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

[Wizza]

I really wanted to use this but when I installed it the articles was all showing in a row in the box and the images was at the top but not as images - as broken image icons.

Any help?

My debug info is:

DEBUG MODE is ON!
slider_img_filepath: /home/XXXXX/public_html/slider/
width: 650 height: 250
Strech or Crop?
show_articles_without_image: bool(false)
fallback_img: /home/XXXXXX/public_html/slider/uf_fallback_slider.png
#img: 10
description_length: 95
directory /home/XXXXXX/public_html

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=43&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=43&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=42&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=42&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=41&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=41&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=40&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=40&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=39&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=39&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=38&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=38&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=37&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=37&cid=24

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=36&ci d=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=36&cid=24
#articles - featured and databasepull int(8) int(8)

[basilrath]

Same issues on the new software so dropped onto

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...268817&page=18

[MaxLiao]

I do see the fallback image, but I am not seeing the actual preview images.

Originally Posted by Mooff

Q: Captions appear and the slider works, but i can't see images
A:
- Do the images show up in the folder you specified? NO
- Does the fallback image show up if you set the switch to yes? YES

I made the change as indicated HERE, and we still have the same issue - with this log as the result.

DEBUG MODE is ON!
slider_img_filepath: slider/
width: 650 height: 250
Strech or Crop?
show_articles_without_image: bool(false)
fallback_img: slider/uf_fallback_slider.png
#img: 10
description_length: 95
directory /***/***/***/***/***/lom_vB4
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=21&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=20&cid=24
#articles - featured and databasepull int(2) int(10)

I also verified the following:

Originally Posted by Reycer

I got it working. Had to add a file called php5.ini and add

allow_url_fopen on

This command is set to on.

If I just simply follow the URL in a browser (http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=21&cid=24) it works just fine.

Website URL: http://legionofmyth.com

[Crotan]

Originally Posted by MaxLiao

I do see the fallback image, but I am not seeing the actual preview images.



I made the change as indicated HERE, and we still have the same issue - with this log as the result.

DEBUG MODE is ON!
slider_img_filepath: slider/
width: 650 height: 250
Strech or Crop?
show_articles_without_image: bool(false)
fallback_img: slider/uf_fallback_slider.png
#img: 10
description_length: 95
directory /***/***/***/***/***/lom_vB4
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=21&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=20&cid=24
#articles - featured and databasepull int(2) int(10)

I also verified the following:

This command is set to on.

If I just simply follow the URL in a browser (http://legionofmyth.com/attachment.p...ntid=21&cid=24) it works just fine.

Website URL: http://legionofmyth.com

If I follow that attachment URL I get

Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Did you try making attachments visible to guests? Like it says in the FAQ

Q: Attachments aren't working for me
A: If your guests do not have the rights to see attachments - neither does the slider.

[MaxLiao]

So, I checked the permissions - I knew I had changed them to allow guests to d/l attachments. Well, I was only partially right. I had changed the usergroup and the individual forum permissions, but I had not changed the vBulletin CMS permissions. Once I changed the permissions there the mod is working.

Thank you.

[mjay1113]

does this work on VB4.2? I uploaded the files and widget but nothing appears..

[Losias]

Originally Posted by mjay1113

does this work on VB4.2? I uploaded the files and widget but nothing appears..

Same here. Nothing appears for me since 4.2.


Here is the debug code.

slider_img_filepath: nivoslider/ 
width: 1024 height: 250 
Strech or Crop? 
show_articles_without_image: bool(true) 
fallback_img: nivoslider/uf_fallback_slider.png 
#img: 10 
description_length: 180 
directory /home/XXXXXX/public_html

Warning: getimagesize(attachment.php?attachmentid=39&cid=24) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/packages/vbcms/widget/execphp.php(191) : eval()'d code on line 133
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=39&cid=24
Warning: article has no previewimage or sprite is no ressource. 
Warning: article has no previewimage or sprite is no ressource. 
#articles - featured and databasepull int(9) int(9)

[zooki]

Got it to work, just can not see the images..... :S

iM on 4.2

DEBUG MODE is ON! 
slider_img_filepath: slider/ 
width: 650 height: 250 
Strech or Crop? 
show_articles_without_image: bool(false) 
fallback_img: slider/uf_fallback_slider.png 
#img: 10 
description_length: 95 
directory /mnt/Target01/323293/www.mywebsite.com/web/content
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=51&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=50&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=45&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=41&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=38&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=37&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=36&cid=24
Error occurred: picture is not readable.attachment.php?attachmentid=35&cid=24
#articles - featured and databasepull int(8) int(9)

allow_url_fopen is ON

[charlesr]

Same issue here. Using another temporarily, but would like to come back to this one when fixed.

[MaxLiao]

I haven't started to use another one yet, but I'm considering doing that in the near future.

I like this one, and will stick with it until I just can't do it anymore, so hopefully it gets an update soon.

[EDIT]

I just updated to PHP 5.3 and made one php.ini config change allow_url_fopen = On and now this mod (and everything else) on my site seems to be working perfectly. I don't know if it will help anyone else, but that did the trick for me.