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.

[Aceman]

AndrewD - When you get this live with the uploader. You can expect a nice "donation" from me.. I'm checking this thread daily if not several times a day.

[s1l3NCER]

Originally Posted by Aceman

AndrewD - When you get this live with the uploader. You can expect a nice "donation" from me.. I'm checking this thread daily if not several times a day.

Yes I second that. Man I really donate to real hard workers and that release they stuff for free. since I use it even more. thanks again man.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by s1l3NCER

Yes I second that. Man I really donate to real hard workers and that release they stuff for free. since I use it even more. thanks again man.

Hang on in there - it's nearly ready for prime time audiences....

[MrNase]

Any chance to get the WYSIWYG-Editor in it while editing links and their description?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by MrNase

Any chance to get the WYSIWYG-Editor in it while editing links and their description?

Depends how difficult it is - I haven't looked into this at all.

[EasyTarget]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

The single design feature in LDM that I think was a mistake was to pick up protections from forums, rather than replicating the VB permissions system over onto categories.

Does this mean instead of adding new permissions to usergroups for the LDM that the permissions are embedded in the forum access like where you set whether they can edit their own thread, use thread ratings and stuff?

[Vtec44]

I just installed this on my forum, vb3.5 RC3. It's working great so far.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by EasyTarget

Does this mean instead of adding new permissions to usergroups for the LDM that the permissions are embedded in the forum access like where you set whether they can edit their own thread, use thread ratings and stuff?

There are two levels of permissions:

a) permissions to 'do' things (e.g. create links, delete categories, etc), which are set in the LDM admin page per usergroup. This part is straightforward - it is easy to define which usergroups can or cannot 'do' things

b) permissions to 'access' specific links and categories. These are set by selecting a forum which has the required permission masks, and 'associating' it with the link or category, using either default_forumid or explicitly. The point is that, by using a forum in this way, it is possible to pick up the whole set of (possibly cascading) permission masks without requiring too much coding or new interfaces for the user. It also provides some coherence between the forums and LDM - there tend to be patterns of access that you want to allow or not. The problem with this approach is that it ties LDM to forums, which a number of people have found tricky.

[fringehead]

Andrew, thank you for your awsome mod and amazing support. I really like the product but I would like the links to be bigger. If I make a new style to use for the Links whick template do I need to modify to change the fonts, etc?

Thank You,

Sean

[LeeWicKeD]

Well done again, AndrewD. *thumbsup*


Will try to translate the new .xml file fully to German.