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

[Cooleyvol]

Can this be used to add side columns for ads and not have vb content in them?

[onestopadam]

I don't seem to be able to delete custom links from the usc_cp.php page in user cp.

[onestopadam]

Also how would I go about under so it displays under the user info bit?

[lstintxs100]

Fantastic addition, I love it.

Is there any way to add this so it shows in my archives? Search engines send alot of people to my archives rather than the live forum and I would like to monitize a little more on that.

If this is an easy edit, let me know what to edit and I will take care of the rest.

edit, You did not write the other product I mentioned so I removed it reference to it.

[lstintxs100]

Originally Posted by Cooleyvol

Can this be used to add side columns for ads and not have vb content in them?

yes, I have been just pasting my google ads in the templates and it has worked very well for me.

[threat]

I cant get this to work, can someone look at this please

PHP Code:

<tr>
<td class="alt1"><a href="http://www.superstreetbike.com/index.html"><img src="http://www.gixxerplanet.com/images/banners/ssbbanner.jpg"></a>
</td>
</tr> 


[Pete C]

Thanks Kerry-Anne, this looks like a great addition. I'd like to display it on some styes, but not on all, so I'll run it up on my test board first. It doesn't sound as though that will be too much of a problem though. *Installed* - (but not yet "live").

[ChandlerDog]

Originally Posted by ChandlerDog

I've down loaded and nothing is showing up!

Ok let me try a different approach. I don't speak code and I'm not a programmer! I spend my days as a locksmith and firearms instructor I know just enough HTML to get by and I learn as I go.
And here's how I have it!

• Download USC

• Unzip file

• Upload to forum directory (with this I use SmartFTP, drag over and uploaded)

• Now I can't find usc_upgrade.php in AdminCP directory to delete it?

• And when your talking about import the xml as a product how is this done.. Styles & Templates>Download / Upload Styles>Import Style XML File ???

If someone would like to help pm me.?? I'm also on Skype?

[lstintxs100]

Originally Posted by ChandlerDog

• Now I can't find usc_upgrade.php in AdminCP directory to delete it?

• And when your talking about import the xml as a product how is this done.. Styles & Templates>Download / Upload Styles>Import Style XML File ???

1. Look again, I renamed mine but it was there.

2. admincp > plugins and products > add/ import products > browse > find product > import

[d-wiz]

I got double columns on both sides?



Also is there an easy reference for content or am I supposed to run through this thread?

Thans in advance for any answers!