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.

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

hmm...andrew..
having serious troubles getting mp3s to upload again (tried one liek 10 times no luck--still). same issue as before a couple betas back. getting a page not found or blank white screen after being stuck at 100% upload for a while.

its not ALL the time. but a significant amount. Had two users complain about sameissue as well.

did something change in the upload script from beta 3 to 4?

[Alfa1]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

I have searched this thread and could not find anything about this:

I would very much like to connect the reputation system of vBulletin to LDM, so that ratings on the file would affect the reputation of the member posting it. This would greatly improve the amount of files posted.

Andrew, thanks again for this great software. I am enjoying this very much.

Andrew, have you made any progress on this?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

hmm...andrew..
having serious troubles getting mp3s to upload again (tried one liek 10 times no luck--still). same issue as before a couple betas back. getting a page not found or blank white screen after being stuck at 100% upload for a while.

its not ALL the time. but a significant amount. Had two users complain about sameissue as well.

did something change in the upload script from beta 3 to 4?

There were no changes in the upload handling between these betas.

I can't remember what we discovered before, and if the problem only happens with larger files? Also, can you remember - did you have problems some releases ago with strange database errors when playing or downloading music/video?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

Andrew, have you made any progress on this?

I have added a new 'extra' limit-useraccess' with the 2.2.5 rc release (see VB36 thread - it also works with VB35) which allows you to modify allowances according to the users' posts.

It is (I think) extremely simple to change this 'extra' to work with the reputation rather than the number of posts. (i.e. instead of using the value of vbulletin->userinfo['posts'], one would use vbulletin->userinfo['reputationlevelid'])

Do you feel up to making that change yourself or do you prefer that I give you a more detailed example?

[Alfa1]

I do not understand what you are saying, because I have no clue about how either the 'extra' limit-useraccess' or the vbulletin->userinfo['posts'] work.
Either a detailed step by step explanation or a plug in/xml would work for me.

[sduckie2k5]

Using version 2.2.2 on vb 3.54 and I added the new plugin that limits user access based on post count but it doesnt stop users who havent met the requirements, any suggestions. Did I need to edit the plugin first or was it already configured? I tried several times on an account that did not meet requirements but no luck. Thanks

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by sduckie2k5

Using version 2.2.2 on vb 3.54 and I added the new plugin that limits user access based on post count but it doesnt stop users who havent met the requirements, any suggestions. Did I need to edit the plugin first or was it already configured? I tried several times on an account that did not meet requirements but no luck. Thanks

Do I read you correctly - you have installed the new extra provided with version 2.2.5 into a board running LDM 2.2.2?

This will not work as the relevant hook was not included in the LDM code until 2.2.5.

[Marsupilami]

Consider the following setup:

1. Forum URL = "www.teflon1.net/forum"
2. Homepage URL = "www.teflon2.net/"
3. Upload space = "/home/webuser/upload"
4. Thumbs space = "/home/webuser/thumbs"
5. Forum web root = "/home/webuser/public_html"
6. force_redirect = 0
7. thumbs_dir = "../thumbs/"
8. local_file_root = No
9. protected_link = 0

When browsing a category containing pictures with Opera 8.51 is works fine.

But when browsing with IE 6.0 the thumbnails will not show up at all.
And the URL to the thumbs shows up to be something like: "www.teflon2.net/../thumbs/63721154952051.jpg"

This is a bug in the following aspects:

1. It shows the path to the thumbs, which should be hidden
2. It tries to find the thumbs on the wrong server
3. It uses a URL containing ".." above the forum web root
4. It does not evaluate the relative, (".."), URL into an absolute URL

One cannot rely on the Homepage URL to point at the web root for the forum.
That must be found using proper PHP system variable.

Strange that it works on Opera, but not on IE.

Can this be solved?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

Consider the following setup:

1. Forum URL = "www.teflon1.net/forum"
2. Homepage URL = "www.teflon2.net/"
3. Upload space = "/home/webuser/upload"
4. Thumbs space = "/home/webuser/thumbs"
5. Forum web root = "/home/webuser/public_html"
6. force_redirect = 0
7. thumbs_dir = "../thumbs/"
8. local_file_root = No
9. protected_link = 0

When browsing a category containing pictures with Opera 8.51 is works fine.

But when browsing with IE 6.0 the thumbnails will not show up at all.
And the URL to the thumbs shows up to be something like: "www.teflon2.net/../thumbs/63721154952051.jpg"

This is a bug in the following aspects:

1. It shows the path to the thumbs, which should be hidden
2. It tries to find the thumbs on the wrong server
3. It uses a URL containing ".." above the forum web root
4. It does not evaluate the relative, (".."), URL into an absolute URL

One cannot rely on the Homepage URL to point at the web root for the forum.
That must be found using proper PHP system variable.

Strange that it works on Opera, but not on IE.

Can this be solved?

I'll take a look.

In general, the code does not try to resolve relative directories when local_file_root is set to 0 - I need to confirm that.

Concerning the file locations being made visible, a distinction is between the original file and its thumbnail. The location of the original is not made visible, but the generated thumb is. Is this an issue for you?

[Marsupilami]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by AndrewD

...Concerning the file locations being made visible, a distinction is between the original file and its thumbnail. The location of the original is not made visible, but the generated thumb is. Is this an issue for you?

The thumbs space can be setup in the forum web root, so that is a minor problem.

Just like to get it confirmed that the revealing of file locations is only for the thumbs.

The problem with the thumbs pointed at another site, and thus not showing up is still a problem.