vBulletin CMS Widgets - United-Forum Nivo Slider Widget

Based on the Nivo Slider - all credit for slider awesomeness goes to them.
vB4 implementation goes to me.


What it is:
A slider for cms articles, it gets the articles via database, uses (if possible) the previewimage there and resizes it to slider size *update 1.1.0 cropping function included.

Livedemo on a Big Board (>2.000.000 posts)
the nivo slider on our site is customized to fit our heavily customized cms. Default look of this addon is shown in the picture below


facts about the nivo slider

Originally Posted by nivo slider homepage

- ~ 600.000 downloads
- 16 transition effects
- a ton of options
- different available themes
- ...

Installation

• upload all files (attached zip file) in the folder where you do need them - this has to be the same folder you will set via $slider_img_filepath (see picture)
  
  
  
• create a new php-widget and insert the following code:
  

  // DEBUG MODUS !
  $debug_modus = false;
  
  if($debug_modus === false)
  {
  	ob_start();
  }
  
  //nivo slider - uf - vb.org version
  //set these values as you need them:
  
  //your slider folder - has to be read and writeable
  //folder where all slider files are saved
  $slider_img_filepath = 'external/unitedforum/slider/';   
  
  //picture width and height !same as in the CSS FILE!
  $maxwidth = 650;                                  
  $maxheight = 250;    
  
  //do you want images without previewimage to be shown? slider is using the fallback then
  $show_articles_without_image = false;           
  
  //picture shown if your articles has no previewpicture
  $fallback_img = $slider_img_filepath . 'uf_fallback_slider.png';  
  
  //hardcoded maximum is 20 - if you want more just ask
  $number_of_articles_shown = 10;                                
              
  //lengh in characters of the article descriptions
  $description_length = 95;
  
  //stretch picture or crop them? false = strechting (default) true = cropping (beta)
  $crop = false;
  
  
  //Debug Messages
  if($debug_modus)
  {
  	echo "<span style='color:red;'>DEBUG MODE is ON! </span><br />";
  	echo "slider_img_filepath: $slider_img_filepath <br />";
  	echo "width: $maxwidth   height: $maxheight <br />";
  	echo "Strech or Crop? $crop <br />";
  	echo "show_articles_without_image: "; 
          var_dump($show_articles_without_image); 
          echo " <br />";
  	echo "fallback_img: $fallback_img <br />";
  	echo "#img: $number_of_articles_shown <br />";
  	echo "description_length: $description_length <br />";
  	echo 'directory ' . DIR . '<br />';
  
  }
  
  
  
  
  $article_type = vb_Types::instance()->getContentTypeID("vBCms_Article");
  $time = TIMENOW;
   
  if(!extension_loaded('gd'))
  {
  	echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> Your System does not support the GD-Libary. Please install the GD-Libary.<br />';
  }
         
  	$article_get = vB::$db->query_read('
          SELECT
              article.pagetext,
              article.previewimage,
              node.url,
              node.publishdate,
              node.parentnode,
              parentnode.url AS parenturl,
              thread.replycount,
              info.title,
              node.nodeid,            
              GROUP_CONCAT( category.category )
          FROM
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_article AS article INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_node AS node 
                  ON (node.contentid = article.contentid AND node.contenttypeid = ' . vb::$db->sql_prepare($article_type) .') INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_nodeinfo AS info 
                  ON info.nodeid = node.nodeid INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_node AS parentnode 
                  ON parentnode.nodeid = node.parentnode LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'thread AS thread ON thread.threadid = info.associatedthreadid LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_nodecategory AS nodecategory ON nodecategory.nodeid = node.nodeid LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_category AS category ON nodecategory.categoryid = category.categoryid 
          WHERE
              node.setpublish = 1 AND
              node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
  			node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' 
          GROUP BY node.nodeid
          ORDER BY node.publishdate
          DESC LIMIT 20');
  
      $database_articles = array();
      
      /* my version of sorting the articles via relevance - i'll keep it in case someone is interested*/
      while($article = vB::$db->fetch_array($article_get))
      {
          $article['value'] = ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) * ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) * ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) + (10 * $article['replycount']);
          $database_articles[] = $article;        
      }
      
      foreach($database_articles as $c => $key)
      {
          $sort_value[] = $key['value'];
      }
      
      array_multisort($sort_value, SORT_DESC, $database_articles);    
      
      //
      $i = 0;
      $section_array = array();
      $featured_articles = array();
  	
      foreach($database_articles AS $article)
      {
          $section_array[$article['parentnode']]++;
  
          $categories = explode(',' , $article['GROUP_CONCAT( category.category )']);
       
          if($show_articles_without_image == true OR $article['previewimage'])
          {
              if($section_array[$article['parentnode']] < 50 AND $i < $number_of_articles_shown)
              {
  				if($debug_modus == true OR !file_exists($slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg'))
  				{
  					//rebuild image to the height and width we want in the slider 
  					//called sprite since i got the code from our sprite addon :P
  					$sprite = imagecreatetruecolor($maxwidth, $maxheight);
  					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
  					{                   				
  						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
  						if(is_array($imageinfo))
  						{   
  							$image = null;
  							switch($imageinfo[2])
  							{
  								case IMAGETYPE_PNG:
  								$image = imagecreatefrompng($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								case IMAGETYPE_GIF:
  								$image = imagecreatefromgif($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								case IMAGETYPE_JPEG:
  								$image = imagecreatefromjpeg($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								default:
  								echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> Unknown image format. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  								break;                        
  							}
  							
  							if(!is_resource($image))
  							{
  								//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  								echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> imagecreation failed. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  								$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  							}
  							else
  							{
  								$img_width = $imageinfo[0];
  								$img_height = $imageinfo[1];							
  								
  								if($crop == false)
  								{									
  									imagecopyresampled($sprite, $image, 0, 0, 0, 0, $maxwidth, $maxheight, $img_width, $img_height );
  									imagedestroy($image);
  								}
  								else
  								{
  									//cropping
  									$ratiox = $maxheight / $img_height ;
  									$ratioy = $maxwidth / $img_width ;
  									$new_height = $img_height;
  									$new_width = $img_width;
  									
  									if ($maxheight > $img_height OR $maxwidth > $img_width)
  									{
  										if($ratiox > $ratioy)
  										{
  											$new_height = round($img_height * $ratiox);
  											$new_width = round($img_width * $ratiox);
  										}
  										else
  										{
  											$new_height = round($img_height * $ratioy);
  											$new_width = round($img_width * $ratioy);
  										}										
  									}
  									$cropx = $new_height - $maxheight;
  									$cropy = $new_width - $maxwidth;
  									
  									imagecopyresampled($sprite, $image, 0, 0, 0, 0, $new_width, $new_height, $img_width, $img_height);
  									imagedestroy($image);
  									
  								}
  								
  								
  								$img_filepath = $slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg';
  								$success = imagejpeg($sprite, DIR  . ($img_filepath[0] != DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ?  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR : '') . $img_filepath);
  								imagedestroy($sprite);
  								if($success)
  								{
  									$article['previewimage'] = $img_filepath;
  								}
  								else
  								{
  									$img_filepath = DIR  . ($img_filepath[0] != DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ?  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR : '') . $img_filepath;
  									echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> imagejpeg failed. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />
  									directory: '. $img_filepath ;
  									
  									$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  								}
  							}
  							
  						}
  						else
  						{
  							//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  							echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> picture is not readable.' . $article['previewimage']. '<br /> ';
  							$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  						}                  
  					}
  					else
  					{
  						//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  						echo '<span style="color:red">Warning:</span> article has no previewimage or sprite is no ressource. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  						$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  					}
  				}
  				else
  				{
  					//we already have the image, no need to resize or crop anything
  					$article['previewimage'] = $slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg';
  				}
  
                  /*remove everything from the previewtext - html and bb. I do not want bold or colored text there. Cut to a decent length.*/        
                  $article['pagetext'] = strip_bbcode($article['pagetext'], true, true, false, true, false);
  
                  $article['previewtext'] = strip_tags($article['pagetext'], '<a>');
                      
                  $len = $description_length;
                  if ( strlen($article['previewtext']) > $len )
                  {                    
                      $article['previewtext'] = substr( $article['previewtext'] , 0 , strrpos( substr( $article['previewtext'], 0, $len), ' ' ));
                  }   
  
                  $i++;
                  //Build Array
                  $article_neu = array();
                  $article_neu['description'] = '<h2 style="font-weight:bold; font-size: 14px">'. $article['title'].'</h2><span>'. $article['previewtext'] .'</span> <a href="/content.php?r=' . $article['nodeid'] . '-' . $article['url'] . '">read on</a>';
                  $article_neu['htmlcaptionname'] = 'htmlcaption' . $article['nodeid'] ;
                  $article_neu['picture'] = '<a href="/content.php?r=' . $article['nodeid'] . '-' . $article['url'] . '"><img src="'.$article['previewimage'].'" alt="" title="#htmlcaption'. $article['nodeid'] . '" /></a>';
                  
                  $featured_articles[] = $article_neu;
              }
          }
      }
      
      //Randomize Array
      //shuffle($featured_articles);
  
  	//Debug Messages
  	if($debug_modus)
  	{
  		echo '#articles - featured and databasepull ';
  		var_dump(count($featured_articles));
  		var_dump(count($database_articles));
  	}
  
      
  $output_bits = '
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
      <div style="height:' . $maxheight . 'px;">
      <div id="wrapper">
          <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
              <div class="ribbon"></div>
              <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">';
              
                  foreach($featured_articles AS $article)
                  {
                      $output_bits .= $article['picture'];
                  }
              $output_bits .= '
              </div>';
              
              foreach($featured_articles AS $article)
              {
                  $output_bits .= '<div id="' . $article['htmlcaptionname'] . '" class="nivo-html-caption">' . $article['description'] .'</div>';
              }
              
              $output_bits .= '         
          </div>
  
      </div>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'jquery-1.6.1.min.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">
      $(window).load(function() {
          $("#slider").nivoSlider();
      });
      </script>
      </div>
      ';
          $output = $output_bits;
   
  if($debug_modus === false)
  {
  	ob_end_clean();        
  }

• set refresh time to something big!
• save - add the widget to your layout - enjoy

Custom settings:

At the top of the php-widget code you can see the following:

// DEBUG MODUS !
$debug_modus = false;

if($debug_modus === false)
{
	ob_start();
}

//nivo slider - uf - vb.org version
//set these values as you need them:

//your slider folder - has to be read and writeable
//folder where all slider files are saved
$slider_img_filepath = 'external/unitedforum/slider/';   

//picture width and height !same as in the CSS FILE!
$maxwidth = 650;                                  
$maxheight = 250;    

//do you want images without previewimage to be shown? slider is using the fallback then
$show_articles_without_image = false;           

//picture shown if your articles has no previewpicture
$fallback_img = $slider_img_filepath . 'uf_fallback_slider.png';  

//hardcoded maximum is 20 - if you want more just ask
$number_of_articles_shown = 5;                                
            
//lengh in characters of the article descriptions
$description_length = 95;

If you change $maxwidth and $maxheight you need to edit the nivo-slider_uf_theme.css file, here:

.theme-uf #slider {
    margin:0px auto 0 auto;
    width:650px; /* Make sure your images are the same size */
    height:250px; /* Make sure your images are the same size */
}

Width and height have to be the same value in your php-widget and in the css file.

In additon to these settings i also included a "value/relevance function". Meaning the slider doesn't show your latest 5 articles, but instead weights them based on age and comments.

As older an article is the less likely it will show up in the slider.
More comments make it more likely.

This behaviour can be easily changed. I didn't include an if condition cause every board has different needs and i don't know whats best for you.
In addition conditions like "articles just from this section - or these sections, or this category, with a minimum of 10 posts" can be included via one single if condition. Again, i don't know what your board needs or what your category names are.

You can also modify the preview length (more words, less words), the preview style (color fontsize, fontweight .... Again different forums different needs. It's highly customizable.

Support:

Support and requests for the slider itself should be asked here http://nivo.dev7studios.com/
Same goes for different slider themes - a lot is possible, even thumbnails - again this is part of the nivo slider and not the vb4 implementation.

If you have any questions regarding the settings - or want different settings (which have to do with vb4) - ask, and i'll try to come up with some code // show you where you have to put what.

Slider not working. No idea why?

You will find a FAQ in the first comment, which will be kept up to date:
FAQ

The widget here is completely free. No charge, no branding.
But, we do not mind donations either. If you want to give us something. Since we are advertising free and fan based we are happy about every small donation.
( On Forumhome bottom right paypal button: http://www.united-forum.de/forum.php )



That's all
Hope it works for you.
Regards Mooff

[Mooff]

Just a quick note to that vb_Types error, that is this line:

$article_type = vb_Types::instance()->getContentTypeID("vBCms_Article");

For our board the article content type id is 18. That might be different for your board, check your database and then change it to the number like this

$article_type = 18;

But that aside if you do want to use it in the cms anyway, why don't you use the php-eval content type (to have that in your content selector you need to activate html for your usergroup, yeah that is confusing)? Or create a bunch of subsections where you want to have it?

That template way is for sites not in the cms, like forumhome or external php files (files like this: http://www.united-forum.de/external/.../membermap.php - in the framework using the template system, but link leads to a php file, no slider on that example though).


edit: btw. you might want to change the variable name $output to something else in a global plugin. That might colide with $output variables vbulletin is using. Rename it everywhere to $slider_output or something.

[DoDe]

Strange thing now happens with my slider.
In debug mode I receive this message:

PHP Code:

DEBUG MODE is ON! 
slider_img_filepath: slider/ 
width: 950 height: 390 
Strech or Crop? 
show_articles_without_image: bool(false) 
fallback_img: slider/uf_fallback_slider.png 
#img: 10 
description_length: 95 
directory /var/www/mnt/nfs03/nfs2/html/pro/dfgrom.com/root
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=41&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36&cid=24
 #articles - featured and databasepull int(7) int(7) 


The permissions in the cms permissions section are:
www.dode.dfgrom.com/permissions.JPG
The slider folder is 0777.
GD library is installed.

Any ideas?

[Mooff]

manually opening one of your attachment links gives me an auth box - the slider will see the same and therefore cannot read that attachment.

[DoDe]

thanks,
that was the problem :up:

[Loversama]

Originally Posted by DoDe

Strange thing now happens with my slider.
In debug mode I receive this message:

PHP Code:

DEBUG MODE is ON! 
slider_img_filepath: slider/ 
width: 950 height: 390 
Strech or Crop? 
show_articles_without_image: bool(false) 
fallback_img: slider/uf_fallback_slider.png 
#img: 10 
description_length: 95 
directory /var/www/mnt/nfs03/nfs2/html/pro/dfgrom.com/root
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=41&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.dfgrom.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36&cid=24
 #articles - featured and databasepull int(7) int(7) 


The permissions in the cms permissions section are:
www.dode.dfgrom.com/permissions.JPG
The slider folder is 0777.
GD library is installed.

Any ideas?

Originally Posted by DoDe

thanks,
that was the problem :up:

I have got to that bit now also!

Did you get it working? ;o

[DoDe]

Well in my case I had that problem due to the .htaccess on the website. I'm at the stage of making my website and I don't want anyone else to see it online till it's finished and that's why I've put the .htaccess file (you know, no one can access the website or any file on the server without entering the login and password which are configured in the .htaccess file). To check the proper functionality I removed during the test that file and everything started to work properly.

If that's not your case then I suggest looking into the cms permissions of "Can Download Attachments" for unregistered users.
Try clearing the system cache in the maintenance tab after adding an article.
Check the folder where you store the slider files and see if it's attributes are 0777.

[karlm]

I wish to make use of this in different areas (categories) of the site, I've followed the instructions on how to do that from the FAQ.
I made a separate folder and gave it 777 permissions - it reflected the standard logo. However, once I add the code from the FAQ for categories....

    node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' AND
        category.categoryid IN ( 9 )
        GROUP BY node.nodeid

It stops working entirely and shows only a blank slate.

[Coolbluelogo]

Originally Posted by Loversama

I have got to that bit now also!

Did you get it working? ;o

I'm also having this issue.

Error occurred: picture is not readable.<link>

However, when I manually open the link, the image is displayed...anyone know what the problem is?

Maybe a bug in the latest release?

[intruder]

Is there any way to add the text below the image in the slideshow?
http://alturl.com/p6fws

Thanks

[Loversama]

Originally Posted by DoDe

If that's not your case then I suggest looking into the cms permissions of "Can Download Attachments" for unregistered users.
Try clearing the system cache in the maintenance tab after adding an article.
Check the folder where you store the slider files and see if it's attributes are 0777.

Well I can see its not the .htaccess file, and I have also tried what you have suggested but I am still getting the same issue.

The attachments look like this:

PHP Code:

????JFIF


``??C        $.' ",#(7),01444'9=82<.342??C
      2!!22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222??
??
"

??







     ?ĵ

}
!1AQa"q2???#B??R??$3br?     %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????










     ?ĵ

w
!1AQaq"2?B????    #3R?br? $4?%?&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
?椄???{?$@?+f?Q???? 


Well theres lots more, but I know thats the Images code stuffs, so I might be like that...

But I have checked permissions ect, refreshed the cache ect..

DoDe did you actually get it working then? ;o