Integration with vBulletin - Text Messaging (SMS) for vBulletin 4.0

June 2014: I just realized that this thing was still around after getting a random PM about it - I may have some short-term plans to redo this, but for now I'm pulling the files because it's been so long and I have no idea if anything still works. At one point I bought a vB Suite license for 4.1 (at the time, I have no idea where vB is at now) so I'll poke around and see if it'll be practical to update this.

Original description text still below.

Text Messaging for vBulletin does what it implies - adds text messaging functions to your forums! Users can set up their cell phone number and sign up for notifications of a new private message or visitor message received. The forum will send them a text message in close to real time, letting them know about their new message wherever they might be.

Updated 2-15-2010 6:30AM GMT to add support for T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

This is being brought back from when I retired it in 2008 from vB 3.7, I think it was. It's been redesigned from scratch to be more reliable, as well as compatible with vB 4.0. It is not yet compatible with vBulletin 3.8 - I'll be working on downgrading it within the next week or so.

This version supports Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Verizion cell phone numbers. It is a light version of a bigger modification - you can learn more about the full version here. Please note that I will only answer question or otherwise discuss the full version modification via my website.

Features:
- Compatible with Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Verizon cell phones
- Allows users to receive text messages when they receive a new PM or visitor message
- PIN verification ensures number ownership and saves forum resources
- Users can be reached by your forum wherever they are, any time of day
- Nearly fully phrased (including the text of the text messages), making translation easy

Live Demo:
A live demo can be found on my Demonstration Forums at this link. Please note that registration is required to set up text messaging, as there's no way to store your user info as a guest, obviously.

Screenshots:
Attached to this post. Also, I thought the picture with my phone turned out cool. And as for the 2016 date, it's an HTC phone plagued by a Windows Mobile date display glitch... haha.

Support:
I will provide support whenever I can - I've been pretty good about it lately. Please click Install before asking for support.

I also appreciate it when you support me by purchasing the full versions of the free products you get a lot of use out of.

[GrossKopf]

This guy is under no obligation to provide this mod at all. He does not get compensated for it, so cut him some slack and be happy with what you get in the free version! I've never seen a bigger group of people crying that they're not happy with something they are getting for FREE!

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by meissenation

I think most of the people here are in an uproar because on your 3.8.x version, support for hundreds of SMS companies was 100% free. Now you roll out vb4.x version and alas there's hefty big subscription prices. I know when I first viewed this thread, I saw the support for only 2 carriers and that I had to pay for what was once included for free and said "No way in hell am I installing that." That said, thankfully my site is 99.999% US so now that you've included more carriers in your free/lite version, I can install and not worry about the subscriptions. Again, what once was offered free in your previous version you're now forcing international customers to people to pay for... that's the uproar.

That's the problem - you're looking at it in such black and white. You think that because I'm not including all the companies, I'm simply trying to charge for that list. The difference between the free and paid versions is a lot more than the companies included. Consider:

1. The previous version for vB 3.x has been discontinued for a year and a half;
2. The previous version was only guaranteed compatible up to vB 3.7;
3. The subscription version includes 7 more notification types than the free version now (8 more than the free version then) including really cool ones like being texted when someone registers or signs in;
4. The subscription version allows users to set hours they will and won't receive texts, so they won't get texted in the middle of the night;
5. The subscription version is fully supported, including installation and compatibility help;
6. Aside from the company list, the free version now already improves upon the old one because of an additional notification type (visitor messages) that wasn't present in vB 3.x

There's a lot more value in the paid modification than just the companies involved. The other reason I decided to keep most companies under the subscription version is because being in the U.S. I can't easily verify, troubleshoot, and add non-U.S. companies. It takes a lot of research and work to figure out what the newest international company settings are, and to try to work with users in each country (generally through language barriers) to test and verify these settings. Since this work is ongoing, compensation for it is not unreasonable.

I understand everyone is angry the full company list is not included, but it's pretty useless to include it when a lot of the listings didn't work and there wasn't an easy way to update them on the thousands of forums using the modification. Therefore, I stand behind my current versions and their respective free/fee status. :up:

[GrossKopf]

Well said, Rob! Thank you for making the free mod!

[molieman]

Hear me or READ this, you've got a fantastic MOD with wonderful features, free and paid.

BUT, the features don't mean anything without the ability to barely use it because you provide only two carriers and your Paid Subscription price is ridiculously high.

Rob, you're an extremely talented man, but it just looks like you're a bit on the greedy side.

I think people are screaming/begging you to do something reasonable. If you want to sell the list, sell it then, but don't charge $10 a month.

Most of your potential customers are administrators of their web sites. If like me, they spend 10 to 12 hours a day, without pay to keep their site running. Most of us do it for free and most of the mods here are for free without dangling an upgrade for a price in front of their faces.

[speedracer68]

Installed free version. Played with it then looked into the cost.

Clicked uninstall. It's just too expensive.

[robwoelich]

Originally Posted by molieman

Hear me or READ this, you've got a fantastic MOD with wonderful features, free and paid.

BUT, the features don't mean anything without the ability to barely use it because you provide only two carriers and your Paid Subscription price is ridiculously high.

Rob, you're an extremely talented man, but it just looks like you're a bit on the greedy side.

I think people are screaming/begging you to do something reasonable. If you want to sell the list, sell it then, but don't charge $10 a month.

Most of your potential customers are administrators of their web sites. If like me, they spend 10 to 12 hours a day, without pay to keep their site running. Most of us do it for free and most of the mods here are for free without dangling an upgrade for a price in front of their faces.

It's easy to complain when you don't read the entire thread. I'll summarize: there are now four companies, more will be added on a regular basis, and the paid version pricing will be adjusted shortly.

Sheesh. :erm:

[molieman]

Please don't misconstrue my grandstanding as anger or a whining complainer. I was trying to persuade you to do something different with a brilliant product. Maybe I should of thrown some smilies in my statements.... hope those make up for the ones I didn't send

Glad you're listening to your fans and my apologies for not catching the improvements ( 4 companies and pricing will be adjusted).

Thank You!!!!!

[BlackJacket]

Thank you greatly Rob for adding more clients and also adjusting your price. I for one have a couple of websites that are greatly appreciative of this mod and are willing to pay for more service and features.

Thank you again for your hard work!

[BlackJacket]

When a user enters an invalid pin and clicks the "click here to resend..." they get the following error -

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, support@supportwebsite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

[Paul M]

There has been enough discussion of the "commercial" version in this thread now. Our rules permit the author to link to a paid version, not discuss it - something he has made quite clear.

This thread is the free version, if you have problems or issues with that version, by all means post in this thread. If you wish to discuss the paid version then take it to PM, or the authors site, not this thread. Any more such discussions are liable to be deleted without notice, and continual flouting of the rules can lead to infractions.