Major Additions - Links and Downloads Manager

What this is and does

LDM is a general-purpose tool for managing libraries of links and files, and handling uploads and downloads in a flexible way, while tracking and control user access. It has a range of integrated media players and a large library of 'plugin' extras.

Installation and Usage Explained in the on-line Wiki, with a brief explanation in the file instructions.txt in the release zip.

Please use carefully and always backup your database before upgrading. Post reports of problems and suggestions for enhancements in this thread. You can also find extensive discussion of this mod in the VB3.7 mods section.

14.06.09 Version 2.3.0 is the the officially-supported version. Works with 3.7 and vb 3.8.

14.02.10 Post-1 version uploaded with minor bug fixes, including dealing with PHP 5.2.12


Staff Note: Sadly, Andrew D, the developer of the Links and Downloads Manager has passed away after a long period of illness.

[Rouzbeh1]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

The raw url is stored in $linkurl, but this is probably not what you are after. If you want the masked url that allows LDM to keep file locations secret and track hits, you need to create a plugin, as follows:

hook location: ldm_linkbit_create

code:

PHP Code:

$linkmaskurl = ldm_seo_url("jump", $linkcatid, $linkid); 


thanks Andrew
it worked perfect

[biome.pat]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Sorry to hear this. Blank pages are usually caused by one of three problems - a) code bugs; b) faulty code file uploads; and c) resource limits. As you've turned off other mods and no-one else has reported a problem, a) seems the least likely. You can check b) by going to LDM/admin/check file versions, which carries out an integrity check on all the code files. Which leaves c). A common problem is insufficient memory. Two checks here - go to LDM/Admin and take a look at the memory_limit value in your php settings (down the left hand side). If this is less than 12M or so, that might be the problem.

One way to check this (assuming your server configuration allows it) is to create a plugin to allow you to use more memory. Go to vb/admincp/products and plugins/add new plugin, and create a new plugin with the following settings:

hook location: global_start
title: debug
plugin php code: ini_set('memory_limit', '16M');
active: yes

If the memory limit is the problem, you should ask your host provider to change the default limit to, e.g., 16M or 24M.

Am happy to take a look at your board if you need further help, but will require full admin access.

Andrew, you're amazing. It's one thing to see you helping everyone else, but for some reason I'm still blown away that I'm getting the same attention from you. Truly, you are a gentleman.

The memory limit is actually 128M, so I'm guessing that's not it. As for the other suggestion, I couldn't find any links or settings for "check file versions" on the LDM admin page... maybe I'm just being a dolt though.

Anyhow, I'll send you admin login credentials for the dev site, but don't worry about spending too much time on it. I'd way rather use your download manager, but worst-case-scenario, I can fall back on the less-featured DownloadsII

Thanks again!

[Verionia]

Originally Posted by biome.pat

Andrew, you're amazing. It's one thing to see you helping everyone else, but for some reason I'm still blown away that I'm getting the same attention from you. Truly, you are a gentleman.

The memory limit is actually 128M, so I'm guessing that's not it. As for the other suggestion, I couldn't find any links or settings for "check file versions" on the LDM admin page... maybe I'm just being a dolt though.

Anyhow, I'll send you admin login credentials for the dev site, but don't worry about spending too much time on it. I'd way rather use your download manager, but worst-case-scenario, I can fall back on the less-featured DownloadsII

Thanks again!

Im getting blank pages too

[Verionia]

How come I get this message when I try to access the links page:

S**, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Verionia

Im getting blank pages too

Sorry to hear this. Reasons for blank pages are explained in the wiki, see http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php/Common_Problems. The standard settings for a secure web server turn off/disable error reporting, which leads to blank screens.

Let me know if you can't easily resolve this. Am happy to help if you give me access to your site.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Verionia

How come I get this message when I try to access the links page:

S**, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Have you changed any of the default LDM permissions (LDM/admin/permissions)? Or have you added extra usergroups to your board - you will need to give those groups LDM access permissions.

[Verionia]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Have you changed any of the default LDM permissions (LDM/admin/permissions)? Or have you added extra usergroups to your board - you will need to give those groups LDM access permissions.

No didnt change anything... have followed that thread, but still nothing...

[Zookie]

I'm evaluating DownloadsII but may want to check out LDM as well. Can both mods be installed to the same vBulletin forum or does this present a problem? Also, I am hosted on an IIS server. Does this present any problems? Are there any security settings I'd need to have to change for directories?

As I said, I'm presently trying DownloadsII. Can't get it working and am waiting for a reply by the author so thought I'd give LDM a try in the mean time. One area of concern I have with LDM is that I have to change the permissions on the downloads directory making it writeable and executable (chmod 777). Can't do this via FTP on an IIS server so I'm having to ask my host to do it for me. But one poster in the DownloadsII thread remarked that this looked like a huge security hole. I don't know enough about web server security to have an opinion on that. What are your thoughts? Does LDM have a similar requirement?

Thanks!

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Zookie

I'm evaluating DownloadsII but may want to check out LDM as well. Can both mods be installed to the same vBulletin forum or does this present a problem? Also, I am hosted on an IIS server. Does this present any problems? Are there any security settings I'd need to have to change for directories?

As I said, I'm presently trying DownloadsII. Can't get it working and am waiting for a reply by the author so thought I'd give LDM a try in the mean time. One area of concern I have with LDM is that I have to change the permissions on the downloads directory making it writeable and executable (chmod 777). Can't do this via FTP on an IIS server so I'm having to ask my host to do it for me. But one poster in the DownloadsII thread remarked that this looked like a huge security hole. I don't know enough about web server security to have an opinion on that. What are your thoughts? Does LDM have a similar requirement?

Thanks!

As far as I know, there is no difficulty in having both mods installed on the same board.

As you say, the directory(ies) in which uploaded files are stored has to be writable by the web server. This should not need 777 permissions and should not create a huge security hole.

Concerning security in general, there is always some trade off between this and functionality. I've written some guidance notes in the wiki, see http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php...nd_Server_Load.

Concerning IIS, the only problem that has been reported is when PHP is running in CGI mode. In this case, it's necessary to make a small code change, again described in the wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php/Site_Configuration

[Zookie]

Does this add-on include a progress bar display for when files are being uploaded?