Prevent threads from rising to the top

This hack has been developed and tested on VB 2.2.9.

This hack was actually requested by the moderators in my forum.

This hack gives you the ability to prevent a thread from going back up to the top of your forum. It simply does it by disabling the updates to the lastpost field. It is an addon to the Admin Options in the bototm of a thread. This is an alternative to locking a thread where it allows the users to post new replies but the thread keeps on sinking to the bottom and to the subsequent pages. It is just another way to kill a thread.

I have also created an animated GIF icon that replaces the thread icon.

The threads affected by this hack are referred to as slippery threads because they slip to the bottom of the forum.

Files that are affected by this hack:
- forumdisplay.php
- newreply.php
- postings.php

Templates that are affected by this hack:
- showthread_adminoptions

Tables affected by this hack:
- thread

New files:
- drop.gif

[Davey]

Nice to see you're giving more options for the administrators .
Well done and I'll surely be using this.
I'll tell you how it goes.

Dave.

[amykhar]

The problem with this hack is that my members would immediately report a bug. Then, when told that their thread has been intentionally sunk, they would start screaming bloody murder. I prefer to just get my talkative moderators to bury bad threads the old fashioned way

[Davey]

This is good for locked topics though and it works like a beaut so far.
Well done man! Keep up the excellent work.
Only trouble is the image.
Looks a bit tacky and it doesn't suit my black background .
Is it possible to change it?

Dave.

[Zzed]

Thank you for your kind words.

You can replace the image with any 15x15 icon.

[Davey]

Yeah but I'm horrible with graphics.
An image with an envelope with an arrow pointing down would work IMO.
Ex: Use the locked thread image and replace the lock with an arrow pointing down.
I don't understand Photoshop so I cannot acheive this, or I would.
*Cries*.

Dave.

PS: No problem. Since I installed this on my board:
/me clicks install now.
I like this hack, really keep up the good work.
I'll report back here if I find any sneaky little bugs that need squashing.

PS: Oh and by the way, you might wanna redo this so that it uses the 'hot' topic and the 'new' topic and the topic with the circle (you participated in) rather than just a simple one time only image. Maybe you could release this in the next version?
And also have it so you can set the Slippery prefix customized in the ACP?

Dave.

[Link14716]

Good idea, but wouldn't the forumdisplay.php edit work better like this?

      if($thread[slippery] == 1) {
        $thread[icon]='<img src="images/drop.gif"  border="0" alt="">';
        $thread[typeprefix] = "Slippery: $thread[typeprefix]";
      }

Or am I missing something?

[TECK]

Is also great for vbHome (lite) forum.

[Davey]

Okay I've decided for my use I don't want the image (as it would interfere with the thread closed image).
How do I get rid of the image and just keep the prefix?

Dave.

[Zzed]

Originally posted by Davey
Okay I've decided for my use I don't want the image (as it would interfere with the thread closed image).
How do I get rid of the image and just keep the prefix?

Dave.

Thank you again for your kind words.

If you want to get rid or the icon, just remove the following line:

PHP Code:

$thread[icon]='<img src="images/drop.gif"  border="0" alt="">';