The Arcive of Official vBulletin Modifications Site.

pradeesh_72 · #1 05-31-2015, 02:42 AM

Hi,

Am a developer planning to buy vbulletin 5 for our company. our main requirements are to be able to change the background image, have a multi-column listing of sub-categories and add subcategory specific icons. after googling some time, I found out the background can be changed using background css value in the theme and template manager. but in demo site, I could not find an option for uploading images. also, could not find any tutorial on multi-column listing of sub categories and subcategory icons. Do I need to write my own theme for that? If yes, where can I find a tutorial on writing themes. Am posting this here because It's not allowing me to post anything in vbulletin5 discussion section.

Regards,

Pradeesh

ForceHSS · #2 05-31-2015, 03:11 AM

If you buy you have the option to install vb3, vb4 or vb5 I would not install vb5 not just because it buggy but because there are not many skin or plugins out for it also with vb4 you can do all you wanted above and more

Replicant · #3 05-31-2015, 03:14 PM

VB5 is able to be modified just as vb3 and 4 are. Despite the fact some say it is buggy, I on the other hand have a different opinion and my vb5 site runs very stable with quite a bit of mods. The latest version 5.1.7 is solid. It's true there are not a lot of mods available for vb5, but that doesn't mean it's not possible to modify or even that difficult. A developer with CSS, html and php skills can quickly grasp how to do the modifications. Here are a couple mods on my site including a multi-column grid layout of sub-forums in my tech/info forum with custom forum icons and flip panels with forum stats and last post info/links on the "flip" side. The other is a double post bit with user defined info fields on the right. Vb5 also has a responsive design to show well on mobile devices. You will need to use a separate mobile style with vb3 and 4(included) to view on small screens which is really also no big deal either way. Some people prefer the mobile style in vb4 over responsive design because it loads much faster. When you purchase vb, you get access to all three versions, so my advice would be to install vb4 and vb5, test them both out thoroughly and make an informed decision based on your experience with both.

pradeesh_72 · #4 06-01-2015, 03:24 AM

Thank you guys for your valuable comments. I really appreciate it. Please suggest a few sites where I can learn to write my own custom themes / skins. Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Pradeesh

cellarius · #5 06-01-2015, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Replicant

VB5 is able to be modified just as vb3 and 4 are.

No, it is not, and everyone who codes addons will tell you that. Including vB support staff. vB5 is missing the plugin system which extremely limits the possibilities. It's not by chance that, after about 3 years there's hardly any addons available. There's lots vB4 of addons that will never be ported to vB5 because its just impossible. Of course you can achieve a certain level of modification, but its not near as versatile as vB3 or vB4 were if it comes to that. If you're looking just at styles, its different - but as soon as you need to modify the code, it gets really limited.

pradeesh_72 · #6 06-01-2015, 04:41 AM

Please suggest a site where I can learn how to write plugins and skins.

cellarius · #7 06-01-2015, 05:12 AM

For vB5? There are none. This site here would be your best bet, but:

Articles on vB5: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=249
vs.
Articles on vB4: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=242

There is no official documentation. If you know PHP and stuff, you might want to download some existing addons and look at their code to see how they do things.

Replicant · #8 06-01-2015, 11:59 AM

This site is the best resource for info and help writing plugins for vb3 and vb4. It is also the best resource for vb5 mods. VB3 and 4 are easier to write for since the documentation is there and there is a plugin system. VB5 is more of a challenge, but once you understand the API, it is not impossible as some might think. Here is a document to help understand how the vb5 backend works.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....47&postcount=7.
Here is documentation on vb5 API.
http://vbulletin.wayneluke.com/api/

delicjous · #9 06-02-2015, 05:48 PM

Iam with Replicant. vBulletin4 will have an end of bugfixes and coding anyway.
There could be a little more help from staff, thats right ...but you could do a lot with vB5 if you look into the documentation and the code.
With vB5 you have a responsive and nice looking forum that will hopefully be more supported from coders and users anytime.

Quote:

Please suggest a site where I can learn how to write plugins and skins.

Best stuff to learn from is this:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...sDOyopo4A/edit
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blogs/joe-d/3932614-

If you got this you should look into the code of some existing mods.

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