Miscellaneous Hacks - [CMS] Use original thread for comments

As of 4.1.11 this functionality is included in vbulletin. So you no longer need this mod.

What does this do?
This is a really simple hack that sets the thread for article comments to be the original thread for any thread that is promoted to an article.

What can I use it for?
This mod has two major uses:

1. If you have a wealth of information in your forums and you want to promote it into articles, this mod allows you to retain the rest of the thread as comments in the cms while adding any new comments as replies to the thread; essentially allowing it to function as both a forum thread and a CMS article.

2. If you want to use multiple fourms for CMS comments. This is a fairly none obvious use case, but probably a popular one. If you have three sections in your cms (for example) and want each section to feed into its own forum, the current cms dosn't allow you to do this. With this mod installed, you can. Instead of creating your new article directly in the cms create it in the forum you wish to use for comments. Write your article as the first post of the thread and promote it to a cms article. Fill out the extra information needed (eg publish date) and save. Comments will be saved into the original thread, in the forum you created it in.

Installation Vb 4.0.1 and later
1. Import product

Uninstallation
1. Disable the plugin "set thread id"

Full uninstallation
1. Move threads that have been promoted to articles into the vbcms comments forum.
2. COPY the threads back to their original forums
3. Remove product

Steps 1 and 2 are needed to retain cache functions on the comments threads. Without them new comments will not appear on the article.

Changelog

• 4.0-0.1 a2
  • Fixed bug causing original thread to be delete when the article was deleted
• 4.0-0.1 a1
  • Initial release

Notes

• I believe this is the first mod for the CMS (not including addon widgets/content types)
• Removing this product entirly will cause issues with the cache on any articles using the original thread. Follow the uninstall steps to remove functionallity while retaining the ability to comment on these articles this mod has altered.
• [S] Although its compatible with vbulletin 4.0 Rc 4, a bug in RC 4 and 4.0.0 Gold prevents it from acctually working. I have provided a replacement hooks_vbcms.xml file which corrects the issue in the interim.[/S] (fixed in vb4.0.1)
• [s]Deleting an article will remove the associated original thread This is considered a bug in this product and will hopefully be fixed with the next release. [/s] (fixed)
• The above bug has been fixed, however pending this request: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/proje...?issueid=34188 Thread tags for the original thread will still be removed. There is /nothing/ I can do about that until the issue listed is resolved. (this has been marked as fixed in 4.0.2; will update further when i've tested that its fixed.)
• [S]If you hard delete the original thread without first removing the article you will be affected by this bug: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/proje...?issueid=34187 the fix I posted to that issue needs to be applied BEFORE deleting the original thread. After more research, this only becomes an issue if you promote a thread more than once. If you've done this, you can fix the error by clearing the CMS cache.[/S] (fixed in 4.0.1)

As of 4.1.11 this functionality is included in vbulletin. So you no longer need this mod.

[Ozymandyus]

Originally Posted by Reeve of shinra

Admincp -> Options -> Message Searching Options

Queue Search Updates = "NO"

Same here, set to "NO".

[Carnage]

ugh... I was hoping for a yes.

What I'm considering for a temp fix is to use the suggestion posted a while back; to limit clearing the cache to times when a post is made via the CMS and including the 301 redirect from forum thread to cms article by default.

I dunno how that sounds as a solution?

[carrlos]

Originally Posted by Carnage-

ugh... I was hoping for a yes.

What I'm considering for a temp fix is to use the suggestion posted a while back; to limit clearing the cache to times when a post is made via the CMS and including the 301 redirect from forum thread to cms article by default.

I dunno how that sounds as a solution?

Please keep those of us in mind that have a working installation.

[ArchAngelz]

I was wondering if it is possible to enhance this mod to be such that we can "demote" (for what of a better word) an article to a forum thread specified.

The reason for this is that I get articles from writers who do not post in the forums, and neither do they have forum accounts.

Hence, I start creating the articles in the CMS, but when its time for comments, they all go into that single comments subforum; which is bad because less people check that subforum. I'd prefer the comments go into a thread I can designate on a specific subforum so that the content will reach a more desired audience.

The other way is for me to first post it in the forum then promote it; but that would affect the users who do have a forum account (but still send me articles via email regardless) and the article now does not look like it is written by them.

I thought it may be good to have the functionality of an article get demoted to a forum post/thread functionality to make this complete.

[Videx]

Originally Posted by ArchAngelz

The reason for this is that I get articles from writers who do not post in the forums, and neither do they have forum accounts.

Hence, I start creating the articles in the CMS, ...

I'm not sure I understand. In one sentence you imply you've given permissions for Guests to write articles, but in the next you talk about yourself creating articles. To solve the first, simply require membership to write articles. If you're creating the article, then don't - create a new thread instead, promote it to an article, and then flesh it out in the CMS.

[Cadellin]

Is there any news on a fix for the 4.0.5 bug? I love this mod and I'd like to wait until a fix is created before creating new articles however I'm not sure how much longer I can delay.

Thanks

[Bigstack]

Yea this causes a problem in 4.0.5. This Mod is Awesome and my site needs it Bad.

[David Regimbal]

I also am experiencing problems with this product using version 4.0.5 and I love this, lol
It just seems if I have it enabled then for some reason if someone posts, it will make it a double post - weird bug too because its not consistent, happens here and there. Though never happens when this product is disabled. I have not tried a double-post prevention mod yet though to see if that could act as a band-aid

[Magnumutz]

vBulletin CMS should be like this by default. This mod is awesome.
Hope someone will fix it.

[carrlos]

I'm curious as to why there are so many issues with double posting yet I have a working installation on 4.0.5. I don't think it's this mod. It must be a conflict.