New to VB programming, but not PHP. Simple plugin question

[kvnband]

OK - I am new to the world of programming products and plugins for VB, but not to PHP development in general. For my first project, I have created 5 custom profile fields in the admincp. We have a large, established user-base, and I need to make sure that these 5 fields are filled out, for tax purposes (We are a non-profit org).

So, how do I proceed? I basically just need to know how I check the logged-in user's custom profile fields at the start of each page load. I assume writing a small plugin is the way forward here, but aside from that, I'm completely clueless.

Any help?

Thanks!

[Lynne]

When you create (or edit) the profile field, there is the option to make the Field Required. If you have it set to show on the Edit Profile page, then the user will get told they need to edit their profile before continuing to do anything on the site. (Admins are exempt from this, I believe.)

[kvnband]

That's what I thought, Lynne. But since implementing the fields, we have had about 10 users sign on and post in the forum. None of them have updated those fields. The fields are set to be required at registration and profile editing, and are set to be editable by the user.

Since nobody updated their information, I assumed it wasn't a built-in feature and that I would need to write a little plugin to force them to.

--------------- Added [DATE]1299022976[/DATE] at [TIME]1299022976[/TIME] ---------------

So I'm just an idiot. I didn't notice that one of the options for "required" was "Yes, Always". Set that, and it appears to be working.

Now - Where can I go to learn about VB programming in general? I need to come up with an election voting module here in the next 3 months. I could do it in a few hours in pure PHP but I'm clueless where to even start with making a VB product....

[Lynne]

Do not set it to Field Required "Yes, at registration and profile updating", set it to "Yes, always". And, what did you set for Which page display this option?

[kvnband]

Lynne - I edited my post right before you replied...Your solution was spot on though.

Now - Where can I go to learn about VB programming in general? I need to come up with an election voting module here in the next 3 months. I could do it in a few hours in pure PHP but I'm clueless where to even start with making a VB product....

[Lynne]

Glad you got that working.

The way I learned how to code vb was by first downloading simply mods and seeing how they were done. Then I started wanting to do things my self and so I would download mods that kinda did what I wanted and then I would modify them to do what I wanted. So, I kinda learned how things worked by doing it that way.

[kvnband]

I think I'm going to do just that, but keep it basic at first. Create my new bitfield permissions (Who can create elections, who can vote in elections, who can see election results) and then just use the forum front-end for the administration of things at first. That way I can just have plain PHP files out there that only tie in to VB when checking for permissions. Seems like a decent way to get started....

And yes - I will definitely need to check out other products for inspiration. I think I can figure things out.

Thanks for your help.

--------------- Added [DATE]1299097555[/DATE] at [TIME]1299097555[/TIME] ---------------

Soooo I need help again. I created my product, set up my bitfields, and set up my permissions. But I absolutely cannot figure out how to check those permissions in my script. I see that I'm obviously not accessing the correct values, but I don't know where else to check. I am trying to see if the currently logged in user has permission to vote or not. This is just real basic while I'm trying to acclimate myself to the system. Can you help me / point me in the right direction?

PHP Code:

<?php

// ####################### SET PHP ENVIRONMENT ###########################
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

// #################### DEFINE IMPORTANT CONSTANTS #######################

define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'voting_booth');
define('CSRF_PROTECTION', true);  
// change this depending on your filename

// ################### PRE-CACHE TEMPLATES AND DATA ######################
// get special phrase groups
$phrasegroups = array();

// get special data templates from the datastore
$specialtemplates = array();

// pre-cache templates used by all actions
$globaltemplates = array('tsgvotingbooth',
);

// pre-cache templates used by specific actions
$actiontemplates = array();

// ######################### REQUIRE BACK-END ############################
// if your page is outside of your normal vb forums directory, you should change directories by uncommenting the next line
// chdir ('/path/to/your/forums');
require_once('./global.php');

// #######################################################################
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################
// #######################################################################

$navbits = construct_navbits(array('' => 'Voting Booth'));
$navbar = render_navbar_template($navbits);

// ###### YOUR CUSTOM CODE GOES HERE #####
$pagetitle = 'Voting Booth';

// ###### NOW YOUR TEMPLATE IS BEING RENDERED ######

if(!$vbulletin->bf_ugp['tsgvb_permissions']['canvote']) {
    print_no_permission();
}

$templater = vB_Template::create('tsgvotingbooth');
$templater->register_page_templates();
$templater->register('navbar', $navbar);
$templater->register('pagetitle', $pagetitle);
print_output($templater->render());

?>

[wpeloquin]

If you set up a Setting Group for the plugin in the AdminCP > Options, you would use something like

if (($vbulletin->options['customplugin_enable'] == 1) AND is_member_of($vbulletin->userinfo, explode(',', $vbulletin->options['customplugin_votegroups'])))

customplugin_enable would be a yesno field (turn on/off the plugin) and the customplugin_votegroups would be a comma separated list

i'd recommend putting the typical 5, 6, 7 as default for the _votegroups, blank Option Code, and add something like (comma separated ID list) in the description

[kvnband]

Thanks for your response. I actually came with that method on my own on another product I was tinkering with, but I don't want to go that route with this product. With this product, I want to control the usergroup permissions in the usergroup editor. So I've successfully set up the /admincp stuff, but I just can't figure out how to check if one of the current member's usergroups 'canvote'.

I do appreciate your help. Hopefully you have an idea on how to accomplish it this alternative way...

[wpeloquin]

I assume you mean add a custom section in the AdminCP > Usergroups > Usergroup Manager > Edit Usergroup, something like how it has Forum Viewing Permissions, Forum Searching Permissions, etc?

Vote Settings
Can members use the Vote System?		yes/no
Option 2? 				yes/no
Option 3?			yes/no

if so, i am sure there is a way to do it, as i've seen other plugins do it. However, i cannot help with that . Hopefully this helps some though, if anyone else does know!