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.

[vbboarder]

Template Question: Andrew, I did a lot of changes to the links_main & links_linkbit_greg templates. Are there changes to those templates I need to be aware of? Are the changes significant such that I need to revert those 2 templates?

[obmob]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Here is the first beta release of 2.3.0. It still requires care - please do not install on a live site unless you are willing to deal with bugs. I will appreciate test reports and suggestions.

NB: the main zip only contains the Englilsh product file. The translations are supplied separately.

There are a few more changes expected before 2.3.0 becomes the new official release (work on vba page load efficiency, integration of vbboarder's 'extras' integrator to smooth upgrades, and perhaps a couple of new extras), as well as updating the wiki.

Compared to version 2.3.0-alpha, these are the changes:

+ Additional attributes

Groups have new 'hidden' and 'collapsed by default' options which can be set on per-category basis
Attribute groups displayed as collapsible boxes on 'Add/Edit Entry' forms
Attribute names that start with * are replaced by the corresponding vb phrase when displayed on user pages

+ Administration
Added information on admin/allowances when usergroups have *can_bypass_XXX* permissions
Added information on admin/showinfo when usergroups with *can_bypass_XXX* permissions

+ Accept agreement
Template/ *ll_agreement* phrase includes username as parameter

+ Forum Announcements
Admin option added to select thread prefix when forum announcements made in forum defined by autocreate_forum setting

+ Media Players
Updated JWplayer to use swfobject 2.1

+ Searches
Improved consistency of Advanced Search interface to saved searches and profile searches
Integrated attributes consistently into searches and search interface
Added option to profile searches to allow any/all/exact matches

+ Starred Nominations
New *Current Nominations* search option on Show menu
New permission *can_view_nominations* gives access to current nominations in linkbits and via Show/Current Nominations

+ vba modules
ldm_tagcloud, ldm_new_reviews, ldm_newly_reviewed and ldm_cats extended to accept optional category list
ldm_hot_thumb module added (thanks, vbboarder)
various bug fixes and template edits to improve integration with inline media players (thanks, vbboarder)

+ Extras
*blockhit-bylasthit* extra extends *timeout_hit_allow* setting to per-usergroup, per-category setting
*flash-sites* extra updated to allows national YouTube urls; handling of other video sites brought back up to date
*id3tag-enhancements* updated to use phrased attribute names
*shadowbox* extra provides lightbox handling of LDM Jukeboxes and images in main linkbit and in attributes
*ffmpeg-utils* updated to allow video transcoding via LDM admin pages
*tagcloud* updated to allow optional list of categories to include in cloud

+ Bug fixes
Filter bar appears correctly when featured entries have been enabled but no featured entries are visible
Retain *prune_downloadtable* setting correctly after visiting admin/hits pages
Fixed highlighting of exact phrase searches
Fixed highlighting with php versions < 4.4.0/5.1.0 which lack utf8 regex extensions
Fixed sql error with some choices of *musicbox_default_sort_order* setting
Fixed IE Javascript bug when *cat_desc_popup* is set
Fixed statistics code/vba module code to correctly select latest entries, hide hidden entries, etc.
Fixed handling of *show category name* option in vba modules
Fixed 'report entry' email to correctly pick up per-category setting of *report_email*
Fixed 'report entry' and 'send to friend' to redirect correctly when selected after search
Fixed bugs in handling some characters in filenames in admin/scans
Fixed display of profile field names in profile searches
Fixed central alignment of all titles on main page
'Sort by name' category listings and category drop down menus apply natural sorts (1,2,10 rather than 1,10,2)

These were the changes in 2.3.0 alpha compared to 2.2.9

+ Add/Edit Entry
Removed 'delete image' option when image has been autocreated from entry
Minor change to autoannounce new entries phrase ldm_thread_create_body to include category name

+ Admin
Keywords page lists keywords horizontally
Linkbits page allows editing of main linkbit and catbit parameters

+ Category Display
Added *category_filter_menu* setting to display/remove keyword filter dropdown
Added *cat_default_sort_order* setting to control sort order of category lists (was *default_sort_order*)

+ Featured entries
Added *featured_usergroupid_favs* setting to select featured entries from entire usergroup(s)

+ Media Players
Removed .swf from filetypes handled by JWplayer and added .m4a

+ Ratings and Comments
Inline comments/ratings changed to be full part of main linkbits
Ajax-enabled ratings/comments available as an option when using inline comments/ratings
Inline comments/ratings also available in Jukebox

+ Starred nominations
Entries can be unnominated
Nominations are no longer stacked, i.e. only user's current nomination is recorded

+ Security
*secure-urls* extra integrated into LDM, allowing download/play urls to be fully locked down
*secure_nullindexfile* setting autocreates empty index.html files to block browing of upload/thumbs directories
vBulletin session ids handled corrrectly throughout

+ User Profiles
No longer shows LDM sections in user profile when turned off
When LDM sections in user profile are empty, 'none' is shown as contents

+ Efficiency changes
Admin and categories tables cached in vBulletin datastore and unnecessary database lookups eliminated

+ Extras
*id3tag-enhancements* extended to create attribute information for wider range of video and audio files
*JWplayer-extensions* inline player extended to play attributes that are media files
*Wimpy* wimpybutton player extended to play attributes that are media files
Test release of *ffmpeg-utils* - uses ffmpeg utility to grab video frame as thumbnail and to transcode video formats

+ Hooks and templates
Added ldm_icons_cached after caching list of icon filenames
Added ldm_catbit_start in ldm_get_categorybits()
Added ldm_construct_catlist in ldm_construct_category_list()
Added ldm_maindisplay_title in main code
Added ldm_customfields_myentries in ldm_member_customfields_myentries()
Added ldm_customfields_myhits in ldm_member_customfields_myhits
Added ldm_create_post and ldm_create_thread in forums interface code
Split links_header template into links_header, links_navbar and links_navbar_popups templates, making it easier for
sites to move the LDM menu bar (move $ldmnavbar variable in links_main)

+ Bug fixes
Various fixes to id3tag-enhancements extra; extra now also works within Edit Entry
Fixed permissions-related null category bug in Edit Entry
Minor changes to code used to highlight search results to deal with UTF-8 special characters
Unnecessary blank line removed from category description in main displays
Fixed byte reporting in limitaccess-by-posts extra
Fixed keyword display/edit bug when display is filtered on keyword
When 'link_imagesize' is left blank, LDM correctly applies VB Message Attachment/Thumbnail Size setting
Sequence 'search->comment->return' returns to entry's category, not the base category

Hmm... is there a lot to translate?

I found somephrases with typos, i'll fix them

[vbboarder]

Andrew, I'm about to update to LDM 2.3.0-beta1 but I would also like to update to VB 3.8.0-beta1. Do you know of any conflicts the new LDM will have with VB 3.8? Should I update LDM first or VB? Please let me know soon, thanks.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by vbboarder

Template Question: Andrew, I did a lot of changes to the links_main & links_linkbit_greg templates. Are there changes to those templates I need to be aware of? Are the changes significant such that I need to revert those 2 templates?

Between 2.2.9 and 2.3.0, there are some quite significant changes to the linkbits, primarily to accommodate the ajax-enabled inline comments/ratings. From 2.3.0-alpha to beta1, the changes are small (just a couple of lines) but important - to patch in the nominations.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by vbboarder

Andrew, I'm about to update to LDM 2.3.0-beta1 but I would also like to update to VB 3.8.0-beta1. Do you know of any conflicts the new LDM will have with VB 3.8? Should I update LDM first or VB? Please let me know soon, thanks.

I haven't downloaded vb 3.8 for test yet - I'll see if I can find time tomorrow.

[ForumsMods]

I tested this and works in vB 3.8.0 Beta 1. I tested 2.3.0-beta1.

[vbboarder]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

I haven't downloaded vb 3.8 for test yet - I'll see if I can find time tomorrow.

Ok, I'll test it out. I'll update to LDM-2.3.0-beta1 first, then VB 3.8.0-beta1.... fingers crossed

Originally Posted by Gasper

I tested this and works in vB 3.8.0 Beta 1. I tested 2.3.0-beta1.

Thanks Gasper for the info. Do you use vbAdvanced 3.0.1? If so, can you please let me know if that works with VB 3.8.0-beta1? Thanks!

[ForumsMods]

Yes I use this, you can see it here
http://www.vbstyle.org/

If you want, I can install LDM in my web.

[vbboarder]

Originally Posted by Gasper

Yes I use this, you can see it here
http://www.vbstyle.org/

If you want, I can install LDM in my web.

Muchos gracias for the confirmation. You don't need to install LDM just for me, I trust your word

Originally Posted by AndrewD

I haven't downloaded vb 3.8 for test yet - I'll see if I can find time tomorrow.

Merci beaucoup, Andrew

[DJDrew]

Hello, everything for the links and downloads manager is working fine for me. Altough my forum runs very quickly, including the downloads section, it seems to run very slow when loading the images for the downloads.

All the images are hosted on the same dedicated server and the image loads up fine when linked direct to the image rather than through the download manager.

Anyone got any ideas to why this might be happening? I've tried playing round with it all but couldn't seem to figure out why it was doing it! Please help, Drew.