Forum Display Enhancements - User Avatars In Thread Listing

Download vB 3.8.x Compatible Version Here

What does this plugin do?

This plugin add user avatars to the thread listing in forum display page. See the sceenshot for sample.



How to Install the plugin?

This plugin requires you edit vBulletin templates.

Import the xml file from the product manager..

Edit the threadbit template.

Find

<vb:if condition="$show['threadicon']">

And add the following just above it.

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw thread}, null, 'postuserid', 'postusername'}"><img height="32px" width="32px" style="float:left;margin-right:4px" src="{vb:raw thread.avatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Find

<dt>{vb:rawphrase last_post_by}</dt>

Please note: Some custom templates have the above code as

<dt class="lastpostby hidden">{vb:rawphrase last_post_by}</dt>

And add the following just above it.

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw thread}, null, 'lastposterid', 'lastposter'}"><img height="32px" width="32px" style="float:left;margin-right:4px" src="{vb:raw thread.lastposteravatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Edit forumhome_forumbit_level1_post and forumhome_forumbit_level2_post templates as follows.

Find

{vb:raw forum.lastpostinfo}

And add the following code just above it.

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw forum}, null, 'real_lastposterid', 'real_lastposter'}"><img height="48px" width="48px" style="float:left;margin-right:4px" src="{vb:raw forum.avatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Edit search_threadbit

Find the first occurrence of

<div class="inner">

And add after that

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw thread}, null, 'postuserid', 'postusername'}"><img height="32px" width="32px" style="float:left;margin:7px 4px 0 0" src="{vb:raw thread.avatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Then again find

<dl class="threadlastpost td">

And add after that

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw thread}, null, 'lastposterid', 'lastposter'}"><img height="32px" width="32px" style="float:left;margin-right:4px" src="{vb:raw thread.lastposteravatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Edit search_results_postbit

Find

<div class="contact">

And add after that

<a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw post}, null, 'userid', 'username'}"><img height="32px" width="32px" style="float:left;margin-left:4px" src="{vb:raw post.avatarurl}" border="0" /></a>

Upgrading Instructions

If you are upgrading the plugin, just import the new plugin file and overwrite the existing plugins. Once done make the necessary edits to the search templates.

Credits

1. Last poster's avatar idea by James from VirtueScience

Support

This plugin is supported, so you can post your issues and queries either on my blog or in comments below.

If you would like to Optimize your vBulletin for Less Server Load & Better User Experience, read this post on Optimizing vBulletin

History

Updated 21st August

1. Added support for avatars in search results.
2. Fixed bug for thread started by guests.

Updated 18th August

1. Avatar of sub forums last post bug fixed.

Updated 17th August

1. Added Support for avatars in forumhome
2. Avatars linked to member urls

Enjoy!!!

[shabbirbhimani]

Originally Posted by Sherif

whether u join or make new query it will take around same time (.1 sec diiference).. but people like having 20 queries executed in page rather than 40 queries.

Yes I will see how can I get that done from my end without depending on what vB team does

Originally Posted by Octavius.

That search thingie ain't working so far. I'll investigate later.

Can you share what is not working?

[Maccrob]

Agree with Sherif, using fetch_avatar_url to get avatars is a really bad idea. If you have small board, e.g. with 10 simultaneously users online, 40-50 sql queries will be ok, but for larger board it will cause high impact on bd server

[shabbirbhimani]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

One thing people may want to be aware of is that each avatar adds a query to the page.
Now it's worth noting that if you are on vb4, there's a "bug" in the search files whereby, for a "getnew/getdaily" search (New Posts or Today's Posts), the avatar of the thread starter is ALREADY called, (but not used), meaning if you have 20 results per page you are adding 20 queries. This hack then duplicates that, adding another 20.

I was working on improving the performance of the plugin and when debugging I could not find the ALREADY fetched avatars and can you tell me which variable has that so I can work on using that one instead of fetching it once again.

[Mark.B]

Originally Posted by shabbirbhimani

I was working on improving the performance of the plugin and when debugging I could not find the ALREADY fetched avatars and can you tell me which variable has that so I can work on using that one instead of fetching it once again.

Looking at Andreas's diff file:

PHP Code:

 $thread['lastpost_avatar'] = fetch_avatar_url($thread['lastposterid']);
 $thread['post_avatar'] = fetch_avatar_url($thread['postuserid']); 


That's from
packages/vbforum/search/result/thread.php

[shabbirbhimani]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

Looking at Andreas's diff file:

PHP Code:

 $thread['lastpost_avatar'] = fetch_avatar_url($thread['lastposterid']);
 $thread['post_avatar'] = fetch_avatar_url($thread['postuserid']); 


That's from
packages/vbforum/search/result/thread.php

vBulletin 4.1.2 does not have that variable populated for thread lastpost_avatar and post_avatar when I did the vardump. Am I missing something?

[Mark.B]

Originally Posted by shabbirbhimani

vBulletin 4.1.2 does not have that variable populated for thread lastpost_avatar and post_avatar when I did the vardump. Am I missing something?

I don't know...but if you look at my site, http://www.bowlandcentral.com/forum/...hp?do=getdaily, that's a getdaily search and those avatars down the left hand side are populated from the code in the search files that already exists.

Here's the code I use in search_threadbit:

<img style="vertical-align:top;padding: 3px;background: #ffffff; border: {vb:stylevar light_border}; margin-bottom: 20px;" class="inlineimg rounded2" width="30" height="30" alt="Started by {vb:raw thread.postusername}" src="{vb:raw vboptions.bburl}/<vb:if condition="$thread['post_avatar']">{vb:raw thread.post_avatar.0}" {vb:raw thread.post_avatar.1}<vb:else />images/misc/unknown.gif"</vb:if> /></a>

[giorgino]

Hi Mark.B how you have done tooltips and only avatars like xenforo?

[shabbirbhimani]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

I don't know...but if you look at my site, http://www.bowlandcentral.com/forum/...hp?do=getdaily, that's a getdaily search and those avatars down the left hand side are populated from the code in the search files that already exists.

Here's the code I use in search_threadbit:

<img style="vertical-align:top;padding: 3px;background: #ffffff; border: {vb:stylevar light_border}; margin-bottom: 20px;" class="inlineimg rounded2" width="30" height="30" alt="Started by {vb:raw thread.postusername}" src="{vb:raw vboptions.bburl}/<vb:if condition="$thread['post_avatar']">{vb:raw thread.post_avatar.0}" {vb:raw thread.post_avatar.1}<vb:else />images/misc/unknown.gif"</vb:if> /></a>

I see that it is vB4.1.3 and I am developing it on vB4.1.2 and so that could be the factor. Will update my dev server and see if it is starting from vB4.1.3.

[Mark.B]

Originally Posted by shabbirbhimani

I see that it is vB4.1.3 and I am developing it on vB4.1.2 and so that could be the factor. Will update my dev server and see if it is starting from vB4.1.3.

I'm pretty sure we had those avatars running like that on 4.0.8 before we jumped to 4.1.3....

[shabbirbhimani]

Originally Posted by Mark.B

I'm pretty sure we had those avatars running like that on 4.0.8 before we jumped to 4.1.3....

When I print_r the thread variable on getdaily on my localhost I get the following

Array
(
    [threadid] => 7
    [title] => abcd1234
    [prefixid] => 
    [firstpostid] => 13
    [lastpostid] => 24
    [lastpost] => 1314786829
    [forumid] => 2
    [pollid] => 0
    [open] => 1
    [replycount] => 1
    [hiddencount] => 0
    [deletedcount] => 0
    [postusername] => shabbir
    [postuserid] => 1
    [lastposter] => shabbir
    [lastposterid] => 1
    [dateline] => 1314684549
    [views] => 2
    [iconid] => 0
    [notes] => 
    [visible] => 1
    [sticky] => 0
    [votenum] => 0
    [votetotal] => 0
    [attach] => 0
    [similar] => 
    [taglist] => 
    [keywords] => abcd1234abcd1234, abcd1234
    [preview] => abcd1234abcd1234
    [postid] => 7
    [threadtitle] => abcd1234
    [threadiconid] => 0
    [postdateline] => 1314786829
    [issubscribed] => 1
    [threadread] => 
    [highlight] => Array
        (
        )
 
    [checkbox_value] => 0
    [title_editable] => 1
    [openclose_editable] => 1
    [forumtitle] => Main Forum
    [forumtitleclean] => Main Forum
    [prefix_plain_html] => 
    [prefix_rich] => 
    [lastpostdate] => Today
    [lastposttime] => 10:33 AM
    [postdate] => Today
    [posttime] => 10:33 AM
    [startdate] => Yesterday
    [starttime] => 06:09 AM
    [rating] => 0
    [moderatedprefix] => 
    [typeprefix] => 
    [totalposts] => 2
    [pagenav] => 
    [threadiconpath] => 
    [threadicontitle] => 
    [status] => Array
        (
            [dot] => dot
        )
 
    [dot_count] => 2
    [dot_lastpost] => Today
    [realthreadid] => 7
    [statusstring] => dot
)

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