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[HOW TO - vB4] Create your own vBulletin page
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Lynne
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Lynne Lynne is offline 11-15-2009, 10:00 PM

This is an updated article on how to create your own vbulletin powered page. It's only for use with vB4.

This is NOT my work. I'm posting this from another thread where vB Style took the time to write this out. And his work is based on the article by Gary King here - How to create your own vBulletin-powered page! (uses vB templates)

Instructions to Create your Own Page:


1. Create the php page:
- Create a new file, whatever you want to call it (let's say test.php).
- Open up test.php and add the following (replace TEST with whatever template you want to show - WARNING: the template name is CASE SENSITIVE!!!):
Code:
<?php

// ####################### SET PHP ENVIRONMENT ###########################
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

// #################### DEFINE IMPORTANT CONSTANTS #######################

define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'test');
define('CSRF_PROTECTION', true);  
// change this depending on your filename

// ################### PRE-CACHE TEMPLATES AND DATA ######################
// get special phrase groups
$phrasegroups = array();

// get special data templates from the datastore
$specialtemplates = array();

// pre-cache templates used by all actions
$globaltemplates = array('TEST',
);

// pre-cache templates used by specific actions
$actiontemplates = array();

// ######################### REQUIRE BACK-END ############################
// if your page is outside of your normal vb forums directory, you should change directories by uncommenting the next line
// chdir ('/path/to/your/forums');
require_once('./global.php');

// #######################################################################
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################
// #######################################################################

$navbits = construct_navbits(array('' => 'Test Page'));
$navbar = render_navbar_template($navbits);

// ###### YOUR CUSTOM CODE GOES HERE #####
$pagetitle = 'My Page Title';

// ###### NOW YOUR TEMPLATE IS BEING RENDERED ######

$templater = vB_Template::create('TEST');
$templater->register_page_templates();
$templater->register('navbar', $navbar);
$templater->register('pagetitle', $pagetitle);
print_output($templater->render());

?>
- Be sure to change 'TEST' to the actual template name (WARNING: the template name is CASE SENSITIVE!!!), and change 'test' to the filename or a unique name for the page. Also, change 'Test Page' and 'My Page Title' to whatever you want to show in the navbits, such as 'Viewing Member Profile' (just an example).

2. Create the Template:
- If you are in debug mode, create the template in your MASTER STYLE so it shows up in all your styles, otherwise make sure you create the template in the style you are using. If following the page above, call the template TEST (WARNING: the template name is CASE SENSITIVE!!!) with the following content:
HTML Code:
{vb:stylevar htmldoctype}
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="{vb:stylevar textdirection}" lang="{vb:stylevar languagecode}" id="vbulletin_html">
  <head>
    <title>{vb:raw vboptions.bbtitle} - {vb:raw pagetitle}</title>
    {vb:raw headinclude}
    {vb:raw headinclude_bottom}
  </head>
  <body>
    
    {vb:raw header}
    
    {vb:raw navbar}
    
    <div id="pagetitle">
      <h1>{vb:raw pagetitle}</h1>
    </div>
    
    <h2 class="blockhead">Title</h2>
    <div class="blockbody">
      <div class="blockrow">
        Text
      </div>
    </div>
    
    {vb:raw footer}
  </body>
</html>
.
Instructions to Add your Page to the Who's Online List (WOL):
Create two plugins using the following hooks. Replace mypage and similar with your information.

1. hook location - online_location_process:
Code:
switch ($filename)
{
    case 'test.php':
        $userinfo['activity'] = 'mypage';
        break;
// add more cases here if you have more than one custom page. no need for multiple plugins. one plugin can handle all.
}
.
2. hook location online_location_unknown:
Code:
switch ($userinfo['activity'])
{
    case 'mypage':
        $userinfo['where'] = '<a href="test.php?'.$vbulletin->session->vars[sessionurl].'">My Page</a>';
        $userinfo['action'] = "Viewing My Page";
        $handled = true;
        break;
// add more cases here if you have more than one custom page. no need for multiple plugins. one plugin can handle all.
}
.
The colored part in the code above shows what you need to change in the plugins (both reds should be the same and both blues should be the same, whereas green can be whatever you want).


Please see this article for help with rendering templates - [vB4] Rendering templates and registering variables - a short guide
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  #1002  
Old 10-08-2013, 09:19 PM
MacroPhotoPro MacroPhotoPro is offline
 
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Adding a Comments Box to the Page

Once again, this is a great piece to add to my site, and a great tutorial.

I am using this basic page to display photographs, but I want to add a "Comments Box" to each generated page (like the default Blog and Articles pages have).

How would I go about doing this?

Can I just copy/paste the appropriate material from the blog.php or article.php, or do I have to use customization?

Thanks again!

Jack
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  #1003  
Old 10-08-2013, 10:51 PM
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Lynne Lynne is offline
 
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You would need to create a form in the template to do something with the comments and then you will need to write the php code to process any comment made. You will probably be able to copy alot of it from the blog/article page, but it will be different since you will be storing the data in a different table in the database.
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  #1004  
Old 10-10-2013, 04:57 PM
MacroPhotoPro MacroPhotoPro is offline
 
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Thank you.
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  #1005  
Old 10-12-2013, 03:09 AM
smirkley smirkley is offline
 
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Just a statement,.. I will be posting my code, I just am covered up at the moment at home.
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  #1006  
Old 10-14-2013, 02:19 AM
smirkley smirkley is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smirkley View Post
I love the way this mod works, and am building a functionality for my forum with it.

I have played with many variations of what I can do, but I found myself stuck in using my example.php page file to fill a variable array from a list in a custom database, and then get it to printout the list of database contents on the template form.

I will admit I havent read every page here (still workin on that lol), but I so far have not been able to figure this one out.

If anyone has sucessfully done something like this with this mod, throw me a clue of what I am not able to figure out. Thanks big time.
Ok, I am available now to address my intended integration of this tutorial into a custom product. (every time I tell my wife I want to do some coding, she always says "fine", but I always end up repainting a bedroom or remodeling a bathroom instead. I havent figured out how that works yet. lol)


This is what I have so far....

1 - I created a product xml that creates a database and supporting template very similar to the one posted by Lynne. The template has several if ($_REQUEST['do'] =='s installed for different page renderings depending on function desired. IE: home,list,add,edit,delete of database entries. So far, works perfectly.

Now I am working on the list part of the database. I have entered several rows of test data into the database manually through phpmyadmin. As I ventured into using if ($_REQUEST['do'] == 'history') in the php file I know that I have to build an array to send to the template (sorted by date).

Database structure: date field, data1, data2, data3, data4, data5, data6

I tried to build a loop to fill a variable array and it seemed that it was working, but I couldnt figure out how to list that array in the template. I am unsure if I have to register the variable, it is only used on this feature I am making.

When I tried to output the array in the template, it would print out one row of data (correctly), not the whole database, and it would be on the very top of my page above the header.

I am going to have to reconstruct it again to get to that point, I seemed to have trashed the experimental code in frustration of not getting it to work, and having to start the bedroom remodel.
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  #1007  
Old 10-14-2013, 09:51 PM
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Lynne Lynne is offline
 
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You can't use echo or it will end up on the top of the page. You need to take your data and output it to a variable:

$myvar = '';
start of loop
$myvar .= "html here";
end of loop
make sure to register $myvar for use in your template

and in the template, put
{vb:raw myvar}
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  #1008  
Old 10-14-2013, 10:42 PM
smirkley smirkley is offline
 
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Thanks, will give that a try.

(I suppose you saw my error in stating that the multiple "do" functions were put in the template, I meant they were put in the php file, each one with a different template used.)

--------------- Added [DATE]1381803115[/DATE] at [TIME]1381803115[/TIME] ---------------

Ok, there is a reason I dont release mods here. Cous I seem to struggle with the obvious lol.

I have registered the variable,...
$templater->register('history', $history);

I thought I would just start simple and just have 1 row in my database. From there I will expand on it once I can get a simple read done.

This is my php query. (kinda found it while searching the forums and modified it to my purpose)

Code:
$result = $db->query_read("SELECT * FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "history");
  
while ($l_history = $vbulletin->db->fetch_row($result)){
    $history[] = $l_history[1];
}
But using {vb:raw history} in my template produces a blank whereas there is actual data in the database fields.
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  #1009  
Old 10-15-2013, 09:17 PM
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Lynne Lynne is offline
 
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I would use fetch_array in case you to later have multiple rows and you should specify the field you want. Assuming you want history.field, then:

PHP Code:
$result $db->query_read("SELECT * FROM " TABLE_PREFIX "history");
 
$l_history['field'] = '';
while (
$l_history $db->fetch_array($result)){
    
$history['field'] .= $l_history['field'];

and then in the template:
HTML Code:
{vb:raw history.field}
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  #1010  
Old 10-15-2013, 10:49 PM
FBRN_Andrew FBRN_Andrew is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoul View Post
Hello FBRN_Andrew

if I'm not mistaken, and I understand the question in the template created, you just add this before the tag
HTML Code:
</head>
Code:
<style type="text/css">
#navbar_notice_1 {
display: none;
} 
</style>
thanks for the reply
Greetings I added the lines you included, the page looks much better, but still seems to be in a "not logged in" mode.

I'm not much of a PHP coder so I don't really know what code I should paste in to explain.

--------------- Added [DATE]1381881251[/DATE] at [TIME]1381881251[/TIME] ---------------

Also since the 4.2.2 patch I removed the tabs hack and changed to navigation manager, using "member" as the group to see most tabs. so when I go to the new page the menu(tabs) also switch to logged out mode. however clicking the home link, or back puts you back to logged in status.
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  #1011  
Old 10-16-2013, 02:50 AM
smirkley smirkley is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynne View Post
I would use fetch_array in case you to later have multiple rows and you should specify the field you want. Assuming you want history.field, then:

PHP Code:
$result $db->query_read("SELECT * FROM " TABLE_PREFIX "history");
 
$l_history['field'] = '';
while (
$l_history $db->fetch_array($result)){
    
$history['field'] .= $l_history['field'];

and then in the template:
HTML Code:
{vb:raw history.field}
Lynne, I do appreciate your valued input.
I tried to make it work but I produced db errors in the process.

Info: I have one row now, but I anticipate in the future many rows, each one containing 7 columns. And in this routine I wish to list on my page all the rows.

So this is what I did with your suggestion....


Code:
$result = $db->query_read("SELECT * FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "history");
 
$l_history['field'] = '';
while ($l_history = $db->fetch_array($result)){
    $history['datefield','field1','field2','field3','field4','field5','field6'] .= $l_history['datefield','field1','field2','field3','field4','field5','field6'];
}
with the variable registered as stated.


But this doesnt work nicely with sql.

My apologies for being not so sql inclined, and I dont wish to burdon you with 'teaching' me how to make this work, but I am not so skilled at database manipulation.
(I am hoping to learn how to make this work so I wont be such a bother in the future)

--------------- Added [DATE]1381977398[/DATE] at [TIME]1381977398[/TIME] ---------------

I have decided I am going to do a crash course on sql. I need to be able to do more than hope someone here can hold my hand making something that would otherwise add several pages in this thread. The above responces have indeed helped me, but what I am trying to create is going to be propietary to my website, and I am stumped on just the first section of it out of several. It is my responsibility to educate myself so my questions remain more attached to the subject.

Lynne, you have been a great help especially with this tutorial.
This is in fact an amazing addition to anyone that wishes to do custom pages using templates, php, etc, on a forum setup.

Thanks again.
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