Add-On Releases - Custom Pages in vBulletin - PHP, HTML CSS, the works

Im not 100% sure where to add this, this is not a product, it is a work around the template system (only uses the template system for grabbing any template you want and displaying it in this page)
To use this addon, make a new file "page.php" in your forum root (if you want it in another directory you will need to edit a few lines in the code, not a big deal though). Paste the below code into the page.php and save. Run http://www.site.com/forum/page.php
Here is the code.

PHP Code:

<?php
/*======================================================================*\
|| #################################################################### ||
|| # vBulletin 4.0.8
|| # ---------------------------------------------------------------- # ||
|| # Copyright ?2000-2010 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. ||
|| # This file may not be redistributed in whole or significant part. # ||
|| # ---------------- VBULLETIN IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE ---------------- # ||
|| # http://www.vbulletin.com | http://www.vbulletin.com/license.html # ||
|| #################################################################### ||
\*======================================================================*/

/**
 * If you want to move this file to the root of your website, change this
 * line to your vBulletin directory and uncomment it (delete the //).
 *
 * For example, if vBulletin is installed in '/forum' the line should
 * state:
 *
 *    define('VB_RELATIVE_PATH', 'forum');
 *
 * Note: You may need to change the cookie path of your vBulletin
 * installation to enable your users to log in at the root of your website.
 * If you move this file to the root of your website then you should ensure
 * the cookie path is set to '/'.
 *
 * See 'Admin Control Panel
 *    ->Cookies and HTTP Header Options
 *      ->Path to Save Cookies
 */

//define('VB_RELATIVE_PATH', 'forums');


// Do not edit.
if (defined('VB_RELATIVE_PATH'))
{
    chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
}


/**
 * You can choose the default script here.  Uncomment the appropriate line
 * to set the default script.  Note: Only uncomment one of these, you must
 * add // to comment out the script(s) that you DO NOT want to use as your
 * default script.
 *
 * You can choose the default script even if you do not plan to move this
 * file to the root of your website.
 */



// ####################### SET PHP ENVIRONMENT ########################### 
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE); 

// #################### DEFINE IMPORTANT CONSTANTS ####################### 

define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'home');     // change this so you can use other conditionals like "THIS_PAGE" != "home" etc.. in other, real templates.
define('CSRF_PROTECTION', false);   // turn on for token layer security


// ################### PRE-CACHE TEMPLATES AND DATA ###################### 

// cache any templates you want  to use for this mod .

// get special phrase groups 
$phrasegroups = array(); 

// get special data templates from the datastore 
$specialtemplates = array(); 

// pre-cache templates used by all actions 
$globaltemplates = array('', 
); 

// pre-cache templates used by specific actions 
$actiontemplates = array(); 

// ######################### REQUIRE BACK-END ############################ 
// if your page is outside of your normal vb forums directory, you should change directories by uncommenting the next line 
// chdir ('/path/to/your/forums'); 
require_once('./global.php'); 
// ####################################################################### 
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################ 
// ####################################################################### 

//This appears in your breadcrumbs navigation.

$navbits = construct_navbits(array('' => 'Welcome to animeFans.tv. No fancy "we\'re the best, we\'re #1, you judge this site your self by browsing our forums below :D')); 
$navbar = render_navbar_template($navbits); 

// ###### YOUR CUSTOM CODE GOES HERE ##### 
//appears in the <title> tags in the head
$pagetitle = 'animeFans Home'; 

// ###### NOW YOUR TEMPLATE IS BEING RENDERED ###### 

// register your templates

$templater = vB_Template::create('TEST'); 
$templater->register_page_templates(); 
$templater->register('header', $header); 
$templater->register('headinclude', $headinclude); 
$templater->register('navbar', $navbar); 
$templater->register('footer', $footer); 
$templater->register('pagetitle', $pagetitle); 
// 
//important variables, already queried and ready to use
$userid            =    $vbulletin->userinfo[userid];
$username        =    $vbulletin->userinfo[username];
$usergroup        =    $vbulletin->userinfo[usergroupid];
$avatarrevision =    $vbulletin->userinfo[avatarrevision];
//

// your own custom head and css files
echo '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html dir="ltr" lang="en"> <head> 
'.$headinclude.' 
 <title>'.$pagetitle.'</title>  
   <link href="clientscript/animefans/rpg.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> 
  <style type="text/css"> 
<!-- 
.advertisement {display: none !important} 
--> 
</style> 

 </head> <body> '; 
 // output templates
echo $header, $navbar; 
//content here 

echo 'you can do queries, loops, anything you want here';
//footer, close everything 
echo $footer; 
echo '</body></html>';
/*======================================================================*\
|| ####################################################################
|| # Downloaded: 16:53, Mon Nov 8th 2010
|| # CVS: $RCSfile$ - $Revision: 35749 $
|| ####################################################################
\*======================================================================*/

?>

Please note that you can use the switch() to loop through conditions so that you can have one page for a whole custom mod. example:

PHP Code:

switch($do){
case "register":
echo 'registration form';
break;
case "member":
echo 'member details';
break;
default;
echo 'something here if $do is empty';
} 


and access it like
www.site.com/page.php?do=register //registration
www.site.com/page.php?do=member // member page
www.site.com/page.php?do=fgdgf // nonsense will be directed to the default; in the switch

www.site.com/page.php // empty $do will be directed to the default; in the switch

I know this is not the the best way to use vb, and has some security risks when csrf protection is off but its a great way to get used to vbulletin.

Benefits:

• Automatically adjusted to suite any skin when a user switches, no extra coding needed
• Simple and easy
• can access other databases
• can use any php function available to your server
• can access ALL of vbulletin's functions and classes.
• can use any html tag
• can use any css file and selector
• canuse any amount of javascript
• no messy plugins and settings to sort through.
• have full access to all vbulletin's plugins, classes, templates and much more!!!

Downsides

• requires small amounts of php/html/css knowledge.

CHANGELOG:

• Fixed some minor bugs - 12/3/2010
  
  
• New error found - 11/29/2.10
  http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/proje...?issueid=37110
  
  Although this mod does not affect your forum in a visible way, caching probably wont work, il update this when i have a workaround for it

[Lon]

Originally Posted by final kaoss

This is the defacto guide for making custom pages for vbulletin.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=228112
You're welcome.

Your "defacto" solution is not the same as this.

This method by passes the template system entirely. Ithink it's easier for small projects you want to spit something out quickly. Especially taking into account the vb_reregister() function available in plugins.