Miscellaneous Hacks - Ultimate Side Columns

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

Welcome to Ultimate Side Columns!

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.


Features

USC uses a standard vBulletin Options Interface with minimal template editing involved, to display content in columns on your site.

USC controls both the left and right columns on your site, both of which work independently of each other, and can be displayed on a range of pages through some very simple options.

The only editing required for a standard installation is the header and footer template. For advanced users, the templates for the two columns can also be edited if required. Most users of this system will not need to do this.


Installation

Import the product-ka_ultimate_sidecolumns.xml file as a product through your product manager.

Open your header template and at the very end add

<!-- USC header edit start -->
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
<tr>
$usc_left
<td valign="top">
<!-- USC header edit end -->

Open your footer template and above

$spacer_close

add

<!-- USC footer edit start -->
</td>
$usc_right
</tr>
</table>
<!-- USC footer edit end -->

That is all your template editing done.

Now, go to vBulletin Options > Ultimate Side Columns Options

Here you can set which column you wish to use, and where you want it to appear. Content is also controlled through the options on this page. HTML is allowed in all content boxes.


Configuration

As there are a number of options available, this section explains them all.

First, you have the settings for enabling and disabling the two columns. As these work independently of each other, you can have the left column turned on, the right column turned on, or both turned on. If you need to turn them off for any reason, you can also turn them off here. Also, if you need to disable plugins for any reason, the code is completely disabled meaning that no unsightly white gaps are left on your pages.

Next, we have the width settings for the two columns. If you find that your columns are too wide, or too narrow, then they can be adjusted independently here.

The display pages settings allow you to control where your columns are displayed. These are pretty straightforward, with the exception of the setting adsense appropriate. This option stops the column from being displayed on the following pages in line with the adsense TOS:
- search
- search results
- registration
- contact us
- usercp
This is correct as of todays date. Any changes in the TOS for adsense will only be reflected in any updates as appropriate.

Next are the settings for the content of the left column, followed by the content of the right column. Both sections are prefixed by a blank setting. This is by design and there is not a bug with the code or anything missing.


Adding More Blocks

By design there are five (5) blocks per column. Some people may require more than this. To allow for this, comments have been added to both the usc_sidecolumn_left and usc_sidecolumn_right templates. The comments include a commented out section of code to use as a template for additional blocks. There are also some warning comments present in both templates. Take heed of these as editing other than the places indicated will result in the templates being malformed and the USC system not working correctly.


Support

Support for this modification is extremely limited. However, as everything apart from the two small template edits is controlled directly through the vBulletin options and not through template editing, issues should be minimal.

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 the USC system.

Kerry-Anne




PLEASE NOTE: This modification is unsupported. You may not receive a reply right after posting. Please try and help each other out. I do not support custom styles. If this does not work in your style, and you can confirm that it does not work in the default style (with a link and screenshot) then you will need to resolve the problem yourself. I also do not support any versions earlier than 3.6.5 in any way, shape or form. If you are using it on a version prior to 3.6.5 then no support at all will be provided.



Version 2.0 information


Version 2.0 has been released and can be found here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=175181

[yoyoyoyo]

Originally Posted by EmpireZ

You can use a if condition in the header template to stop pages from showing.

Can you please tell me what the conditional would be for the PhotoPost vBGallery?

[WoodiE]

Using the "ultimate side columns" will not allow you to call other template or plug-ins in the side column.

I've got a plugin that randomizes some ads using "$ranads" this hack only shows the text, it will not run the plugin.

[MISCMORE]

The side columns are shown even when the forum is temporarely closed.

How could I solve this problem?

Thank you
MISC

[noreturn]

Beautifully done.
Thank You

[RaceJunkie]

I uninstalled this mod mainly because it's unsupported and it lacks several features..

If you are looking a better way to manage side columns Give vBAdvanced CMPS a look. I just figured out you could integrate custom modules with pages and have each module controlled by user groups as well. I'm not 100% sure you can just use this feature without using the main CMPS page but it's worth a look.

[mart29]

When i put adsense into it the adsense doesnt show but the box sizes itself to fit the adsense, just its contents are black, tried different sizes of adsense and makes no difference, it just wont show.

Anyone know why?

[newguy]

Thanks!!!!!! Clicked installed

[kholland]

Good Morning!

I’m using the ultimate side column plug-in, however, I would like to put a rss-feed in one of the columns. When I attempt to put php code in there, it doesn’t run. When I look at the source code after the page is rendered, I can see my php code just being displayed in the source code. So it looks like the php isn’t actually being parsed.

Does anyone have any idea of a way I can get this to work? Or can you tell me which file I could edit to add the php-code directly to the php file that displays those side columns?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Kenneth

[Mr Chris]

Originally Posted by stan111

any one got the problem like mine, when i have the USC on, my page have to scroll to right to see the full page, anyone know how to fix that ?
below is a screenshot
thanks in advance

I am having the exact same problem. I have been playing with it for a week now and cant get it just right. The weird thing is it looks perfect on my Mac (see image 1) but on ANY PC I try it on its all out of wack as Stan described (see image 2). I hope somebody can help me I have read every post in this thread 4 times searching for an answer..
Thank You !

[Mr Chris]

Any Ideas? anybody ? I'm dying here the only solution I have found so far is to change monitor resolution lol. Ive edited every template imaginable. Nothing.. Help Anyone please..

Thanks!