vB Event Forums

Introduction

Ok first things first, before we start. This plugin was originally developed by endquote. You can find the old thread here. I have now taken over the plugin development from him, and I will do my best to make this a plugin that is useful for everyone. I have made quite a few changes to the old plugin. If you have been using the old plugin, then skip to the section "I used the old plugin".

What is this plugin?

This is a plugin which allows you to create relationships between calendars and events, giving each event a thread of its own for users to discuss. This plugin is in BETA, so you are installing this on a live board at your own risk. I have tested this alot, and I am running it myself on a live board.

Sure, so whats it do?

Some examples of the features this plugin offers

• When a new event is created in a calendar, an associated thread is created in the linked forum.
• Links to events in the calendar are forwarded to the associated thread.
• New thread links in the event forum are redirected to a new event form.
• A summary can be shown at the top of the event forum which shows the up and coming events over the next 'x' days.
• The date and time shown in the thread and post title, is calculated on the current viewing users timezone. In other words, times always show in the users timezone, not forced to GMT.
• Full moderation support.
• Editing a thread or event, will update its associated event/thread.

Screenshots

Some screenshots of this plugin

• Admin Options
• Event Thread
• Event Thread with Reply
• Thread List

How do I install it?

Please follow the instructions here for upgrading from Version 1.x to Version 2.5.

Step 1

Install the product
Download the product XML file.

Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Plugin System -> Manage Products. Click [Add/Import Product] at the bottom of the page. Browse to the location where you downloaded the xml file and then click the Import button.

Step 2

Calendar ID:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Calendar Manager. Find the calendar you want to link to a forum, then click Edit.
Right at the top of the page you should see:

Calendar: NAME (id: ID)

Make a note of the ID, you will need this soon.

Forum ID:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Forum Manager. Find the forum you want to activate as your event forum, then click Edit Forum.
Right at the top of the page you should see:

Forum: NAME (id: ID)

Make a note of the ID, you will need this soon.

Link a Calendar to a Forum:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto vBulletin Options and find Event Forums.
The first option you should see is Calendar/Forum Map.
Enter in your IDs into the box, as CALENDARID:FORUMID.
Example, my Calendar is 5 and my Forum is 14:

5:14

Click Save.

Step 3

Base permissions check:
You will need to check that users using the Event Forums, have basic permissions to both the Linked Forum AND Calendar.
Basic Permissions include: Can View Forum and Can Post Threads and possibly some others.

Step 4

Install on VB.org:
Browse back to this thread, and click the INSTALL button so you can recieve updates whenever I update this plugin.

Can I give you money to make this?

This isn't a commercial plugin, and can be used by anyone for free. However, a few people have said to me that they would like to donate some money for my time working on the plugin and for picking it up and continuing the development of new features etc. If you do want to donate some money my way, then you can do so through paypal by clicking this link. Thanks!

Bugs / Support

If you find a bug, then please post in this thread and let me know. There are a few bugs that haven't been fixed since the old version, so i'm hoping that we can fix these soon. I will do my best to support the plugin as much as possible, however I also have a busy job which takes up alot of my time.

Known Bugs

Here is a list of known bugs to date

• Soft delete actually hard deletes the thread.
• Search doesn't search the first post of an event thread.
• Inline ajax edit bugs thread title. Need to remove date and time from it before edit.

Feature request list

Here is a list of the requested features. Please note that because it makes this list, doesn't mean it will be added.

• Intergration with the event attendance plugin.
• Customisation of the order of the custom fields in the thread title.
• An option to "import" all the previous events from a Calendar into threads.
• Extra post options support (Attachments, Post Icons, Sticky etc).
• Custom ordering of the %datetime variable.
• Custom ordering of %custom variable.
• Better handling of recurring events.

Credits

Thanks to endquote for originally creating the plugin.
Thanks to the Ninja :ninja: for helping me infiltrate the vb code and finding those hidden hooks!
Thanks to anybody that helps test this plugin.

Changelog

Version: 2.7

• All templates should now be cached.
• Optimised the code which hides the first post on an Event Thread.
• Fixed a bug which was causing smilies and images, as well as possibly other BB code to not be parsed correctly.
• Added better error handling on SQL queries, and using vb functions in all places over raw mysql functions.

Version: 2.6

• Added a AdminCP option to choose between using a custom variable to display the Event Details on the Thread Page, or to append it to the end of the navbar.
• Title now updates in last post block after editing event title.
• Single day events no longer adjust the timezone, which was causing the day to show incorrectly in the thread titles and event details for some timezones.

Version: 2.5

• Single day events: Time has been removed from thread title, so it now only displays the date.
• Date and Time (if applicable) are added to Posts and Navbits when viewing a thread.
• Custom Fields are added dynamically along with times and dates. This solves a few bugs, and is in preperation for the AdminCP option for a custom order and look etc.
• Currently merging is disabled for any Event Threads because it is a bit of a tricky job to handle merging Event Threads, and it could take some time.
• Admin option to format Event Thread titles. Note this does not yet include ordering custom fields.
• Inline mod tools should now all work.
• Added [Finish] and [Start] as phrases into the Calendar phrases for use in the Events Summary.
• Ranged Events that cover multiple days, are now displayed better in the Summary, Title, Post and Navbits.

Version: 2.0

• Moderation is now supported! Permissions are taken from the Calendar. Events will show up as Events only (threads are hidden and handled seperatly by the plugin) in the moderation queue.
• Better error handling when creating an event. This should now correctly handle flooding, min chars and any other errors creating a thread could give. An event is NOT created if there was an error creating the thread. Instead it displays the correct error message.
• Event View is now displayed above the threads, similar to how VB.org does with the addons.
• Links added to the event day view, to View Replies and Post a Reply.
• Added a UserCP option to choose which event it should default to when pressing the "New Thread" button.
• Summary is now totally seperate from the Home Page up "and coming events". The summary will now function even if the homepage version is disabled.
• Ranged Events now show the end date if the Event doesn't finish on the same day.
• Problems with DST and Timezones have been solved. There is an update due in VB v3.6 which corrects confusion with DST. See here for more info. This is more specific to Calendar rather than this plugin though, but its relevant.
• Moving an event to a Calendar not run by the Plugin will remove the link to the assosiated thread.
• Moving an event to a Calendar run by the Plugin will attempt to also move the thread linked to it, to the correct forum.
• Moving a thread to a different event forum, will attempt to move the event to the correct calendar.
• Moving a thread outside an event forum, removes the link to the assosiated event.
• Delete thread or first post now forwards to the Delete Event. Allowing soft-delete of events is something to consider, but for now it only supports Perma Deleting. This would be made much easier if soft deleting events was something supported in the native VB code.
• Fixed Deleting an Event and it now properly updates the forum counters, so the last thread should be correct.
• Event Summary template addition is no longer necessary. A seperate template is added and handled by the plugin.
• Event Summary in the forum now only shows the events for that forum/calendar link.

Version: 1.0

• Taken over development from Endquote. Fixed alot of bugs, I can't remember what now.

[Evercraft]

Originally Posted by klaush

Thanks! But still not working. Permissions are set correctly; even when adding an event and tried to save he wants to have an username and to click the back button.

Any idea?

You mean when you try to save the event, it asks you for a username?

Any chance you could post a screenshot of the error?

Also, do you have any other Plugin's installed relating to Events/Forums?

[Crazy Serb]

Originally Posted by xfaethorx

it looks excellent but I need the event attendance hack to be bound in with it.

yeah, we're still waiting for that one...

and is there any way to add this as one of the options:

- when clicking on NEW THREAD or EDIT EVENT is there a way to enable adding/editing of attachments as well? as I have it right now when editing a thread/event I can only edit the message...

I have attachments as little thumbnails displayed on my front page (vbAdvanced) for each of those post, so it's a bit of a pain in the ass to go back into the vb settings, change the forum/calendar associations, then go back into the threads i need to edit, add attachments, then switch back the forum/calendar associations in vb settings...

[Crazy Serb]

also, how and where would I change the %datetime variable for thread titles...

I want it to be in the format of "[m.d] M. d - thread title..."

[klaush]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

You mean when you try to save the event, it asks you for a username?

Any chance you could post a screenshot of the error?

Also, do you have any other Plugin's installed relating to Events/Forums?

Correct, Evercraft. I disabled all related plugs with the same error.

Here is a screen:

Sorry, it?s in German because it is an German board! :-)

[Crazy Serb]

also, how do I make this work with vbAdvanced... as it is right now the events are being displayed ABOVE all the menus/side modules in vbAdvanced instead of the way old plugin used to display them - as a first post in the thread.

p.s. - why is Hook Location : postbit_display_complete (Add Time and Date to post title) disabled by default?

[SMO]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

errm not sure I fully understand. Could you perhaps post a screenshot, or maybe a more detailed example? Also, what type of event is it (i.e Single Day (no times), Ranged (with times), Recuring).

ok, i didnt think it was quite clear as well.

the calendar says the 3rd and the event is on the 2nd.

[Crazy Serb]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

You can't currently format the order of the individual date and times. I'll put this down as something to consider.

how did it work in the previous version? or you changed the way that works completely?

the event time is not important, but the date displayed is a bit confusing (mm-dd-yyyy) for my visitors as they are used to something more "readable" and easily understandable...

so please consider that as well.

[Evercraft]

EDIT: Just put all my posts into 1.

Originally Posted by Crazy Serb

also, how and where would I change the %datetime variable for thread titles...

I want it to be in the format of "[m.d] M. d - thread title..."

You can't currently format the order of the individual date and times. I'll put this down as something to consider.

Originally Posted by Crazy Serb

p.s. - why is Hook Location : postbit_display_complete (Add Time and Date to post title) disabled by default?

Its disabled because its not used. I'll remove this in the next version, as it could cause confusion, and will cause problems if you re-enable it.

Originally Posted by Crazy Serb

also, how do I make this work with vbAdvanced... as it is right now the events are being displayed ABOVE all the menus/side modules in vbAdvanced instead of the way old plugin used to display them - as a first post in the thread.

This should be fixed in the next version.

Currently it appends the eventblock to the $navbar variable in the template. So if you've customised your style alot, it may or may not show at all.

I will add a AdminCP option so you can either use the current way with it appending (useful if you run default style), or use a custom variable in the template, to put anywhere you wish.

I will add an option todo the same with the Summary too.

Originally Posted by SMO

ok, i didnt think it was quite clear as well.

the calendar says the 3rd and the event is on the 2nd.

If you click the little '3' in the corner to go to the event day view, it will show all the events in a list on 1 page. What date does it give it in the same place then?

EDIT: Just put all my posts into 1.

[Evercraft]

Originally Posted by Crazy Serb

how did it work in the previous version? or you changed the way that works completely?

Yep pretty much. The event info used to be part of the post, now the post is "hidden" and instead it shows the Event details using the Showevents template.

Originally Posted by Crazy Serb

the event time is not important, but the date displayed is a bit confusing (mm-dd-yyyy) for my visitors as they are used to something more "readable" and easily understandable...

so please consider that as well.

If you mean changing it from say (mm-dd-yyyy) to (dd-mm-yyyy), this is done in your AdminCP under locale options (i think). There is an option to enter the format for Date and Time. The plugin uses whatever the settings are set for your forum. So it should be in the same format as your last posts, the time at the bottom and everything else on your forum.

[Crazy Serb]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

If you mean changing it from say (mm-dd-yyyy) to (dd-mm-yyyy), this is done in your AdminCP under locale options (i think). There is an option to enter the format for Date and Time. The plugin uses whatever the settings are set for your forum. So it should be in the same format as your last posts, the time at the bottom and everything else on your forum.

that's the thing, I have a customized way of displaying the dates of calendar events that is different from the default vbulletin setting for the board... could you just add another setting in the "event forums" that would let us define our own %datetime variable?

so instead of pulling it from vbulletin->options['dateformat'] (from Date and Time settings), you could pull it from another variable defined in this plugin's settings...

i am aware that for calendar display (calendar.php file) it requires a certain format, but just for the thread titles displayed it would be great if we could customize that setting... in my case, I need it to be something along the lines of "[m.d] M. d" date format...

how's that?