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

[Scooty]

I managed to change the color of the side column background by changing the Table Border color but it messes up the main forum color. For instance, when I change the color of the border to white, the side column background turns white, which is what I want, but the colored borders on forum page disappear.

But if you want to know how to change the color of the background on 3.7 , I have attached screenshot. If you have another way to do this please post it.

Thanks

[dduane]

Just a note to those who may run into this problem (I just did): if you're using Cyb's Sub-Forum Manager hack / mod, it can conflict with USC 2.2 (in vB3.7.4 anyway) and break the formatting so that right-hand columns will extend out past the right side of the template / layout. Turning off the sub-forum manager solves the problem.

[mm00re]

Originally Posted by mm00re

I have encountered a problem with my right hand column showing up correctly however the title also shows up at the bottom of the left hand column like the example I have included.

Anyone have a simple fix?

update to my original post. I had not noticed that you would need to go and remove any old code from the previous version of USC, hence when I did this issue resolved itself.

[mulesnx]

I was hoping to use this mod to create a login/welcome block. Any ideas on how to do this?

[anddymax]

some where still errors Kerry-Anne as when mes from forum , register

[woodysfj40]

the 'below header above navbar' option doesn't work with 3.8.0, but otherwise it seems ok....

my 'custom' coding broke tho, so had to stick with one of the default options...may tweak later, but working for now...

[barcena]

Hi guys, can someone tell me if this mod will work for 3.7.3 ?

I went untill page 14 but please don't make me read the 40 some pages.

Thanks a lot!.

[dt_truck11]

Originally Posted by barcena

Hi guys, can someone tell me if this mod will work for 3.7.3 ?

I went untill page 14 but please don't make me read the 40 some pages.

Thanks a lot!.

yes it should work

[barcena]

Thanks dt.

I wonder if there's any modifications to any template or just downloaded and install it?

[dt_truck11]

no its pretty straight forward

although u do need to insert your own coding to the templates for each specific block that you want data to be displayed in.