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.

Please use carefully and always backup your database before upgrading. Post reports of problems and suggestions for enhancements in this thread. You can also find extensive discussion of this mod in the VB3.7 mods section.

14.06.09 Version 2.3.0 is the the officially-supported version. Works with 3.7 and vb 3.8.

14.02.10 Post-1 version uploaded with minor bug fixes, including dealing with PHP 5.2.12


Staff Note: Sadly, Andrew D, the developer of the Links and Downloads Manager has passed away after a long period of illness.

[AndrewD]

Thanks very much, these are very helpful suggestions and I will see what I can do. I do not plan to make a new release until vb 4.x is available, because this is likely to require a lot of work. I add specific remarks below.

Originally Posted by nohuhu

a) please oh please split administration/settings page into several! it makes an impression of having been created for superhumans who can remember EVERYTHING. some settings options are related to each other and it takes so much time to find them after the page was updated...

I fully share your impression, and I have felt for some time that the settings page needs further effort. (It is a lot better than it used to be ) However, is it more difficult that the main vb admin options page? (That's a serious question.)

Originally Posted by nohuhu

b) is it possible to somehow tie file ratings with corresponding thread ratings? i thought it would be just great if someone could rate file right from thread view and vice versa, thread view would display actual file rating.

I think that I should review the entire integration of LDM with vb, and the use of Ajax code to allow this type of feature to work 'on the fly'.

Originally Posted by nohuhu

c) maybe that's too advanced for a simple feature request but it would be beneficial to have means of accepting large file uploads. by large i mean greater than post_max_filesize. i thought, is it possible to implement ftp integration? like, user uploads large file to the server via ftp - this need not involve LDM - and then adds the file in LDM using ordinary "add entry" page. after submitting uploaded file's ftp url in corresponding field, LDM sees that this url belongs to the same server and instead of storing entered url it moves the file from ftp directory to upload_dir with the same name, or alternate name if "Rename" option was used when adding the file. this way we could have both of two worlds: ftp's robustness and minimum overhead with LDM's no-hassle file additions. i hope i described all this coherently enough...

Again, this is a good idea and I will give it some thought.

Originally Posted by nohuhu

and, um... i know it may sound too bold but have you ever considered overhauling LDM's phrasing in order to make it more fit for localization in languages structurally different from Western ones? frankly i don't know how Chinese people made their translation, i don't read Chinese and can't tell if it's close to English default but trying to make Russian translation proved to be difficult. for example, many phrases have not-too-meaningful names like ll_available or ll_entry or ll_search - there's no telling where those phrases are used and what for. also, i've encountered many phrases that are used simultaneously in different places with apparently different meaning, and this does add to complexity too, 'cause in many languages there are different forms of adjectives and verbs depending on context and trying to fit one phrase everywhere results in kludgy translation... or worse, if i'd translate a phrase for one page where i've seen it first and wouldn't have noticed that it is used on other page with different phrasing it'd just look ugly. mesa donta speeka inglisha. an ideal solution, if tedious, would be to ensure EVERY phrase is unique so it can be translated any way needed. LDM is just too great piece of software to be poorly translated and i'd like to do a quality job but it's not easy...

I have tried to be consistent, but also to keep the number of phrases to a reasonable minimum to limit the memory overhead and the work needed to provide a translation. I will certainly review the separation of menu item/error message/information.

[nohuhu]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Thanks very much, these are very helpful suggestions and I will see what I can do. I do not plan to make a new release until vb 4.x is available, because this is likely to require a lot of work. I add specific remarks below.

well i didn't intend to force your decisions or something, as i said i just made some suggestions for future versions. whenever they be.

I fully share your impression, and I have felt for some time that the settings page needs further effort. (It is a lot better than it used to be ) However, is it more difficult that the main vb admin options page? (That's a serious question.)

yes, i found it quite difficult to configure LDM properly, at least initially. this mod is a system unto itself, its complexity can be easily compared to the main vbulletin forum software and the learning curve after installing this mod is quite steep. vb admin options are divided in several pages, making them a lot more manageable. of course there's an option to display all settings at once but frankly i only use it rarely to find some option if i'd forget on which page it is located. otherwise i always use separate pages, it's much easier to navigate and it takes a lot less effort to concentrate on settings themselves.

I think that I should review the entire integration of LDM with vb, and the use of Ajax code to allow this type of feature to work 'on the fly'.

well that would be lovely. i, for instance, plan to use thread view extensively and i think it would be much easier for users to see rated files. right now it can be a bit unintuitive, so i think i'd better turn off thread ratings for announcement forums to avoid threads being rated differently from files themselves.

also, i think it would be beneficial to have tighter integration between LDM and vb for comments and discussion. maybe i have something configured wrong in my test setup but it appears that comments are not stored as announcement thread messages but rather as separate entities viewable only on LDM entry page. i'm not sure yet if that can be done without code changes using only templates but it would be good to display thread replies as comments on LDM page and vice versa, LDM comments as thread replies in announcement thread. better yet, store comments as posts in announcement thread and display the same messages both on LDM entry pages and in announcement thread. this way, it would make a perfect place for users to discuss files without undue confusion as to where to post their comments.

Again, this is a good idea and I will give it some thought.

thanks. this feature could spare me from constant headache of tracking user uploads, moving and adding them manually with respect to their original uploaders. i think i must elaborate a bit on my setup for you to understand it better: i run an automotive forum dedicated to technical matters, mostly DIY diagnostics and repair. some of my users are very experienced mechanics and they just love to add to the forum, they make up these "do this and that" manuals with lot of pictures, spare parts replacement sheets and such, these documents can get very large - especially when an user is more like auto mechanic than computer literate user, if you get my meaning. so Word documents with uncompressed photos within are not that uncommon and they can easily grow over my max_post_size limit that is set by hosting provider. i just don't have time to pre-process all those documents before uploading, i'd rather give users some reliable way to add large documents so they could do that themselves. ftp is good for uploads but i can't control downloads the way i want and i won't give free anonymous access to my ftp. i have an unlimited traffic hosting plan, in theory, but once the traffic from anonymous ftp soared up to 1000 gb in a month i got a bit uneasy and had to stop that.

I have tried to be consistent, but also to keep the number of phrases to a reasonable minimum to limit the memory overhead and the work needed to provide a translation. I will certainly review the separation of menu item/error message/information.

well i'm not php expert but i don't think that making phrases unique will place unbearable burden on servers with regards to memory. LDM phrases are only used on LDM pages, or so i perceive vbulletin's phrase management. also phrases can be divided in more sections to lower memory load. as for work needed to translate a mod, i've done quite a few already and i can tell you, i spend a lot more time trying to think up an elegant way to translate an English phrase when it is used in several places than simply translating sheer bulk of used-once phrases. if i'm sure that a phrase is used only once, like in help sections or admin sections, i just type. it's fast. when i have to stop and think, it consumes time. and with mods this large, it consumes a lot of time.

[AndrewD]

Thanks for the reply. I'll see what I can do.

This has been a living project now for 5 years, and indeed in the past, memory usage for text strings was an issue, perhaps less so now.

Concerning the linkage between LDM and vb features, initially I was determined to keep them completely separate, because otherwise it would be a full time job to keep things compatible (vb today is very different from vb in 2004 both in its features and coding style). A new release of LDM typically takes me a couple of months work, so I want to be quite sure what is happening with vb 4.x before starting the next round!

[odln018]

This is probably a stupid question, but how do you go about deleting files?

Also, is there a file browse feature such as the Downloads II mod?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by odln018

This is probably a stupid question, but how do you go about deleting files?

ldm/edit entry/delete Also ldm/admin/mass edits

Originally Posted by odln018

Also, is there a file browse feature such as the Downloads II mod?

I don't know what the downloads ii mod feature offers so can't really comment.

[Simon Lloyd]

From 3.7.x thread

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Simon, there's an option to add statistics to the user profile - LDM / admin/ settings / profile_ldmactivity

Is this what you are looking for.

Hi, Andrew, that option is turned on and i see the recent uploads downloads as links in ldm blocks (as i have always done), what i'm talking about is when you go to a persons profiel and you have the tabs Visitors. About me, Statistics...etc, click the statistics and you have a series of lightly outlined boxes showing you "counts" from particular locations, this is where i would like to show
LDM Count
My LDM Downloads: xx
My LDM Uploads: xx

Does that make sense?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Simon Lloyd

Hi, Andrew, that option is turned on and i see the recent uploads downloads as links in ldm blocks (as i have always done), what i'm talking about is when you go to a persons profiel and you have the tabs Visitors. About me, Statistics...etc, click the statistics and you have a series of lightly outlined boxes showing you "counts" from particular locations, this is where i would like to show
LDM Count
My LDM Downloads: xx
My LDM Uploads: xx

Does that make sense?

Makes sense, Simon. I havent implemented this but will add it to the list.

[VonDoom]

This product is so good i bought a new vB licence just to explore all the possabilitys. Simply amazing and is better then other premiums mods ive purchased for similier atributes. *Installed and Nominated.* I read other mention the backend isnt very welcoming. But i found this to be false. while i could see some frustrating night for the Novice vB admin. i find the backend pretty user friendly. lol does this mean im finally wrapping my head around vB? lol Thanks for this killer product. cant wait to see it evolve with 4.0

[mauro1947]

Is there a way using LDM to user must pay (using subscriptions) for each file he want to download?
Thanks
Regards!

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by mauro1947

Is there a way using LDM to user must pay (using subscriptions) for each file he want to download?
Thanks
Regards!

This is not built in. You can however use vbulletin's 'forum subscriptions' to protect the files with a 'pay for access' forum.