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NNTP Gateway for Usenet ( Newsgroups ), Mailing Lists · **Released**: 07-20-2005

The latest version: V3.5.0Alpha 1 (21 Jul 2005)

What is it?

This hack provides a gateway from vBulletin forums to the USENET. It allows forum members to read newsgroup messages as well as to send posts to the newsgroups. In a nutshell, it turns vBulletin forums into a basic function news reader.

For an added bonus, this package also supports mailing list archive and forum to mailing list gateway. The software retrieves messages from a pop3 account and import them into the forums threaded. It also allows a forums user to send messages to the mailing list by the forum posting interface.

Why?

The gateway will be appreciated by forum members who do not know how to set up a news reader, or people who do not have port 119 open in their network. A forum interface to read and post news are often considered to be better than a news reader.

The gateway adds more contents to your forums and allows the members to interact with wider audience. It is common to see new users signing up to use this feature.

History

This hack was originally coded by Gilby for vB2. I modified the hack to work with vB3 and have been maintaining and improving the hack. I have now done the modification for this to work with vB3.5.

The very original hack by Gilby can be found here:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...7&page=1&pp=15

The vB3 version can be found here:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=65152

Features

Some of the features and improvement include:

Handles both newsgroup posts and mailing lists.
Handles MIME encoded messages and attachment.
Handles UUEncoded messages.
Two Admin Control Panels for all settings.
Automated installation.
Correct thread implementation. All imported messages and posts sent to newsgroups will be threaded correctly according to References and Message-ID headers.
Optional setting to thread by subject for mailing lists that strip references header.
Imported messages will be searchable just like normal forum posts.
Similar threads are built when the messages are imported if the system setting is on.
Multiple attachments importing.
Save attachment to database or file according to vB setting.
Thumbnail created while importing image files.
Multiple attachment post to newsgroup is also supported.
Selectable X-No-Archive header honouring system.
Light on system resources.
Global Killfile to filter out unwanted messages. Killfiles can have OR and AND effectiveness.
Strip footer by setting for incoming messages. Strips out repeated message footers.
Built options to disable signatures and footers for out going messages.

Future development

Traditional "> " lead posting interface.

What do you need and do not need?

You do not need to edit vB php files.
No need to manually run SQL.

Installation

Basically the AdminCP interfaces take care of installation as well as upgrade in the background. Back up your database first. The scripts can modify your database without alerting you!

Please follow the instructions in the readme.txt file for more details.

It is not a must to click "INSTALL" for this hack if you use it, I do try better answering the questions from people who do.

Support

Please post your support questions to this thread. Please check the FAQ in the second post within this thread first. It may be surprising, but it is possible your question is answered in the adminCP NNTP settings.

Please always provide more details about your problem. Examples and debug messages will certainly help. Well, if you don't even try to have some effort to compose your question, the answer you get may also not include much effort.

================== UPDATES ======================
Jul 21 2005 (release version 3.5.0 Alpha 1)

AdminCP xml file is written by Kadence.

Ported to work with vB3.5.
Existing bug fixes.
Debug message can be sent by email or logged in vB Tast Scheduler.
Known problem: image attachment thumb nail creation still needs work.
Needs to be done: Documentation.

Quick installation instruction:
1) Upload files to their correct directory
2) Enter AdminCP, click on NNTP Settings once to install/upgrade. Change settings to your like.
3) Click on NNTP Groups once to install/upgrade.
3a) For new install. Run once
http://www.yourdomain.com/setlastmsg.php

Delete this file afterwards.
If you are upgrading from an older version. There is no need to upload this file. Actually this file should not be there except brand new install.

4)
Manually run in debug mode: http://forums.yourdomain.com/gateway.php?debug=1

TMM-TT · #**532** 07-20-2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vze2yqtm

I've added most of the hacks that were added to this thread and then installed it.. It actually took me a couple of hours to go through all the posts. Now I have a problem. I didn't install all the files that came with the original files like the setlastmsg.php, mime.php, pop.php, the XML file (cpnav_nntp_gateway.xml) because it didn't specify it in the Read Me as far as I can tell I used option 2 for installation because it was mentioned earlier in this thread. Now when I try to run mysite.com/gateway.php?debug=1 I get this error:

Code:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_ELSE in /home/username/public_html/gateway.php on line 385

I'm running 3.6.7.

Anyone knows what the problem could be? It looks to me like it could be some kind of error with the code DKendall supplied only because the error seems to be coming from that line, but I'm no PHP expert and I'm not really sure.

And what does line 385 say?

vze2yqtm · #**533** 07-20-2007, 08:03 PM

Looks like this is what it says:

Code:

  $kf = killfile_match();
			   else

Here's a little bit more of the code in case that part isn't enough:

Code:

	elseif ($nntp['grouptype'] == 'mail'
		AND $group['prefix']
		AND stristr($message['subject'], $group['prefix']) == false)
	{
		logging("Skip, not matching prefix: \"" . $group['prefix'] . "\"");
	}

	if(!$skip_post)
	{
	   $kf = killfile_match();
			   else
			   {
				$threadid = 0;
				$attachmentid = 0;
				$parentid = 0;

				if ($nntp['grouptype'] != 'news')
				{
					$message['text'] = stripfooter($message['text']);
				}

TMM-TT · #**534** 07-20-2007, 08:10 PM

Ok.. Something is just missing there... This part:

PHP Code:


			
 $kf = killfile_match();
                else

looks like this in my gateway.php:

PHP Code:


			
                           $kf = killfile_match();
                           if ($kf)
                           {
                                logging("Skip, killfile "" . $kf . "" match.");
                           }
                           else

and after that, it looks right

Fabsboards · #**535** 07-20-2007, 09:06 PM

Are there any plans to update this for 3.6.7? If not, are there any other similar mods?

Alfa1 · #**536** 07-21-2007, 06:50 PM

This is the only mod for Usenet.

vze2yqtm · #**537** 07-22-2007, 11:09 PM

It seems like I have everything working fine, but now I'm getting a 411 error no such group. I am using about 20 different newsgroups and I know some of them are good. Why am I getting this error for most of them? The servers are replying and giving info like no posting and stuff like that, why is it saying they don't exist?

Here's an example:

Code:

Connecting to server, server says: 200 aioe.org InterNetNews NNRP server INN 2.4.4 (20060818 snapshot) ready (posting ok).

Info for nntp.aioe.org at nntp.aioe.org: 411 No such group nntp.aioe.org

TMM-TT · #**538** 07-23-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vze2yqtm

411 [...snip...] I am using about 20 different newsgroups and I know some of them are good. Why am I getting this error for most of them?

Code:

Connecting to server, server says: 200 aioe.org InterNetNews NNRP server INN 2.4.4 (20060818 snapshot) ready (posting ok).

Info for nntp.aioe.org at nntp.aioe.org: 411 No such group nntp.aioe.org

It seems that something in your configuration is wrong? In the example, you are requesting the newsgroup "nntp.aioe.org" and I don't think that group exist on that server. As you say, error 411 means that the group doesn't exist, and there could be two reasons why you get that message; a) the group really don't exist there b) your configuration may be wrong somewhere (ie you have configured aioe as a server but have put the servername in the wrong field, as shown from the example).

Another thing that may be important for aioe-users: They only allow 25 posts/day per ip. If you're running a server with many users, those 25 may be used up quite fast.

vze2yqtm · #**539** 07-23-2007, 07:05 PM

The problem is I'm getting this with about 15 other newsgroups. It could be my settings since they are basically the same for all of them. Here's a screenshot of the settings I have (I've attached them here for future viewers and also uploaded them temporarily for ease of viewing):

Most of the newsgroups I'm attempting to use appear to not use username and passwords so that's the reason it's not included.

Newsgroup/Mailing List Email: I put in link
Forum: Forum I want it to show in
Prefix: I've left blank
Last Message: 0
Server: I put in the link again
The rest I've left blank (username and password are not required on these newsgroups) and enabled it.

Am I filling it out wrong?

By the way I appreciate your help. Thank you.

TMM-TT · #**540** 07-23-2007, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vze2yqtm

The problem is I'm getting this with about 15 other newsgroups. It could be my settings since they are basically the same for all of them. Here's a screenshot of the settings I have (I've attached them here for future viewers and also uploaded them temporarily for ease of viewing):

Most of the newsgroups I'm attempting to use appear to not use username and passwords so that's the reason it's not included.

Newsgroup/Mailing List Email: I put in link
Forum: Forum I want it to show in
Prefix: I've left blank
Last Message: 0
Server: I put in the link again
The rest I've left blank (username and password are not required on these newsgroups) and enabled it.

Am I filling it out wrong?

By the way I appreciate your help. Thank you.

That's true... aioe doesn't allow username/password at all, it's free to use but with a 25-post-per-day-only-limit... What newsgroups are you looking for, actually?

The only wrong I can see in your attachment is that the top field for the newsgroup-name should be an existing newsgroup. The current you have in your screenshot doesn't exist

Quote:

200 aioe.org InterNetNews NNRP server INN 2.4.4 (20060818 snapshot) ready (posting ok).
GROUP nntp.aioe.org
411 No such group nntp.aioe.org

I think my newsbot is a bit out of date now, but if you need a complete list of that server's groups, you can look here.

There's only one thing I'm thinking of now - does the gateway work when sending empty identification strings, since aioe don't use authentication?

vze2yqtm · #**541** 07-23-2007, 08:12 PM

It worked!!! Thanks again.

I changed Newsgroup/Mailing List Email to one of the groups from the link you provided (I picked alt.accounting) and got some posts. I'm actually only testing the script for now, I have not placed it in a live section of my forum. It's in an admin viewable only section.

As far as authentication, I'm not sure, but everything else seems to work fine, I guess it was just that I didn't pick the right Newsgroup name and that seemed to fix everything. I'm still testing so I may be back with more questions, but I hope everything works for now. I'll probably end up using one of the paid newsgroup solutions, but I want to get all of my testing out of the way with free newsgroups for now.

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