Major Additions - Product Review Forums ? Research, Review & Compare Items

Version 1.4.0 has been released to remove the giftery / list it integration of the addon now that service has been discontinued. No upgrade is needed though there have been a few other bug changes since 1.3.5.

Finding Feedback Can be Like a Needle in a Haystack

The more your forum grows, the more of a challenge it becomes to sort through the history and get the full story.

Product Review Forums Brings Structure to the Chaos

As a full-featured product management addon, PRF sits on top of your forum allowing you to create defined products which, unlike individual posts, stay relevant over time. Each comment, review and even product updates filter back into this one spot allowing for a quick and comprehensive overview while the individual discussions rage on as always.

Here's just a few of the many features you'll find in PRF:

• Bring structure to products with established pages & reviews
• Reduce the number of repetitive posts from members looking up the same info
• Increase your traffic with content-rich, seo friendly, product listings
• Drive revenue by adding your own affiliate links to product listings
• Increase the activity stream's value with review integration
  
• Engage visitors with integrated wishlists from Giftery.me

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Installation is not upload & go... individualized settings are required. Read the install file.

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QUICK TIPS:
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Enabling Product Forums: To show product details and ratings, each product-forum must be enabled in the forum manager.

Adding Products: You may upload products one at a time through the admin [includes an image uploader using GD] or you can bulk import through XML. You can also enable users to add moderated products through a global and usergroup option.

Product Review Index: To access your forum's product overview go to www.yoursite.com/productforums.php - You may want to add a link to this to your navbar or as a tab.

Customization: This addon is made to be customized. To change the color schema see clientscript/vbulletin_css or dive right on in to the templates and phrases.

Powered by Giftery.me: This mod is maintained includes two integrations you should know about. Both can be controlled through the mod options.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by GCC LLC

I have everything configured properly. I still get double postings and moderation issues.

Understood. That remark was only intended for the individual who we were quoting as his/her issues are different with that error being explicitly caused by a lack of settings or invalid posting forum.

We should have time to chase these down tomorrow or friday...

[GCC LLC]

Gotcha. Thanks!

[ashimashi]

This is an amazing mod! I have been looking for something like this for almost a year now. I can't believe I missed this.

Thanks for the mod. I just have 2 questions regarding it.
IS it possible to edit a product after it has been published? To change the price for example. Or even delete it

Also, Is it possible to delete a review? I can delete the post but the product page says there is one review. After you click to see the review, it will say: No Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by ashimashi

Thanks for the mod. I just have 2 questions regarding it.
IS it possible to edit a product after it has been published? To change the price for example. Or even delete it

Yup. That's the main point of the mod... products are stored in a database table so you can edit them, update them, etc. Edit through the PRF admin options.

Originally Posted by ashimashi

Also, Is it possible to delete a review? I can delete the post but the product page says there is one review. After you click to see the review, it will say: No Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Delete it through the PRF admin options.

[ashimashi]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Yup. That's the main point of the mod... products are stored in a database table so you can edit them, update them, etc. Edit through the PRF admin options.



Delete it through the PRF admin options.

Oh I got it. I am supposed to search for it using ID.

Thank you, and thank you again for this great mod.

[ashimashi]

Sorry for posting again but I just have one more question. I tried searching in the How to page but I couldn't find a fix to it.

How do I add or remove additional fields when adding a product. For example if I want a field that says Year of release or if I want to remove a field like "UPC / ISBN / EIN Code" which came with the mod.

Thanks

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by ashimashi

Sorry for posting again but I just have one more question. I tried searching in the How to page but I couldn't find a fix to it.

How do I add or remove additional fields when adding a product. For example if I want a field that says Year of release or if I want to remove a field like "UPC / ISBN / EIN Code" which came with the mod.

Thanks

Removing fields is as simple as editing the review template so they don't show in the display.

Adding fields requires a database modification at this point although you can put anything you like in the description.

[ashimashi]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Removing fields is as simple as editing the review template so they don't show in the display.

Adding fields requires a database modification at this point although you can put anything you like in the description.

Okay thank you. I found the template needed and was able to edit the unwanted fields out.

But regarding adding fields, is it very complicated to do so? How must I add them? Adding them to the same template I removed fields from will most likely not do it.


Also just a suggestion if you ever do decide to upgrade this mod, I think it would be better if there was a dollar sign next to the Retail Price box when adding product. I noticed that it automatically puts dollar sign for you, so if someone puts it as well, there will be 2 of them displayed.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by ashimashi

Okay thank you. I found the template needed and was able to edit the unwanted fields out.

But regarding adding fields, is it very complicated to do so? How must I add them? Adding them to the same template I removed fields from will most likely not do it.

It's not insane but it's not a template edit either.

1. Add a column [int or varchar] to the product table in your database for each field.
2. Update the admin php script to include this row in adding & editing products with database hooks to match.
3. Edit the template to display it back.

Also just a suggestion if you ever do decide to upgrade this mod, I think it would be better if there was a dollar sign next to the Retail Price box when adding product. I noticed that it automatically puts dollar sign for you, so if someone puts it as well, there will be 2 of them displayed.

Not everyone uses US dollars. But you're correct, it's a great idea to add in your local currency sign.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by GCC LLC

Yes. User "submits" one review but the content gets posted twice within postbit with a visible <br> in between.

Every review goes into moderation even though I have moderation turned off within the plugin as well as in the forum. I don't think it shows the <br> and duplicate content within the moderation window. I will check and see next time it happen.

Please try the attached version of upload/productforums.php which addresses the dup content issue [note: I couldn't duplicate it so this may take another shot or two].

For moderation I'm honestly stumped and unable to recreate it thus I'll have to unfortunately as for a little help on your part...

Next time a review gets stuck in the queue before you release it please check it's status in your SQL database:

SELECT visible FROM post WHERE postid = XXXX;

We'll keep going from there until it's all fixed.