Social Group and Album Enhancements - Watermark Generator

Quick Info

This mod adds a watermark to album and attachment images.
The watermark is customizable via image files or specified text.
Processed images are cached and the original files remain untouched, so you can modify or remove the watermark anytime you want.


Features

- Intelligent Caching
- Uses standard vBulletin methods, therefore no file modifications necessary
- Settings-Preview with a sample image in Adminpanel
- Generative plugin behaviour, works with most other mods which use the same hooks or use attachment images elsewhere

Installation

Step 1)

Upload files inside upload directory according to their structure:

> forum root
	> admincp
		+ pl_watermark_admin.php
	> images
		> misc
			+ plwm_sample.jpg
	> includes
		> cron
			+ pl_watermark_cron.php
		> xml
			+ cpnav_plwatermark.xml
		+ pl_watermark_functions.php
		+ pl_watermark_imagemanipulation.php


Step 2)

Import "product-plwatermark.xml" as addon into your vBulletin AdminCP


Step 3)

Navigate in your vBulletin AdminCP to PL Watermark Generator -> Plugin Settings.
Define the settings how you see fit. The options should be self-explanatory, if you need help with certain things, ask in the modification thread.

Changelog

v1.1
- Fixed potential security flaw on certain webserver configurations
- Improved install/updatescript
- (hopefully) fixed the grey-bar bug which occured on certain webserver configurations

v1.0
- Initial Beta Release

Additional Info

The Mod is currently in BETA. This means, that we tested it on a test environment (vb 4.0.x to 4.1.3) but has not yet undergo excessive stress test.
Keep an eye out for updated versions until the final release!
If you encounter any bugs, missing or misplaced features, let us know!

F.A.Q

- I don't see changes in my live images!
> To see changes on the image files you have to clear your browser's cache!
In firefox it's enough to force a fresh reload via STRG+F5 and on other browsers STRG+F5 or SHIFT+F5 should work.
If you don't perform this step, your browser will show the old cached version and maybe the watermark won't show or changes won't apply.

- My png/gif watermark isn't transparent, instead I get a black background!
> PNG-8 is known for having transparency problems, GIF in some cases as well.
Fall back to PNG-24 with Alpha channel (all modern image tools should be able to save as PNG-24)
If you have trouble creating a working png-24 with alpha channel, you can send me a PM with a link to your watermark and I'll convert it to png-24 for you.

- I have trouble with special characters or non-latin charactersets!
> The addon is using standard php functionalities for the text. If for any reason you have trouble with special chars, I suggest using a transparent png-24 with the text from an external image tool instead.

Support / Branding

We provide quality vbulletin software modifications for zero costs. To help our mod to be well-known, a backlink is added to your forum footer by the plugin, where the plugin is used in any way.
You must not remove the copyright/backlink code!
However, if you like to support us, you are allowed to remove the footer note with a small donation (10$ minimum).
If you choose to do so, we'll contact you via the email provided by paypal with instructions on how to remove the footer note.
A link to paypal donation service can be found on the top right area of this post.

Feel free to contact an author of the mod if you have any questions or suggestions.

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by Disasterpiece

Looks good to me.

I updated the test script yesterday so it should be more verbose now. Download it from her: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....1&postcount=36
Put it into your root dir and navigate to the script, adding ?i1=*number* to the url where *number* is the id from an image where the watermark should appear.

Ok, done and ran .....

http://www.xxxxxx.com/devforum/testa...s.php?i1=22804

Output ...

Watermark system finished
Script end.

When I run preview or look at attachments, no watermark shows. In preview, I still don't see demo pic.

Regards,
Doug

[Disasterpiece]

In your cache directory, do files appear?
If you download one of those, rename the extension to .jpg (or the according image format) and view them in the windows image viewer, do you see watermarks?

If not, PM me your login credentials and I take a look myself. Very strange.

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by Disasterpiece

In your cache directory, do files appear?
If you download one of those, rename the extension to .jpg (or the according image format) and view them in the windows image viewer, do you see watermarks?

If not, PM me your login credentials and I take a look myself. Very strange.

Nothing in cache...

Downloaded attachment pic and nothing showing anywhere on it...

Regards,
Doug

Update: I just went back to the devforum and checked it again. I have no idea why, but all of a sudden watermarks are displaying on both attachments and in-line attachments. The "preview" pic still doesn't show, but it's at least working live now, so I guess we can start some real testing.

[demo7up]

i dont use id's in my url's

this is the error

Invalid SQL:

SELECT a.contenttypeid
FROM attachment AS a
WHERE a.attachmentid = 2006-I-drive-a-eg-4-door;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'I' in 'where clause'
Error Number : 1054
Request Date : Wednesday, May 25th 2011 @ 08:14:14 AM
Error Date : Wednesday, May 25th 2011 @ 08:14:14 AM
Script : http://nycjdm.com/testattachments.ph...ve-a-eg-4-door
Referrer :
IP Address : 24.136.115.58
Username : XXX
Classname : XXX
MySQL Version : 5.0.92-community

[Disasterpiece]

Which SEO Addons do you use?
Also: Which vB version do you have?

[demo7up]

i have 4.1.3

Im using VB's Friendly URL's built in feature i have mine set to

Basic Friendly URL's

[Disasterpiece]

Interesting, I'll figure it out!

[BadgerDog]

Some questions and thoughts ...

It's obvious that using the cache approach, this mod would cause a duplication of attachments, which isn't a problem for people with large hard disk space available.

However, what I was wondering was, is there an impact on performance that would slow down the forums with the mod having to intercept every attachment being viewed by the user, then save it to the cache, then retrieve it again?

Thanks for any feedback ..

Regards,
Doug

[Disasterpiece]

It's waaaay cheaper reading a cache file from disk than regenerating the image for every viewer.
Re-generating means:
- load attachment from file or database
- check if large enough, etc.
- load watermark file
- apply watermark file
- output

Loading from cache means:
- load cached image file
- output

Hard-disk drives use an internal page cache as well, so it's the best way to gain optimal performance.

For those with limited disk space, I implemented the cache table, which only keeps a fraction of the attachments which have been viewed recently in the cache. This should allow optimal control between performance and disk usage. Of course the worst case then would be, if an user views all attachment images one after another. But then again, it's a server and they're optimized to handle this kind of stuff.

If you have more questions or suggestions about performance and cache behaviour, feel free to ask

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by Disasterpiece

If you have more questions or suggestions about performance and cache behaviour, feel free to ask

Thanks for the detailed answer .. appreciate it ....that was very helpful ... :up:

I think I might try to move this to the live forums, but I'm a little worried that table didn't get created and added to the database during the install. Should I wait until you've finished your beta testing?

Regards,
Doug