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. The recent revision history is given in the first post of this thread.

Please use carefully and always backup your database before upgrading. Post reports of problems and suggestions for enhancements in this thread.

14.06.09 Version 2.3.0 is now the the officially-supported version. Works with 3.7 and vb 3.8. Please post comments in this thread

22.06.08 Version 2.2.9-post1 - This is the previous supported version. Works fine with all versions of vb 3.6 and vb 3.7. All standard features except profile integration and forum prefix selection work fine with vb 3.8.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

again, sorry as I know it must be obvious and I'm just missign it. but is there a way to do usergroup group based hotlinking to uploaded files?

I don't really understand your question - do you mean you want to provide people with a url that takes them directly to the download? This is simply the local_links.php?action=jump url shown in the linkbit. However, it will only work on protected files if the user has already logged on to the vb site and has cookies stored.

Are you wanting something else, e.g. the equivalent of a tinyurl?

[Goomzee]

thankx i understand but one more question i am already using VBadvanced so should i upload this folder or not "vba_modules" and i am ingore all folders excpcet forums folder right?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Goomzee

thankx i understand but one more question i am already using VBadvanced so should i upload this folder or not "vba_modules" and i am ingore all folders excpcet forums folder right?

No. You install the vba modules by uploading the ones you want to use, using the 'Upload/Download module' section in the vb/admincp/vba section

[Goomzee]

thankx today i already downloaded this but i will upload this Mod i hope it will not crash my forums DB

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

I don't really understand your question - do you mean you want to provide people with a url that takes them directly to the download? This is simply the local_links.php?action=jump url shown in the linkbit. However, it will only work on protected files if the user has already logged on to the vb site and has cookies stored.

Are you wanting something else, e.g. the equivalent of a tinyurl?

Yes, kinda like tinyurl..... but more like photobucket or hotlinkfiles.com. simply, want to be able to use LDM as an hosting solution for external pages or sites, as well as destination area in itself.

if I were to frame specific intent/goals:

Example of forum Usage:
I have a profile mp3 player set up (demo).. seems a shame or waste not to be able to use mp3 uploaded in LDM for that. Users complain and confused as there are too many places one has to upload the same MP3 file. Right I recommend people go to hotlinkfiles.com to add a URL to the mp3 player. Just seems like a shame given its right there already in LDM.

this would be true in other areas of my forum as well (not just forums).

Also, when I add an mp3 to my profile... I might want to set it for anyone to be able to hear it (not just logged in members).


From the member perspective:
Generally speaking, if I have uploaded an mp3 or file to LDM, I want use/share it in external places or sites. Again, like photobucket, vbaGallery, youtube or hotlinkfiles.com. (and kinda like tinyurl). Upload and link to other sites.

As admin this consolidates features on the site as a whole, streamlines usage, and funnels people to upload to LDM (as opposed to elsewhere on the forum or other sites completely).

Also, it would be good to be able to limit this ability (ie: not everyone is allowed to hotlink).



Again, I don't know if this is possible or reasonable. Not trying to massively increase your load. just simply put, would be nice and efficient and possibly increase usage if members could link uploads to external pages/sites.

[sparklywater]

Andrew, I have found a fix to the cache problem in Flash + IE.

The trick is to add the width and height values to the flashvars:

http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?thread=9236

This has fixed the problem in my current installation so I think I will stick with this version for now.

[AndrewD]

I provide release 2.2.9-post 3 for careful testing.

This consolidates the bug fixes in the 2.2.9-post2 release and provides a few more bug fixes for the most serious recent reports/requests.

Appreciate your reports. One of the bug fixes has required quite a significant change to the code which build s the link bits, so I'm keen to know if there are new problems there.

Development of version 2.3.0 is well underway, but I am making no promises when it will be available.

Changes from 2.2.9 post 2 to post 3

Media Players

Upgraded JWplayer to version 4.1
Upgraded JWsilverlight player to version 1.1 and added windowless and background params
Enabled mp4 and m4v handling in inline JWplayer

Bug fixes

Fixed Edit Entry to work correctly in combination with swfuploader
Fixed template bug which prevented swfuploader extra working for non-admins
Fixed sort order/pagination bugs when searches contain urlencoded chars
Fixed Add LDM to VB navbar plugins for situation when vbAdvanced is not installed in forum directory
Fixed pagenav control when entry filters are active
Fixed template error in admin/statistics box
Fixed autothread creation in situtions where done in another username, e.g. moderation
Fixed bug in linkbit creation when handling entries with no url
Fixed potential SQL injection security breach

Changes from 2.2.9 post 1 to post 2

Permissions
- Added *can_add_image* permission to control which usergroups can add thumbnails to entries

Thread/post creation
- ldm_post_addrating_title and ldm_thread_create_title phrases both accept (entry name, category name, submission date) as variables {1}, {2}, {3}; default ldm_post_addrating_title phrase change to Re: {1}

Uploads
- Restrictions (if any) in VB usergroup attachments permissions included in controls on uploadable filetypes/maximum filesizes
- Removed thumbnail image formfield from Add/Edit Entry form when attachment permissions disallowed for all image types
- Modified code to set file permissions of uploaded files to 0644 (some versions of php erroneously set this to 0600)

Extras
- Added 'upload-names' extra to modify the naming convention for file uploads
- Extended 'hide-magnifier' extra to deal sensibly with images specified as full urls

Bug fixes
- Updated JWsilverlight.js file so that Silverlight player works with Firefox 3
- Changed to vertical layout of yes/no form settings with right-to-left languages
- Correctly cache the *humanverify* template
- Changed German language file xml to ISO-8859-1
- Fixed bug in 'import-radiostation' extra introduced in release 2.2.9

[vbboarder]

Is this bug fixed in the new update?

When editing an entry with both an uploaded file and an image file, if that image is deleted then the uploaded file is also deleted. In addition to fixing this bug, can you provide an option to disable deleting the thumbnail image file?

[vbboarder]

Thanks for the update! Do we have to reinstall all extra plugins? If yes:
1. Do we have to first uninstall then reinstall the extra plugins?
2. Are the settings for the extra plugins saved so we don’t have to re-enter the values after reinstalling?
3. Will you implement an auto plugins updater (similar to auto templating in VB) in a later update?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by vbboarder

Is this bug fixed in the new update?

I'm not sure that I was able to reproduce that problem - I will have to check.

Originally Posted by vbboarder

Thanks for the update! Do we have to reinstall all extra plugins? If yes:
1. Do we have to first uninstall then reinstall the extra plugins?
2. Are the settings for the extra plugins saved so we don?t have to re-enter the values after reinstalling?
3. Will you implement an auto plugins updater (similar to auto templating in VB) in a later update?

You will have to reinstall the plugins for the extras. Settings are saved correctly, so no problem there.

I'll take a look at autoupdating the extras.