that. Look for it in the next version.
* Tickers - What is a ticker?
* Smilies - We have a small technical hurdle to overcome but are almost there.
* Post count - On the threads, or in the profile?
* Delete PMs - You can do that now. Swipe to delete (or hit Edit and tap Delete)

[ClemsonJeeper]

Originally Posted by hilaryl

Just wanting to clarify how this works...

We have our forum running on mobiles with a specifically designed mobile skin that allows us to place ad units and things like google analytics in the header and footer templates (that we can customise).

Can we do this with the forumrunner app?

Not currently, but if you send me a PM with how you would want this to work - we could add it in a future revision for you. It might be useful to other forum owners as well.

[hilaryl]

• These are tickers: http://www.tickerfactory.com/ezticke...r_designer.php - count down graphics
• Post count - on a post, in the top right hand corner you get the poster's location and post count displayed (on a standard vBulletin installation)

Will send you a PM about the customisations for header and footer

[yellowpeter]

Originally Posted by ClemsonJeeper

Good looking out (except for the product plug ), it looks like a grey area right now. Forum Runner adheres to all of the:

* Only one AdSense for mobile ad unit may be displayed per mobile webpage.
* A "double" ad unit can only be placed on the bottom of the page, but may appear above the page's footer (e.g. navigational links, copyright messages, etc.).
* Google ads displayed on a publisher's mobile-compliant webpage may not be modified or obscured in any way.
* After a user click, display of the advertiser's landing page may not be interrupted or prevented in any way. For instance, publishers may not display their own interstitial pages before taking users to the advertiser's website.

Since the actual forum webpages that are indexed are HTML, and since the AdSense code is hosted from the forum's website, the crawler has no problem indexing and categorizing the website.

I will attempt to get more clarification from Google on this, but nowhere in the terms do I see "cannot be in an application".

Hi,

Yes it is a grey area but we can't put innocent forum owners who are not aware of this risk and empower them to do it without knowing it can be potentially troublesome. The issue here is you are making a fake webpage with the some thread content inside with the web-based banner within your app. Google site made it clear that it has to be a "mobile site".

The issue here is Google regularly shut-down accounts that violate their agreement and has robot in place to check it. It can close the forum owners who are using this feature for no reason and there is no way for them to dispute it. A lot of forum owners are living on Google Adsense and a account shut-down can really take down their entire website with zero revenue stream.

Please think twice before you push out this feature. It's fine it is your own app and your own adsense account but not wise to step into Google grey area at the cost of other forum owner.

[ClemsonJeeper]

Originally Posted by yellowpeter

Google site made it clear that it has to be a "mobile site".

And google also defines a "mobile site" as being:

Mobile Webpage Markup Languages:

* wml (WAP 1.x.)
* xhtml (WAP 2.0)
* chtml (imode, etc.)
* html (high-end ad units only)

Which is exactly what the remote forum is based on. Like I said, I have contacted google and am awaiting a response. We do not wish to violate any of Google's ToS with Adsense. If it turns out that Google responds back with a negative answer, then the feature will be removed in leiu of another revenue generating method (embedded banners perhaps?)

Thanks again for the response. We appreciate all feedback here at Forum Runner.

[ClemsonJeeper]

Version 1.3.1 of the add-on has been released:

* Fix issue with international forums with PHP that does not have the mbstring module
* Add support for AME (Auto Media Encoder) tags
* Fix issue with certain forums not being able to verify

[Adam H]

Im getting a parse error on my iphone for one of my forums, the rest it works ok on . Am i right in saying that while the forum is in Closed status it wont work ? the forum is reopening on sunday but i just wanted to check that is all the problem is

[ClemsonJeeper]

1.3.2 released, maintenance update including:

1.3.2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Fix some push notification issues
* Fix some searching issues

[ClemsonJeeper]

Originally Posted by riverwire

Im getting a parse error on my iphone for one of my forums, the rest it works ok on . Am i right in saying that while the forum is in Closed status it wont work ? the forum is reopening on sunday but i just wanted to check that is all the problem is

Yes, this is correct. There is no real way to get around the forum being Closed because vBulletin intercepts this before any of our code is executed.

I'd recommend taking advantage of the "Publish Forum as Private" feature of the Forum Manager. It will keep your forum off "New Arrivals" and "Popular" until you are ready to come out of closed status.