search by specific date

[billstoll]

I am preparing to construct a hack for VB3 RC 2. I need a way to search for all posts made on a specific date, excluding posts made by a particular user. I am new to VBulletin and to PHP, but have a strong unix-C programming background.

Before I start, I thought I would outline what I have in mind and 1) make sure it's not already been done, and 2) make sure I am not missing something important. I saw a tutorial here on how to apply hacks, but not a tutorial for folks about to code up their first hack!

My plan is to make changes to the Advanced Search template:

1. add new checkbox to Search by User Name to invert the meaning - return all posts NOT made by the specified user.
2. Add three new pulldown menus to Search Options: Month, Day, and Year.
3. Add third option to second pulldown under Find Posts From. The existing options are "and Newer" and "and Older". I would add "only".

I would change search.php to handle the new checkbox, and to construct the start and end postline for the specified date and query based on that.

I would also have some mysql changes. The "search_forums" template and the phrase table would need some tweaking. I'm thinking of just updating the database and not touching install/vbulletin_language.xml and install/vbulletin_style.xml. Is that a dumb way to do it?

So, not a whole lot of files affected - am I missing something obvious?

Many thanks,
Bill