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.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by addamroy

I'm using 4.2.1 fresh install.

Any plans on fixing the activity stream bug?

Also how do I remove the entry from the activity stream so its not broken? I've disabled the mod but the stream is still broken.

This is the first time hearing about it where it wasn't cleared up with a reinstall... One site is hard to identify or isolate (i.e. there are endless possible conflicts) but for several, absolutely, bugs are no good

[Ted S]

The attached version of PRF removes the activity stream section without impacting any other functions.

For those who were having issues with the system, please give it a try and we will proceed from there developing further fixes to bring that back.

[addamroy]

Originally Posted by Ted S

This is the first time hearing about it where it wasn't cleared up with a reinstall... One site is hard to identify or isolate (i.e. there are endless possible conflicts) but for several, absolutely, bugs are no good

I'm not the only person who has a problem with this mod breaking the activity stream, there are a few others in this thread. So it's definitely not just one site.

I'll try reinstalling the mod again like you suggested. If that doesn't work I'll use the version you provided that doesn't use the activity stream.

[addamroy]

Also, there isn't really a need for the updated xml you provided because so long as the mod doesn't insert anything into the activity feed it's fine. And you already have an option in the current mod to turn that off. I tested it just now the activity feed works fine so long as the mod doesn't create entries for it. specifically, replies/review entries in the activity stream from the product forum dont break it, just the 'new thread' entries. It's the new thread entries in the activity feed that cause it to break, not replies or reviews.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by addamroy

I'm not the only person who has a problem with this mod breaking the activity stream, there are a few others in this thread. So it's definitely not just one site.

I'll try reinstalling the mod again like you suggested. If that doesn't work I'll use the version you provided that doesn't use the activity stream.

We've had a few mentions but as far as I can tell, all resolved (from a reinstall , option changes, or the person moved on and thus we couldn't track it down). Now that there are two of you reporting a problem actively, we can call it a bug.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by addamroy

Also, there isn't really a need for the updated xml you provided because so long as the mod doesn't insert anything into the activity feed it's fine. And you already have an option in the current mod to turn that off. I tested it just now the activity feed works fine so long as the mod doesn't create entries for it. specifically, replies/review entries in the activity stream from the product forum dont break it, just the 'new thread' entries. It's the new thread entries in the activity feed that cause it to break, not replies or reviews.

The activity stream is not really designed to be bolted on top of, at least not in a graceful way, which means errors become significant impacting more than just the mod.

Sites using older vB versions are prone to these sorts of collisions and not something we can stop but if there's a problem impacting new installs, we consider it reason to remove the feature and revisit it, if there's even demand to do so.

Assuming everything else works right for you and the other site reporting this in the activity-stream free version we'll change our standard download and take it from there.

Thanks for the report & follow up!

[addamroy]

Also (sorry for so many replies lol), how do I choose which fields are and aren't required? I know you mentioned I can edit the templates but what if I want to remove some required fields or add new ones, how do I do that?

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by addamroy

Also (sorry for so many replies lol), how do I choose which fields are and aren't required? I know you mentioned I can edit the templates but what if I want to remove some required fields or add new ones, how do I do that?

You can add new fields for reviews through the ACP (there's a manger tool under the PRF group).

Other fields would require hacking the hack (templates to capture the data, table fields to hold it, queries to show it) although we'd be glad to add a few more hook locations if you want to make it more modular.

[Toorak Times]

Hi Ted, I just reuploaded that xml above and everything seems to be looking REAl good, cheers

[sadiq6210]

Thanks dear

Originally Posted by Ted S

(whether an upgrade or just clearing the system stuff) should help.

Just for my information, how could I clear the system stuff?
Because I tried to uninstall another mod and I faced the same problem. I don't want to run (upgrade.php) everytime when I remove a mod.

Sorry to ask here.