BB Code Enhancements - [Scandal's] Countdown Timer BBCode

Description
This product add two new BBCodes as follows:

[COUNTDOWN]00:00:00:00[/COUNTDOWN]

... and

[ECOUNTDOWN]00:00:00:00[/ECOUNTDOWN]

The string inside the BBCode is:
DAYS:HOURS:MINUTES:SECONDS, that you specify when make a post.

The results is a live countdown timer based on a specified Timezone! See screenshots!

But what's the difference between [COUNTDOWN] and [ECOUNTDOWN]?
COUNTDOWN has a start date-time, the date-time the item is posted.
As many times you edit the message, countdown timer will not change its start date.

ECOUNTDOWN is a countdown timer which will restart each time you edit a post! See it in action!


::EXAMPLE::

Let's say you make a post at: 1:00PM with bbcode:

When the post saved, the countdown timer will start from:
00:02:00:00
and will countdown...
00:01:59:59...
00:01:59:58... etc
and will end at 3:00PM.

So the countdown timer will run at post time + the value you set inside the bbcode.
As times you edit the post, the countdown timer will end at 3:00PM 'cause is [COUNTDOWN], not [ECOUNTDOWN].



The same if at 1:00PM you make a post with bbcode:

.. but if for example you edit the post at 2:00PM and hit save, the countdown timer will start again:
00:01:59:59...
00:01:59:58... etc
... and will end at 4:00PM

So in "E" case, we have the edit time (if an edit exists, otherwise we have the initial post time) + the value you set inside the bbcode. As many times you edit a post with "E", the timer will start again.

This bbcode can work on display of:

• Forum Posts
• Forum Announcements
• Social Group Messages
• Private Messages
• Profile Visitor Messages

Installation
1. Upload all files of /upload folder to your forum root.
2. Import *xml product and check Settings.
Done!!

Credits to akz645 on vbulletin.org for his idea and his paid support for the development of this product!!

[akz645]

Thanks for the Mod
Works on vBulletin 4.2.3

@Members
If the countdown timer is a few hours off from what you intended when you post, that means you have to adjust the timezone from the adminCP settings until it is correct.

Note:
I tried it on 2 different servers. One of them isn't very fast, so the timer often doesn't work properly- it shows sometimes when I refresh, but most of the times it doesn't. However, it did work most of the time on VM. I'm assuming that's because the thread has too many images (design/post heavy), so the timer stays stuck at 00:00:00:00 due to the server not processing the page cache correctly (something along those lines).
Edit: It turns out it was because I had activated cloudflare on my webhost, which doubled the cache of the entire forum. Hence that caused the entire forum to slow down/not load correctly.

However on my quicker webhost server, it worked without any problems. I doubt anybody here will have any problems, if you aren't a free user on a webhost. Just thought I'd mention it, incase somebody has this problem in the future.

[Alan_SP]

When you write about start time, do you mean end time, time when timer will reach end (ie. 00:00:00:00)?

[Scandal]

Originally Posted by Alan_SP

When you write about start time, do you mean end time, time when timer will reach end (ie. 00:00:00:00)?

hmm yes,
let's say you make a post at: 1:00PM with bbcode:

[COUNTDOWN]00:02:00:00[/COUNTDOWN]

When the post saved, the countdown timer will start from:
00:02:00:00
and will countdown...
00:01:59:59...
00:01:59:58... etc
and will end at 3:00PM.

So the countdown timer will run at post time + the value you set inside the bbcode.
As times you edit the post, the countdown timer will end at 3:00PM 'cause is [COUNTDOWN], not [ECOUNTDOWN].



The same if at 1:00PM you make a post with bbcode:

[ECOUNTDOWN]00:02:00:00[/ECOUNTDOWN]

.. but if for example you edit the post at 2:00PM and hit save, the countdown timer will start again:
00:01:59:59...
00:01:59:58... etc
... and will end at 4:00PM

So in "E" case, we have the edit time (if an edit exists, otherwise we have the initial post time) + the value you set inside the bbcode. As many times you edit a post with "E", the timer will start again.

Hope now its more clear.

[Bastien]

If activated on my board, I can't post any new thread/post because the texatarea disappear (WYSIWYG mode activated !)

[Scandal]

Originally Posted by Bastien

If activated on my board, I can't post any new thread/post because the texatarea disappear (WYSIWYG mode activated !)

Be sure you have upload all necessary files. There are an *xml product to import and a /upload folder, on the package with files. You do not upload the "upload" folder as it is, but its contents, to your forum root. :up:

[Bastien]

It seems Filezilla didn't upload the content whereas I asked it to do ...

Sorry for the unpleasantness and thank you for your answer
It works

[Scandal]

Great!

No prob

[SkepticalGaming]

can i put any code into a forum block to work in there?

[tim.liton]

@scandal thank you for the great plugin. Is there a option to show the ecounter in the threads where are listed? This will be perfect!