Show Thread Enhancements - External Link Titles, retrieve descriptive titles for URLs

Keywords: SHOWTHREAD, external, link, titles, URLs, SEO

Description:
Retrieves descriptive titles for external posted links. Allows for better link recognition and, in theory, could help increase page SEO.

Details:
I recall this being requested somewhere, so I decided to take a stab at it. This is yet another feature offered in vBSEO.

For those unaware of what this actually does.. by default, when a URL is posted without a description it looks like:
http://www.vbulletin.com

With this modification enabled, it will now look like:
vBulletin.org Forum - The Official vBulletin Resource!

Nicer, eh?

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Installation:

1. Download and import product-linktitles.xml via the Product Manager.
2. Enable the modification via AdminCP > vBulletin Options > External Link Titles Options (it is disabled by default)
3. ???
4. Profit!

Notes:
There's really no magic here, it polls for titles using the cURL() function. If for some reason your host does not have cURL() enabled, you're out of luck.

From time to time you may notice the occasional link that does not get titled -- this is due to either the fact that the url is not active or it either timed out waiting for a response. By default, the system will wait for 5 seconds before timing out. If you wish to modify the timeout, you may do so via the AdminCP.

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Comments:
As with all my hacks, this modification is provided free of charge. However, if you find this product useful and have money burning a hole in your pocket, feel free to make a small donation, I won't mind.. really.

Version History:

• 1.0.0 - Initial release, here's to hoping...
• 1.1.0 - Added the ability to blacklist specific domains from having link titles retrieved (configurable via the AdminCP)
• 1.1.1 - Wrapped returned titles in html_entity_decode(); to return properly decoded HTML characters.

Currently Known Bugs:

• None

* Please note that this modification was developed on a forum with a userbase of 1 (myself). I've tested it for basic functionality but I cannot guarantee functionality or behavior on your forum. So, please -- make backups before installing this product!

[Quantnet]

Installed and enabled the hack. Yes is checked.
Server has curl enabled.

When i post something new and click on review, I have this error at the top of the page

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /includes/functions_newpost.php(360) : eval()'d code on line 56

[Quantnet]

As a followup, I edited the functions_newpost.php file and add after the <?php tag

// Turn off all error reporting
error_reporting(0);

Not sure if this is a proper way to do it. If anyone knows , please let me know.

[HMBeaty]

/me installed and works PERFECT. Thank you

[elmati]

installed!
thx!

[Hornstar]

hey nice work, good to see you releasing good stuff, even tho im using vbseo, im sure others will find this usefull.

[bollie]

Nice

[dizzy100]

Excellent addition and works perfectly. Many thanks.

[magnus]

Originally Posted by Quantnet.org

Installed and enabled the hack. Yes is checked.
Server has curl enabled.

When i post something new and click on review, I have this error at the top of the page

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /includes/functions_newpost.php(360) : eval()'d code on line 56

You're running PHP in Safe Mode.

[magnus]

Update:
v1.1.0

• Added the ability to blacklist specific domains from having link titles retrieved (configurable via the AdminCP)

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This is the only thing that has changed. If you don't care about blacklists, you don't have to upgrade.

[Masiello]

Great product, thanks *installed*