Integration with vBulletin - Text Messaging (SMS) for vBulletin 4.0

June 2014: I just realized that this thing was still around after getting a random PM about it - I may have some short-term plans to redo this, but for now I'm pulling the files because it's been so long and I have no idea if anything still works. At one point I bought a vB Suite license for 4.1 (at the time, I have no idea where vB is at now) so I'll poke around and see if it'll be practical to update this.

Original description text still below.

Text Messaging for vBulletin does what it implies - adds text messaging functions to your forums! Users can set up their cell phone number and sign up for notifications of a new private message or visitor message received. The forum will send them a text message in close to real time, letting them know about their new message wherever they might be.

Updated 2-15-2010 6:30AM GMT to add support for T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

This is being brought back from when I retired it in 2008 from vB 3.7, I think it was. It's been redesigned from scratch to be more reliable, as well as compatible with vB 4.0. It is not yet compatible with vBulletin 3.8 - I'll be working on downgrading it within the next week or so.

This version supports Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Verizion cell phone numbers. It is a light version of a bigger modification - you can learn more about the full version here. Please note that I will only answer question or otherwise discuss the full version modification via my website.

Features:
- Compatible with Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Verizon cell phones
- Allows users to receive text messages when they receive a new PM or visitor message
- PIN verification ensures number ownership and saves forum resources
- Users can be reached by your forum wherever they are, any time of day
- Nearly fully phrased (including the text of the text messages), making translation easy

Live Demo:
A live demo can be found on my Demonstration Forums at this link. Please note that registration is required to set up text messaging, as there's no way to store your user info as a guest, obviously.

Screenshots:
Attached to this post. Also, I thought the picture with my phone turned out cool. And as for the 2016 date, it's an HTC phone plagued by a Windows Mobile date display glitch... haha.

Support:
I will provide support whenever I can - I've been pretty good about it lately. Please click Install before asking for support.

I also appreciate it when you support me by purchasing the full versions of the free products you get a lot of use out of.

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by imported_pmay68

Nope sorry now get this error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in /home/scootin1/public_html/forums/includes/functions_txt.php on line 92

That's odd. Can you PM me a link to your forum?

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by NittoMOD

Really great product but way too expensive for pro. Maybe you could add the top three or four carriers to the free version?

Tagged.

I will most likely do so shortly. The current idea is to verify the vB 4.0 version doesn't have any critical bugs before it ends up with such wide use.

[BlackJacket]

Originally Posted by robwoelich

I will most likely do so shortly. The current idea is to verify the vB 4.0 version doesn't have any critical bugs before it ends up with such wide use.

Thanks Rob. We all appreciate it greatly and im sure this Mod will be a hit!

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by imported_pmay68

Nope sorry now get this error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in /home/scootin1/public_html/forums/includes/functions_txt.php on line 92

Never mind my last comment, I found the issue. It was a missing bracket in the functions_txt.php file. I've corrected the issue for sure and have updated the ZIP file with the new file. Thanks!

[BlackJacket]

Is it possible to also receive a text when someone replies to a specific forum such as "announcements" etc... and when someone replies to a thread you have created?

[edytwinky]

Sounds extremely intriguing. Not sure if its worth the $89 or whatever since i'm not sure how much use it'll get but nonetheless, a very good mod.

If Sprint and T-Mobile get added to the freebie part, i'll surely add this on.

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by NittoMOD

Is it possible to also receive a text when someone replies to a specific forum such as "announcements" etc... and when someone replies to a thread you have created?

Possible, yes, but not yet implemented.

For the first example, I would have to set up settings for users to specify which forums they wanted texts about/on new threads versus new replies/etc. This will probably be practical within the next version or two of Text Messaging.

For the second example, one of my originally intended notification types/methods was to send a text in accordance with thread subscriptions, i.e. whatever your thread subscription settings were to trigger an email, they would also trigger a text. The problem with that, though, is that the way the subscription notifications are set up with vBulletin, the messages would have to be modified to be text-friendly (160 chars). Until I could figure out a good way to do this, particularly with daily and weekly subscriptions where multiple threads are listed in an email, I decided to hold off. This will also probably be added at some point.

I'd like to find a lot more notification methods/options to add in future versions, and started with the general ones that I thought would be useful. As new versions of Text Messaging come out, though, you're likely to see more notifications options/methods.

[drummaster]

Originally Posted by robwoelich

O2 UK has been known to work before - I'm unfamiliar with the number format or country codes that need to be entered with the phone number, though. Also, I believe you also need to enable "mobile email" or something like that through O2 before you'll receive messages.

Well I have got everything set up mobile email mms you name it i got it but still not working on o2 uk

The area code is +44 and I cant get this to work from your site.

[woffie]

Originally Posted by edytwinky

Sounds extremely intriguing. Not sure if its worth the $89 or whatever since i'm not sure how much use it'll get but nonetheless, a very good mod.

If Sprint and T-Mobile get added to the freebie part, i'll surely add this on.

Me too

[GrossKopf]

The Text Messaging section is not appearing in my User CP.