Major Additions - CERBERUS: 1 vB4: runs multiple domains with custom styles, forums, universal login

***Attention: This product is currently UNSUPPORTED***

We would like to release an Alpha version of the vBulletin4 Cerberus product. This product allows you to create one vBulletin4 installation which can power unlimited number of domains and sub-domains; while allowing to customize each domain differently to make it look like different sites or sections. Domains will have one universal admincp and user login information.

***Example***
www.supercoolautoforum.com - main site, all forums
ferarri.supercoolautoforum.com - custom style and forums, same login
bmw.supercoolautoforum.com- custom style and forums, same login
honda.supercoolautoforum.com - custom style and forums, same login
supercoolmotorcycleforum.com - custom style and forums, same login

*** Why are you releasing this, I want more features?! ***

This is a very simple product; we believe that the basic functionality provided in this product will satisfy a lot of communities - and since the product is simple - it will be easy to extend it and modify it to work for your custom community requirements.

Overview of Current Features:

• One shared installation of vBulletin 4
• One shared user account on all domains
• Custom Style for each domain
• Custom Forum listing for each domain

Known Issues:

• CMS and Blogs are currently not configured to have special domain-specific categories and sections. CMS is shared across all sites although the appearance will be different for each domain.

Project Contributors: s.lauderdale;m.biddle;a.ahn; anders

[KW802]

Originally Posted by rajubd

what about sitemap? google will index all domain?

For now the vB XML Sitemap will only generate URLs using your 'real' domain and not any of your virtual domains. Hopefully there'll be a solution going forward.

[sticky]

Originally Posted by KW802

Same here. Sorry, sticky, but that error I can't reproduce yet.

I think it is unrelated as now it started working. For whatever reason it is intermittent, just wanted to check to see if maybe I wasn't the only one.

[sticky]

Just wondering, how are you guys resolving the site name? In google my second domain shows up as the same name and description as the first domain. Is there any way to make it unique?

[merk_aus]

Originally Posted by sticky

Just wondering, how are you guys resolving the site name? In google my second domain shows up as the same name and description as the first domain. Is there any way to make it unique?

Same Question here.

[merk_aus]

Damn I installed it (finally upgraded from 3.8 where I had this working properly) however no matter what domain name you enter it just redirects to the main domain - any ideas on how I could fix it?

[sticky]

Originally Posted by merk_aus

Damn I installed it (finally upgraded from 3.8 where I had this working properly) however no matter what domain name you enter it just redirects to the main domain - any ideas on how I could fix it?

List your settings and if you are using the suite.

[merk_aus]

Originally Posted by sticky

List your settings and if you are using the suite.

Sticky,
Sorry about that it was like midnight my time when I posted and many things were going through my head.

I am using the vBulletin Publishing Suite 4.1 - I have the CMS turned off at the moment as it is uneeded however have the forum and blogs turned on.

Below are the settings I have - keep in mind that I am currently not using the Facebook stuff however do plan on maybe using them in the near future I am just trying to do one thing at a time otherwise it's going to be a mess.

[forums.sportainment.com.au]
bbtitle=Sports Force Interactive
bburl=forums.sportainment.com.au
homeurl=forums.sportainment.com.au
catids=1,49,3
styleid=10
cookiedomain=.sportainment.com.au
facebookappid=222222222
facebooksecret=222222222

[paranormalboard.com]
bbtitle=Paranormal Board
bburl=paranormalboard.com
homeurl=paranormalboard.com
catids=1,5,3
styleid=9
cookiedomain=.paranormalboard.com
facebookappid=222225552
facebooksecret=222225522

[sports-force.co.nz]
bbtitle=Sports Force
bburl=forums.sports-force.co.nz
homeurl=sports-force.co.nz
catids=1,49,3
styleid=10
cookiedomain=.sports-force.co.nz
facebookappid=222222255
facebooksecret=255222222

[webmasters-resort.com]
bbtitle=Webmasters Resort
bburl=webmasters-resort.com
homeurl=webmasters-resort.com
catids=1,15,29,3
styleid=8
cookiedomain=.webmasters-resort.com
facebookappid=222222288
facebooksecret=222222282

Please let me know if you are able to help (or anyone for that matter) to try and get this working how it should.

I do realise that there are two Sports Force sites listed above - the reason for that is Sports Force is our more popular site and so last night when I couldn't get it to work I opted to reopen that site as our main site and attempt to fix everything else up.

Thank you to all for everyone who is able to help.

[KW802]

Originally Posted by sticky

Just wondering, how are you guys resolving the site name? In google my second domain shows up as the same name and description as the first domain. Is there any way to make it unique?

Originally Posted by merk_aus

Same Question here.

EDIT: Never mind, ignore my original response, I see what is going on.... the "meta name" & "meta description" are not being updated uniquely per domain. I'll experiment a bit tonight to see what I can do.

[KW802]

Originally Posted by KW802

EDIT: Never mind, ignore my original response, I see what is going on.... the "meta name" & "meta description" are not being updated uniquely per domain. I'll experiment a bit tonight to see what I can do.

OK, here's the solution...


For those interested, the fix would be to modify your "** Load Config **" plugin and look for...

case 'bbtitle':
     if($ib_in_matching_host) {
          $vbulletin->options['bbtitle'] = $ib_the_spec[1];
     }
     break;

... and then below it add:

case 'keywords':
     if($ib_in_matching_host) {
          $vbulletin->options['keywords'] = $ib_the_spec[1];
     }
     break;
case 'description':
     if($ib_in_matching_host) {
          $vbulletin->options['description'] = $ib_the_spec[1];
     }
     break;

Then in your Cerberus settings (ACP => Options => vBCerberus => Cerberus Definition) add two new entries for 'keywords' & 'description' as needed.

Going by my example URLs I posted earlier, "CinVin.com" is my 'real' site while "LowerPottsgrove.com" is my virtual site I am running off of it using Cerberus. With that in mind, below is my current definition entry after adding the settings for 'hometitle' (see earlier in the thread), 'keywords', and 'description' as described in this post.

Remember, for your main 'real' site you only need to add the definitions for what you are overriding, you don't have to duplicate the settings that are normally in your ACP already.

[cinvin.com]
catids=50,202,144

[lowerpottsgrove.com]
bbtitle=Lower Pottsgrove
bburl=www.LowerPottsgrove.com
homeurl=www.LowerPottsgrove.com
catids=513,529
styleid=66
cookiedomain=.lowerpottsgrove.com
facebookappid={use your own!}
facebooksecret={use your own!}
hometitle=Lower Pottsgrove
keywords=lower pottsgrove, pottstown, spring city, royersford, birdsboro
description=Online community for Lower Pottsgrove, PA!

[BirdOPrey5]

Originally Posted by merk_aus

Damn I installed it (finally upgraded from 3.8 where I had this working properly) however no matter what domain name you enter it just redirects to the main domain - any ideas on how I could fix it?

Are you sure your domains are properly parked with your web host? (and not on domain forwarding)