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

[andrewc_11890]

Can you use this to post advertisements in columns? Or do I do that with another MOD?

[ALil'Hope]

Awesome mod, going to use it myself =)
Installed

[apex944]

Is there anywhere else I can get this mod? I simply cant extract this zip file on any PC I've tried here. (IE or FF) When I view the file I see some MacOSX files in the zip and then inside the "upload" folder all the files are 0 kb ... And I have DL this file on 4 different PCs at this point all with the same result...really want this mod!! Please let me know where else I can grab it.

[KPalicz]

How could we customize it so we have two right columns instead of a left & right?

I just want to move the position of the left column to the right of the forum and have the right column be to the right of that.

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by nanaimobar

Hi Kerry-Anne and other folks,

Would it be a simple process for you to add time or date or other options like the Notices function has? For me it would be great to have the ability of Notices included in this mod.

I don't know how server intensive this extra coding would be, or even if anyone else would like to have such options as well. I'm just throwing the idea out for comment.

I'm not promising at this point, but I will add it to the 3.0 wish list.

Originally Posted by vrinteractive

is there something i have to do to enable it? i uploaded the files and imported the product. i set my options such that they should show up on every page. see www.tetongravity.com/forums.

Make sure you have also set the usergroup permissions to be able to view the columns.

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.

This could be because the product file is quite large and you have suhosin on your server although normally that would give a forbidden message not a blank page.

Version 2.0 is stable, and should not have the files uploaded. If I recall correctly 2.0 doesn't have the custom links section in it, but it certainly doesn't have the permissions and therefore must not have the bitfields file uploaded.

Originally Posted by andrewc_11890

Can you use this to post advertisements in columns? Or do I do that with another MOD?

Yes, simply add the ad code to the block template where you want it to be displayed.

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by KPalicz

How could we customize it so we have two right columns instead of a left & right?

I just want to move the position of the left column to the right of the forum and have the right column be to the right of that.

Use the manual edits but put the $usc_left (or whatever the variable is called) next to the $use_right in the footer instead of the header. You still need to edit the header with the rest of the code, but just omit the variable and add it next to the other one in the footer.

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by kinggori

I love how this mod says "Not Supported" although Kerry-Anne is one of the best developers and most supportive. Thank you Kerry-Anne :-)

Why thank you

Originally Posted by vcruiser

Display Pages For Left Column
Using this setting you can determine the pages where the left column will be displayed.
An error occurred while processing the bitfield files, the following information was returned:
Error:
1
Display Pages For Right Column
Using this setting you can determine the pages where the right column will be displayed.
An error occurred while processing the bitfield files, the following information was returned:

I have my page width set at 960 px, I don't know if that affects the install. Any ideas on how I can fix this?

Reupload the files then reimport the product setting Allow Overwrite to Yes

Originally Posted by apex944

This zip file is corrupted.

As it is only you that is reporting this, it is something on your computer that is causign this, most likely a firewall or antivirus. Disable them, download the file, then reenable them.

Originally Posted by peterle1

I tried to move the $spacer_open part to the navbar to get the wifth of the header for the navbar, but this little mod doesn't work with the USC 2.2 - I changed the parts in the xml wich says:
$vbulletin->templatecache['header'] = $vbulletin->templatecache['header'] . '";$spacer_open="';

to:

$vbulletin->templatecache['navbar'] = $vbulletin->templatecache['navbar'] . '";$spacer_open="';

and it seems to work.

I don't think, that you can change your mod to do this automagically, but I wanted to mention it, since it gave me a big headache.

I'll have a looksie. Thanks.

Originally Posted by joanne862

I've installed this & it's working great, apart from one small problem. I have it set to display below header and above navbar. But the column is lower than it should be, see here.

Thanks

In the usc_sidecolumn_left and usc_sidecolumn_right templates there is a <br /> near the start of the templates. Delete it from both templates.

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by geevest.com

how i can make the side banner more closer with the side forum.

It uses the spacer width in the stylevars for your style for the spacing. You would need to reduce your spacer width in your stylevars.

Originally Posted by 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

I'm not running vBAdvanced at the moment (well I am but not in the same place as I am running USC). I'll need to install it on my dev board when I get time and see what is going on. It's most likely to be a style issue or a malformed template though. If you can enable the template comments on your forum and poke me here when you have done it, I can look over your page source and see if I can locate the issue that way.

[peterle1]

Originally Posted by peterle1

I tried to move the $spacer_open part to the navbar to get the wifth of the header for the navbar, but this little mod doesn't work with the USC 2.2 - I changed the parts in the xml wich says:
$vbulletin->templatecache['header'] = $vbulletin->templatecache['header'] . '";$spacer_open="';

to:

$vbulletin->templatecache['navbar'] = $vbulletin->templatecache['navbar'] . '";$spacer_open="';

and it seems to work.

I have to regret that it doesn't work as good as I thought.
With showthread.php the posts seem to get smaller in a cascading style.
The width of the table top seems ok and the first post is a littlebit smaller, the second is smaller than the first and the third I don't have posted yet.

If I find a solution I will tell you.

[guvner]

Originally Posted by Kerry-Anne

If you can enable the template comments on your forum and poke me here when you have done it, I can look over your page source and see if I can locate the issue that way.

Hi Kerry-Anne,

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll need some guidance on how to "enable template comments" - in 3 years I've never come across that option and despite searching here and VB.com, I can't seem to turn up any info on it.

Mike