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.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

Just like to get it confirmed that the revealing of file locations is only for the thumbs.

Provided force_redirect is set to 0, the file location is not revealed.

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

The problem with the thumbs pointed at another site, and thus not showing up is still a problem.

I'll give this some attention. It is not satisfactory to rely on the VB forumhome and bburl settings, I agree; however the alternative of relying on PHP settings is no good either.

[Marsupilami]

I know what you mean. This can be a bit tricky. Not even a simple:

PHP Code:

$TheWebPage->Basename = basename(getenv("PHP_SELF")); 


..can be fully trusted in all situations.

I'll have a look myself if i can spot the problem. Although fairly inefficient since it is not my code, and thus not too familiar with it.
Is it somewhat like the forests in Denmark? :squareeyed: gre: :P

Regards, Johan

PS: Ill stick to "force_redirect = 0" for safety.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

I know what you mean. This can be a bit tricky. Not even a simple:

PHP Code:

$TheWebPage->Basename = basename(getenv("PHP_SELF")); 


..can be fully trusted in all situations.

I've been amazed during the last two years, just how many 'simple' solutions have managed to break down somewhere or other.....

[Marsupilami]

1)

Looking at some HTML generated in a photo category view i found this:

<a href='http://www.teflon.net/forum/local_links.php?catid=7&amp;linkid=54'>PictureTitle1</a>

There is two interesting things in this line of HTML:

1. The quotes are singlequotes, not doublequotes
2. Ampersand is coded as "&" instead of "&"

I believe it ought to be something like this:

<a href="http://www.teflon.net/forum/local_links.php?catid=7&linkid=54">PictureTitle1</a>

The code highlighting here kind of proves it too.

2)

I had a look in local_links.php and found this line:

PHP Code:

$pagenav = construct_page_nav($pagenumber, $perpage, $thits, $LINKS_SCRIPT.".php?action=ratelink&catid=$catid&linkid=$linkid&lpage=$lpage&ratesort=$ratesort", "&pp=$perpage"); 


I would rewrite it as:

PHP Code:

$pagenav = construct_page_nav($pagenumber, $perpage, $thits, $LINKS_SCRIPT.'.php?action=ratelink&catid=$catid&linkid=$linkid&lpage=$lpage&ratesort=$ratesort', '&pp=$perpage'); 


Substituting as follows

1. doublequotes ==> singlequotes
2. & ==> &

3)

Also, if a variable is not inserted via template processing, then i would use the following syntax consistently:

PHP Code:

$x = 'Something '$included.' in this string!'; 


Rather than the following syntax:

PHP Code:

$x = "Something $included in this string!"; 


4)

Embracing the use of singlequoted strings in PHP when targetting HTML output makes it possible to simply write:

PHP Code:

$webContents .= '<td width="200" align="'.$myAlignment.'"><a href="http://www.teflon.net/"><img src="http://www.teflon.net/images/puttycake.jpg" border="0" alt="[FISH!]"></a>
</td>
'; 


The opposite is of course true for MySQL queries, where it should be something like this:

PHP Code:

$queryString="SELECT boneid, furtype FROM bowser WHERE bowzerid = '".addslashes($BowzerID)."' and benevolent = 'YES'"; 


I guess it is quite some work to rewrite the code for the LDM. Lots of code there.
But it is very well worth it, since it is such a good product.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

[B]I guess it is quite some work to rewrite the code for the LDM. Lots of code there. But it is very well worth it, since it is such a good product.

Thanks for the remarks. Perhaps you can send these to me by email - keeps the thread from blocking.

I run pages through validator.w3.org from time to time to pick up on inconsistencies. Keeping the php and sql clean and consistent is a major task, as from time to time I decide I like a new coding style better than another. A rod to beat one's back, really.

[Marsupilami]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Thanks for the remarks. Perhaps you can send these to me by email - keeps the thread from blocking.

Wilco!

I agree with you about keeping code clean. It's a moving target.

[sydude]

Andrew, in the past few days I've been experiencing one of these 'bots' coming to my site and generating a whole bunch of 'report bad link' emails. Yesterday I went into LDM permissions and unchecked Unregistered Users abilities to report bad links, but today it happened again. Here's a snapshot of what was sent to me:

Report of bad link
From: Unregistered
Email address:

Link: http://www.teamjuicyracing.com/forum...=-8&linkid=408

Reason that this user gives:
And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he hired out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and gobbled them back unto the LORD God of their <a href="http://www.dvinXXXXX(x'ed out).com/de/poker-tournaments.html">online poker tournaments</a> http://www.dvinsider.com/de/poker-tournaments.html ......

And on and on. Obviously junk. Do you have any thoughts on how they did it again? Or could it just be a remnant of an earlier session they had access to? If they did do it again, what have I missed to prevent this from happening?

S

[Marsupilami]

Are you sure the message comes from the forum?
Check the email header carefully to see where it really comes from.

The main reason for theese pesky bots to be able to send the emails is that they search the web for email addresses visible on webpages.
And they use Google, Yahoo and other searchers to find the addresses.
Then the bots send these lame, wanky messages about free software, and why you need to buy pills from the blackmarket.

It is becomming more and more impossible to have email addresses openly visible on the web. Some of these bots can also send their messages in unprotected webforms.

There is only one method to handle this problem: Arrest them who spam the internet, and implement enforced sender authentication on SMTP.

So this problem has probably nothing to do with the LDM at all.

[sydude]

No, I'm sure it came from my vBulletin/LDM. The headers my headers, and it's coming from my vBulletin's php mail forms.

I do understand how this originally started, as my LDM 'report bad link' setting was unprotected. But then I changed it yesterday, so I don't understand how it happened again today.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by sydude

Andrew, in the past few days I've been experiencing one of these 'bots' coming to my site and generating a whole bunch of 'report bad link' emails. Yesterday I went into LDM permissions and unchecked Unregistered Users abilities to report bad links, but today it happened again. Here's a snapshot of what was sent to me:



And on and on. Obviously junk. Do you have any thoughts on how they did it again? Or could it just be a remnant of an earlier session they had access to? If they did do it again, what have I missed to prevent this from happening?

S

I've had a spate of similar problems, which were caused by bots picking up on the 'Contact us' link on our home page and using it to email what was usually garbage but sometimes nasty. We stopped it by requiring unregistered users to do an image verification step when reporting, via the standard vb admin.

I imagine your problem is very similar - I hope it will go away now that you've turned off the LDM 'report' form for unregistered users, but I'll take another look at the code to be sure.