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

[Lazorbeam]

I'm having trouble getting the slider to work (static version posted above). Here's the code I used;

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <div style="height:250px;">
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
            <div class="ribbon"></div>
            <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="/nivo/1Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption1"
            </div>
            <div id="htmlcaption1" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            </div>
        </div>

    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/clientscript/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/nivo/jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider();
    });
    </script>
    </div>

Note, the page already loads jquery 1.4.2 for TWS notifications. Does this have any implications?

Here's the test page where I've tried to load the widget: http://consortium.stormspire.net/con...The-Consortium

[Mooff]

Img tag is not closed.

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <div style="height:250px;">
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
            <div class="ribbon"></div>
            <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="nivo/1Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption1" /></a>
            </div>
            <div id="htmlcaption1" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            </div>
        </div>

    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/clientscript/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/nivo/jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider();
    });
    </script>
    </div>

try this one.

Ah i see, was my blunder in the code above - sorry


Edit:
If you have jquery 1.4 or higher allready running on your site you can delete that line:
<script type="text/javascript" src="/clientscript/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>

[Lazorbeam]

Originally Posted by Mooff

Img tag is not closed.

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <div style="height:250px;">
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
            <div class="ribbon"></div>
            <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="nivo/1Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption1" /></a>
            </div>
            <div id="htmlcaption1" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            </div>
        </div>

    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/clientscript/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/nivo/jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider();
    });
    </script>
    </div>

try this one.

Ah i see, was my blunder in the code above - sorry


Edit:
If you have jquery 1.4 or higher allready running on your site you can delete that line:
<script type="text/javascript" src="/clientscript/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>

Fantastico. Looks like it's working. As you pointed out I needed to remove the line that calls jquery.

Next step is to add additional slides. I tried duplicating some code but failed miserably.

Also, it seems that the arrows are somewhat pixelated. Do the "overlay" graphics look normal to you?

Link again for convenience: http://consortium.stormspire.net/con...The-Consortium

Edit: Hang tight, I'll first go through the nivo site and see if I can fix my own problem.

[Mooff]

Originally Posted by Lazorbeam

Also, it seems that the arrows are somewhat pixelated. Do the "overlay" graphics look normal to you?

No, they do not. I uploaded the wrong png by mistake in the zip file. New version is up, should look better.

ah well, since i'm typing anyway

        <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
            <div class="ribbon"></div>
            <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="nivo/1Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption1" /></a>
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="nivo/2Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption2" /></a>
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="nivo/3Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption3" /></a>
            </div>
            <div id="htmlcaption1" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            <div id="htmlcaption2" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your second snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            <div id="htmlcaption3" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Items that should be on your third snatch list</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            </div>
        </div>

[Lazorbeam]

For anyone looking to add slides to static pages, add the following bold code;

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/nivo/nivo-slider_uf_theme.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
    <div style="height:250px;">
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div class="slider-wrapper theme-uf">
            <div class="ribbon"></div>
            <div id="slider" class="nivoSlider">
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="/nivo/1Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption1" /></a>
                  <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net"><img src="/nivo/2Test.png" alt="" title="#htmlcaption2" /></a>
            </div>
            <div id="htmlcaption1" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>First slide..</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            <div id="htmlcaption2" class="nivo-html-caption">
                <b>Second slide..</b> </ br> testing.. <a href="http://consortium.stormspire.net">read more</a>
            </div>
        </div>

    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/nivo/jquery.nivo.slider.pack.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(window).load(function() {
        $("#slider").nivoSlider();
    });
    </script>
    </div>

You also need to rename htmlcaption1 to htmlcaption2.

[Alfa1]

Im only getting the date, but no slider. Im using the code in the 1st post.

[Mooff]

Per default the execution code in a cms-php widget is returning the date.

After you create the widget you have to click on "Configure" on the right and insert my code.


edit: let me clarify that one.
You have to delete that code, which is in there by default:

$output = date(vB::$vbulletin->options['dateformat']) . "<br />\n";

If you post additional code below that line nothing will happen. It just takes the output value - and doesn't even evaluate the rest.

[starman?]

This would be awesome if I could get it to work. I get the title and text from the article but no images. I've followed your instructions precisely and have tried different sized images and still only the title and text shows. Any ideas?

[Mooff]

Some ideas:

• set the fallback image switches to true:
  $show_articles_without_image = true;
  $fallback_img = 'external/unitedforum/slider/uf_fallback_slider.png'; //path to an existing picture
  
  If the images show up we at least know the slider is working correctly and the bug is somewhere in the vb4 implementation
  
• the images are resized using the php GD package (vbulletin does support both GD and ImageMagick) - the slider currently has no ImageMagick support. Do you have the GD package installed?
  
• comment out the first and the last line
  

  //ob_start();
  
  //ob_end_clean();

  You will then see error messages and warnings (given there are some), once you load the cms page where your slider is active. Please send me this output.

[starman?]

GD already installed. I've done all the other changes you have suggested and still the same. Title and text - no image. No error messages or warnings.