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

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by peterle1

I have to regret that it doesn't work as good as I thought.
With showthread.php the posts seem to get smaller in a cascading style.
The width of the table top seems ok and the first post is a littlebit smaller, the second is smaller than the first and the third I don't have posted yet.

If I find a solution I will tell you.

No probs, just keep me posted

Originally Posted by guvner

Hi Kerry-Anne,

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll need some guidance on how to "enable template comments" - in 3 years I've never come across that option and despite searching here and VB.com, I can't seem to turn up any info on it.

Mike

ACP > vBOptions > vBOptions >General Settings > Add Template Name in HTML Comments

[guvner]

OK Kerry-Anne - now enabled.

Glad you pointed me to that - although reading my page source I confess it doesn't help me to solve the problem since I'm not sure how it should look when correct.

Hope it means more to you

Thanks,
Mike

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by guvner

OK Kerry-Anne - now enabled.

Glad you pointed me to that - although reading my page source I confess it doesn't help me to solve the problem since I'm not sure how it should look when correct.

Hope it means more to you

Thanks,
Mike

Perfect

You are missing the start of the main table.

Did you use the manual edits? If you did, make sure you have done the header edit.

If you have used the automatic edit, please let me know which automatic edit setting you have chosen then I can look into it.

[guvner]

Aaah - OK then - perhaps this will explain my predicament - when I first upgraded to 2.2, because the previous version hadn't used permissions, I couldn't figure out why the sidebar wouldn't show up, so I uninstalled it and tried manual template edits.

Since that didn't work either (embarrassed to admit) I re-installed and selected automatic edits again - and only then did I get around to reading where I needed to set UG permissions

So in essence I've done both - but auto was the latest - having said that, I can't recall choosing a specific setting or method

[IvyKeepMommy]

I apologize if this is a newbie question...

I have two licensed forums - a local mom's group (not visible to unregistered guests) and a national version of that site that is guest viewable. The local group is older and much more active since the national version has not yet officially "launched" (meaning it is open and members of the local group have been told about it, but there hasn't been a concerted effort to bring new members in as we are planning that in July for our official launch)

To facilitate the launch and to help members of the local group remember to check and comment on posts on the national group, I'd like to set up a side column on the main forum page of the local group that has links to the 10 or so most recent posts on from the national site. (That when clicked would drive the member to the national site to read the thread).

Can I do that using this product? Can you give me a tip on what I would put in the side box to pull the information off the other site?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[LeroyP]

Is there anyway to get a link and a image link in the sidecolumn

[bandarsq]

great hack

I'm veiwing my forum using res. 1024 x 768
I'm using a more than 200pix wide table in one of the USC blocks and as a result I get a scroler at the bottom of the page. Is there a limit in width for the blocks so I don't get a scroler using 1024 x 768 res.

Thanks

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by guvner

Aaah - OK then - perhaps this will explain my predicament - when I first upgraded to 2.2, because the previous version hadn't used permissions, I couldn't figure out why the sidebar wouldn't show up, so I uninstalled it and tried manual template edits.

Since that didn't work either (embarrassed to admit) I re-installed and selected automatic edits again - and only then did I get around to reading where I needed to set UG permissions

So in essence I've done both - but auto was the latest - having said that, I can't recall choosing a specific setting or method

Have a look in you USC options in the vBOptions to see which you are using.

Originally Posted by IvyKeepMommy

I apologize if this is a newbie question...

I have two licensed forums - a local mom's group (not visible to unregistered guests) and a national version of that site that is guest viewable. The local group is older and much more active since the national version has not yet officially "launched" (meaning it is open and members of the local group have been told about it, but there hasn't been a concerted effort to bring new members in as we are planning that in July for our official launch)

To facilitate the launch and to help members of the local group remember to check and comment on posts on the national group, I'd like to set up a side column on the main forum page of the local group that has links to the 10 or so most recent posts on from the national site. (That when clicked would drive the member to the national site to read the thread).

Can I do that using this product? Can you give me a tip on what I would put in the side box to pull the information off the other site?

Thanks in advance for your help!

There are some instructions on vB.com for showing the latest threads in a HTML page. Use these in one of the block templates but make sure you use full urls otherwise it will pull the info for the site that you are displaying it on not the other site.

Originally Posted by LeroyP

Is there anyway to get a link and a image link in the sidecolumn

yes just use the HTML for the link or image

Originally Posted by bandarsq

great hack

I'm veiwing my forum using res. 1024 x 768
I'm using a more than 200pix wide table in one of the USC blocks and as a result I get a scroler at the bottom of the page. Is there a limit in width for the blocks so I don't get a scroler using 1024 x 768 res.

Thanks

make sure you are using a fluid width. Some fixed width styles have this behaviour due to the way they are coded.

[LeroyP]

Originally Posted by Kerry-Anne

yes just use the HTML for the link or image.

I have tried that and its not working? Do I need to turn a html setting on somewhere?

[andrewc_11890]

I downloaded the zip folder, unzipped it. I installed 2.0, then I upgraded to 2.1 then upgraded to 2.2, I saw that the side columns appeared when I had 2.0 installed, but Now that I have 2.2, they dont appear? I can get to the edit area, but it still doesn't make them show up when I change the options. Also which option do I use to post an adsense html code in?