[VB3 RC4] [vbAdvanced - Links 1.00] Addon: Latest Links block for vbAdvanced

UPDATED March 6th:

Whoops. Stupid me forgot to add in a template into the global var adv_index.php uses, as a result there was one uncached template. We don't like those, do we precious.

The instructions to modify adv_index.php have been updated accordingly.

First things first - The majority of the credit for this hack goes to Natch, who did the original version for vbIndex. I've converted it over to vbAdvanced, which has a (very) different way of handling custom blocks, and has a different template style as well.

I also took the liberty of modifying Natch's original get_hotlinks_cat.php file so that it orders the list by most recent addition, instead of most popular. You can of course use the original get_hotlinks*.php files from Natches hack if you want to order them that way - those files require no modification to work with this hack.

The attached file includes these instructions and my get_hotlinks_cat_date.php file. Download Natch's hack for the other two files, should you need them.

WHAT THIS HACK DOES:

It combines the Links Directory 1.0 addon created by AndrewD and the vbAdvanced portal by Tigga to give you a "Latest Downloads" block for your vbAdvanced Homepage.


New Files: 1 (3):

get_hotlinks_cat_date.php << To have links/downloads ordered by newest, from specific categories

(The next two files can be used as-is from Natch's original hack, linked above)
get_hotlinks.php << to have top # of all links / downloads
get_hotlinks_cat.php << To have top # from a specific category(s)

Files to Edit: 1
adv_index.php or whatever you renamed it to

New Templates: 2
links_hotlinks
index_linklist

Templates to edit: 1
Index Templates --> index


=============
INSTRUCTIONS:
=============
In adv_index.php (or whatever you have renamed it to):

Find:

'bbcode_quote'

Change To:

PHP Code:

'bbcode_quote',
'index_linklist',
'links_hotlinks' 


Find:

$custom2 = '';

Add Under:

PHP Code:

$linklist = '';

$hotlinks = require('get_hotlinks_cat_date.php');  <!--- or whichever of the 3 files you wish to order the links by --!> 


Find:

PHP Code:

if ($vboptions['showcustom2'])
{
    $getbgrow = getrowcolor();
    eval('$custom2 = "' . fetch_template('index_custom2') . '";');
} 


Add Under:

PHP Code:

eval('$linklist = "' . fetch_template('index_linklist') . '";'); 


Save and close your adv_index.php file. Upload after you've added the new templates, below.

Upload the file get_hotlinks_cat_date.php or Natch's original files get_hotlinks.php and get_hotlinks_cat.php if you are using one of them instead to your forumhome folder

NOTE: if you want more than 5 links listed, please edit the $limit variable at the top of those files.
NOTE: If you are using the standard Links 1.0 TABLE PREFIX or the VB table prefix, make the appropraite alrterations @ the top of your new files as well


Create a new template called links_hotlinks and populate it with:

PHP Code:

<tr>
<td class="alt1">
<if condition="$linkstatus==1">
<a href="$vboptions[bburl]/local_links.php?action=jump&id=$linkid" target="_new">
<span class="smallfont">$linkname</span></a>
<else />
<span class="smallfont">$linkname (not available)</span></a>
</if>
</td>
</tr> 


OR, if you are using Natch's original get_hotlinks*.php files and want to order them by hits, use this instead so you get a hit count column:

PHP Code:

<tr>
<td class="alt1">
<if condition="$linkstatus==1">
<a href="$vboptions[bburl]/local_links.php?action=jump&id=$linkid" target="_new">
<span class="smallfont">$linkname</span></a>
<else />
<span class="smallfont">$linkname (not available)</span></a>
</if>
</td>
<td class="alt2" align="right">
<span class="smallfont">$linkhits</span>
</span>
</td>
</tr> 


Create a new template called index_linklist and populate it with:

PHP Code:

<!-- Latest Links -->
<table align="center" border="0" class="tborder" cellpadding="$stylevar[cellpadding]" cellspacing="$stylevar[cellspacing]" width="100%">
<tr>
<td align="$stylevar[left]" class="tcat">
<span class="smallfont"><b>$vboptions[blockbullet] Latest Downloads:</b></span>
<tr>
<tr><td class="alt2">
$hotlinks
</td></tr>
</table>
<br>
<!-- End Latest Links --> 


Edit Index Templates -> index and add the following

PHP Code:

$linklist 


Wherever you want the hotlinks box to show up (I put it under $custom2 myself; just search for that in your index template if you want a starting point).


Thanks once again to Natch for the original hack, AndrewD for the Links hack in the first place, and of course Tigga for vbAdvanced.

[ptmuldoon]

Can anyone tell me what index file needs to be edited? I can't seem to find the adv_index file, nor can I seem to find any of the code thats being referenced in the install instructions in any of my existing index files.

[ixian]

I just wanted to update to say this hack is no longer supported, and in fact is quite old. I mention this because several folks are under the impression that this is not the case; I apologize. I no longer use vbAdvanced although I still think it is a very good addon.

I highly recommend heading over to www.vbadvanced.com and checking out their addons section for something similar in functionality to this one, or finding help.