The Arcive of Official vBulletin Modifications Site.

Dynamic Joomla!VB wrapper · **Released**: 03-06-2008

NB: This add-on is not a single sign-on solution.

This add-on provides a means for dynamically wrapping your vbulletin in a Joomla! 1.0.15 portal implementation. This add-on does not touch the core files of either system and there is no requirement to do anything on the Joomla! side unless you've created wrappers for several templates and want to switch between those templates. At which point, you'll simply switch your Joomla! templates via in the Joomla! template manager. And finally, this add-on assumes that your forum is located directly below your joomla implementation directory and is sharing its database. The following instructions include example code snippets to (hopefully) assist in making this add-on proceed as smoothly as possible.

Before attempting to install this add-on, disable your forum and back up your database!!!. This is to ensure you have a working copy in case you run into problems.

.

If you install this PLEASE
Click Install

Preparation:

Step 1: Create a subdirectory in your current template directory (both locally and on your target site) called, vbulletin. For example, if you're using one of the default templates for Joomla! 1.0.15... say... madeyourweb, you would create your vbulletin directory as follows:

joomla-root-dir/templates/madeyourweb/vbulletin
Step 2: Create three files (head.php, header.php, & footer.php). These will contain content from your index.php file in your selected template directory. So, if you are using the default (madeyourweb), you would use the index.php file in that directory to create the three vbulletin wrapper files. These files should be formatted as follows:
head.php
This file is for your joomla template content between the <head> [...] </head> tags. This is also where you initialize theme variables and add any include statements, for example, from a Rocket Theme ...
Code:

<?
	$default_style = "style3";			//[style1... style10]
	$enable_rokzoom = "true";			  // true | false
	$template_width = "fluid";			// width in px | fluid
	$sidebar_width = "25%";					// width in px or %
	$sidebar_side = "right";				// left | right
	$menu_name = "mainmenu";				// mainmenu by default, can be any Joomla menu name
	$menu_type = "moomenu";					// moomenu | suckerfish | splitmenu | module
	$default_font = "default";      // smaller | default | larger
	$show_pathway = "true";					// true | false

	require($mosConfig_absolute_path."/templates/" . $mainframe->getTemplate() . "/rt_styleloader.php");
  $myjoomlacontent   = array();
	$myjooomlacontent[] = '<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; '._ISO.'" />';
	$myjooomlacontent[] = '<link href="'.$mosConfig_live_site.'/templates/'.$mainframe->getTemplate().'/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />';
	$myjooomlacontent[] = '<link href="'.$mosConfig_live_site.'/templates/'.$mainframe->getTemplate().'/css/'.$tstyle.'.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />';
  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
?>

header.php
This file is for your joomla template content between the <body> tag and the php mosMainbody function call.
Code:

<?
  $myjoomlacontent   = array();
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '<div id="outer-800" >';
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '<div id="pathway">';
  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
	mospathway();
  $myjoomlacontent   = array();
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '</div>';
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '<div id="leftcol">';
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '<a name="menu"></a>';
	if (mosCountModules( "left" )) {
	  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
		mosLoadModules ( 'left',-3);
	  $myjoomlacontent   = array();
	}
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '</div>';

	[...]
	  
  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
?>

footer.php
This file is for your joomla template content between the php mosMainbody function call and the </body> tag.
Code:

			</div>
		</div>
		<div class="clr"></div>
	</div>
</div>

Step 3: Upload your files to the new vbulletin directory that you just created

Step 4: Download the attached product-joomla-vb.xml project-addon and change:

joomla-menu-id-for-your-forum => Joomla! menu id for your forum (you can find this under Itemid in your Joomla! control panel menu manager)

your-joomla-path-goes-here => absolute path to your Joomla! installation

Installation:

Select Plugins & Products => Manage Products and click on the "Add/Import Product" link. And select the above xml from where ever you have stored it locally. This will install your product as well as your supporting plugin.
Select Plugins & Products => Plugin Manager and select Include the Joomla!VB template wrappers, then click save, to ensure the plugin refreshes.
Select vBulletin Options and scroll down to the end of the list. There should be a "Dynamic Joomla Options" in the list. Select that, and verify that your path and your joomla menu id are set correctly. If not, change them to the correct settings and click save.
Select Styles & Templates => Style Manager and create a brand new style with default (or a style you already have in place) as the parent style.

NB: The above intermediate step provides a means to play around with a test template without trashing your existing template. And, it also makes it easier to sandbox without having to restore your database.
Select Common Templates from your dropdown menu of the style you just created.

Common templates has three templates. These are header, headinclude, and footer.
- Insert $myjoomladhead at the end of the headinclude template
- Insert $myjoomladheader at the end of header template
- Insert $myjoomladfooter at the end of footer template
- Click save.
Click on your new style, which will launch your forum with the Dynamic Joomla!VB wrapper.

Demo: http://crimsonshadows.net (click on forum to see the seamless integration between the portal and vbulletin)

Notes, debugging, etcetera:

All php function calls, such as mosLoadModules should be made in the order they appear in your template. For example:
Code:
<?
  $myjoomlacontent   = array();

	[...]
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '              <div id="horiz-menu" class="'.$mtype.'">';
  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
  mosShowListMenu($menu_name);
  $myjoomlacontent   = array();
  $myjoomlacontent[] = '                <div class="clr"></div>';
	[...]
  
  echo implode( "\n", $myjoomlacontent );
?>
vBulletin seems to have problems parsing the raw Joomla! html w/embedded php. Hence the reason to use the $myjoomlacontent buffer variable, which you must dump ala the echo/implode when needing to make a function call that echoes the results as opposed to returning a string.

If you do not have embedded php code, you can simply include the raw code as reflected in the above footer.php example. Or, if you're a brave soul and have some time just import your raw templates and bypass the $myjoomlacontent buffer altogether. Good luck on this latter and if you figure out what the kink is, please let me know.

As far as debugging goes? Hopefully you have access to your php error log or you're displaying your php errors/warnings to the screen. This makes debuging much easier.

The most common errors you can encounter when attempting this type of implementation are leaving off ending quotes, or using a semiquote on html code that already contain a semi quote. My general rule of thumb, if the html code is using quotes, then I use semi quotes to load the string into $myjoomlacontent buffer. Likewise, if it is using semi quotes, I use quotes.

Other errors may be missing variables. I'm using the Rocket Theme templating system therefore my head.php contains the Rocket Theme includes.
As for swithching themes? You will need to create a vbulletin directory under each template directory you may wish to use. Then, create the three aforementioned files (head.php, header.php, footer.php) and upload them to their respective template directory. At which point, it is a matter of using your joomla control panel to switch between templates.

Excellent/Important user feedback/tips

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiedgen

1.) I noticed on your site that when you go from your main page to your
vbulletin page, the navbar font is a different size and/or style. --- I
found a fix for this and the answer lies in the style manager in the VB
admincp. Edit your desired VB style and scroll down the CSS style boxes
until you come to <td>, <th>, <p>, <li>. This is where the problem lies.
Apparantly, implementing the joomla code (which includes the CSS code) is
screwing with the vb css code. The solution was simple; I just edited the
font size and font family under <td>, <th>, <p>, <li>. In my case, I
changed the font size to 9pt and re-arranged the first font style: verdana.
Once I changed these variables, the header and navbar text was identical to
the rest of the board.. No more little annoyance.. :-)

2.) And lastly, this deals more with the rockettheme template code. I
noticed that I couldn't get my board to center correctly in the main
content wrapper; it was a few pixels to the right. (I know.. petty stuff..)
To remedy this I deleted the last dozen or so lines of code from my
header.php file; the code dealing with the right or left nav section (in my
case, the right nav section) If you would like the specific code, don't
hesitate to ask. Your firenze template coding should be nearly identical to
my elemental template from rockettheme.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheesegrits

One fairly important change though, for anyone even vaguely concerned about server load, you should probably wrap this around the plugin code:

PHP Code:


			
if (THIS_SCRIPT != 'cron')

{

   blah blah

}

Otherwise you are loading the whole of Joomla twice on every page load, and it obviously doesn't need to happen the second time, just for the cron jobs.

Support

I will happily answer questions that are not addressed in the above instructions. Feedback is also welcomed.

Addendum

Please do not ask me to write and/or debug your php code! So far, all of the questions I have received are from people who (a) did not even bother to read the detailed instructions that I provided above, and/ or (b) haven't clue one wrt writing php code, much less debugging it.

While I have no problem supporting this product, I do not have time to teach people how to write and debug their own code. Esp considering that the errors encountered thus far could have been easily avoided by reading the instructions!

If you install this PLEASE
Click Install

shadowraith · #12 03-08-2008, 05:28 PM

I wrote the initial add-on for Joomla! 1.5 however since I needed to roll back to 1.0.15 to support the numerous modules/bots, I no longer have those files.

As far as making such a wrapper? You can generate a wrapper by defining your absolute joomla path ($myjoomlapath), template name ($myjoomlatemplate), and, for say, rocket themes, style name ($myjoomlastyle). I would also add these as parameters so that you can easily change them in the vBulletin settings, should you decide to switch themes/styles.

Then, it is a matter of removing the joomla calls in the add-on xml, adding the code to fetch the parameters, and replacing $this->baseurl, $this->template, and $tstyle, respectively, in your head, header, & footer php files. In addtion, you would need to replace the "menu code" with your own home-grown menu function.

Since the concept of this add-on is fairly straight forward, it is simply a matter of hacking this add-on to work with Joomla! 1.5. Or otherwise put, if you are comfortable with Joomla! 1.5 and vbulletin, and have solid php coding knowledge, a 1.5 hack such as the above, while tedious, should be quite simple. Ymmv, of course.

The down side is that a hacked implementation, such as the above is not dynamic. In other words, if/when you switch Joomla! styles, you would also need to change them in the vBulletin settings area. You would also need to upgrade your menu function anytime you changed the main menu. If I went this route, I would create a sharable menu include file, so that regardless the template, that menu function would always be included into the wrapper.

And finally, I have no doubt there is a better approach than the aforementioned for 1.5. However, migrating to 1.5 is not on my "to do" list atm, so unless that changes, I will not have time to investigate it further.

If you have other questions, feel free to pm me.

Sunsetdriver · #13 03-10-2008, 08:39 AM

This is what I was exactly looking for!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Does it work also if J and VB don't share the same database? Otherwise do I have to add some code to make it working?

Thanks

shadowraith · #14 03-10-2008, 03:24 PM

In theory, it should work regardless of whether they are in separate databases or not. In reality, it depends upon how they implemented their db classes. For example, are they using a thread resource pool? If not, any real loading will likely result in some odd behavior.

That said, I would first try to ensure it works with an integrated db. Then, once things are working smoothly, repoint vb to it's original seperate db by exporting the integrated db, and loading it into the seperate db.

By doing this, you limit potential sources for error during your trouble shooting phase. Ymmv, of course.

shadowraith · #15 03-11-2008, 03:45 PM

For those of you using Rocket Theme, I received some excellent input regarding the differing font size and alignment problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiedgen

1.) I noticed on your site that when you go from your main page to your
vbulletin page, the navbar font is a different size and/or style. --- I
found a fix for this and the answer lies in the style manager in the VB
admincp. Edit your desired VB style and scroll down the CSS style boxes
until you come to <td>, <th>, <p>, <li>. This is where the problem lies.
Apparantly, implementing the joomla code (which includes the CSS code) is
screwing with the vb css code. The solution was simple; I just edited the
font size and font family under <td>, <th>, <p>, <li>. In my case, I
changed the font size to 9pt and re-arranged the first font style: verdana.
Once I changed these variables, the header and navbar text was identical to
the rest of the board.. No more little annoyance.. :-)

2.) And lastly, this deals more with the rockettheme template code. I
noticed that I couldn't get my board to center correctly in the main
content wrapper; it was a few pixels to the right. (I know.. petty stuff..)
To remedy this I deleted the last dozen or so lines of code from my
header.php file; the code dealing with the right or left nav section (in my
case, the right nav section) If you would like the specific code, don't
hesitate to ask. Your firenze template coding should be nearly identical to
my elemental template from rockettheme.com

The above has been added to the basic instructions. Thanks again, Tiedgen!

Sunsetdriver · #16 03-12-2008, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowraith

In theory, it should work regardless of whether they are in separate databases or not. In reality, it depends upon how they implemented their db classes. For example, are they using a thread resource pool? If not, any real loading will likely result in some odd behavior.

That said, I would first try to ensure it works with an integrated db. Then, once things are working smoothly, repoint vb to it's original seperate db by exporting the integrated db, and loading it into the seperate db.

By doing this, you limit potential sources for error during your trouble shooting phase. Ymmv, of course.

Thanks for your reply

Actually I have Joomla and vBulletin in different databases. I'll start doing some tests with your hack and I'll let you know.

Btw...do you think the same thing could be applied to phpbb3? :erm:

shadowraith · #17 03-12-2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunsetdriver

Btw...do you think the same thing could be applied to phpbb3? :erm:

As with anything, if you know how to code, and have the time and patience, it could be done. I admittedly do not know the state of phpbb these daze. My last tinkering was phpbb2. Even so, imho, unless the've re-architected the infrastructure and cleaned up the interfaces, and oh... idunno... tightened up some of their code, the thing leaks like a sieve. Esp when it comes to security. Then again, "secure php-[whatever]" is somewhat of an oxymoron. lolol.

Panagioths · #18 03-12-2008, 05:45 PM

I have a question. Are we just copy the data in the boxes for the 3 files? Because i got a blank page after i applied the theme....

shadowraith · #19 03-12-2008, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panagioths

I have a question. Are we just copy the data in the boxes for the 3 files? Because i got a blank page after i applied the theme....

First off, what do you mean by "applied"? Secondly, if you read the detailed instructions (which, given your question about "copying the data in the boxes" causes me to believe that you did not even remotely do), you would not have asked the question you just did. And finally, had you read "up" you would also see that, surprise, surprise, the common problem people seem to be having with installing this very simple mod is not reading the instructions and/or having like, zero understanding of even the most rudimentary php concepts. In other words, just trying to cut/paste your "theme" into the three referent files without bothering to buffer the html (which I explicitly explained in the instructions) will ... surprise, suprise... fail. And, had you ever coded anything in php (even if it was a simple "hello world" script), you would know that a white screen means the php compiler encountered a fatal error in the code. At which point, you could, at the very least, examine the error log which, in fact, gives the file name and line number where the error occurred. And, if worse came to worse, you could at least stare at your code and pretend you even know what you're looking at, and then come here with, you know, a superficially real question?

As it stands now, I am going to disable the "will support" and will not answer any further "all I am getting is a white screen" questions. If you cannot help yourself by at least reading the instructions, then I do not have the time or patience to even remotely consider helping you.

Panagioths · #20 03-12-2008, 07:47 PM

Ok, sorry for not having English as my primary language and sorry for being an amateur in coding and not knowing how to "buffer the html". I humbly seize my existence in order to stop bothering you. Please don't disable the "will support" because others might actually need it.

nonamer69 · #21 03-17-2008, 07:32 PM

anyone tested this with 3.7?

btw, thanks shadowraith for your contribution.

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