Miscellaneous Hacks - [CMS] Use original thread for comments

As of 4.1.11 this functionality is included in vbulletin. So you no longer need this mod.

What does this do?
This is a really simple hack that sets the thread for article comments to be the original thread for any thread that is promoted to an article.

What can I use it for?
This mod has two major uses:

1. If you have a wealth of information in your forums and you want to promote it into articles, this mod allows you to retain the rest of the thread as comments in the cms while adding any new comments as replies to the thread; essentially allowing it to function as both a forum thread and a CMS article.

2. If you want to use multiple fourms for CMS comments. This is a fairly none obvious use case, but probably a popular one. If you have three sections in your cms (for example) and want each section to feed into its own forum, the current cms dosn't allow you to do this. With this mod installed, you can. Instead of creating your new article directly in the cms create it in the forum you wish to use for comments. Write your article as the first post of the thread and promote it to a cms article. Fill out the extra information needed (eg publish date) and save. Comments will be saved into the original thread, in the forum you created it in.

Installation Vb 4.0.1 and later
1. Import product

Uninstallation
1. Disable the plugin "set thread id"

Full uninstallation
1. Move threads that have been promoted to articles into the vbcms comments forum.
2. COPY the threads back to their original forums
3. Remove product

Steps 1 and 2 are needed to retain cache functions on the comments threads. Without them new comments will not appear on the article.

Changelog

• 4.0-0.1 a2
  • Fixed bug causing original thread to be delete when the article was deleted
• 4.0-0.1 a1
  • Initial release

Notes

• I believe this is the first mod for the CMS (not including addon widgets/content types)
• Removing this product entirly will cause issues with the cache on any articles using the original thread. Follow the uninstall steps to remove functionallity while retaining the ability to comment on these articles this mod has altered.
• [S] Although its compatible with vbulletin 4.0 Rc 4, a bug in RC 4 and 4.0.0 Gold prevents it from acctually working. I have provided a replacement hooks_vbcms.xml file which corrects the issue in the interim.[/S] (fixed in vb4.0.1)
• [s]Deleting an article will remove the associated original thread This is considered a bug in this product and will hopefully be fixed with the next release. [/s] (fixed)
• The above bug has been fixed, however pending this request: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/proje...?issueid=34188 Thread tags for the original thread will still be removed. There is /nothing/ I can do about that until the issue listed is resolved. (this has been marked as fixed in 4.0.2; will update further when i've tested that its fixed.)
• [S]If you hard delete the original thread without first removing the article you will be affected by this bug: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/proje...?issueid=34187 the fix I posted to that issue needs to be applied BEFORE deleting the original thread. After more research, this only becomes an issue if you promote a thread more than once. If you've done this, you can fix the error by clearing the CMS cache.[/S] (fixed in 4.0.1)

As of 4.1.11 this functionality is included in vbulletin. So you no longer need this mod.

[swiftor]

Does this hurt SEO? Since you have the same comments in two places?

[Carnage]

that is already the case, as vbulletin stock uses a forum thread for comments

[NashChristian]

This is absolutely ESSENTIAL! Nominated for MOTM!

This should be CORE vB!

[Front Range 4x4]

Very nice, thanks!

[carrlos]

Is this working with 4.0.2?

Edit:
Installed 4.0.2 and lost all content on the Home page (i.e. lost threads promoted to articles). But if you click on a section, they're there.

Fixed:
1. Edit Home page
2. Go to Section Information > Content From
3. Choose Include Sub-Sections

Tested:
Everything works fine still! :up:

[djbaxter]

If I have forum posts promoted to articles BEFORE I installed this add-on, will it work for those previously promoted articles?

Or do I need to go and undelete them and then re-promote them with this add-on installed?

[sticky]

There are two files, which one do I use 4.0.1?

[Carnage]

Edit:
Installed 4.0.2 and lost all content on the Home page (i.e. lost threads promoted to articles). But if you click on a section, they're there.

Fixed:
1. Edit Home page
2. Go to Section Information > Content From
3. Choose Include Sub-Sections

This would be caused by changes to vbulletin; not by this mod.

Tested:
Everything works fine still!

Thanks for letting everyone know; i've not had chance to upgrade to 4.0.2 yet. 4.0.2 should fix the one remaining issue with this product - deleting an article that was promoted from a thread removes the tags from the thread.

If I have forum posts promoted to articles BEFORE I installed this add-on, will it work for those previously promoted articles?

Unfortunatly not, this only works on threads promoted after the mod is installed. You will need to repromote articles for it to work.

There are two files, which one do I use 4.0.1?

You only need the product file for 4.0.1 and above. The additional file (hooks_vbcms) fixes a bug that prevents this mod working in 4.0.0 and below.

Don't forget to hit install if you are using this product

[NashChristian]

So is this compatible with 4.0.2 as it stands currently?

Thanks! Love this mod!

[Carnage]

A user has reported that it works on vb 4.0.2; there is no reason why it shouldn't, however i've not personally tested in on 4.0.2 yet.