Major Additions - Links and Downloads Manager

What this is and does

LDM is a general-purpose tool for managing libraries of links and files, and handling uploads and downloads in a flexible way, while tracking and control user access. It has a range of integrated media players and a large library of 'plugin' extras.

Installation and Usage Explained in the on-line Wiki, with a brief explanation in the file instructions.txt in the release zip. The recent revision history is given in the first post of this thread.

Please use carefully and always backup your database before upgrading. Post reports of problems and suggestions for enhancements in this thread.

14.06.09 Version 2.3.0 is now the the officially-supported version. Works with 3.7 and vb 3.8. Please post comments in this thread

22.06.08 Version 2.2.9-post1 - This is the previous supported version. Works fine with all versions of vb 3.6 and vb 3.7. All standard features except profile integration and forum prefix selection work fine with vb 3.8.

[Rouzbeh1]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

It's not implemented yet - I'll take a look. There's a couple of potential traps - categories do not need to have unique names and the names can include bbcodes, etc.

for me it would be enough to have a link in this format local_links/links/17 => local_links/links/c-17-music/
where c-17 stands for category 17....
thanks

[Alfa1]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Not as far as I know - you're trying the new 'oxygen' icons? I've just run a test and both the category and category_new icons display fine. Bear in mind that the new icons are pngs and you can't put them in the same directory as the old gif icons (i.e. upload them into another directory or delete the old icons).

No, i am trying to use the same icons for my LDM categories as i have been using for my forum categories.
I just uploaded the prefix_forum_new.gif and prefix_forum_old.gif to the uploads folder and entered the files into LDM's admin.

I have a special LDM category for sponsors, that only they should have access to. But sponsors are an additional usergoup, not a primary usergroup. How can I grant access to sponsors only?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

No, i am trying to use the same icons for my LDM categories as i have been using for my forum categories.
I just uploaded the prefix_forum_new.gif and prefix_forum_old.gif to the uploads folder and entered the files into LDM's admin.

Currently, the code assumes that all icons are being specified relative to the forum directory and there's no check whether this is in fact the case - I realise that this is inconsistent with the handling of other directories such as uploads and thumbsdir. Either create a new image subdirectory somewhere underneath the forums or just drop your icons into your regular LDM icons dir.

If you do the first, specify the category icon in the form my/new/icon/subdir/mycaticon.gif

If you do the second, specify myiconsdir/mycaticoncat.gif

Originally Posted by Alfa1

I have a special LDM category for sponsors, that only they should have access to. But sponsors are an additional usergoup, not a primary usergroup. How can I grant access to sponsors only?

LDM should take care of this fine. If you are using version 2.2.9, edit the category of interest, choose the user permissions tab, and take away *can_view_category* permission from all usergroups except sponsors (and perhaps admins, etc). Or, with version 2.2.8 or 2.2.9, associate the category with a forum which is only visible to the sponsors usergroup

[Alfa1]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

If you do the first, specify the category icon in the form my/new/icon/subdir/mycaticon.gif

Thanks that worked well. I am eager to see how this looks when the forum like layout of 2.2.9 is added.

Originally Posted by AndrewD

LDM should take care of this fine. If you are using version 2.2.9, edit the category of interest, choose the user permissions tab, and take away *can_view_category* permission from all usergroups except sponsors (and perhaps admins, etc). Or, with version 2.2.8 or 2.2.9, associate the category with a forum which is only visible to the sponsors usergroup

I am currently using 2.2.8, but will be upgrading as soon as 2.2.9 beta is out. I'll edit usergoup settings at that time. Thanks.

[beishe8]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

no normal compression. perhaps a corrupt download?

check the file size - 1,492,517 bytes

Yes,only part of the file would come down.
Solution: When downloading the file don't use "Save", use "Open" instead.

[lovevn]

Hello
Can I export database and import to another site? In this case how about the user names (of users who posted the links)?

Thanks

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by lovevn

Hello
Can I export database and import to another site? In this case how about the user names (of users who posted the links)?

Thanks

You can transfer the database in two ways - either use an sql utility to backup all the tables called "local_" and import these into your new database. This will transfer all settings

LDM also has an xml export/import facility on the admin page. The xml file contains all information on your categories and entries but (at least not until the final version of 2.2.9) the admin settings.

The transfer will retain the usernames and userids from the source machine. Of course these may not correspond to usernames and userids on the new machine. Depending on the number of users who have submitted entries, this would be a fairly quick task to fix using a bit of sql. Its not yet included as one of the 'mass edit' features in LDM.

[lovevn]

Thanks for your quick reply. I want to use the LDM xml file. As you said it still does not contain the "admin settings", after I import this xml file in to the new forum can I set it via a admin control panel? If there are some "same " user id, is there any error when I importing it?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by lovevn

Thanks for your quick reply. I want to use the LDM xml file. As you said it still does not contain the "admin settings", after I import this xml file in to the new forum can I set it via a admin control panel? If there are some "same " user id, is there any error when I importing it?

Yes, you simply go to the ldm admin and reapply the settings you want

There will be no problems with userids - just mismatches between the displayed usernames and the current ones - as far as I can see

[Alfa1]

Where can I set moderators per category and where can I define where the broken link emails go?
Is it possible to create categories that only contain subcategories? i.e. it should not be possible to add entries/files to these categories.

If possible, then I would like to display these categories similar to how a category is displayed in vbulletin. (vbulletin forum settings: Act as Forum (Will act as category if no))
Is this an option?

Will 2.2.9 add LDM statistics to the statistics tab of vbulletin member profiles? (vb 3.7)