Miscellaneous Hacks - SocialForums for vB3.8

SocialForums for vBulletin 3.8

Created by Marius Czyz aka Phalynx.

This mod will work *ONLY* with vBulletin 3.8 or higher. It will not run on vBulletin 3.7. Please use the version for vBulletin 3.7

Support will be only given for people who clicked Mark as INSTALLED.

Description
Not satisfied with vBulletin social groups messaging function? With SocialForums your social group leaders can create a standard forum for their group.
A group leader can only create a forum if the group has at least 5 members - this can be changed via settings. Optionally the group leader can be a moderator of such a social forum.

What about old discussions?
Via AdminCP, SocialForums, you can transfer all discussions and messages to a new forum. No post would be lost.

Permissions
There are advanced permissions (Forum and Archive). This includes read/write public and private (moderated/invite only) socialforums and creation of forum. As this needs two additional queries on every page you can disable this.

Demo
None, see screenshots

Installation
This product is fully phrased and uses template hooks. No file changes or manual template edits needed.
1. Upload bitfield_socialforums.xml to existing folder /includes/xml/
2. Upload functions_socialforums.php to existing folder /includes/
3. Fresh Installation: Just import the product. Upgrade: Import the product, allow overwrite. No forums get lost!
4. Check settings, especially for parent forum. Don't forget to set permissions via usergroups!

Troubleshooting
Q: I don't see a link to create a forum. Why?
A: Check permissions for the usergroup, espacially if the user is allowed to create forum.
A: Check if the usergroup meet min users requirement, see AdminCP/Settings/SocialForums.

Q: My users see the forums, but they shouldn't!
A: Check permissions for the usergroup, if the users usergroup is set to "can see".
A: Did you disabled the restriction mode? Enable it.

Todo
- By deleting a group the forum should also be deleted/archived. Currently this has to be done manually.

Known Issues
- On big boards with hundreds of social groups this mod can really impact the performance because of the mass of new created forums. If you still want to use this mod use the "Minimum Members" feature with a higher value. Using the permission check there are additional two queries on every page.
- With activated option to add owner as a moderator the transfering leads to removing all moderators of the linked forum

History
2.1.0, 11th August 2009
- Social Groups without a forum are listed in AdminCP and can be automatically converted with few clicks.
- Fixed errors converting bigger discussions
- Minor changes and fixes

2.0.1, 05th March 2009
- Convert ignores now deleted discussions
- Threads on Groups equipped with mark on new

2.0.0
- First official release for vBulletin 3.8
- Possibility to transfer Social Group Discussion into a real Forum
- New layout for threadlisting, similar to a real threadlist in a forum
- Possibility of a notice in Forums associated with a Social Group
- Discussion/Message counter is showing Thread/Reply counts. Phrase "Discussion" and "Message" cannot be changed to "Thread"/"Reply".
- Transfering a Group to another user updates now also the moderator
- Minor changes and fixes

[Bluefin221]

Originally Posted by mikeylikesitz

any word on this being updated?

The mod author hasn't been on since November.

[hollosch]

Are there infos about a version for vB4 ???

[hollosch]

Originally Posted by Bluefin221

The mod author hasn't been on since November.

Not good...

[mikeylikesitz]

is everyone who used this mod giving up on it for vb4?

[Bluefin221]

Originally Posted by mikeylikesitz

is everyone who used this mod giving up on it for vb4?

I'm using vb4 and still have this mod installed, it obviously isn't working and the forums are turned off, the more time the passes the more I'm inclined to look at alternative options, this made it easier for me however I can only hold the forums for so long as some of them had well in excess of 300 members per group, now they are waiting for their forums to be turned back on, causing me countless PM's and e-mails with folk asking about it.

[Tettinntil]

In the social groups there is the option to require that users are members of the group in order to see the content and other members, even though it is a public group. I.e. that new members do not have to be accepted. Is this feature not possible for with this mod? If I enable for all registered users to see public groups, it seems as though enabling the "must be member to see content" option in the public group does not function. Is the only way to hide a social group forum to make the group moderated?

[MagicThemeParks]

I was thinking of holding off on allowing the creation of social groups for a new site (using 3.8.4) that I'm working on. But, with this mod, it looks like I can move forward with the creation of social groups and still have the benefits of content and a 'forum' experience tied in with the social groups! :up:

Is anyone actively using this currently and what are your thoughts on the mod? Is it stable and do your members use it?

[Phalynx]

Hi,

developing modification is consuming much time. Time that I don't have anymore. This modification will not be developed further by me. This includes support.

If anybody wants to take over this modifications, please PM me.

best wishes,
Marius aka Phalynx

[Bluefin221]

Originally Posted by Phalynx

Hi,

developing modification is consuming much time. Time that I don't have anymore. This modification will not be developed further by me. This includes support.

If anybody wants to take over this modifications, please PM me.

best wishes,
Marius aka Phalynx

I'm sorry to hear that, this was a super modification and one that should have been out of the box, its become an integral part of my forums so I hope someone else will take the project on.

Thanks for all your work with the mod Phalynx.

[hollosch]

Anybody taking this mod ???