Major Additions - Product Review Forums ? Research, Review & Compare Items

Version 1.4.0 has been released to remove the giftery / list it integration of the addon now that service has been discontinued. No upgrade is needed though there have been a few other bug changes since 1.3.5.

Finding Feedback Can be Like a Needle in a Haystack

The more your forum grows, the more of a challenge it becomes to sort through the history and get the full story.

Product Review Forums Brings Structure to the Chaos

As a full-featured product management addon, PRF sits on top of your forum allowing you to create defined products which, unlike individual posts, stay relevant over time. Each comment, review and even product updates filter back into this one spot allowing for a quick and comprehensive overview while the individual discussions rage on as always.

Here's just a few of the many features you'll find in PRF:

• Bring structure to products with established pages & reviews
• Reduce the number of repetitive posts from members looking up the same info
• Increase your traffic with content-rich, seo friendly, product listings
• Drive revenue by adding your own affiliate links to product listings
• Increase the activity stream's value with review integration
  
• Engage visitors with integrated wishlists from Giftery.me

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Installation is not upload & go... individualized settings are required. Read the install file.

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QUICK TIPS:
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Enabling Product Forums: To show product details and ratings, each product-forum must be enabled in the forum manager.

Adding Products: You may upload products one at a time through the admin [includes an image uploader using GD] or you can bulk import through XML. You can also enable users to add moderated products through a global and usergroup option.

Product Review Index: To access your forum's product overview go to www.yoursite.com/productforums.php - You may want to add a link to this to your navbar or as a tab.

Customization: This addon is made to be customized. To change the color schema see clientscript/vbulletin_css or dive right on in to the templates and phrases.

Powered by Giftery.me: This mod is maintained includes two integrations you should know about. Both can be controlled through the mod options.

[Kirk Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Show me a screenshot and I'm sure I can have the team find a workaround for you...

Hey Ted,

sorry for late reply, if you are responding to me old chap you will best be served by visiting my site and scrolling down to "Review Forums".

My site is here: http://www.pipesmokerscubby.com/forum.php

As you will see I have added a forum for store owners to request inclusion of their own sites in product reviews, I don't especially want this there, I should like Products awaiting approval to be in that forum so they can be moved to the approved forum later. It would be a lot tidier and suit my needs more.

No problem if this is too much of a nuisance for you, I am okay with the Inclusion forum being there, not how I envisioned it but it works.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Kirk Fitzgerald

Hey Ted,

sorry for late reply, if you are responding to me old chap you will best be served by visiting my site and scrolling down to "Review Forums".

My site is here: http://www.pipesmokerscubby.com/forum.php

As you will see I have added a forum for store owners to request inclusion of their own sites in product reviews, I don't especially want this there, I should like Products awaiting approval to be in that forum so they can be moved to the approved forum later. It would be a lot tidier and suit my needs more.

No problem if this is too much of a nuisance for you, I am okay with the Inclusion forum being there, not how I envisioned it but it works.

So essentially you're hoping that products added by users would all go to that forum while in moderation and then you'd move them to the correct forum when approved? Is that right?

[Kirk Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ted S

So essentially you're hoping that products added by users would all go to that forum while in moderation and then you'd move them to the correct forum when approved? Is that right?

Yes please.

I did ponder if it could be done automatically but of course it cannot, but I would need the ones I add in the ACP to go straight to the correct forum.

Additionally, if I add new products from the front end, how can I let the system know it is me so I do not have to be moderated, or does that make it too complicated?

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Kirk Fitzgerald

I did ponder if it could be done automatically but of course it cannot, but I would need the ones I add in the ACP to go straight to the correct forum.

I can meet this half way in the middle... While you're using the mod with just one forum, it's designed for multiple product forums thus I can't auto-move threads [because I wouldn't know what forum to put them in... it varies] but I can make a dropdown to select the right one and move it there.

Additionally, if I add new products from the front end, how can I let the system know it is me so I do not have to be moderated, or does that make it too complicated?[/quote]

Admin's have a backend product manager which has far more options. Unfortunately it doesn't get the pretty WYISWYG editor but that's how vB currently works.

[Kixg]

Hey Ted thank you for this app I love it. One question. My text input is white in color where people go to write reviews of a product I post however the background is also white so people can not see what the are typing. Is there anyway to fix this?

Nevermind I fixed my own problem. Spoke to soon.

[Kixg]

Ok new question. Everything is working great on the actual website using a computer there is just one minor thing. When using a mobile device and Tapatalk app the product review threads show up but when you click on it they say "This is an empty post"

Is there anyway to incorporate this to be compatible with tapatalk?

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Kixg

Nevermind I fixed my own problem. Spoke to soon.

Awesome!

[Kirk Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ted S

I can meet this half way in the middle.

Oh my god, I cannot believe how retarded I am, there is already a way of doing this, well I think I am right here!

In the admin I can select which forum I submit my own Product Reviews to with the dropdown forum selection in the add single product, so this could be the formal Product Review forum. From here I then set the forum for Member reviews to be validated through the settings in the Product Forum ID in core settings, that would work, wouldn't it?

I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Kirk Fitzgerald

Oh my god, I cannot believe how retarded I am, there is already a way of doing this, well I think I am right here!

In the admin I can select which forum I submit my own Product Reviews to with the dropdown forum selection in the add single product, so this could be the formal Product Review forum. From here I then set the forum for Member reviews to be validated through the settings in the Product Forum ID in core settings, that would work, wouldn't it?

I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

Don't kick yourself that hard... the edit feature is limited and the forum dropdown a pain. In 1.3.0 (in development now) you'll only see forums that allow products enabled making it much quicker to move.

But yes, essentially what you could do is:

Forum A - products
Forum B - suggested products
On approval of B change the category to A

The other option would just be one forum... Since unapproved posts don't show up, it's the same effect without moving stuff for you.

[Kirk Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ted S

The other option would just be one forum... Since unapproved posts don't show up, it's the same effect without moving stuff for you.

It is the same thing but it is better for members to know that they have a forum dedicated to their suggestions.