Using {vb:raw conversation.groupid}

[webjocky]

As a vBulletin n00b, I've scoured these (and the vb.com's) forums for the past couple of weeks looking for a solution to this. Since I couldn't find one, I'm having to hack the core files - which I'd rather not do.

I'm hoping someone can tell me a more graceful way to handle this php file modification so that I don't have to hack the core files every time I update to a new release.

Here's what I needed and how I did it:
For those that don't already know, $conversation['groupid'] is not made available for template modifications in the codebase as of 5.1.2 Patch Level 2. The database's node table has a field for this information, but if you take a look - that field only contains NULL values by default. (vb_node -> groupid).

I need to assign avatars to my forum users based on the primary group id. This was easier to do in vB4, but the feature was used very little and so, as the devs have explained, the feature was not included in vB5. With that, I set out to create a group avatar manager myself.

By modifying /core/vb/library/content/text.php, you are now able to pull this information (although another hack is required to fill the database with the groupid of the post author - which I'll update here as soon as I figure that out).

Original @ Line 519

PHP Code:

if (empty($data['userid']))
        {
            $user = vB::getCurrentSession()->fetch_userinfo();
            $data['authorname'] = $user['username'];
            $userid = $data['userid'] = $user['userid'];
        }
        else
        {
            $userid = $data['userid'];
            if (empty($data['authorname']))
            {
                $data['authorname'] = vB_Api::instanceInternal('user')->fetchUserName($userid);
            }
            $user = vB_Api::instance('user')->fetchUserinfo($userid);
        } 


Modified:

PHP Code:

if (empty($data['userid']))
        {
            $user = vB::getCurrentSession()->fetch_userinfo();
            $data['authorname'] = $user['username'];
            $userid = $data['userid'] = $user['userid'];
            $groupid = $data['groupid'] = $user['usergroupid'];  //Added groupid
        }
        else
        {
            $userid = $data['userid'];
            $groupid = $data['groupid']; //Added groupid
            if (empty($data['authorname']))
            {
                $data['authorname'] = vB_Api::instanceInternal('user')->fetchUserName($userid);
            }
            $user = vB_Api::instance('user')->fetchUserinfo($userid);
        } 


With that in place, you can now call {vb:raw conversation.groupid}

Edit:
Here's the hack that enables the groupid to be set when someone creates a new forum node (channel/topic/post):
Original File: /core/vb/library/content.php @ Line 199

PHP Code:

    if (empty($data['userid']))
        {
            $user = vB::getCurrentSession()->fetch_userinfo();
            $data['authorname'] = $user['username'];
            $userid = $data['userid'] = $user['userid'];
        }
        else
        {
            $userid = $data['userid'];
            if (empty($data['authorname']))
            {
                $data['authorname'] = vB_Api::instanceInternal('user')->fetchUserName($userid);
            }
        } 


Change to:

PHP Code:

    if (empty($data['userid']))
        {
            $user = vB::getCurrentSession()->fetch_userinfo();
            $data['authorname'] = $user['username'];
            $userid = $data['userid'] = $user['userid'];
            $groupid = $data['groupid'] = $user['usergroupid']; //Added groupid
        }
        else
        {
            $userid = $data['userid'];
            $groupid = $data['groupid']; //Added groupid
            if (empty($data['authorname']))
            {
                $data['authorname'] = vB_Api::instanceInternal('user')->fetchUserName($userid);
            }
        } 


As I wait for a response to my question, I hope this helps someone. (just realized: this post contains a lot of hope )

Edit: There is still one more file to edit that controls Private Message node creation. Will update this post when I find it.