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

[Hornstar]

Originally Posted by Kerry-Anne

If you have all pages unchecked and registration pages unchecked then USC will not display on any registration pages.



Ensure that you have the USC columns enabled, have set the display pages and also the usergroup permissions for the columns to be shown. If the usergroup does not have permissions to view the columns then they will not appear. If the columns are turned off or have not had display pages set then they will also not appear.

Even with it disabled in the registration pages, it is making it look funny. go to my register page to see what I mean.
http://www.gamerzneeds.net/forums/register.php

I have it unchecked to not show on that page.
However disabling the product makes the page look good again.

[meolangthang]

I have read your posts but i have not yet done. The column doesn't show T________T. I followed some steps below:
- Upload necessary files in the upload folder.
- Import the .XML file.
- I enable left column with the witdh 160 (default). Then I choose All pages. At Column start point option, I keep it default (below header and above navbar). I allow everyone to view.
- I export .XML to add some rows. I don't know if it is true @_@
Some rows and the quotation in the .XML file:

<template name="usc_block_1" templatetype="template" date="1207162379" username="peterska2" version="2.0" />   
<tr>
<td class="alt1"><a href="http://ddth.com">
<img src="http://localhost/f/images/banner/bn1.jpg"> 
</td> 
</tr>
<template name="usc_block_10" templatetype="template" date="1207162511" username="peterska2" version="2.0" />

( the blue lines are default, I don't change)
- And then I open forum homepage, no column appears @__@.

Can someone help me pls? Can someone post your code including the default lines, for example my code? I 'm a complete beginner and don't know where to put it : [
Thanks for any help....

[Adam H]

Ive just installed it and the admin pannel is fine , i have edited the required templates but its not showing up on the site ? can some one please help me ?

[TRONIXNEWS]

I am experiencing the same issue. Uploaded all the required files to their directory. Enabled the mod, but nothing shows on my site at www.tronixnews.com. What else do we have to do that isn't mentioned?

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by meolangthang

I have read your posts but i have not yet done. The column doesn't show T________T. I followed some steps below:
- Upload necessary files in the upload folder.
- Import the .XML file.
- I enable left column with the witdh 160 (default). Then I choose All pages. At Column start point option, I keep it default (below header and above navbar). I allow everyone to view.
- I export .XML to add some rows. I don't know if it is true @_@
Some rows and the quotation in the .XML file:

<template name="usc_block_1" templatetype="template" date="1207162379" username="peterska2" version="2.0" />   
<tr>
<td class="alt1"><a href="http://ddth.com">
<img src="http://localhost/f/images/banner/bn1.jpg"> 
</td> 
</tr>
<template name="usc_block_10" templatetype="template" date="1207162511" username="peterska2" version="2.0" />

( the blue lines are default, I don't change)
- And then I open forum homepage, no column appears @__@.

Can someone help me pls? Can someone post your code including the default lines, for example my code? I 'm a complete beginner and don't know where to put it : [
Thanks for any help....

DONT EDIT THE XML!

The templates are in the style manager in the section called Ultimate Side Columns Templates.

Originally Posted by riverwire

Ive just installed it and the admin pannel is fine , i have edited the required templates but its not showing up on the site ? can some one please help me ?

Originally Posted by TRONIXNEWS

I am experiencing the same issue. Uploaded all the required files to their directory. Enabled the mod, but nothing shows on my site at www.tronixnews.com. What else do we have to do that isn't mentioned?

Make sure you have also set your usergroup permissions. By default the columns are not displayed to any usergroups. You need to set the usergroup permissions for the usergroups that you wish to be able to see the columns.

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by hornstar1337

Even with it disabled in the registration pages, it is making it look funny. go to my register page to see what I mean.
http://www.gamerzneeds.net/forums/register.php

I have it unchecked to not show on that page.
However disabling the product makes the page look good again.

This is an issue with your style. I cannot support custom styles for obvious reasons.

[slmoney]

OK..strange issue...

I cannot use the GO button to moderate posts, threads or any other item that needs moderation.

I had this problem once before..then discovered that the USC mod interfered with V3.7Beta.
When the new version came out supporting V3.7, I installed it..and everythign worked great...

BUT..after this latest update (2.2 - THANKS!) ..my GO button quit working again.

Strange...anyone else have this??? Or please..let me be the only one..lol.

[peterska2]

I cannot reproduce this on the default style. If you are not using the default style then it is most likely a style issue which will need to be resolved with your style author.

[meolangthang]

DONT EDIT THE XML!

The templates are in the style manager in the section called Ultimate Side Columns Templates.

Thank you much, the column have appeared

[xnewman]

Hi everybody,
I have tried install ucs to my vbulletin 3.7.0 and although I have precisly followed installation insctructions I have got this error message:

Invalid File Specified

It happened when I tried to import XML file. Does anyone have hint what is wrong and how can I fix it?

Thanks a lot