Forum Display Enhancements - Collapsable First Post using AJAX (or Last Post!)

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NOTICE: This is for vBulletin v3.6 ONLY. You can find a v3.5 compatible version here.

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*** Confirmed working on ALL vBulletin 3.6.x versions! ***

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Keywords: FORUMDISPLAY, search, results, collapse, AJAX, collapsable, first, last, unread, post

Description:
Allows you to expand/collapse the first, last or first unread post of a thread from FORUMDISPLAY and search results without the need to load the entire thread.

Details:
Upon perusing the wonderful deals over at slickdeals.net, I noticed this nifty feature which caught my eye. I found it quite useful as most people have a bad habit of not being very descriptive with their thread titles. This little trick made my browsing experience much more enjoyable, so naturally I had to borrow [read: shamelessly rip] the idea.

Please note that no additional queries are added, unless using the 'First Unread Post' option. Otherwise, the only queries performed are the same as those when a thread is normally viewed.

The magic behind this modification is performed by jQuery: The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

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Usage:
Simply click the expand icon [+] in front of the thread title to expand, and the collapse icon [-] to collapse. Rocket science, eh?

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Installation:

1. Download and unzip the ajax_first_post.zip archive.
2. Upload necessary files to their respective locations. (Attention custom style users! Be sure to upload the images to your custom image directory.)
3. Import the product-ajax_first_post.xml via the Product Manager.
4. Make any desired configuration changes via AdminCP > vBulletin Options > Collapsable First Post using AJAX
5. ???
6. Profit!

Notes:
All template modifications are made automatically. They attach to pretty common text locations, so modified styles shouldn't* be a problem.

However, for those who wish (or need) to perform the edits manually, you can find that information here.

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Comments:
As with all my hacks, this modification is provided free of charge. However, if you find this product useful and have money burning a hole in your pocket, feel free to make a small donation, I won't mind.. really.

Version History:

• 1.0.0 - Initial release, here's to hoping...
• 1.1.0
  • Fixed JavaScript errors when using search.
  • Resolved (known) cross browser compatibility issues.
• 1.2.0
  • New AdminCP configuration options:
    • Ability to select first or last post to be displayed.
    • Ability to disable on a per forum basis.
    • Option to update thread views when expanded.
    • Option to disable automatic template editing with a single click.
  • Tweaked a couple plugins to prevent unnecessary checking.
  • Properly registers in Who's Online
• 1.2.1
  • Will no longer show expand icon next to thread redirects.
  • Added ability to display first unread post.
  • Completely revamped the automatic template editing system. Should now be able to make template edits to even the most modified templates as well.
  • Fixed a couple non-breaking typos.
  • Included JavaScript in USERCP_SHELL to allow expand/collapse of subscribed threads.
  • Added a hover title to the expand icon to inform the user what they can expect when clicking it.

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Tips, Tricks and Modifications:

• Fix for users of passiveVid receiving Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line [#]

Currently Known Bugs:

• None

* Please note that this modification was developed on a forum with a userbase of 1 (myself). I've tested it for basic functionality but I cannot guarantee functionality or behavior on your forum. So, please -- make backups before installing this product!

[tokenyank]

Hey Magnus, I love this hack and have had it on for a few days now so I'm sad to report that I've had to take it off...

I've been getting reports of people getting:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: fetch_coventry() in /home/mumsonli/public_html/forums/usercp.php(499) : eval()'d code on line 18

errors.

Their user groups are members and super mods whilst admin and mods do not get the error..

This manifests when you want to change your usertitle, when you click save, you get the above error, but what you've just 'saved' has saved anyway so the information is still being written to the DB despite the fatal error.

I've tried both the creation of the plugin and the repair of database as suggested back in May but to no avail. Unfortanatly, I've had to disable it and hope for a fix, though considering that this seems to affect the minority, I'm not holding my breath!

Thanks anyway!

[tokenyank]

Curiouser and curiouser!

Ok, with product enabled, error triggered.

Product disabled, error goes away but drop down still works!

In my product management, I've disabled your mod, simply because I didn't want to unisntall it should a fix come out. Thinking that disabling it would make it unusable (the clue is in the name! ) AND since the error went away, I thought all was good... Until I checked active topics and the + is still there and it is still clickable and it still shows the posts it was supposed to

So, I have an error that is intermittent not only for me, but for those that installed it, AND when disabled still runs!

You code hardcore mate!

Seriously though, ermm... What's the story? :P

[magnus]

tokenyank, be sure you're disabling the entire product not just a plugin. If you're disabling a product and it's still active, suffice to say, you've got a larger problem elsewhere. The processing of plugins/hooks/etc. is handled exclusively by the core of vBulletin.

As for the original problem you're having, a few others have reported the same error however it's completely random (so far) as to who is affected. It's one of those things I can't really track down unless I could replicate the error and attempt to debug it.

It has no rhyme or reason, it's across a couple different vB versions, different mods installed on each forum -- no discernable pattern. I'll keep looking, though.

[tokenyank]

I figured it was intermitten as it has been installed for days now and this is the first time a member said anything.

And, since it doesn't effect me, I never caught it so I can't say for certain that it hasn't always existing, but I'm pretty sure that it didn't.

The only other AJAX thing I have installed is ajaxReg - Ajax Registration, with instant field checking. But since they don't share any templates or whatever, I doubt there's a conflict.

[alessai]

have a suggestion :

an option to make this hack work in certian grups only because the thing i use hack that limit the views for the visitors and the problem through this hack they can see the thred and the limition hack doesnt catch them

[raiderlax]

Doesn't work for me for vb 3.6.7 ?

[raiderlax]

Doesn't work for me for vb 3.6.7 ?

[magnus]

Originally Posted by raiderlax

Doesn't work for me for vb 3.6.7 ?

1/ No reason to double post.
2/ It's been tested on 3.6.7 and shown to work fine.
3/ I can't really help you if I don't know the problem, can I?

[raiderlax]

Originally Posted by magnus

1/ No reason to double post.
2/ It's been tested on 3.6.7 and shown to work fine.
3/ I can't really help you if I don't know the problem, can I?

Hey sorry about the double post, don't know how that happened,

anyways I installed it on my forum www.talkfitness.org and nothing shows up on the showthread, what should I do?

[magnus]

Originally Posted by raiderlax

Hey sorry about the double post, don't know how that happened,

anyways I installed it on my forum www.talkfitness.org and nothing shows up on the showthread, what should I do?

Well, off the bat, it doesn't appear you've actually installed the modification. The files jquery.js and vbulletin_vbpost.js are not present in your /clientscript/ directory. Nor are any of the associated image files located in the correct directories.

So, either you didn't install the modification correctly or you removed it. Both which prevent me from being able to find out what the problem is based off the description of "nothing shows up".