vBstory - an Interactive Story for vB (1.0 Final)

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This script is pretty much dead - but if you wanted to see the concept live on, visit http://unknowntales.net/



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Author
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VBstory (1.0 Final)
by Daniel Hollands of Ninth Dimension.
http://ninthdimension.biz/

I do custom vB scripts as well as web design and development using PHP and MySQL.
If you would like some more information on the work I do, please visit the URL above.

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About
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This hack allows you to add an Interactive Story to your forum.

Once a user has chosen a story arranged into genres, they will be presented with
a chapter to read. After reading this chapter they will be presented with two
paths to follow, both of which will present a new chapter, and a further two
paths.

Eventually the user will be given the ability to add their own chapters to the
database, which will be done via a form presented on the site.

Hopefully this will encourage your users to be more active on your site, thus
giving you a higher hit rate.

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Install
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PLEASE MAKE A BACKUP OF ANY FILES EDITED AND YOUR DATABASE BEFORE
INSTALLING THIS HACK. If you loose all your data as a result of installing this
hack, it's your fault, not mine.

1, Upload the vbstory.php file to your forum root directory.
2, Upload the vbstory_admin.php file to your admin directory.
3, Upload the two images to your images directory.
4, Run the three SQL queries in the sql.txt file (don't just run this file, read it).
5, Add the templates listed in the templates.txt file to your site.
6, Make the file changes listed in the files.txt file. (Only one is required).
7, Using the new menu items in your admin panel (you might need to refresh it
after adding the templates) add at least one genre, and as many stories as you
want.
8, Link to vbstory.php (some examples will be provided in the final release.
9, Post a link to your vBstory in the vBstory thread on vB.org.
10, !GOLDEN RULE! Enjoy.
11, (Optional) If you want your Super Mods to have access to the admin scripts,
just upload the vbstory_admin.php file to your mod directory and complete the first
file edit instruction on the index.php file in your mod directory.

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Upgrade
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If you are running vBstory beta 0.5 or later you will not need to run the SQL
queries again. However if you want a fresh install, you will need to remove the
three vbs_ tables from your database.

IMPORTANT - You will need to replace ALL your vbstory templates with the new ones contained
within this archive. EVERY template has been changed.

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To Do
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I've not really got any more plans for this version of vBstory. I will be making a
more advanced version of vBstory for my own use, but I've not yet decided if I'm
going to release it yet.

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Support
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So far as I can tell, this version of vBstory is fully bug free. After a little while,
provided no errors are reported, I'll be releasing this as a final.

If you have any problems running or using this hack, please post a message in
the vBstory thread at vB.org. If you receive a serious error, I'll try to provide
support via IM (AIM, ICQ, MSN or Yahoo).

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Demo
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No demo at the moment, will be back soon.

[Ryangel]

Originally posted by Ninth Dimension
Just to let you know that I will be working on a next verson for vBstory, but i've got some other projects that I need to finish first. I'll also be adding some forum home bits (such as most active story, latest story, etc...) It will be cool

BTW, does anyone have any suggestions for vBstory? anything you would like to see added?

mmm, I'm personally very interested in the forumhome bits.

Some suggestions :

- Think was talked about before. Other users cannot enter a story when a user is currently entering a story. Since some users are really writers and can write to one hours worth.

- bits such as "links to New chapters since your last visit" would be really good as well

Thats about all to this wonderful hack.


oh and my vbstory link: http://sgstudents.com/forum/vbstory.php

[Ninth Dimension]

Both the ideas you have suggested are good, however i'm not too sure how to do them. The first would be a total pain to do, unless I set it up so that a user can mark it as "being worked on" - the only problem with this is that the user might never come back... I guess this could be done, but i'd need some external help.

As for the second, I might be able to do this, but i'm thinking it would be very resouce intensive......

What I am going to add is the ability for you to bookmark a chapter, allowing you to access it again from the forumhome and vbstory welcome page.

I'm also going to set it up so that admins get an email when a story is suggested, and when a new chapter is added (although I don't know how to access admins emails yet, i'll working something out.

although at this stage i'd like to point out this won't be for a couple of weeks, i've got some more important projects to work on first (after all, I need to earn a living )

[NexDog]

The admin ideas are a must.

Definitely need an email or PM whenever a Story is Suggested. Email notifications to people subscribed to the story would be nice. Also, need to see the actual chapter in the adminCP as well as the stuff that we already see.

[Ryangel]

Originally posted by Ninth Dimension
Both the ideas you have suggested are good, however i'm not too sure how to do them. The first would be a total pain to do, unless I set it up so that a user can mark it as "being worked on" - the only problem with this is that the user might never come back... I guess this could be done, but i'd need some external help.

As for the second, I might be able to do this, but i'm thinking it would be very resouce intensive......

What I am going to add is the ability for you to bookmark a chapter, allowing you to access it again from the forumhome and vbstory welcome page.

I'm also going to set it up so that admins get an email when a story is suggested, and when a new chapter is added (although I don't know how to access admins emails yet, i'll working something out.

although at this stage i'd like to point out this won't be for a couple of weeks, i've got some more important projects to work on first (after all, I need to earn a living )

The bookmark would be cool
As for the furst suggestion, What my users are doing now is they key in some sort of placeholder to ensure that that chapter is theirs first. *lol*

[Ninth Dimension]

Thats a good idea, going in, typing something like "Bugger off, this is my chapter" and then editing it later once they have finished - very good idea - maybe I can use something like that as a feature - I really need to spend some more time thinking about how it's going to work.

[NexDog]

I fixed the online.php. Your install instructions is missing some vital code. All pages require 2 entries in online.php: [where] and [activity].

Your's is missing the [where] function:

case 'vbstory':
      $userinfo[where] = "Reading an Interactive <a href='vbstory.php?s=$session[sessionhash]'>Story</a>";
      break;

Added it for John's arcade hack and the toplist hack and it works nicely.

[Ninth Dimension]

eeeerrrrmmmm, I don't know which file you have got, but the zip file on the first post does have both of the file edits needed for online.php, here:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| In admin/index.php, find this code: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
// ***
makenavoption("New Posts","../mod/moderate.php?action=posts","<br>");
makenavoption("New Attachments","../mod/moderate.php?action=attachments");
makenavselect("Moderation","<hr>");
// *************************************************
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Add under: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
// *************************************************
// vBstory by Daniel Hollands - http://ofdan.net/
makenavoption("Add Genre","vbstory_admin.php?what=genre&action=add"," |");
makenavoption("Edit Genre","vbstory_admin.php?what=genre&action=edit", "<br>");
makenavoption("Add Story","vbstory_admin.php?what=story&action=add"," |");
makenavoption("Edit Story","vbstory_admin.php?what=story&action=edit", "<br>");
makenavselect("vBstory Options","<hr>");
// /vBstory by Daniel Hollands - http://ofdan.net/
// *************************************************
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+
+++
+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| In online.php, find this code: (Optional) |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
case 'printthread.php':
$userinfo[activity] = 'printthread';
$blowup = explode('=', $token1);
$threadid = intval($blowup[1]);
$threadids .= ",$threadid";
$userinfo[threadid] = $threadid;
break;
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Add under: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
case 'vbstory.php':
$userinfo[activity] = 'vbstory';
break;
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+
+++
+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| In online.php, find this code: (Optional) |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
case 'calendar':
$userinfo[where] = "Viewing <a href='calendar.php?s=$session[sessionhash]'>Calendar</a>";
break;
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Add under: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
case 'vbstory':
$userinfo[where] = "Reading an interactive story";
break;
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

But thank you anyway

[amsch]

Ok, I am a bit lost. I have my story but nothing is showing up??
http://20ishparents.com/boards/vbstory.php?s=

[amsch]

Like where the members can add to the story ect.
Otherwise it was a great install.

[Ninth Dimension]

Have you added all the templates? That is the only thing I think the problem could be.