Selective Forum Filter

I no longer support my hacks. Please feel free to update them and release new versions elsewhere as long as I get the credit for the original modification.

/*================================================= =====================*\
|| Selective Forum Filter
||
|| Author : Anton Kanevsky
|| Co-Author(s) : Andreas
|| Works on : vBulletin 3.5.x - 3.8.x
|| Released : May 31, 2009
||
|| Time required to install: 30 seconds
|| Difficulty: easy
\*================================================ ======================*/

DESCRIPTION

Ever came across large boards with a huge number of sub forums? Couldn't find your info? Wanted to run away from that huge load of stupid threads? This hack is intended to save your users from having such a horrible experience. It provides them with an opportunity to exclude any number of forums from the forums list (as well as from "get new"/"get daily" searches), which still letting them to access those forums directly and search within them, too.

STATISTICS

Products to Install: 1


INTRODUCTION

To enable "can be excluded" in all forums, run this query:
UPDATE PFXforum SET excludable = 1
To disable "can be excluded" in all forums, run this query:
UPDATE PFXforum SET excludable = 0
In both cases, PFX must be replaced with the actual table prefix that you have defined in config.php.
If you have not defined a prefix, remove PFX from the queries.
After you run either one of these queries, you must then open and save any one forum for the forum cache to be updated.

VERSION HISTORY

1.1.0
[+] The hack is now compatible with vBulletin 3.5.x - 3.8.x.
[+] Eliminated all template edits.

1.0.2
[+] The hack is now compatible with vBulletin 3.6.
[+] Corrected a couple of mistakes in the installation manual.

1.0.1
[+] Added option to set forums as excludable. By default, excludability of all forums is disabled.

1.0.0
First Public Release

The installation manual is contained within the attached file.

IF YOU LIKE MY HACK, PLEASE CLICK INSTALL

[lefthome]

I used this hack, and a great hack I will add, until I upgraded to 3.5.3 and now i have two home pages using Split Forumhome into several Pages Hack.

Here is the minor issue and looking for solution, if one exists. I want to exclude some threads on the first page and some on the second page. In other words, i want to skip some and add others.

I tried to do some and went back and marked others but no luck on the first ones i excluded. Anyway to fix this so I can skip around the forum excluding what I want?

[WAR]

Originally Posted by lefthome

I used this hack, and a great hack I will add, until I upgraded to 3.5.3 and now i have two home pages using Split Forumhome into several Pages Hack.

Here is the minor issue and looking for solution, if one exists. I want to exclude some threads on the first page and some on the second page. In other words, i want to skip some and add others.

I tried to do some and went back and marked others but no luck on the first ones i excluded. Anyway to fix this so I can skip around the forum excluding what I want?

I am also having difficulties getting this to work completely.

It will not let me exclude more than ~50 forums at a time. Is there anyway to bump this up to 2-300 as a maximum?

[mccollin]

I like the hack, but would also like to have the ability to exclude some forums from being excluded. I'm concerned that the members will miss some important information that will lead them to post unnecesary threads. Otherwise it looks pretty good.

Can you tell me if it also excludes these forums from searches?

[akanevsky]

Can you tell me if it also excludes these forums from searches?

Yes.

[Snatch]

Installed on 3.5.3. Works perfect.

GreeTz
Snatch

[Wild-Wing]

nice hack great for those big boards.

[the Sandman]

Installed, but getting many database errors:

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:


Invalid SQL:


## GET LATEST THREADS ##
SELECT thread.*,thread.iconid AS threadiconid , post.pagetext AS preview
FROM vb3_thread AS thread
LEFT JOIN vb3_deletionlog AS deletionlog ON(thread.threadid = deletionlog.primaryid AND type = 'thread')
LEFT JOIN vb3_post AS post ON(post.postid = thread.firstpostid)
WHERE open = '1'
AND forumid NOT IN (0,38,154,83,78,30,114,31,33,32,111,84,123,160,161 ,70,121,71,72,73,74,7,79,81,8,10,108,34,9,68,11,40 ,117,118,)
AND thread.visible = '1'
AND deletionlog.primaryid IS NULL
ORDER BY lastpost
DESC LIMIT 10;


MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')
AND thread.visible = '1'
AND deletionlog.primaryid IS NULL


Error Number : 1064

[zylstra]

Originally Posted by WAR

I am also having difficulties getting this to work completely.

It will not let me exclude more than ~50 forums at a time. Is there anyway to bump this up to 2-300 as a maximum?

Or 100,000 for that matter.

Yep, I can't exclude more than ~70 at a time.

[the Sandman]

I cannot enable this hack without getting database errors, mostly for guests. Any ideas?

[007]

This does not seem to work on 3.5.4.

Can anybody else confirm if it does or does not work for 3.5.4? Thanks.

I'm looking at the code and maybe I'm missing something, but since when did setting a forum's display order to 0 make it not show up at all?