Links and Downloads Manager

LDM extends VBulletin to manage a library of documents, files and links to other web sites. Documents can be stored on your own web site, stored on your server separate from the web site, uploaded by your user community, or held somewhere else altogether. So you can use LDM to provide your user community with access to your own files and allow them to share files with each other.

12/08/06 - Versions that work with vb36 are available and supported in the VB36 thread. Version 2.2.1, which works with VB 3.5 but not with VB 3.6, remains available here.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with all the design, testing, etc.
Translations are provided (thanks dLutt and LeeWicked) into German, (thanks to Allan) into French, and (thanks to Hugo) into Spanish. Harry1951 has handled the Dutch translation.

Screenshots, Instructions and How to Install

Full details and instructions are available as a Wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php...nloads_Manager

LDM installs as a VBulletin product. There are no modifications required to standard VB code.

Basically - upload php files and run the installer through VB's Product installer. No changes needed to VB code. Remember to BACKUP YOUR DATABASE. By default, LDM prefixes its database tables 'local_'. Edit the configuration file, local_links_init.php, if you need/wish to change this.

LDM can handle an essentially unlimited number of categories and nested subcategories, and an unlimited number of entries (hyperlinks or downloadable files). Each entry can be placed in one or several categories. Categories can have styles. Descriptions and titles can optionally include BBcodes, smilies, images and html, giving the possibility to add images, colouring, etc. File types can be flagged using icons and individual entries can also have associated thumbnail images.

Standards templates are provided for libraries of links, files, documents, and photographs.

Users can offer comments and rate the links/downloads. Each user is allowed one rating and many comments per entry, and can freely edit these if they change their mind.

Permission to use specific features is established via the product's admin page, where the administrator specifies which usergroups can add and edit entries, comment and rate these entries, moderate, etc.

By default, all entries are visible to all users. You can restrict visibility/access to links and categories by using the permissions masks from your board's forums.

Moderation of new entries is available but turned off by default.

Users can report bad links to the relevant moderators/administrators.

Each user can flag links as his/her "Favourites".

Modules are provided for VBAdvanced.

Hooks are provided in suitable places in LDM and sample plugins are included in the release (see extras directory), for example to integrate with ID3 tags in mp3 files, for slideshows, to autocreate new threads in your forums, etc.

Plus much more.

[harry1951]

This looks like a nice add on for my site. I will install it and if it works for me and my visitors I will translate it into dutch and will post the translation here.

[TundraSoul]

2.1.1 Beta 2 installed with no problems, good job!

Here's a couple of cosmetic suggestions.

1. In My Search, change it so it displays the profile word from the profile field, instead of the profile field description. You currently have the profile word set in the ALT tag.
2. I don't enable the "hit parade" because it seems disorganized IMO. Partly because everything appears centered, and you cannot collapse the table. You may want to re-think the way the table items are displayed.
3. I would like to add category icons for any category. Right now, the default icon, category.gif is used for every category but I would like the option to make them unique.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by harry1951

if it works for me and my visitors I will translate it into dutch and will post the translation here.

That will be much appreciated, dank u meenheer

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by TundraSoul

1. In My Search, change it so it displays the profile word from the profile field, instead of the profile field description. You currently have the profile word set in the ALT tag.

OK, will experiment - by the way the profile word does appear in the menu if the field is a multiple choice. I omitted it for text fields in case the entry was very long - perhaps a trimmed version of the contents

Originally Posted by TundraSoul

2. I don't enable the "hit parade" because it seems disorganized IMO. Partly because everything appears centered, and you cannot collapse the table. You may want to re-think the way the table items are displayed.

I agree, I've never been happy with this, although it will collapse as far as I know. I think it was Slave who suggested moving the table down the bottom of the display.

Originally Posted by TundraSoul

3. I would like to add category icons for any category. Right now, the default icon, category.gif is used for every category but I would like the option to make them unique.

Yes, I think we need to make a number of the global settings available on a per category basis - currently, just the sort order and style are per category. As well as the category icon, the link bit should be a per category choice, and perhaps some others.

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

3. I would like to add category icons for any category. Right now, the default icon, category.gif is used for every category but I would like the option to make them unique.

I second this !! (all the suggestions but this especially. )


Also, I have one big suggestion/request for this hack. But I think it would INVALUABLE to many of your users.

Multiple Languages for Titles

This is one of the single most important features on my board and I suspect for many boards running multiple languages (even if they don't know it...if they HAD it they would love your forever.... )

Basically, this is a feature would allow a Category, Category Title and Title of a file to have a language entry for every language installed on the board. This can be accomplished with simple repeating the field for those subjects for each language.


The reason: multi-language sites are forced to have a category title with both languages in the title.. ... which means one language (non-romanized character languages) is always broken and the titles are super long. This looks awful and is very confusing.

Also, doing this give your hack TRUE international appeal as one can really have multi languages for the content and not just the menu items etc. This in the end can be MORE important.

I have this hack install for my FORUMHOME forum titles. it makes ALL the difference in the world.
www.NaeStar.com/forums
and go to the forum index home and switch between ENGLISH and KOREAN. (your browser might still produce broken characters, but you'll see what I mean.)

but if look at the misery I have to do on the LDM main page to deal with both languages where I can't write language different titles, it'll be obvious what I mean.

I can pm you my forum url, or if you think its appropriate post it here so you can see what I mean.

I know this seems like a small and annoying extra to deal with as many users only deal with English...but I hope you can see the merit of it for continuing to improve your already awesome product.

[TundraSoul]

Here's another suggestion that may of been posted before. I would like to see a "what's new" table added to forum home. The content of what's new can be based on date of all new links or date of what's new for my search - or both.

You may want to consider just providing the code so the admin can place the table anywhere the link. I actually added a What's New link to the default vB navbar, so people would be able to find new links even quicker.

1,919 links and growing.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by TundraSoul

Here's another suggestion that may of been posted before. I would like to see a "what's new" table added to forum home. The content of what's new can be based on date of all new links or date of what's new for my search - or both.

You may want to consider just providing the code so the admin can place the table anywhere the link. I actually added a What's New link to the default vB navbar, so people would be able to find new links even quicker.

1,919 links and growing.

Thanks, good idea. The guts of this are written - take a look in the release/extras/xml-external subdirectory. This delivers an xml coded list of 'What's New', but it would be easy to modify for another purpose - you would make minor changes to the lines at the end and you would provide a new template in place of links_xml.

Let me know if this is along the lines you're suggesting.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

Multiple Languages for Titles

You do set me the most interesting problems! I will need to see how easy it is to present different language coded forms on the same page. Just the task after my Christmas turkey and mince pies

Added to the list!

[Nam]

Andrew, the most popular entries in the front page is too long, how can I limit it to like 10 or 20 entries?

I'll setup a test site and install the beta 2.1.1 to help you find any bugs. It's so great to hear it's coming soon.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Nam

Andrew, the most popular entries in the front page is too long, how can I limit it to like 10 or 20 entries?

As far as I recall, this is determined by the value of links_seen_on_portal on your LDM admin settings page