Miscellaneous Hacks - Ultimate Side Columns 2.2

Ultimate Side Columns
By Kerry-Anne www.peterska2.co.uk

Welcome to Ultimate Side Columns 2.2 !

USC 2.2 has now been released!!!!

Introduction

Following the success of the left and right side column modifications, and building on their weaknesses, the Ultimate Side Columns system was born.

Ultimate Side Columns (USC) is your one stop shop for all your side columns needs. It is an easy to configure, all in one solution.

USC 2.0 was born through the evolution and bug fixing of USC 1.0 for vBulletin 3.6 and is for vBulletin 3.7.0 RC1 and later only. It is not supported with earlier versions and may not work with them.

Features

USC 2.0 is fully customizable, can use conditions and variables (not available in USC 1.0), has greater flexibility in where it can be omitted from (after requests received), and contains new functionality of both independently collapsible columns and user defined custom links to be displayed on a per user basis in the column location of the administrators choosing.

A maximum of 20 blocks spread over the two columns are available at this time. However, if more are required then an expansion pack will be provided. The blocks can be reordered and moved between the templates with ease through simple template edits.

USC 2.2 Change Log:
Fixed bug with profile.php?do=editattachments
Added All Pages options

USC 2.1 Change Log:
Fixed blank page caused by missing template in the XML
Added compatibility with 3.7.0 Stable/Gold
Manual Template Edit instructions added to package
Enhanced the display page choices to allow exact selection of the pages where USC is to be displayed
Added usergroup permissions in addition to the global options for viewing the left column, viewing the right column, and using the custom contents block.

USC 2.1 has additional files. You need to upload the files first BEFORE importing the product

Upgrading from USC 2.0
Upload the contents of the upload folder, except the admincp directory, then import the XML.

Go to vBOptions > USC Options and set the display pages using the new options
Go to Usergroups > Usergroup Manager and set the permissions for each usergroup as desired. By default no permissions are given to any usergroups.

Upgrading from USC 1.0

USC 2.0 has been rewritten from the ground up and therefore all the blocks have been moved from the settings into the templates. Therefore, a unique upgrade script has been provided which must be run before importing the new product. Importing the new product first will result in the loss of your existing USC contents.

The upgrade script is located in the admincp directory after uploading the USC files and is ran by pointing your browser to admincp/usc_upgrade.php

Full upgrade instructions are included in the upgrade readme file in the zip.

Installation Instructions

Download the zip, unzip it and upload the contents of the upload folder to your forum directory. Import the product, all done.

Full instructions are included in the install readme in the zip.

Support

This modification has limited support only and is therefore flagged as unsupported. Support will be given when possible although it is always preferable when users of USC support each other. This was very successful with USC 1.0 and therefore is continued with USC 2.0

If you have any other combinations of pages that you would like to see available for the column options, please post them in the support thread ensuring that you add the title "USC Page Combination Request" to your post, or use this as the first line of your post ensuring that it is in bold text. This is very specific as due to the limited nature of support and time, the support thread will only be quickly skimmed through and therefore requests may be missed if it is not clear what they are.


The screenshots attached to this post and the next one show a range of pages with a range of column combinations. They are not labeled but they are pretty self explanatory.

Enjoy USC 2.0.

Kerry-Anne


PLEASE NOTE: This modification is unsupported. You may not receive a reply right after posting. Please try and help each other out.



Problems with your side columns not showing?
For your side columns to show, you need to update your usergroup permissions from the usergroup manager for each usergroup

Problems with errors in your vBOptions?
Point your browser to admincp/index.php?do=buildbitfields then try again

[DefenceTalk]

Originally Posted by DefenceTalk

Even global_start, etc. variables do not work. I am trying to include rss feeds in the sidebars

ob_start();
require_once('rss.php');
$rss = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();

It just does not parse... its a fresh forum install with no other product installed but the USC.

Now, if you put the $rss variable in the usc_sidecolumn_right template like:
$rss
$block11
$block12
$block13
Then it works... but not when put in the block templates.

Some help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Anybody figure this out yet?

Thanks

[apex944]

How are you guys installing this? I Have DL it on 2 different computers and both have a corrupt zip file. The 'upload' subdirectory inside the zip arcive will not copy. On 2 totally different machines.

[MrFlicks]

Installed - marked as installed

With Thanks

[Wired]

I've been trying everything I can think of, most especially reading and rereading the instructions, to get an install. I develop software myself, so I hate to give in ask for advise, but I can't think of anything left to do.

I've uploaded the files, then went back to remove the usc_upgrade.php file.

I've imported the product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns_2-0.xml

This part works fine. I get 2.0 installed.

Next, I go to import product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns_2-1.xml

No luck. I made sure to check the "overwrite" box. I get a blank page when importing. No error, just a blank white page.

Same with product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumn_2-2.xml
Blank, white page.

I've uninstalled everything. Tried to import 2-2 first. No luck, blank white page. The only file I can import, is the 2-0 file.

If I go to userpermissions, I can see the user options at the very bottom. There is no text next to them, but looking at the code, I can make out these are the settings for usc.

If I set an option and save, I get a database error:

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'uscpermissions' in 'field list'

Thinking that maybe I don't have permission to alter the tables, I do a search and find this page:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/archi.../t-111100.html

I add my user id. Try again. No luck.

I figure six hours is long enough, it's time to ask for some help!

Very basic VB installation. In fact, still using the default VB theme. Current version is 3.7.0.

Appreciate any advice. Just want to get it to the 2.2 version.

[peterle1]

Originally Posted by apex944

How are you guys installing this? I Have DL it on 2 different computers and both have a corrupt zip file. The 'upload' subdirectory inside the zip arcive will not copy. On 2 totally different machines.

What exactly did you do?

[tonyswifey]

How do you add anything to the blocks? All it says on my forum is left forum sidebar and then right forum sidebar. This is different then the previous mod, I don't know how to add any advertisements or anything into the block because there isn't a place for it?

[tonyswifey]

Duh! Figured it out, lol. For those who do not know, it's in your template editor, just look for ultimate side columns, it's in the directions, I just overlooked it .

[nanaimobar]

Originally Posted by Wired

I've been trying everything I can think of, most especially reading and rereading the instructions, to get an install. I develop software myself, so I hate to give in ask for advise, but I can't think of anything left to do.

I've uploaded the files, then went back to remove the usc_upgrade.php file.

I've imported the product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns_2-0.xml

This part works fine. I get 2.0 installed.

Next, I go to import product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns_2-1.xml

No luck. I made sure to check the "overwrite" box. I get a blank page when importing. No error, just a blank white page.

Same with product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumn_2-2.xml
Blank, white page.

I've uninstalled everything. Tried to import 2-2 first. No luck, blank white page. The only file I can import, is the 2-0 file.

If I go to userpermissions, I can see the user options at the very bottom. There is no text next to them, but looking at the code, I can make out these are the settings for usc.

If I set an option and save, I get a database error:

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'uscpermissions' in 'field list'

Thinking that maybe I don't have permission to alter the tables, I do a search and find this page:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/archi.../t-111100.html

I add my user id. Try again. No luck.

I figure six hours is long enough, it's time to ask for some help!

Very basic VB installation. In fact, still using the default VB theme. Current version is 3.7.0.

Appreciate any advice. Just want to get it to the 2.2 version.

Do this: 1) Uninstall what you have done. In your AdminCP click on Plugin & Products then click on Manage Products. 2) Look for Ultimate Side Columns in the list and opposite it there is a text drop-down box with the word "Edit" in it. Click on that dropdown box arrow and choose "Uninstall". Then..

Use your FTP program to upload everything in the Upload folder that came with the 2.2 version file. But before you upload to your server remove the usc_upgrade.php file from the admincp folder. After you upload all files check the admincp folder on your server to make sure the usc_upgrade.php file isn't there. If it is then remove it. Once you have uploaded all the files to their proper locations on your server then...

Go to your AdminCP click on Plugin & Products then Manage Products and click on the Add/Import product link at bottom of page. In the Import Product window browse to the location where your 2.2 files are and choose ONLY the 2.2 product file. DON'T import any others as this is a new install and not an upgrade. Make sure you choose Yes for Allow Overwrite. Then....

Click Import. Mod should be imported properly and you can now make necessary changes to usergroup permissions in Usergroup Manager. To add content to a block just read the instructions and when you are ready to add content go to your Admincp, click on Search in Templates, type in the letters usc in the text box and click Find button. All the usc templates will appear and you can begin to choose which block(s) to add content.

[guvner]

I just upgraded to VB 3.7, USC 2.2 and VBA CMPS 3.01 - prior to this I had no alignment issue. Now, my right (USC) column has dropped to the left side below all content - see here .

I don't know where to go with this since I can't be sure if it's a a VBA CMPS issue or a combination of VBA & USC, so I'm posting it with both authors in the hope I can find a fix.

On first glance it would seem likely that it's a style problem, the same problem presents when I select the default VB skin - see here - then go to http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/.

As can be seen, I have no problem with the main forum pages, just the portal page. I'm guessing that it's related to a rogue <div> problem, but having scoured my templates and the forums here and over at VBA - I'm at a loss as to where to look next.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Mike

[Chadi]

Originally Posted by chadi

Further clarification, not even this hack is able to pull the poll info in the USC block

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...=155170&page=2

So basically so far I've noticed USC does not pull info for:
- the poll hack above
- latest gallery posts (vbgallery)
- forum stats

They used to work fine in the 3.6 version of your right-side forumhome only hack. The reason I switched
is because that older hack had endless W3C errors.

Considering this hack is listed as "unsupported" and the developer stated the above won't be available until the 3.0 version, does anyone know how to resolve this in the meantime?