vB Event Forums

Introduction

Ok first things first, before we start. This plugin was originally developed by endquote. You can find the old thread here. I have now taken over the plugin development from him, and I will do my best to make this a plugin that is useful for everyone. I have made quite a few changes to the old plugin. If you have been using the old plugin, then skip to the section "I used the old plugin".

What is this plugin?

This is a plugin which allows you to create relationships between calendars and events, giving each event a thread of its own for users to discuss. This plugin is in BETA, so you are installing this on a live board at your own risk. I have tested this alot, and I am running it myself on a live board.

Sure, so whats it do?

Some examples of the features this plugin offers

• When a new event is created in a calendar, an associated thread is created in the linked forum.
• Links to events in the calendar are forwarded to the associated thread.
• New thread links in the event forum are redirected to a new event form.
• A summary can be shown at the top of the event forum which shows the up and coming events over the next 'x' days.
• The date and time shown in the thread and post title, is calculated on the current viewing users timezone. In other words, times always show in the users timezone, not forced to GMT.
• Full moderation support.
• Editing a thread or event, will update its associated event/thread.

Screenshots

Some screenshots of this plugin

• Admin Options
• Event Thread
• Event Thread with Reply
• Thread List

How do I install it?

Please follow the instructions here for upgrading from Version 1.x to Version 2.5.

Step 1

Install the product
Download the product XML file.

Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Plugin System -> Manage Products. Click [Add/Import Product] at the bottom of the page. Browse to the location where you downloaded the xml file and then click the Import button.

Step 2

Calendar ID:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Calendar Manager. Find the calendar you want to link to a forum, then click Edit.
Right at the top of the page you should see:

Calendar: NAME (id: ID)

Make a note of the ID, you will need this soon.

Forum ID:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto Forum Manager. Find the forum you want to activate as your event forum, then click Edit Forum.
Right at the top of the page you should see:

Forum: NAME (id: ID)

Make a note of the ID, you will need this soon.

Link a Calendar to a Forum:
Goto your Admin CP at your forums, then goto vBulletin Options and find Event Forums.
The first option you should see is Calendar/Forum Map.
Enter in your IDs into the box, as CALENDARID:FORUMID.
Example, my Calendar is 5 and my Forum is 14:

5:14

Click Save.

Step 3

Base permissions check:
You will need to check that users using the Event Forums, have basic permissions to both the Linked Forum AND Calendar.
Basic Permissions include: Can View Forum and Can Post Threads and possibly some others.

Step 4

Install on VB.org:
Browse back to this thread, and click the INSTALL button so you can recieve updates whenever I update this plugin.

Can I give you money to make this?

This isn't a commercial plugin, and can be used by anyone for free. However, a few people have said to me that they would like to donate some money for my time working on the plugin and for picking it up and continuing the development of new features etc. If you do want to donate some money my way, then you can do so through paypal by clicking this link. Thanks!

Bugs / Support

If you find a bug, then please post in this thread and let me know. There are a few bugs that haven't been fixed since the old version, so i'm hoping that we can fix these soon. I will do my best to support the plugin as much as possible, however I also have a busy job which takes up alot of my time.

Known Bugs

Here is a list of known bugs to date

• Soft delete actually hard deletes the thread.
• Search doesn't search the first post of an event thread.
• Inline ajax edit bugs thread title. Need to remove date and time from it before edit.

Feature request list

Here is a list of the requested features. Please note that because it makes this list, doesn't mean it will be added.

• Intergration with the event attendance plugin.
• Customisation of the order of the custom fields in the thread title.
• An option to "import" all the previous events from a Calendar into threads.
• Extra post options support (Attachments, Post Icons, Sticky etc).
• Custom ordering of the %datetime variable.
• Custom ordering of %custom variable.
• Better handling of recurring events.

Credits

Thanks to endquote for originally creating the plugin.
Thanks to the Ninja :ninja: for helping me infiltrate the vb code and finding those hidden hooks!
Thanks to anybody that helps test this plugin.

Changelog

Version: 2.7

• All templates should now be cached.
• Optimised the code which hides the first post on an Event Thread.
• Fixed a bug which was causing smilies and images, as well as possibly other BB code to not be parsed correctly.
• Added better error handling on SQL queries, and using vb functions in all places over raw mysql functions.

Version: 2.6

• Added a AdminCP option to choose between using a custom variable to display the Event Details on the Thread Page, or to append it to the end of the navbar.
• Title now updates in last post block after editing event title.
• Single day events no longer adjust the timezone, which was causing the day to show incorrectly in the thread titles and event details for some timezones.

Version: 2.5

• Single day events: Time has been removed from thread title, so it now only displays the date.
• Date and Time (if applicable) are added to Posts and Navbits when viewing a thread.
• Custom Fields are added dynamically along with times and dates. This solves a few bugs, and is in preperation for the AdminCP option for a custom order and look etc.
• Currently merging is disabled for any Event Threads because it is a bit of a tricky job to handle merging Event Threads, and it could take some time.
• Admin option to format Event Thread titles. Note this does not yet include ordering custom fields.
• Inline mod tools should now all work.
• Added [Finish] and [Start] as phrases into the Calendar phrases for use in the Events Summary.
• Ranged Events that cover multiple days, are now displayed better in the Summary, Title, Post and Navbits.

Version: 2.0

• Moderation is now supported! Permissions are taken from the Calendar. Events will show up as Events only (threads are hidden and handled seperatly by the plugin) in the moderation queue.
• Better error handling when creating an event. This should now correctly handle flooding, min chars and any other errors creating a thread could give. An event is NOT created if there was an error creating the thread. Instead it displays the correct error message.
• Event View is now displayed above the threads, similar to how VB.org does with the addons.
• Links added to the event day view, to View Replies and Post a Reply.
• Added a UserCP option to choose which event it should default to when pressing the "New Thread" button.
• Summary is now totally seperate from the Home Page up "and coming events". The summary will now function even if the homepage version is disabled.
• Ranged Events now show the end date if the Event doesn't finish on the same day.
• Problems with DST and Timezones have been solved. There is an update due in VB v3.6 which corrects confusion with DST. See here for more info. This is more specific to Calendar rather than this plugin though, but its relevant.
• Moving an event to a Calendar not run by the Plugin will remove the link to the assosiated thread.
• Moving an event to a Calendar run by the Plugin will attempt to also move the thread linked to it, to the correct forum.
• Moving a thread to a different event forum, will attempt to move the event to the correct calendar.
• Moving a thread outside an event forum, removes the link to the assosiated event.
• Delete thread or first post now forwards to the Delete Event. Allowing soft-delete of events is something to consider, but for now it only supports Perma Deleting. This would be made much easier if soft deleting events was something supported in the native VB code.
• Fixed Deleting an Event and it now properly updates the forum counters, so the last thread should be correct.
• Event Summary template addition is no longer necessary. A seperate template is added and handled by the plugin.
• Event Summary in the forum now only shows the events for that forum/calendar link.

Version: 1.0

• Taken over development from Endquote. Fixed alot of bugs, I can't remember what now.

[TomasDR]

Originally Posted by maroceve

i am really afraid to upgrade since the old version is working fine ...
Will i loose my events or something ? or it will stay the way it is ..the connection between every calendar and forum etc...

Thanks for letting me know

I love your mod !

I upgraded from 1.2 to 2.5 then to 2.6, I had some family issues hence the long delay. I had no problems and all events stayed.

Though I don't like the new look, I preferred the look of 1.2 where the event looked like a normal post with avatar and part of the thread rather then seperate and minimal as it is now.

[sickboy6ths]

Any word yet on the mysql warnings?

[cat4m]

Can anyone help me, because I keep getting the events showing up in duplicate on the threads and when I try to delete one it deletes them both. I am a newbie and havent upgraded yet as I dont know how to. Any help would be gratefully received.

[lawahdy]

Originally Posted by cat4m

Can anyone help me, because I keep getting the events showing up in duplicate on the threads and when I try to delete one it deletes them both. I am a newbie and havent upgraded yet as I dont know how to. Any help would be gratefully received.

i know cat4m. i'm getting the samething..
can't wait for some help too..

[therapist]

great piece of work Evercraft, have installed 2.6, working fine, thanks

big ups

[JaeTea]

Major problem here!

How the hell do you get images to show up in the calendar events??!?!?

Mine all show up as links

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69865

Doesn't make any sense..when you reply to the thread the images show for the intial post..but when you actually view the thread they're just links.

Also smilies aren't being parsed either..they don't show up at all.

When I disable the plug-in the images and smilies show up correctly in the regular calendar event listing

You can see on my test forum it displays correctly as a post (turned off the "Hide First Post" plug-in) but when its inserted into the calendar event template it goes to crap...

http://www.djforums.com/test/forums/...ad.php?t=64405

Is there an include missing or parser issue?

[lawahdy]

Originally Posted by lawahdy

dude..

how can we have the "up coming events" to look more like the attachement.. i don't like the way they are arranged now.. and i guess it would look easier for users like that.. please advice..

EDIT: may i know what i've done wrong here

http://www.dubaidjs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1808

it is showing double posts for the same event.. ?

do i need to change my user name to "bad luck?"

let me know

[Evercraft]

OK sorry i haven't got round to replying sooner, work has been a bit busy this week, and my landlord has told me only today that my internet is down for 2 weeks >.< I can still work on this, from my office, but its just a bit of a pain.

YLP1, the only way I can see that you could have 2 summaries is if you didnt complete the upgrade steps fully, specifically Step2.

lawahdy, i'll try to write some short steps asap for you on how to make the up and coming events look like your attachment. I'm pretty sure it should be fairly easy todo. Also, can you send me in a PM your template for SHOWTHREAD, what options you have set for Event Forums and if you have disabled any Event Forums plugins and in addition any plugins which use any of the showthread_* hooks. I know its alot, but then I can try to investigate why the first post is still showing for you, because i've tried a few things on my test site and I can't reproduce it.

cat4m, I have written a set of upgrade instructions which you can find here. I think they are pretty clear and easy to follow, but besides logging onto your site and doing it for you (which I won't be), I don't think there is much else I can do to help you upgrade.

JaeTea i'll have a look at the code tomorrow and see if its possible that it could get skipped. Do you have any plugins which use any of the showthread_* hooks?

[lawahdy]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

lawahdy, i'll try to write some short steps asap for you on how to make the up and coming events look like your attachment. I'm pretty sure it should be fairly easy todo. Also, can you send me in a PM your template for SHOWTHREAD, what options you have set for Event Forums and if you have disabled any Event Forums plugins and in addition any plugins which use any of the showthread_* hooks. I know its alot, but then I can try to investigate why the first post is still showing for you, because i've tried a few things on my test site and I can't reproduce it.

as for why the first post is showing twice after any reply.. i found out the problem.. it is becuase i'm using "First Post On All Pages" plugin.. so it would push for the first post to show again.. deactivate that from the forum you are linking to the calendar and it should work fine.


can't wait for the upcoming events rewrite..

thanks dude.. you rock

[JaeTea]

Originally Posted by Evercraft

JaeTea i'll have a look at the code tomorrow and see if its possible that it could get skipped. Do you have any plugins which use any of the showthread_* hooks?

I actually wiped everything out (php files, plugins, etc.) except for this plugin on my test forums, upgraded to the latest version of vb..and still the same thing.

http://www.djforums.com/test/forums/...ad.php?t=64408

I'd like to know if anyone else is having this problem or its just me.