Links and Downloads Manager

LDM extends VBulletin to manage a library of documents, files and links to other web sites. Documents can be stored on your own web site, stored on your server separate from the web site, uploaded by your user community, or held somewhere else altogether. So you can use LDM to provide your user community with access to your own files and allow them to share files with each other.

12/08/06 - Versions that work with vb36 are available and supported in the VB36 thread. Version 2.2.1, which works with VB 3.5 but not with VB 3.6, remains available here.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with all the design, testing, etc.
Translations are provided (thanks dLutt and LeeWicked) into German, (thanks to Allan) into French, and (thanks to Hugo) into Spanish. Harry1951 has handled the Dutch translation.

Screenshots, Instructions and How to Install

Full details and instructions are available as a Wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php...nloads_Manager

LDM installs as a VBulletin product. There are no modifications required to standard VB code.

Basically - upload php files and run the installer through VB's Product installer. No changes needed to VB code. Remember to BACKUP YOUR DATABASE. By default, LDM prefixes its database tables 'local_'. Edit the configuration file, local_links_init.php, if you need/wish to change this.

LDM can handle an essentially unlimited number of categories and nested subcategories, and an unlimited number of entries (hyperlinks or downloadable files). Each entry can be placed in one or several categories. Categories can have styles. Descriptions and titles can optionally include BBcodes, smilies, images and html, giving the possibility to add images, colouring, etc. File types can be flagged using icons and individual entries can also have associated thumbnail images.

Standards templates are provided for libraries of links, files, documents, and photographs.

Users can offer comments and rate the links/downloads. Each user is allowed one rating and many comments per entry, and can freely edit these if they change their mind.

Permission to use specific features is established via the product's admin page, where the administrator specifies which usergroups can add and edit entries, comment and rate these entries, moderate, etc.

By default, all entries are visible to all users. You can restrict visibility/access to links and categories by using the permissions masks from your board's forums.

Moderation of new entries is available but turned off by default.

Users can report bad links to the relevant moderators/administrators.

Each user can flag links as his/her "Favourites".

Modules are provided for VBAdvanced.

Hooks are provided in suitable places in LDM and sample plugins are included in the release (see extras directory), for example to integrate with ID3 tags in mp3 files, for slideshows, to autocreate new threads in your forums, etc.

Plus much more.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by shiva

The online manual is rather complex, and very hard to use, as it has info scattered all over the place. I would suggest it follows the structure of the admin control panel, would make it a bit easier to use.

This is largely a a consequence of adding new features as people requested them, so that the original structure of the manual no longer works. Good document writing is very time consuming, and unfortunately I have only so much time to give to this project. But I think that your suggestion is a good one.

Originally Posted by shiva

Only things I can add as a request are anchor links in admin to sections like VB Options does.

Yes.

Originally Posted by shiva

Also, maybe a easy way for changing templates for the actual system, if that is possible. I really don't like that particular look if there's not a lot of text to a post, and I also think text should be aligned to the top instead of the middle.

Are you suggesting something other than the VB template editor? I've provided three or four model linkbit templates.

Originally Posted by shiva

One more, have the menu bar at the bottom available as well. When you have a lot of links to add in, you have to keep scrolling up to the top to add a new link, because it refreshes to the bottom of the page when you put in a link.

It should refresh to the link that has just been added - this was in response to an earlier suggestion, rather than the original behaviour of refreshing to the top of the page.

Rather than doubling up on the menu, another approach would be to move the functions in the linkbit into a drop down menu - rather like the drop down on the username in VB posts - and to include 'add link' in this menu. What do others think?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by testpig

Hi Andrew.
Bet your sick of the questions

I'll add a couple......I have uploaded the latest release but still have a couple of minor bugs. I can upload any size file, but if the physical size of an image goes over my forum settings the software goes to an error screen (white 404 page not found).

I have vB uploads set to 800 x 800 pixells so it doesnt blow the screen out......if I try to upload an image into the links manager thats larger than this it fails to a white default screen.

Any thoughts?

I'm having a problem reproducing this. Can you be more specific - which browser, etc. LDM does not use the image dimensions settings in the VB attachments table.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by elsupremo

Heh, Andrew, you can pretty much go ahead and ignore my last post.

On my site, I have a lot of unregistered people that download the files. Because I had them set in the permissions to be able to can_rate_link, I assumed they would be able to. I tested it myself this evening and realized that unregistereds are NOT able to rate the downloads on my site. That is, of course, the reason why I have not gotten the comments that I was hoping for.

Here is where I need help though - the download categories are all "open access". I have can_rate_link set to allow unregistered users to rate the downloads. However, it still stops them and tries to make them register instead. Is this a bug, or is there another setting I need to change?

Thank you!

This is a 'feature' + 'bug fix' - requested/pointed out by another user. Since the ratings are tied to user names, it's necessary to have a registered user. We thought that the best approach was to take unregistered users via a 'please register' form.

[EasyTarget]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Rather than doubling up on the menu, another approach would be to move the functions in the linkbit into a drop down menu - rather like the drop down on the username in VB posts - and to include 'add link' in this menu. What do others think?

I prefer the current method if you mean to replace the links navbar with a new dropdown in the vbnavbar.

[elsupremo]

Originally Posted by EasyTarget

I prefer the current method if you mean to replace the links navbar with a new dropdown in the vbnavbar.

I agree with EasyTarget. It's hard to envision what you are picturing, but it sounds like current method may be better. If the person is adding a lot of local downloads, perhaps "scan" is a better method than hitting add link over and over.
For multiple links, maybe add the capacity to add more than one link at a time (if it's only links).
Such as the user can press a button and request more input boxes for more links that will create new entries. Just an idea.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by elsupremo

I agree with EasyTarget. It's hard to envision what you are picturing, but it sounds like current method may be better. If the person is adding a lot of local downloads, perhaps "scan" is a better method than hitting add link over and over.
For multiple links, maybe add the capacity to add more than one link at a time (if it's only links).
Such as the user can press a button and request more input boxes for more links that will create new entries. Just an idea.

Sorry if I was unclear. Currently, the main linkbit has a set of icons over the right hand side of the screen to trigger the 'add to favourites', 'edit link', 'send to friend' frunctions. I was suggesting maybe taking all these into a drop down on the link title, with the first item being the 'jump to link' and including also an 'add link'. I don't really want to add more items into the linkbit template - it's already rather cluttered.

[shadowdancer36]

Can someone tell me how I can change the index title from Links and Downloads Manager to something else?

[EasyTarget]

Originally Posted by shadowdancer36

Can someone tell me how I can change the index title from Links and Downloads Manager to something else?

http://www.eirma.org/devel/LDM/section3.html#3s4
and
http://www.eirma.org/devel/LDM/section2.html#2s2
If you're referring to something else though then I don't know.

[EasyTarget]

hey andrew, there's some talk about integrating vbplaza with a downloads hack, here's the link:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=110542

[midihead]

Anyone who can help me with this would save me from the horrors of the lame-ass default "license agreement" text. Please, I'm begging you.

For some reason, the agreement is reading:

"The material you wish to access is proprietary. Please confirm that you will not make copies or distribute it to others without permission."

I need to customize this AND the error message when someone hits the "decline" button:

"I'm sorry. You declined to accept our agreement so I cannot process your request. Please start again."

I've added my own custom "license agreement" to the "Use Policy" field in the "Add/Edit Category" control panel, but that doesn't seem to be used by this application. Instead, the aforementioned canned message is displayed. I very much need to be able to change this. Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

M