Miscellaneous Hacks - Cyb - Auto Birthday Greeter

Info:
This hack automatically creates a birthday thread in the forum you select. Only members that allow their date of birth to be displayed will be listed, and age will be shown only for those who has choosen that. Members are shown in colors defined in usergroup settings. You can choose to exclude inactive members. Several users can be set as greeters (used randomly when posting). Thread will be created first time when someone loads forumhome after midnight.

Note:
-This executes 1 very simple query on forumhome.

Installation:
-Import XML file (as product) through AdminCP: Plugin System > Manage Products > [Add/Import Product]

To set options:
Go to: vBulletin Options > Cyb - Auto Birthday Greeter

Versions:
v1.0 - Aug 26. 2007.
-Initial release
v1.1 - Aug 27. 2007.
-New: Option to exclude members with post count lower than X
-Fixed bug where several threads are posted for the same birthday
-Shortcut to "Age" phrase added to the list on settings page
v1.2 - Aug 28. 2007.
-Date format follows your forum acp settings
-New: Option to exclude members joined in last X days
-Another fix for duplicate birthday threads on some forums
v1.3 - Aug 31. 2007.
-Option to synchronize hack with forum time to avoid situations where birthday thread is created too early or too late
v1.4 - May 03. 2008.
-Compatible with vBulletin 3.7
-Minor bugs fixed

Mark as INSTALLED to get support and updates.

[KanmaiseR]

thanks, installed..

[MovedGoalPosts]

Great mod thanks :up:

One small issue with the timing of the post creation and Daylight Saving Time, in that I'm finding the new thread post is an hour late.

When I check the forum time, it is correctly displayed, i.e it's currently showing correctly as 00:15 which is British Summer Time. Indeed the time display on the bottom of the server is showing as GMT +1, i.e. Daylight Saving Time.

It seems however, that despite the forum time being correct, the thread is being posted on GMT rather than BST

[goddess_dix]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

It seems however, that despite the forum time being correct, the thread is being posted on GMT rather than BST

go into your vb options for this mod and adjust the time, then, as there is a setting for this.

[MovedGoalPosts]

I have adjusted the time, currently set to default, i.e. the time of the forum which would be correct.

It's weird. One thread was created at forum time of 01:05. The next thread got created at 00:38

[sdavis2702]

Thanks !

[goddess_dix]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

I have adjusted the time, currently set to default, i.e. the time of the forum which would be correct.

It's weird. One thread was created at forum time of 01:05. The next thread got created at 00:38

the only other thing i could think to check is when your cron jobs are set to run, and how many other ones are scheduled to go at the same time as this one...is it possible that it's being delayed by email batches or something that other scheduled jobs are doing? for me, a difference of a few minutes here or there either way is perfectly acceptable, but if it concerns you, that's where i would look.

[goddess_dix]

Originally Posted by powerful_rogue

This would be a fantastic way of doing it. Would make it appear that little bit more personal.

well, the thing i noticed is that i have my active user cutoff date set to a year and it can make it feel a little weird. (with my forum, people sometimes come back after long periods of absence, just the nature of it.)

so sometimes, we'll have a birthday thread for more than one user, one is very active and one is not. and it just feels off to post a personal message in the thread to one but not the other birthday person. but if the inactive user hasn't been there for 6 months, 9 months, or seldom posts, they simply won't get the same responses as someone who is active. that's certainly reasonable, but if they are mentioned IN the thread, it does tend to stand out if they do come around.

that is part of the reason i installed this mod to begin with. with people creating the birthday threads, it was usually only for the more active users, but some folks got missed even if they were around. i thought it might help allieviate hurt feelings, and i did notice some folks really seem to like the threads a lot and appreciate theirs.

[Valter]

No cron jobs here.

Thread will be created first time when someone loads forumhome after midnight. So it can be 00:00, or 01:00, or any other time during the day when forums are active.

[goddess_dix]

ohhhh. so it's most likely a function of visitors then. gotcha. missed that and hadn't looked at the code. to me, doesn't matter much the exact time so i never looked for it.

[massizero]

Hi,
installed your mod and enabled, but no thread is created even if there have been birthdays in the past 2 days... What could it be the reason?