Links and Downloads Manager

LDM extends VBulletin to manage a library of documents, files and links to other web sites. Documents can be stored on your own web site, stored on your server separate from the web site, uploaded by your user community, or held somewhere else altogether. So you can use LDM to provide your user community with access to your own files and allow them to share files with each other.

12/08/06 - Versions that work with vb36 are available and supported in the VB36 thread. Version 2.2.1, which works with VB 3.5 but not with VB 3.6, remains available here.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with all the design, testing, etc.
Translations are provided (thanks dLutt and LeeWicked) into German, (thanks to Allan) into French, and (thanks to Hugo) into Spanish. Harry1951 has handled the Dutch translation.

Screenshots, Instructions and How to Install

Full details and instructions are available as a Wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php...nloads_Manager

LDM installs as a VBulletin product. There are no modifications required to standard VB code.

Basically - upload php files and run the installer through VB's Product installer. No changes needed to VB code. Remember to BACKUP YOUR DATABASE. By default, LDM prefixes its database tables 'local_'. Edit the configuration file, local_links_init.php, if you need/wish to change this.

LDM can handle an essentially unlimited number of categories and nested subcategories, and an unlimited number of entries (hyperlinks or downloadable files). Each entry can be placed in one or several categories. Categories can have styles. Descriptions and titles can optionally include BBcodes, smilies, images and html, giving the possibility to add images, colouring, etc. File types can be flagged using icons and individual entries can also have associated thumbnail images.

Standards templates are provided for libraries of links, files, documents, and photographs.

Users can offer comments and rate the links/downloads. Each user is allowed one rating and many comments per entry, and can freely edit these if they change their mind.

Permission to use specific features is established via the product's admin page, where the administrator specifies which usergroups can add and edit entries, comment and rate these entries, moderate, etc.

By default, all entries are visible to all users. You can restrict visibility/access to links and categories by using the permissions masks from your board's forums.

Moderation of new entries is available but turned off by default.

Users can report bad links to the relevant moderators/administrators.

Each user can flag links as his/her "Favourites".

Modules are provided for VBAdvanced.

Hooks are provided in suitable places in LDM and sample plugins are included in the release (see extras directory), for example to integrate with ID3 tags in mp3 files, for slideshows, to autocreate new threads in your forums, etc.

Plus much more.

[directprint]

I can seem to get the thumbnails to view permanantly, one minute they are there, the next they are gone?, I am lost with this one, guessing it's a cache problem or something.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Nokia Tech

I have just only 5 minutes ago uninstalled it again,

As soon as i get chance, i will re-install it and reply again here and maybe you will be able to locate the problem. To be honest, I am sure it must be something i am doing wrong although i read the online instructions 5 times...

Dont suppose you offer an chargable installation service do you. ? Just a thought.

Basicly, I need this program to use for downloading only, I have a server packed with various service files that my members want access to. All files to be downloaded are at an external server, The uploads or the jukebox will not be used, Uploads are done manually to my external FTP

Thanks for the very fast reply, and look forward to your response

I'm very happy to take a look if you send me site details - no charge!

Be careful with files held on an external server - with its default settings, LDM will be quite costly to use, as it keeps the file location hidden. It becomes trivially cheap for these files if they are not considered as "downloads" (i.e. do not have file tpes that appear in your VB admincp mimetypes table) or (b) you set the LDM setting "force_redirect" to 1 (LDM/admin/settings)

[directprint]

Originally Posted by directprint

I can seem to get the thumbnails to view permanantly, one minute they are there, the next they are gone?, I am lost with this one, guessing it's a cache problem or something.

All fixed by Andrew, must say this is a great product and some top support to go with it. Well Done

[Nokia Tech]

Can you please explain to me whet exactly you mean when you say

LDM will be quite costly to use, as it keeps the file location hidden. It becomes trivially cheap for these files if they are not considered as "downloads"

I am a little confused here, I assume you are refering to bandwidth usage from my hosting supplier ?

Please bear with me, as i am still fairly new to all this Vb mods etc

Thanks

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Nokia Tech

Can you please explain to me whet exactly you mean when you say



I am a little confused here, I assume you are refering to bandwidth usage from my hosting supplier ?

Please bear with me, as i am still fairly new to all this Vb mods etc

Thanks

LDM can handle documents in various ways. Sometimes, people use it because they want to keep file locations secret. This is how LDM is configured by default.

To achieve this secrecy, the user is sent a url that does not point directly to the download, but instead points to the LDM script. The script works out what it is being asked to send, reads the file and sends it on to the user, with appropriate headers and so on, so that the file behaves correctly when it reaches the user's browser (e.g. has the right name, etc).

This is very straightforward (quite cheap in cpu and identical bandwidth to providing the actual file url) when the file is actually stored on the web server that is running LDM.

However, if you have the file stored on another server and want to keep its location secret, then LDM has to read the file from the second server and then re-transmit it to the user. This is twice as costly in bandwidth (file has to pass twice through your server) and about 10-50 times as expensive in server cpu, because reading remote files is a complex process. The practical consequence is that standard php configurations (which usually allow about 30 seconds cpu) will fail to transmit remote files that are bigger than a megabyte or so.

This problem only occurs with entries that LDM 'recognises' as a 'download' - i.e. has a file type which appears in the VBulletin 'attachments' mimetype table - and only if the LDM setting 'force_redirect' is set to 0. For all other file types and when force_redirect is set to 1 or 2, LDM gets the user's browser to do the work, by telling it to redirect to the file. For files stored on a remote server, this means that there is no bandwidth load on your server and no cpu load either.

Basically, the 'hidden file' mechanism is cheap and secure provided the file is held on your own server, but a pain in the beck when it's on another server ...
LDM can

[Tyegurl]

why do i feel like a newbie??

i can't seem to figure out why my icons don't work.....

if the path is right it doesn't work and if i add a ./ it doesn't work either....oops wrong thread? should i have put this in the 3.6.0 thread??

anyway they don't work in the modules....

[Nokia Tech]

Ok, Thats made it a lot clearer for me, Thankyou

I am just finishing off the re-installation again, If its ok with yourself, i would like to take you up on your kind offer to check the installation for me.

Will take me about 15 mins, as i just need to finish another item first.

Thankyou, BR

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Tyegurl

why do i feel like a newbie??

i can't seem to figure out why my icons don't work.....

if the path is right it doesn't work and if i add a ./ it doesn't work either....oops wrong thread? should i have put this in the 3.6.0 thread??

anyway they don't work in the modules....

I've had several people with this problem - let me guess, your VB installation is in a different directory than your vbadvanced script? If so, yes, there's a bug in LDM which I'm trying to fix as we speak.

[Tyegurl]

ummm

vbadvance is installed in my vbulletin forum folder...

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Tyegurl

ummm

vbadvance is installed in my vbulletin forum folder...

Take a look at your main VB settings - is the home url pointing at your web root (http://yoursite) or at the forum (http://yoursite/forum) or vbadvanced script (http://yoursite/forum/vbascript.php)?