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

[KevinDM]

Hi,

Pse excuse my ignorance with what could very well be a dumb question. as i am sure you will guess this is all new to me, what i would like to be able to do is to have either a left or right side column in each of the child forums, and i would like to be able to have different links in each of the child forums. i have read through ones that seem appropriate but i am unsure which is the more suitable one to use. can anyone help pse

[rob01]

hey, one question, i already install it and enable the mod, but i still cant see the side column in my website .. i add it in the left section, but i cant see it

someone knows why?

:S or i need to to modify my template or do something else besides adding the files and installing the product

[myandy99]

I installed it on vB 3.6.8 but only left column shows up. The right column just won't display. What am I missing?

[obsidian]

Originally Posted by stonner

the left column is not showing up with vbadvanced: here

On regular forum pages it's showing the columns.

Having the same issue. Spent most of the day playing with it. The only time I can get it to show with VBadvanced is to select the below header and above navbar option. All testing done on a stock theme with a fresh install of VBadvanced.

I looked in the plugin and saw what it is looking for in the Navbar. Vbadvanced uses the same navbar so it should not have any issues. The only thing I can think is that it is a variable issue where it is good in the header but not so in the navbar.

EDIT: got it working by manually editing and throwing the start into the ad_navbar_below template. For some reason it wont work in the navbar template and show up on the VBa page.

All in all a much more powerful mod. It is more advanced and requires a bit more reading but gives much more flexibility in the long run. Great Job!

[popular]

hey guys could anyone help me out and show what the code is to display latest posts? thanks!

[MonCher]

Regarding Version 2.0 New Installation
VBulletin 3.7.3

New to this and having problems - nothing showed up after installation...

I uploaded the admincp files to the forums admincp file and the includes file to the includes file and uploaded them via ftp. I wasn't sure where to upload usc_cp.php. So, I just uploaded to the forums root folder. Then, I deleted usc_upgrade.php from the AdminCP directory and it looked like nothing was left there.

Uploaded the xml file as a product under Plugin's and products on AdminCP

In the VBulletin Options there are two errors... One for the R side and one for the L side:
Using this setting you can determine the pages where the left column will be displayed.
Error: An error occurred while processing the bitfield files, the following information was returned:

No columns are appearing on any pages. However, the forums table on my home page has changed it's shape.

I tried to change usergroup permissions. But there is nothing related to adding the columns under any of the usergroups.

Can anyone offer any help on what I have done and how I can fix the problem?

Thanks,
Cher
http://www.4DateTalk.com

[lucacuck]

I've installed it on 3.7.3 forum but it dosn't work!
I've upladed the files via FP and uploaded the xml file as a product under Plugin's and products on AdminCP

But No columns are appearing on any pages. Someone can help me? thanks

[Kihon Kata]

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=525

Originally Posted by lucacuck

I've installed it on 3.7.3 forum but it dosn't work!
I've upladed the files via FP and uploaded the xml file as a product under Plugin's and products on AdminCP

But No columns are appearing on any pages. Someone can help me? thanks

[lucacuck]

Thank you very much, Kihon Kata! Now it work correctly!

I'm agree with you, instead of template edits for the usc_block templates, It would be better if those blocks would be into the ACP-vBulletin Options->Ultimate Side Columns Options.

[BullTaco]

Not sure what I did wrong....but I cant get any columns to show up......I uploaded the files, installed the product...2-2 one...I have never installed any previous version....

I made a test block on the left side...# 1 started it and ended it with the code in the read me file....

I updated the usergroups to be able to see it......and I still cant see any side columns?

Anyone have an idea to what I missed?