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

[Griphus]

Originally Posted by Mooff

At first glance it seems like they change how the picture url for attachments are saved in the database (we are not on 4.1.11 yet, so i can't check).

untested:

change

					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
					{                   				
						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
						if(is_array($imageinfo))
						{

to

					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
					{                   				
                                                if(substr($article['previewimage'],0,10) == 'attachment')
                                                {
                                                       $article['previewimage'] = 'http://www.your_site/' . $article['previewimage'];
                                                };
						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
						if(is_array($imageinfo))
						{

with 'your_site' beeing your site.

This worked for me. You are my hero.

[sweetpotato]

Originally Posted by Mooff

At first glance it seems like they change how the picture url for attachments are saved in the database (we are not on 4.1.11 yet, so i can't check).

untested:

change

					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
					{                   				
						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
						if(is_array($imageinfo))
						{

to

					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
					{                   				
                                                if(substr($article['previewimage'],0,10) == 'attachment')
                                                {
                                                       $article['previewimage'] = 'http://www.your_site/' . $article['previewimage'];
                                                };
						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
						if(is_array($imageinfo))
						{

with 'your_site' beeing your site.

Thank for the nice code. It works for me with VB 4.1.11

[sweetpotato]

For my vb 4.1.11 I still face this database error always:

Database error in vBulletin 4.1.11:

Invalid SQL:

REPLACE INTO cache
SET cacheid = 'widget_53.9ac7ba1932b4e2e872730e6f5459772e',
expires = 1330870172,
created = 1330869872,
locktime = 0,
data = "\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"cms_slider/nivo-slider.css\" type=\"text/css\" media=\"screen\" />\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"cms_slider/nivo-slider_uf_theme.css\" type=\"text/css\" media=\"screen\" />\n <div style=\"height:250px;\">\n <div id=\"wrapper\">\n <div class=\"slider-wrapper theme-uf\">\n <div class=\"ribbon\"></div>\n <div id=\"slider\" class=\"nivoSlider\"><a href=\"/content.php?r=246-

[ferruzo]

It just works for cms?

[Zervesa]

Gives a way, that the Slider automatically resize a picture in an artikel to show in the slide?

i mean some pictures in articels are bigger then the slider size. and the slider dont show this pictures and use so, the fallback image.

[w3rk3d]

Originally Posted by Mooff

At first glance it seems like they change how the picture url for attachments are saved in the database (we are not on 4.1.11 yet, so i can't check).

untested:

change

                    if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
                    {                                   
                        $imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
                        if(is_array($imageinfo))
                        {

to

                    if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
                    {                                   
                                                if(substr($article['previewimage'],0,10) == 'attachment')
                                                {
                                                       $article['previewimage'] = 'http://www.your_site/' . $article['previewimage'];
                                                };
                        $imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
                        if(is_array($imageinfo))
                        {

with 'your_site' beeing your site.

I can confirm this worked for me on a 4.1.11 installation. Thanks!

[romaszek]

Mooff, I Made all, then it {he, she} does not work for me - vB 4.1.11

DEBUG MODE is ON!
slider_img_filepath: external/unitedforum/slider/
width: 470 height: 272
Strech or Crop?
show_articles_without_image: bool(false)
fallback_img: external/unitedforum/slider/uf_fallback_slider.png
#img: 5
description_length: 95
directory /home/utwory/public_html/r

Warning: getimagesize() [function.getimagesize]: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Name or service not known in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 137

Warning: getimagesize(http://www.your_site/attachment.php?attachmentid=34&cid=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Name or service not known in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 137
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://www.your_site/attachment.php?attachmentid=34&cid=24

[romaszek]

Sorry,
it already works

Thanks

[clubvr4]

Originally Posted by Mooff

I received a question via private message about slider timings. Since that might interest other site owners aswell.

How do I slow down the image timings, at the moment its a bit fast?

Answer:
That is a setting for the nivo slider: http://nivo.dev7studios.com/#usage
There you can see what you can change. I'll give an example for the timings.

Search:

    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider();
    });
    </script>

Replace with:

    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider({
        pauseTime: 6000
        });
    });
    </script>

This changes the pause Time between slides from 3 seconds to 6 seconds.


@croft
please go through the faq and post the debug you get (last question) if the other questions do not help.
It does look like a combination of a jquery (either to many jquery files or old jquery version or no jquery at all) issue and some problems with saving the resized image to file. Debug will help with the last one. If you can't find the jquery problem a link to the site where the slider is implemented would help.

Cheers

It took me a little while to find all the options, so thought i'd share.

effect: 'random', // Specify sets like: 'fold,fade,sliceDown'
slices: 15, // For slice animations
boxCols: 8, // For box animations
boxRows: 4, // For box animations
animSpeed: 500, // Slide transition speed
pauseTime: 3000, // How long each slide will show
startSlide: 0, // Set starting Slide (0 index)
directionNav: true, // Next & Prev navigation
directionNavHide: true, // Only show on hover
controlNav: true, // 1,2,3... navigation
controlNavThumbs: false, // Use thumbnails for Control Nav
controlNavThumbsFromRel: false, // Use image rel for thumbs
controlNavThumbsSearch: '.jpg', // Replace this with...
controlNavThumbsReplace: '_thumb.jpg', // ...this in thumb Image src
keyboardNav: true, // Use left & right arrows
pauseOnHover: true, // Stop animation while hovering
manualAdvance: false, // Force manual transitions
captionOpacity: 0.8, // Universal caption opacity
prevText: 'Prev', // Prev directionNav text
nextText: 'Next', // Next directionNav text
randomStart: false, // Start on a random slide
beforeChange: function(){}, // Triggers before a slide transition
afterChange: function(){}, // Triggers after a slide transition
slideshowEnd: function(){}, // Triggers after all slides have been shown
lastSlide: function(){}, // Triggers when last slide is shown
afterLoad: function(){} // Triggers when slider has loaded

[initiald]

Can anyone confirm this work with Vbulletin 4.1.11?