Miscellaneous Hacks - Facades Resurrection - Run multiple unique sites with one VB database (BETA) (3.7-4)

This mod is being released AS IS...

The original mod was moved to the Graveyard. I suggest you read up on it here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=229858

I did not program this mod and can not provide any support.

The original coder was: ibautocommunity

He marked this as "resuable code" so I have re-uploaded it so someone might find this and further develop it.

If you can develop this please include credit to the original author- I didn't change anything but the version number and thread URL so I need no credit.

Please release updates on vBulletin.org for the benefit of the community.

Thank You.

PS. According to vBulletin you MUST have a separate license for each domain with unique content so this mod does not allow you to make multiple sites for free.

Use at your own risk. I do not even have this installed on my own site but it has been reported to work with 3.7.x, 3.8.x and 4.0.x versions... Make sure you make backups before testing on a live site.

This info was from the original post when this mod was released:

NOTES:
We didn't have any plans to ever release this product; but lots of people expressed interest in having this feature. We are releasing the product as is, it's very basic but has proven to work rather well on vB 3.8 and also happens to work on 4.0. We do not have plans to expand this product or continue development - we do encourage anyone interested to use the code to continue developing the product. For example, it does not currently provide any support for displaying different CMS based on the domain settings, but that could be a pretty cool feature! Sorry, but no support will be provided for this product; this is ideal for all the do-it-yourselfers on vB.org and may not be the best product for the beginners!

What this product does:
This product will allow you to use 1 vBulletin installation and admin control panel for what will look like "different" vBulletin forums and domains. For example, domain-x.com has it's own style + forum categories; domain-y.com also has it's own style + forum categories; but they use the same vBulletin installation and control panel. It also has options to customize vBAdvanced (if you have it) and limit the search results to the specific domain.

What this product does NOT do:
This product will not allow you to get around vBulletin licensing; you will need a separate license for each domain.

How does this work?
The product detects custom domains and sub-domains; once detected, it shows a predefined style and forumid range to the users. This makes it look like you have two or more different vBulletin sites.

INSTALL AND CONFIG:
* Please note that you will have to already have the hosts configured before adding them into the configuration in vBulletin. Talk to your web-hosting provider to make sure your new domains and sub-domains actually resolve and work.
Install XML in product manager
Go to vB Options or vB Settings and find IB Facades options
Read examples and basic instructions in the option screen

LICENSE AND LEGAL INFO
Product License & Liability Disclaimer
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Copyright (c) 2009, InternetBrands, llc.
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:


Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

Neither the name of "InternetBrands, llc" nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

Licensed vBulletin customers are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit product code.

Licensed vBulletin customers are free to remix and adapt product code.

Under the following conditions, the name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

As you can see this mod was originally released by Internet Brands.

[BirdOPrey5]

The original author reported on vb,com today that he is working on a new version of this mod for vb 4.0.x. No estimate given on the release though.

[benstillman]

I would rock the hell out of this.

[Brandon Sheley]

thanks for posting this again
[high]* Brandon Sheley grabs a copy before it's gone [/high]

[sticky]

The demand is insane for this.

Thanks for posting it, this is exactly what is needed to spur further development. Isn't there anyone talented enough in the community to develop this?

This is my dream mod, I won't give up hope. VB 3 sites have run this successfully somehow.

[Alfa1]

I would love to read some experiences with installing and running this hack.

[Frank T]

This is a very interesting approach. Thanks Sticky for pointing it out.

It's definitely different than the other approaches I've reviewed. I think this approach has many advantages -- as it doesn't require you to bifercate your database and hack all of your PHP files. It also has some disadvantages -- as it shares all of your same plug-ins. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I'm looking at the code, and I'm not sure this will work with friendly URL's or vbSEO. Maybe I'll run some experiments on this tonight.

[Shenanigans]

Updates? I am very interested, however unable to test. I will wait patiently on the tests others are running. =)

[sub_ubi]

Very Interested

[merk_aus]

For a demo I have this on my site: http://www.webmasters-resort.com you will see a drop down at the top of the page where you can browse through and click on other sites which are all "linked" to the one database.

This modification was originally used to get things started however a number of updates and changes to the codes have been used in order to work out some small issues but they have now been resolved and working fine.

As you can see (if you go to the demo I posted above) the forums relating to the boards are all unique per domain name, however things like introductions, and general discussions are shared among all websites.

The important thing for this is to ensure that you have a license for each board you wish to run otherwise you will be going against the terms and conditions and your "network" will be illegal.

[Alfa1]

Originally Posted by merk_aus

This modification was originally used to get things started however a number of updates and changes to the codes have been used in order to work out some small issues but they have now been resolved and working fine.

Could you please share your version that includes the updates and code changes?
I am much in need of this and it looks like its running well on your forums.
What limitations does your version currently have?