Show Thread Enhancements - External Link Titles, retrieve descriptive titles for URLs

Keywords: SHOWTHREAD, external, link, titles, URLs, SEO

Description:
Retrieves descriptive titles for external posted links. Allows for better link recognition and, in theory, could help increase page SEO.

Details:
I recall this being requested somewhere, so I decided to take a stab at it. This is yet another feature offered in vBSEO.

For those unaware of what this actually does.. by default, when a URL is posted without a description it looks like:
http://www.vbulletin.com

With this modification enabled, it will now look like:
vBulletin.org Forum - The Official vBulletin Resource!

Nicer, eh?

[hr]-[/hr]
Installation:

1. Download and import product-linktitles.xml via the Product Manager.
2. Enable the modification via AdminCP > vBulletin Options > External Link Titles Options (it is disabled by default)
3. ???
4. Profit!

Notes:
There's really no magic here, it polls for titles using the cURL() function. If for some reason your host does not have cURL() enabled, you're out of luck.

From time to time you may notice the occasional link that does not get titled -- this is due to either the fact that the url is not active or it either timed out waiting for a response. By default, the system will wait for 5 seconds before timing out. If you wish to modify the timeout, you may do so via the AdminCP.

[hr]-[/hr]
Comments:
As with all my hacks, this modification is provided free of charge. However, if you find this product useful and have money burning a hole in your pocket, feel free to make a small donation, I won't mind.. really.

Version History:

• 1.0.0 - Initial release, here's to hoping...
• 1.1.0 - Added the ability to blacklist specific domains from having link titles retrieved (configurable via the AdminCP)
• 1.1.1 - Wrapped returned titles in html_entity_decode(); to return properly decoded HTML characters.

Currently Known Bugs:

• None

* Please note that this modification was developed on a forum with a userbase of 1 (myself). I've tested it for basic functionality but I cannot guarantee functionality or behavior on your forum. So, please -- make backups before installing this product!

[kjsmith84]

awesome!

[sonixax]

Very nice , but have problem with some Arabic/Persian Sites .

Example : Attachment 123394

only If in title use English and Persian/Arabic Charachter's at same time !

[dalreardon]

Hi,

I have searched but can't find a similar mod for VB 4.1.5

Does anyone know if this mod will work on v4.1.5? I don't want to break the forum by installing wrongly.

Thanks,
Dale.
http://www.settledin.com.au/tasforum/
.

[HMBeaty]

Originally Posted by dalreardon

Hi,

I have searched but can't find a similar mod for VB 4.1.5

Does anyone know if this mod will work on v4.1.5? I don't want to break the forum by installing wrongly.

Thanks,
Dale.
http://www.settledin.com.au/tasforum/
.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=189658

[dalreardon]

Many thanks for referral. Will install that one.
Dale.
http://www.settledin.com.au/tasforum/
.

[dalreardon]

Hi again,

Just tried to import that mod and got an error message that it isn't compatible with version 4.1.5.

Any other mod suggestions? Hopefully there is one for v4.x

Dale.
http://www.settledin.com.au/tasforum/
.

[HMBeaty]

Originally Posted by dalreardon

Hi again,

Just tried to import that mod and got an error message that it isn't compatible with version 4.1.5.

Any other mod suggestions? Hopefully there is one for v4.x

Dale.
http://www.settledin.com.au/tasforum/
.

Replied in the other thread

[Tolden]

The Add-On does not work in our Forum. Only when the first Administrator posts a link, it shows the title of the site. All other users, admins, moderators, etc. only get the normal Hyperlink. There is also a problem displaying "ä ö ü" ! Can you tell me how to fix our issue?

[Nirjonadda]

This mod does not work other usergroup on 4.1.10 ? How to fix ?

[BirdOPrey5]

There's nothing in this mod to change how it works per usergroup- my only guess is $vbulletin may not be global for some reason when an Admin isn't logged in.

Go to the Admin CP -> Plugin Manager -> and edit the TWO plugins for this mod.

At the very top of each of them add the line:

global $vbulletin;

That will force $vbulletin to be available.

Only thing I can think of.