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

[Viruseater]

By the way, I installed this from scratch and followed the instrctions. They do not show up at all. Is this possibly a problem with the new patch?

3.7.1 PL1. default install, added code to column. Won't show up in any themes including default.

The instructions say to edit the template usc_block which does not exist. There is usc_block_1 through usc_block_20

[hostlayer]

I installed this but the columns do not seem to be showing up. I am running:

3.7.1 Patch Level 1

[andrewc_11890]

Ok guys me too. I set the user permissions to show up to everyone. I can find blocks 1-20. I have posted adsense in 2 of the blocks and they appear. However when I click in the usc options to have other things such as posts show up, nothing shows up except the column title. Same with you guys?

[Sycoloco1212]

i need help on this i cant seem to get it working ... like how do i add stuff inside the box?

and how would i install this i dono if i did it right.. its hard to read the README file... i didn't understand anything from it..

[KerryAnn]

Whoo hoo!

Thanks, KerryAnn!

[ArnyVee]

Wow, this really threw my vBadvanced page for a loop. It resized everything completely out (I have 975 fixed on a default skin) and I wasn't able to get anything to show in the other pages.

I uninstalled the xml file and the vBadvanced page went back to normal.

I'd really like this for my forum home and the rest of the pages. But, the fact that it's actually affecting my portal is not working for me.

Can someone give me some pointers because I'd love to have this great hack on my site?

I followed the instructions as stated:

Installation Instructions

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

[ssandgirls]

Hello there, Great Mod, *Clicks install*

I do have a little question though,

Is there a way to put the icon in the heading there instead of above it? ( as per number 2 in the screenshot)

My style is also just standard VB with CSS color changes ( if you needed to know that)

I also notice that when the mod is enabled that my threads open slower....... should this be the case?

Many thanks

[andrewc_11890]

Has anyone figures out the problem yet with 3.7.1 Patch Level 1?

Also does anyone know how to put more space between advertisements or the side column parts if you directly insert the html into a usc_block template?

[OG-G]

mine wont work, have installed it but it wont display any left colum, soon as i downgrade it to 2, it works.. im using 371, patch level 1

[ArnyVee]

I'm running 3.7.1 P1 also and having the issues listed above (like three posts above).