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.

[Slave]

heh .. it is getting rather large isn't it ..

Perhaps a way forward would be to give it a plugin system similar to vB itself. This would allow for a basic links/downloads architecture for people who want it (therefore easier to install/configure) and then extra's like photos, music etc would be able to be added as people found need for them and got used to the system.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Slave

heh .. it is getting rather large isn't it ..

Perhaps a way forward would be to give it a plugin system similar to vB itself. This would allow for a basic links/downloads architecture for people who want it (therefore easier to install/configure) and then extra's like photos, music etc would be able to be added as people found need for them and got used to the system.

Most of the size is caused by having to upload six different translations of the installation file.

There is a now full plug-in architecture inside LDM, but it's too late (at least until I decide to take a six month sabbatical) to go back and un-engineer everything into discrete modules.

It would help, though, if the vb.org people could work out a better way to handle complex add ons like this. As it is, we have to put everything in one zip file and in one thread per VB release. (They got unhappy with me for pointing the vb36 thread at the vb35 download - even though the software was the same.) I appreciate the difficulties, but...

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

quick q:

how do you limit the number of items that show in the "New Entries LDM" for the Forumhome display (one of the extra plugins)? I thought I knew where but I forgot and now can't find it. :/

like ya'll said..its a HUGE mod.

ps. I emailed ya

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

quick q:

how do you limit the number of items that show in the "New Entries LDM" for the Forumhome display (one of the extra plugins)? I thought I knew where but I forgot and now can't find it. :/

like ya'll said..its a HUGE mod.

Unless it's run away, the admin setting is links_seen_on_portal

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Unless it's run away, the admin setting is links_seen_on_portal

woot! thanks.

[Foxsake]

Sorry, you do not have sufficient download allowances available at the moment.
Allowances: 100 files/6 used, 0 Mbytes/ 0 MBytes used

any ideas anyone? just trying to play file not download it?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Foxsake

Sorry, you do not have sufficient download allowances available at the moment.
Allowances: 100 files/6 used, 0 Mbytes/ 0 MBytes used

any ideas anyone? just trying to play file not download it?

Playing counts as download because it consumes server bandwith. Have you enabled (ticked) both file and bandwidth limits for your usergroup? (LDM/admin/bandwidth). The message is saying that you've not got enough bandwidth left.

[Foxsake]

Yes both ticked - server has only used 3% of bandwidth and the other files play? its just an mp3 file, that has worked previously

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Foxsake

Yes both ticked - server has only used 3% of bandwidth and the other files play? its just an mp3 file, that has worked previously

Sorry if I'm not being clear - if you click these settings, you're telling LDM to limit the number of files each user can access each day and how many bytes they can transfer , via LDM. If set, each time you start a download (or play a file), LDM sees if total use in last 24 hours + new file > allowance.

If you don't want to restrict bandwidth, then unclick the bandwidth column. Similarly, files.

I imagine that, for the ones which still download, you have not put an entry in the VB attachments table. So LDM is not handling them as 'downloads' but is relying on the fact that your PC is configured appropriately.

[Foxsake]

Ah - sorry yeah misunderstood you there :tired:

Thats solved it - thanks Andrew