Integration with vBulletin - vHoist : Garage / Car Showroom

About:

vHoist is a new Virtual Garage plugin that allows your users to share the rides with the rest of your forum!

Our plugin fully integrates into your forum software providing seamless integration without the limits of other plugins with similar features, such as extra SQL querys added to your site.


vHoist Has:

- Multiple Garages for each user

- No Added SQL Query's

- Users Cars listed under their post info

- Full seamless integration into your forum

- Users can share their garages over multiple websites without the need to modify their profiles for each site.

- Anyone that "parks" their car on your website, will provide a backlink to your site for every other site they are on.

- Unlimited Pictures and Rides

- Many new features coming weekly! Facebook plugin, phpbb plugin both in development.

- Will be supporting MOTORCYCLES, ATV's, Boats and much much more!

Sites that are already using vHoist.com:

http://www.GenerationDub.com
http://psaclub.net/forums.php

Install Instructions

1) Download the zip file.

2) Upload vHoist.php into the root directory of your website.

3) Install the product "product_vhoist.xml" (Allow overwrite if you're upgrading) into vBulletin.
[ Plugins & Products ] -> [ Manage Products ] -> Add/Import Product.

4) Visit www.vHoist.com and Register an account. *COMPLETELY FREE*

5) Once logged in, click "Downloads", and redownload the zip file to enable the administration panel. REFRESH this page after download.

6) Add your website to vHoist.com by using the "Site Adminstrator" menu to the left, located under your Member Garage.
* Your site will not be added to vHoist.com until you upload vHoist.php and correctly add your URL to our database.

7) Save the information and Paste the passkey Generated by vHoist.com into your vBulletin vHoist settings.

[ vBulletin Options ] -> [ vBulletin Options ] -> [ vHoist Settings ] -> Website Passkey

8) Adjust your settings in vBulletin for vHoist accordingly.

After you are finished the above, visit your newly installed vHoist on your website. You will see a message saying that you do not currently have any cars parked on your site. Click on "Add / Edit vHoist" and then park your car on your site!

FAQ:

How does the benefit my site?

- There is no "Overhead" added to your site like other plugins, such as vbGarage, because everything takes place on vHoist.com

- Backlinks, an important SEO feature, come from vHoist.com to your site. For example, if one member parks his / her car on multiple websites, you will automatically be back linked from potentially thousands of sites. It's already happening.. http://forums.generationdub.com/vHoi...iew&gid=100390 - This is a VERY important feature and benefit to your site.

- Your users now only have to "Update" their ride on one site, and it propogates to all other sites they have parked too. Now if they have "forgotten" that they came to forum before but parked their ride there, it will be bumped up to the top of the list when they have an update.

- If someone comments from your forum, the user will receive an email saying that someone commented from your forum, and potentially giving you another user to come back to your site! Again, ANOTHER backlink is added on the comment. Here is an example:

http://forums.generationdub.com/vHoi...iew&gid=100000

Here's what a users garage looks like parked on 2 seperate sites!

Site 1 - http://forums.generationdub.com/vHoi...iew&gid=100000

Site 2 - http://psaclub.net/vHoist.php?do=view&gid=100000

Do you get our users information?

We save the UserID, UserName and Email address of users that "Park" a car on your website, so that the user display information will properly show up on your site. This is strictly because users will occasionally have multiple usernames across many forums. Since vHoist.com allows a user to "park" their ride on your site, we need to display their username for your site properly.


For more FAQ's like this, visit: http://www.vhoist.com/FAQ.aspx

Time to install: < 5 Minutes
Template Edits: 0
File Uploads: 1
Products: 1

Has been tested on:

3.6.7
3.6.8
3.7.1
3.8.0

Believed to work on ALL versions from 3.6.0 to 3.8.0, but would like confirmation from users currently using those sites.

product / vhoist.php files - [1.0.0.1]
- Fixed Search not working
- Removed Sponsor Program
- Allowed importing for 3.5.7
- Disabled "member ride" listed under user's name until I can figure out the "slow down" issue
- problem with quotes in user names
- moved related rides to the left instead of right

product / vhoist.php files - [1.0.0.2]
- Added "Random Image" table - show 1 through 10 random garages by your users
- Created a new way to add vHoist to your forum, so you can use a selection box to pick where it goes
- Added "Latest Image" table - show 1 through 10 last edited garages by your users
- Added more extensive options menu
- Added Quick Links Menu
- Fixed "Enable / Disable" Option
- Removed "Members Rides" option under user names until futher testing

product / vhoist.php files - [1.0.0.3]
- Added sorting on title bar of search
- Added some vHoist website functionality
- View users rides from www.vhoist.com/ride/XXXXXX/ where XXX is the ride number.
- Fixed bug for not being able to remove ride

product / vhoist.php files - [1.0.0.4]
- Added User Profiles tab
- Removed this from "beta" since it's been functioning on sites for a few months now
- Added some vHoist website functionality - analytics to be added in next release
- View users profile from www.vhoist.com/id/username/ where XXX is the username on vHoist.com

Known Issues for this release:

- None reported

Other:

This is currently a working public BETA. I will be supporting this daily (well, mostly nightly EST) in this thread and via any problems submitted by email using the contact form on the site, http://www.vhoist.com


*Attention vbGarage Users*

We have been working diligantly on a conversion tool to transfer your current vBGarage users into vHoist.com. The converter is currently in Alpha testing and is not publicly avalible yet.

It is recommend that smaller sites that are using vBGarage start off with a fresh new vHoist account, however, we understand that content is hard to come by and we are working fast to bring this converter to you! If this is stopping you from installing vHoist.com, then please use our contact forum to let us know you are waiting!

....

Cheers .... and .... here goes nothing... this is my first publicly released mod, so if I did this wrong, please forgive me!

[FRANKTHETANK 2]

Is there any way to change the vHoist that shows up in the quick links or as the page title. I want it to say Garage. Any ideas?

[footose]

357Magnum: All valid concerns. I will add this to my list of features and allow you to select, remove, edit or otherwise "control" what is being shown on your forum. It could be a few days or more before you see it online, but keep back in this thread to see updates.

Frank: Another feature that I have been working on: Customization. All of the "Variables" such as names and texts will be able to be modified. If you are in an absolute hurry to edit this stuff, you can use a REPLACE feature in PHP and edit the strings before they are parsed on your forum.

[footose]

Also, you should now beable to generate a passkey without vHoist.php being uploaded to your site, but this was a failsafe to make sure you had it installed properly. Now it may be harder for me to determine any problems with your site.. but it should make it possible to generate a passkey.

[FRANKTHETANK 2]

I will give you some time. I don't like how I can't edit the picture and I see it as a way for you to get members to sign up for your site. But you have a great idea and you should keep it going. I run a car club in St.Louis/Jefferson County Missouri and your mod is the only one that I know of so I will be using it.

But can I suggest a few features

Let us get rid of all the vHoist words on our forum. People are already sent to your site when they want to add vehicles

In admin cp you should make it to were we can report an image to you if we would like it removed.

Make an option to enable the link in quick links and Nav bar so we can have it on both

You should also let us adjust the size of the tables on forum home. Some of us used fixed skins and on my board it makes my skin expand to the whole screen.

[FRANKTHETANK 2]

I will give you some time. I don't like how I can't edit the picture and I see it as a way for you to get members to sign up for your site. But you have a great idea and you should keep it going. I run a car club in St.Louis/Jefferson County Missouri and your mod is the only one that I know of so I will be using it.

But can I suggest a few features

Let us get rid of all the vHoist words on our forum. People are already sent to your site when they want to add vehicles

In admin cp you should make it to were we can report an image to you if we would like it removed.

Make an option to enable the link in quick links and Nav bar so we can have it on both

You should also let us adjust the size of the tables on forum home. Some of us used fixed skins and on my board it makes my skin expand to the whole screen.

[footose]

Great idea's! I will add them to my ever growing "list" of features, and prioritize what needs to be done first!

Keep checking back.

Here are a few great sites taking advantage of all of the latest vHoist features:

http://ibtohq.com

http://www.devil-riders.com/

http://www.smartmaniacs.co.uk

Among many more!

[KTP]

i really dont like the sound of users having to register at another site to use this feature (i assume thats how it works) i'm pretty sure my users wont like that either.
i think i'll test it out anyway and see how it goes.

sounds like a good feature, just the way it works is whats unsettling me.

[KTP]

i tried to upload pictures of my road car and because the models not listed it wouldnt let me.
you should have an email saying to add Fabia vRS but given you have skoda listed but no models, can you add:

Fabia
Octavia
Felicia
Superb
Roomster

as skoda models.

[footose]

I saw you started adding some cars, looks great.

If you are adding a car and it is not listed... select "Not Listed" and then enter the car you want. I usually add them within the hour.

I have added all of the above Skoda models.

[footose]

oh and...

I've created (for the next release) an "auto register" function with will allow your users to automatically register on the site using their info from your forum. All they will have to do is set a password. It won't be out until the next release tho.