Portal Software - [Chris] Reviews

Reviews
by Christos Teriakis (aka ChrisTERiS)

Please note that from
11 Aug 2013
you can get support only in my site
http://www.teriakis.com

Demo: http://www.christeris.net/dev42/reviews.php
Demo Accounts:
demouser1 / demopass1
demouser2 / demopass2
demouser3 / demopass3

1.- What's this mod?

Is better to say what is NOT . For sure is not that mod requested for years now at this thread. But is a good Reviews system for those who want to review one type of items (eg Games, Books, Autos etc) and one group of rating questions is ok for them. With the help of extra fields and a bit works from your side to configure it, you can have a very good reviews section in your site.

• Supports unlimited categories
• You can set the word that will be use in the pages to identify the type of your reviews (eg Game - Games, Book - Books etc)
• Supports Extra fields (but not searchable)
• Supports one group of rating questions (but unlimited questions)
• Supports users' reviews and overall rating
• Supports Headline, review text, positive points, negative points
• Supports Product photos or YouTube video if exists
• Has PM templates for:
  • PM user when admin approves his Review
  • PM user when admin rejects Review
• Revier can temporary hide the review and a later time he can activate it again.
• There are listings for:
  • Category Reviews
  • Timeframe (What's New) Reviews
  • User Reviews
  • Search Results
• In view Review page the visitor can see also:
  • Editor Rating
  • Community Rating
  • Lowest Rating
  • Highest Rating
  • Editor other reviews on sidebar
• In all pages there are available the follow blocks having the appearance of widgets:
  • Category Menu
  • Search Form
  • Statistics
  • Top Editor Products (Games, Books, etc)
  • Top Community Products
  • New Reviews
  • New Community Ratings
• RSS Feeds for latest 10 reviews
• Facebook Like Advanced (Shows users who liked a review)
• ver.1.1.0 Added a setting to allow or not Audio files (in case that you want to review music). Default is OFF. If you turn on then the users can hear the audio file with the included (simple) audio player.

2.- Installation

1. Download and unzip the file Reviews_XXXX.zip
2. Upload the content of upload folder to the directory where your vB installation is. As a check: reviews.php must be on the same directoru as global.php, forum.php etc. SL Reviews are not working out of vB installation directory.
3. CMOD 777 the directories:
   1. christeris/reviews/photos
   2. christeris/reviews/photos/thumbs
   3. christeris/reviews/photos/tmp
4. Goto Admincp and import product-reviews.xml. Double check before if you have another product with the same name.
5. Set the various settings in Reviews->General settings
6. Set usergroup permissions
7. Check and modify if you want PM templates.
8. Set categories
9. Set Extra fields (in case that you want them).
10. Set Rating Questions
11. *** ATTENTION *** Double check that rating questins are ok before starting adding reviews. After the first review you CAN'T Add/Edit/Delete questions.

3.- SEO URLs

• If you're using vbSeo open the file Reviews_vBSEO_Custom_Rewrite_Rules.txt and add them to your vbSeo installation.
• If you're using .htaccasse file copy the contents of htaccess.txt and add it to your current .htaccess files. If you don't have such file and your server is compatible with such files, upload htaccess.txt to your vB directory and rename it to: .htaccess

4.- CMS Widget / Forum Sidebar block for Latest Reviews

1. Pre-Installation:
   1. Shows latest 5 Reviews. If you want to change the number to another value change at 1st line: $maxreviews = 5;
2. Installation as CMS Widget
   1. Goto Admincp-> vBulletin CMS-> Widgets
   2. Click "Create New Widget" at the list bottom
   3. Set Widget Type: PHP Direct Execution
   4. Give a Title which appears at the widget. eg Last Reviews, or.. Last 5 Reviews etc
   5. Click SAVE
   6. Find in the list the new widget and click configure at the right side
   7. Replace the example code, with the code from Widget_Block_Latest_Reviews.txt
   8. Click Save
   9. Goto Layout and add it in any section you want
   10. Click Save (Layout)
3. Installation as Forum sidebar Block
   1. Goto Admincp-> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Block Manager
   2. Click Add Block
   3. In the next screen "Select block type: Custom HTML/PHP"
   4. Click Continue
   5. Title: Latest Reviews
   6. Content Type: PHP
   7. Content: Copy & Paste the code from Widget_Block_Latest_Reviews.txt
   8. Click Save. The block will be now visible to your forum sidebar

5.- Copyright link

Since the time that DBTech released their Copyright Manager, I've removed my own copyrights. I found their action insulting me to maximum. Their wording "Site is powered by vBulletin AddOns and Modules by Dragonbyte Tech" (and not "Some parts of this site"), means that everything there is their own work, ignoring on the worst way the fact that there are 100's of other coders and designers who are supporting this community for years. So, I'm letting the glory to them. No copyrights from my side.

Enjoy it
Christos Teriakis
aka ChrisTERiS

[CharlieDelta]

Originally Posted by Christos Teriakis

Then disable the Reviews Widget and/or Reviews Forum sidebar block. Only at that point there is this code. But again it's how the template treats the code. Has nothing to do with what they said there. In programming (if its coding error) it appears always and not sometimes appears and sometimes not. To appear sometimes and sometimes not has to do with the template or special code.
In final word.... does it appears with the your default template (even ...sometimes)?

Chris

Thanks Chris. Disabling the forum side block has worked. And yes it did appear in the default template.

[Christos Teriakis]

Originally Posted by CharlieDelta

Thanks Chris. Disabling the forum side block has worked. And yes it did appear in the default template.

If it appears even in your default template, then is better to keep my mouth close, and not because I admit that there is something wrong in my code.

In anycase, as I don't like to let you in the middle of the way, you can use the follow procedure to have the the widget/block appearing in your site:

1.- At Admincp-> Styles & Templates-> Style Manager-> Edit Templates-> CSS Templates add to additional.css

.minigraph {
    float:{vb:stylevar left};
    background-color:#cecece;
    border: 1px solid #003366;
    position:relative;
    width:70px;
    padding:0
}
.minigraph .minibar {
    display:block;
    position:relative;
    background-image:url(christeris/reviews/images/bargraph.gif);
    background-position:{vb:stylevar left} center;
    background-repeat:repeat-x;
    border-{vb:stylevar right}:1px solid #003366;
    text-align:center;
    color:#fff;
    height:14px;
    font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size:8pt;
    line-height:1.4em
}
.minigraph .minibar span {
    position:absolute;
    {vb:stylevar left}:1em
}

2.- Forget the code that exists in Widget_Block_Latest_Reviews.txt and use the code:

$maxreviews = 5;
global $db, $vbulletin, $vbphrase, $vboptions;
ob_start();
$qry = $vbulletin->db->query_read("SELECT * FROM ".TABLE_PREFIX."reviews_reviews WHERE active=1 AND status=1 AND logo<>'' ORDER BY postdate DESC LIMIT $maxreviews");
while ($row = $db->fetch_array($qry)) {
        $thisreviewid = $row["id"];
        $thisreviewtitle = htmlspecialchars_uni($row["title"]);
        $thisreviewlink = 'reviews.php?do=viewreview&reviewid='.$row["id"].'';
        $thisreviewlogo = 'christeris/reviews/photos/thumbs/'.$row["logo"].'';
        $thisreviewbarwidth = intval($row["adminrating"] * 10);
        $thisreviewrating = intval($row["adminrating"]);
        $thisreviewratingtitle = $vbphrase["reviews_rating_".$thisreviewrating.""];
        $html .= '<div class="cms_widget_post_bit widget_post_bit">
                <div class="cms_widget_post_userinfo widget_post_userinfo">
                <div class="cms_widget_post_useravatar widget_post_useravatar">
                <a class="comments_member_avatar_link" href="'.$thisreviewlink.'">
                <img src="'.$thisreviewlogo.'" alt="'.$thisreviewtitle.'" /></a>
                </div></div><div class="cms_widget_post_comment widget_post_comment">
                   <h4 class="cms_widget_post_header widget_post_header">
                <a href="'.$thisreviewlink.'">'.$thisreviewtitle.'</a></h4>
                '.$thisreviewratingtitle.'
                <span class="rating" style="float:right;">
                <div class="minigraph">
                <strong class="minibar" style="width:'.$thisreviewbarwidth.'%"><b>'.$thisreviewrating.'</b></strong>
                </div></span></div></div>';
}
$output = $html;
ob_end_clean();

[Christos Teriakis]

Hello,

I want to ask those who have installed SL Reviews, if a modification which most probably will makes the new version incompatible with the previous one, will causes them problems. What I'm trying to say is "Are you using it in a live site?".

What I want to change is the way that rating questions are currently working. As you know, in the current version the Administrator setup the questions which are global for all reviews. Now it came in my mind to move it to the Reviewer. Independed of category the Reviewer will be able to set his own rating questions.

Example: I'm posting a Review for a game and I want to add only: Sound quality, Playbility and Value for money as rating questions, while you, posting a similar review you want to add much more questions.

Please note that the average rating will remains the same as the calculation is the same (Total points / Total questions).

I believe that this way you'll have the freedom to use different types of reviews with the same installation.

I'll appreciate if you click "Like" to this post as a way to determine how many you agree with this plan.

Christos

[fxdigi-cash]

I believe this is the best mod so far I ran into... great job Christos Teriakis

Thanks a lot.

And Yes, that new idea you mention is great. I totally agree with you

Thanks again

[albibak]

Goog idea Chris, but the admin can have the possibility to activate or not this feature.
It will be nice if the admin can purpose some questions for specific review.

For example, a review for a game, the reviewer have quetion like: sound, graphics..
If it's a film's review, it wmust be : graphics, history...

You know what I mean?

[Christos Teriakis]

Originally Posted by albibak

Goog idea Chris, but the admin can have the possibility to activate or not this feature.
It will be nice if the admin can purpose some questions for specific review.

For example, a review for a game, the reviewer have quetion like: sound, graphics..
If it's a film's review, it wmust be : graphics, history...

You know what I mean?

Yes, I got your meaning but unfortunatelly is something that can't be done. It's different database structure between these 2 options. That's why I said that will not be compatible with the earlier version.

[jshallo]

Hi Christos, Just installed this on my site and did a test post. I'm looking to use it for cruise ship reviews. Some of what I see in this mod and others is alittle too complicated for my needs. For example, I don't need a Editors Review for each ship.. so I guess I would need a more slimmed down version.

I like what you have in place for the categories and use of the CMS, user panel. I just would want a more simple version. I'll give you a brief overview of how I would like to use your software.

1. Users goes to Cruise Reviews section.

2. User Wants to Post a Review.

3. User Selects from parent category (Cruise Lines). Then picks ship to review.
(ie. Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Breeze. The review would actually be written on the Carnival Breeze. The present options make this alittle bulky.

This same format could be used for other products, restaurants, hotels, etc.
For example. Parent category> Restaurants>Country>State>City>Restaurant Name. or even
Hotels>Country>State>City>Hotel Name. My point is the admin would set that the items in the last category are the items to be reviewed.

4. I don't need editorial reviews at the top, as I want USER reviews from the community. If I had a heading it could include a photo of the ship, company logo, ship history text, etc. However, with 100's of ships an editorial heading is not ideal. I also this a more basicly (non editorial heading).. just a product head,custom questions, basic 1-10 star rating, and CMS article like narative where the user can add images, stylized text, embed YouTube videos would be wonderful and flexible.

5. I could use the PRO's / CON's section.. and maybe some fixed questions as your proposing but as options.

6. A rating 1-10 stars or other system would be nice as you have already for each user review.. so then someone looking reviews for Carnival Breeze.. can see that out of 100 reviews.. the community has given this ship 8 out of 10 stars, etc.

This is just my five cents. Its not far from what I would love to see.

[digitard]

I'd love to see an "Administrator" option to create products with the information, but not need to actually input a 1-10 review.

For example I'd be able to create the name, keywords, a link to the manufacturer site, image, use the review box to put in information about the product (like the official what it has, cost, etc), and the production year. Then submit it, and my users sub-reviews can create the actual star rating.

This would be good for things like store/site reviews of things that aren't 100% products or if we want to remain "out of the game".

[Christos Teriakis]

Originally Posted by digitard

I'd love to see an "Administrator" option to create products with the information, but not need to actually input a 1-10 review.

For example I'd be able to create the name, keywords, a link to the manufacturer site, image, use the review box to put in information about the product (like the official what it has, cost, etc), and the production year. Then submit it, and my users sub-reviews can create the actual star rating.

This would be good for things like store/site reviews of things that aren't 100% products or if we want to remain "out of the game".

There is a global misunderstanding on Reviews scripts, and I can admit that it gots me long time (actually years) to understand how these scripts are working. Well when I was talking for reviews, I had in mind exactly what you wrote. Admin posts something (eg an article) and users rate/review it.

Unfortunatelly what I was (and you ... and many others) thinking about reviews are not reviews script. Are rating scripts. The normal Reviews scripts (just like this) are scripts where the author has reviewed something and posts his final review for reading (mostly) and rating by the users.

A good example to understand it, is the reviews that most magazines are posting. eg Let's say a Mobile phones magazine posts some reviews for the new models. The author checks the new model and then he post the reviews. Users are reading the review and usally they post replies with their opinions, or adding a global rating.

What you asked for are Rating scripts, which are most common (in my opinion). eg You want to operate a Hotels directory and you're posting some dozens of Hotels (in most cases you never seen them), expecting that users who know these hotels will post reviews.

Am I right? Pitty, but this mod has been developed scoping the first way. Even if can be modified to work like you want, I don't suggest it, as most probably will be a waste of time.

Chris

[Christos Teriakis]

Originally Posted by jshallo

........
1. Users goes to Cruise Reviews section.
2. User Wants to Post a Review.
.....

Have you a site relevant to Travel business? I had a Travel Office for 17 years, but I closed it last year.... Internet is good, but kills some professions...

Well, it's 5 years that I've coded a Travel portal. Does what you wrore and many more. Not only reviews, but tours and many...many others... The problem is that is for vB3. It was very big project (around 100+ php files, same amount of templates etc), and never had the time to port it to vB4.

So, the only that I can say is what I replied to @digitard before. You need a rating script. This is a review script.

Chris