vBulletin CMS Widgets - United-Forum Nivo Slider Widget

Based on the Nivo Slider - all credit for slider awesomeness goes to them.
vB4 implementation goes to me.


What it is:
A slider for cms articles, it gets the articles via database, uses (if possible) the previewimage there and resizes it to slider size *update 1.1.0 cropping function included.

Livedemo on a Big Board (>2.000.000 posts)
the nivo slider on our site is customized to fit our heavily customized cms. Default look of this addon is shown in the picture below


facts about the nivo slider

Originally Posted by nivo slider homepage

- ~ 600.000 downloads
- 16 transition effects
- a ton of options
- different available themes
- ...

Installation

• upload all files (attached zip file) in the folder where you do need them - this has to be the same folder you will set via $slider_img_filepath (see picture)
  
  
  
• create a new php-widget and insert the following code:
  

  // DEBUG MODUS !
  $debug_modus = false;
  
  if($debug_modus === false)
  {
  	ob_start();
  }
  
  //nivo slider - uf - vb.org version
  //set these values as you need them:
  
  //your slider folder - has to be read and writeable
  //folder where all slider files are saved
  $slider_img_filepath = 'external/unitedforum/slider/';   
  
  //picture width and height !same as in the CSS FILE!
  $maxwidth = 650;                                  
  $maxheight = 250;    
  
  //do you want images without previewimage to be shown? slider is using the fallback then
  $show_articles_without_image = false;           
  
  //picture shown if your articles has no previewpicture
  $fallback_img = $slider_img_filepath . 'uf_fallback_slider.png';  
  
  //hardcoded maximum is 20 - if you want more just ask
  $number_of_articles_shown = 10;                                
              
  //lengh in characters of the article descriptions
  $description_length = 95;
  
  //stretch picture or crop them? false = strechting (default) true = cropping (beta)
  $crop = false;
  
  
  //Debug Messages
  if($debug_modus)
  {
  	echo "<span style='color:red;'>DEBUG MODE is ON! </span><br />";
  	echo "slider_img_filepath: $slider_img_filepath <br />";
  	echo "width: $maxwidth   height: $maxheight <br />";
  	echo "Strech or Crop? $crop <br />";
  	echo "show_articles_without_image: "; 
          var_dump($show_articles_without_image); 
          echo " <br />";
  	echo "fallback_img: $fallback_img <br />";
  	echo "#img: $number_of_articles_shown <br />";
  	echo "description_length: $description_length <br />";
  	echo 'directory ' . DIR . '<br />';
  
  }
  
  
  
  
  $article_type = vb_Types::instance()->getContentTypeID("vBCms_Article");
  $time = TIMENOW;
   
  if(!extension_loaded('gd'))
  {
  	echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> Your System does not support the GD-Libary. Please install the GD-Libary.<br />';
  }
         
  	$article_get = vB::$db->query_read('
          SELECT
              article.pagetext,
              article.previewimage,
              node.url,
              node.publishdate,
              node.parentnode,
              parentnode.url AS parenturl,
              thread.replycount,
              info.title,
              node.nodeid,            
              GROUP_CONCAT( category.category )
          FROM
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_article AS article INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_node AS node 
                  ON (node.contentid = article.contentid AND node.contenttypeid = ' . vb::$db->sql_prepare($article_type) .') INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_nodeinfo AS info 
                  ON info.nodeid = node.nodeid INNER JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_node AS parentnode 
                  ON parentnode.nodeid = node.parentnode LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'thread AS thread ON thread.threadid = info.associatedthreadid LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_nodecategory AS nodecategory ON nodecategory.nodeid = node.nodeid LEFT JOIN
              '.TABLE_PREFIX.'cms_category AS category ON nodecategory.categoryid = category.categoryid 
          WHERE
              node.setpublish = 1 AND
              node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
  			node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' 
          GROUP BY node.nodeid
          ORDER BY node.publishdate
          DESC LIMIT 20');
  
      $database_articles = array();
      
      /* my version of sorting the articles via relevance - i'll keep it in case someone is interested*/
      while($article = vB::$db->fetch_array($article_get))
      {
          $article['value'] = ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) * ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) * ( 5 - ($time - $article['publishdate'] ) / 86400 ) + (10 * $article['replycount']);
          $database_articles[] = $article;        
      }
      
      foreach($database_articles as $c => $key)
      {
          $sort_value[] = $key['value'];
      }
      
      array_multisort($sort_value, SORT_DESC, $database_articles);    
      
      //
      $i = 0;
      $section_array = array();
      $featured_articles = array();
  	
      foreach($database_articles AS $article)
      {
          $section_array[$article['parentnode']]++;
  
          $categories = explode(',' , $article['GROUP_CONCAT( category.category )']);
       
          if($show_articles_without_image == true OR $article['previewimage'])
          {
              if($section_array[$article['parentnode']] < 50 AND $i < $number_of_articles_shown)
              {
  				if($debug_modus == true OR !file_exists($slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg'))
  				{
  					//rebuild image to the height and width we want in the slider 
  					//called sprite since i got the code from our sprite addon :P
  					$sprite = imagecreatetruecolor($maxwidth, $maxheight);
  					if(is_resource($sprite) AND $article['previewimage'] )
  					{                   				
  						$imageinfo = getimagesize($article['previewimage']);
  						if(is_array($imageinfo))
  						{   
  							$image = null;
  							switch($imageinfo[2])
  							{
  								case IMAGETYPE_PNG:
  								$image = imagecreatefrompng($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								case IMAGETYPE_GIF:
  								$image = imagecreatefromgif($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								case IMAGETYPE_JPEG:
  								$image = imagecreatefromjpeg($article['previewimage']);
  								break;
  								default:
  								echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> Unknown image format. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  								break;                        
  							}
  							
  							if(!is_resource($image))
  							{
  								//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  								echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> imagecreation failed. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  								$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  							}
  							else
  							{
  								$img_width = $imageinfo[0];
  								$img_height = $imageinfo[1];							
  								
  								if($crop == false)
  								{									
  									imagecopyresampled($sprite, $image, 0, 0, 0, 0, $maxwidth, $maxheight, $img_width, $img_height );
  									imagedestroy($image);
  								}
  								else
  								{
  									//cropping
  									$ratiox = $maxheight / $img_height ;
  									$ratioy = $maxwidth / $img_width ;
  									$new_height = $img_height;
  									$new_width = $img_width;
  									
  									if ($maxheight > $img_height OR $maxwidth > $img_width)
  									{
  										if($ratiox > $ratioy)
  										{
  											$new_height = round($img_height * $ratiox);
  											$new_width = round($img_width * $ratiox);
  										}
  										else
  										{
  											$new_height = round($img_height * $ratioy);
  											$new_width = round($img_width * $ratioy);
  										}										
  									}
  									$cropx = $new_height - $maxheight;
  									$cropy = $new_width - $maxwidth;
  									
  									imagecopyresampled($sprite, $image, 0, 0, 0, 0, $new_width, $new_height, $img_width, $img_height);
  									imagedestroy($image);
  									
  								}
  								
  								
  								$img_filepath = $slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg';
  								$success = imagejpeg($sprite, DIR  . ($img_filepath[0] != DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ?  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR : '') . $img_filepath);
  								imagedestroy($sprite);
  								if($success)
  								{
  									$article['previewimage'] = $img_filepath;
  								}
  								else
  								{
  									$img_filepath = DIR  . ($img_filepath[0] != DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ?  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR : '') . $img_filepath;
  									echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> imagejpeg failed. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />
  									directory: '. $img_filepath ;
  									
  									$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  								}
  							}
  							
  						}
  						else
  						{
  							//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  							echo '<span style="color:red">Error occurred:</span> picture is not readable.' . $article['previewimage']. '<br /> ';
  							$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  						}                  
  					}
  					else
  					{
  						//resiziing did not work - we are using the fallback image.
  						echo '<span style="color:red">Warning:</span> article has no previewimage or sprite is no ressource. ' . $article['previewimage']. '<br />';
  						$article['previewimage'] = $fallback_img;
  					}
  				}
  				else
  				{
  					//we already have the image, no need to resize or crop anything
  					$article['previewimage'] = $slider_img_filepath . 'slide_' . $article['nodeid'] . '.jpg';
  				}
  
                  /*remove everything from the previewtext - html and bb. I do not want bold or colored text there. Cut to a decent length.*/        
                  $article['pagetext'] = strip_bbcode($article['pagetext'], true, true, false, true, false);
  
                  $article['previewtext'] = strip_tags($article['pagetext'], '<a>');
                      
                  $len = $description_length;
                  if ( strlen($article['previewtext']) > $len )
                  {                    
                      $article['previewtext'] = substr( $article['previewtext'] , 0 , strrpos( substr( $article['previewtext'], 0, $len), ' ' ));
                  }   
  
                  $i++;
                  //Build Array
                  $article_neu = array();
                  $article_neu['description'] = '<h2 style="font-weight:bold; font-size: 14px">'. $article['title'].'</h2><span>'. $article['previewtext'] .'</span> <a href="/content.php?r=' . $article['nodeid'] . '-' . $article['url'] . '">read on</a>';
                  $article_neu['htmlcaptionname'] = 'htmlcaption' . $article['nodeid'] ;
                  $article_neu['picture'] = '<a href="/content.php?r=' . $article['nodeid'] . '-' . $article['url'] . '"><img src="'.$article['previewimage'].'" alt="" title="#htmlcaption'. $article['nodeid'] . '" /></a>';
                  
                  $featured_articles[] = $article_neu;
              }
          }
      }
      
      //Randomize Array
      //shuffle($featured_articles);
  
  	//Debug Messages
  	if($debug_modus)
  	{
  		echo '#articles - featured and databasepull ';
  		var_dump(count($featured_articles));
  		var_dump(count($database_articles));
  	}
  
      
  $output_bits = '
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
      <div style="height:' . $maxheight . 'px;">
      <div id="wrapper">
          <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
              <div class="ribbon"></div>
              <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">';
              
                  foreach($featured_articles AS $article)
                  {
                      $output_bits .= $article['picture'];
                  }
              $output_bits .= '
              </div>';
              
              foreach($featured_articles AS $article)
              {
                  $output_bits .= '<div id="' . $article['htmlcaptionname'] . '" class="nivo-html-caption">' . $article['description'] .'</div>';
              }
              
              $output_bits .= '         
          </div>
  
      </div>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'jquery-1.6.1.min.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="' .$slider_img_filepath. 'jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">
      $(window).load(function() {
          $("#slider").nivoSlider();
      });
      </script>
      </div>
      ';
          $output = $output_bits;
   
  if($debug_modus === false)
  {
  	ob_end_clean();        
  }

• set refresh time to something big!
• save - add the widget to your layout - enjoy

Custom settings:

At the top of the php-widget code you can see the following:

// DEBUG MODUS !
$debug_modus = false;

if($debug_modus === false)
{
	ob_start();
}

//nivo slider - uf - vb.org version
//set these values as you need them:

//your slider folder - has to be read and writeable
//folder where all slider files are saved
$slider_img_filepath = 'external/unitedforum/slider/';   

//picture width and height !same as in the CSS FILE!
$maxwidth = 650;                                  
$maxheight = 250;    

//do you want images without previewimage to be shown? slider is using the fallback then
$show_articles_without_image = false;           

//picture shown if your articles has no previewpicture
$fallback_img = $slider_img_filepath . 'uf_fallback_slider.png';  

//hardcoded maximum is 20 - if you want more just ask
$number_of_articles_shown = 5;                                
            
//lengh in characters of the article descriptions
$description_length = 95;

If you change $maxwidth and $maxheight you need to edit the nivo-slider_uf_theme.css file, here:

.theme-uf #slider {
    margin:0px auto 0 auto;
    width:650px; /* Make sure your images are the same size */
    height:250px; /* Make sure your images are the same size */
}

Width and height have to be the same value in your php-widget and in the css file.

In additon to these settings i also included a "value/relevance function". Meaning the slider doesn't show your latest 5 articles, but instead weights them based on age and comments.

As older an article is the less likely it will show up in the slider.
More comments make it more likely.

This behaviour can be easily changed. I didn't include an if condition cause every board has different needs and i don't know whats best for you.
In addition conditions like "articles just from this section - or these sections, or this category, with a minimum of 10 posts" can be included via one single if condition. Again, i don't know what your board needs or what your category names are.

You can also modify the preview length (more words, less words), the preview style (color fontsize, fontweight .... Again different forums different needs. It's highly customizable.

Support:

Support and requests for the slider itself should be asked here http://nivo.dev7studios.com/
Same goes for different slider themes - a lot is possible, even thumbnails - again this is part of the nivo slider and not the vb4 implementation.

If you have any questions regarding the settings - or want different settings (which have to do with vb4) - ask, and i'll try to come up with some code // show you where you have to put what.

Slider not working. No idea why?

You will find a FAQ in the first comment, which will be kept up to date:
FAQ

The widget here is completely free. No charge, no branding.
But, we do not mind donations either. If you want to give us something. Since we are advertising free and fan based we are happy about every small donation.
( On Forumhome bottom right paypal button: http://www.united-forum.de/forum.php )



That's all
Hope it works for you.
Regards Mooff

[Mooff]

Since the question came up some times allready:

Q: I want the slider without widget title - how to do that?
Answer:
create a new template (main style or all styles you have your slider running)
Name: vbcms_php_no_title
code:

<div class="cms_widget">
<div class="block">
<div class="cms_widget_content widget_content">
{vb:raw output}
</div>
</div>
</div>

save it.

go to widget configuration of the slider widget, change template name to
vbcms_php_no_title

save. Reload slider. Title is gone.

[otectom]

Ok, so first off, THANK YOU!!!

I have been waiting for a long time for this mod, and this one does EXACTLY what I wanted!! It installed easily and works perfectly! Please view installation on my site at http://www.teamotec.net

I have 3 ??????

1. Earlier you showed how to change the image speed, but didn't specify what file to edit. Can you please clarify this for me, I want to slow mine to a 5 second pause.

2. How can you limit the sections that the slider displays? I only want to display articles from the sections "Event Coverage" "Featured Rides" & "Photography"

3. The dots that show that you are on slide 1 of 5 display in the middle of my image instead of at the top or bottom. How can I move them up or down? (I don't particularly care where they end up)

Thanks again for this great mod!! 5 Stars, Nominated, and Marked as Installed!!!

[Mooff]

1. Not a file. That's in the php widget code, close to the bottom.

2. I'll post code for both sections and categories, since i'll link that post in the FAQ.
How to show only articles out of specific sections or categories:

for sections
find:

        WHERE
            node.setpublish = 1 AND
            node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
	    node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' 
        GROUP BY node.nodeid
        ORDER BY node.publishdate
        DESC LIMIT 20');

replace with

        WHERE
            node.setpublish = 1 AND
            node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
	    node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' AND
	    node.parentnode IN ( 4, 5 )
        GROUP BY node.nodeid
        ORDER BY node.publishdate
        DESC LIMIT 20');

For categories

        WHERE
            node.setpublish = 1 AND
            node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
	    node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' 
        GROUP BY node.nodeid
        ORDER BY node.publishdate
        DESC LIMIT 20');

replace with

        WHERE
            node.setpublish = 1 AND
            node.publishdate > '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' -34560000 AND
	    node.publishdate < '. vb::$db->sql_prepare($time) .' AND
	    category.categoryid IN ( 31, 1 )
        GROUP BY node.nodeid
        ORDER BY node.publishdate
        DESC LIMIT 20');

Can be combined of course, if you want that.
Be careful not to miss the AND part
In the Brackets the sections-Ids/ categories-Ids you want have to be included.
In your case it would be ( 144, 145, 149 )

In general you can see the fitting ids in the links which lead to the section or category:
For example:
/content/category/31-esport.html
Category esports on our site has the ID 31.

---- category/section part ends here - in case you followed the faq link ----

3. In the nivo-slider_uf_theme.css file

find:

.theme-uf .nivo-controlNav a {
    background: url("nivo_slider_sprite.png") no-repeat scroll 0 -30px transparent;
    border: 0 none;
    display: block;
    float: left;
    height: 22px;
    margin-right: 3px;
    text-indent: -9999px;
    width: 22px;
}

replace with

.theme-uf .nivo-controlNav a {
    background: url("nivo_slider_sprite.png") no-repeat scroll 0 -30px transparent;
    border: 0 none;
    display: block;
    float: left;
    height: 22px;
    margin-right: 3px;
    text-indent: -9999px;
    width: 22px;
    top: -120px;
}

The top value is new. Modify that to whereever you want it.

[otectom]

Mooff, thank you again. I have wanted this on my site for ages and on one rainy sunday morning I was able to add it and have it completely working and customized to my wants in a matter of hours. Support like this is what makes VB great.

FYI in the css file my code looked like this

.theme-uf .nivo-controlNav a {
	display:block;
	width:22px;
	height:22px;
	background:url(nivo_slider_sprite.png) no-repeat;
    background-position:0 -30px;
	text-indent:-9999px;
	border:0;
	margin-right:3px;
	float:left;
}

Which is different from the code you showed above. So I simply changed it to this

.theme-uf .nivo-controlNav a {
	display:block;
	width:22px;
	height:22px;
	background:url(nivo_slider_sprite.png) no-repeat;
    background-position:0 -30px;
	text-indent:-9999px;
	border:0;
	margin-right:3px;
	float:left;
    top: -120px;
}

Not a real issue, but I wanted to point it out for others that may be looking to make this same change, and aren't sure about where to make it.

[GamersChallenge]

help, the only image showing is the UF fallback image,
and yes the slider folder is read and writable.

the website is www.gamerschallenge.net

if someone could please help. really need this slider so bad.

thanx

edit: I was the FAQ and I think it might be cause the guests can't view the attachments, can anyone tell me how do I change the permissions for that? I cant find anywhere.

edit: changed the permissions settings for guest to view attachments, didnt fix the problem.

[bandare]

Are you sure you have given read and write permissions to the folder as it says in the instructions?

[GamersChallenge]

Originally Posted by bandare

Are you sure you have given read and write permissions to the folder as it says in the instructions?

very sure.

[Mooff]

I think the slider_img_filepath is wrong.

Can't confirm without the debug messages, but as a guess, change it to:

$slider_img_filepath = 'slider/';

[GamersChallenge]

thats what it is right now, it can't be wrong since the UF does show.

and thanx for the fast reply

[Mooff]

I see. Please post the debug - last FAQ question.