vBGlossary

I must pay homage to user/moderator wluke for this idea. I must also thank him for allowing me to run with it, and release it publicly. Thanks Wayne!

What's it do?
Simple: creates a glossary of terms. They're sorted alphabetically much in the same way the Memberlist is. I find this is extremely useful for most forums, which surely have a lot of their own lingo. For my site, it's a few acronyms and goofy phrases. My members get a kick out of referring newbies to the glossary to learn about the phrases. It's really helped the whole place seem less like a clique...because others can catch up easily with a reference like this.

Here's a live demo


What's it take?
This hack involves a MySQL command, the uploading of two files, the modification of one, and the creation of five templates. It also requires the modification of a second file, and of two templates, if you want to display a random glossary term on the New Reply/New Thread pages. It'll require a bit more still if you want to add the Glossary to your forum jump menu.

First off, run the following query in MySQL. This is the table that will store the glossary data.

CREATE TABLE `glossary` (
  `glossaryid` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `text` text NOT NULL,
  `description` text NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`glossaryid`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

Attched to the post right after this one is an archive: files.zip. This archive contains two files: glossary.php and admin_glossary.php. The first goes in your main forums directory. The second should be uploaded into your /admin/ directory.

Next, you'll need to create five templates. I've attached a text file containing all five to this post. Should be pretty straightforward. Mess with the formatting as you see fit, of course.

After that, you'll probably want to open (back it up!!!) your /admin/index.php file. Find the code below (around line 340):

makenavselect("Templates");
// ***

Right after that, add this:

makenavoption("Add", "admin_glossary.php?action=add", "|");
makenavoption("Edit", "admin_glossary.php?action=edit", "|");
makenavoption("Delete", "admin_glossary.php?action=delete");
makenavselect("Glossary", "<hr><br>");

There, it should work now! Now, on to the extras (well worth installing, in my opinion):

Display a random glossary term on new thread/new reply pages
Open newreply.php and find the following code (around line 468...it should be right near the end of the file):

getforumrules($foruminfo,$permissions);

Right after it, add this:

  $rand_term = $DB_site->query_first("SELECT text AS term_text, description AS term_description FROM glossary ORDER BY RAND()");
  extract($rand_term);
  $term_description = str_replace("'", "\\'", htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($term_description)));

Yeah, that last line is a little messy -- I like saving space, though.

Save and upload. Next, open newthread.php and find the same bit of code (duplicated below) around line 368 or so:

getforumrules($foruminfo,$permissions);

After that, add the same bit of code above.

Next: the templates. Find the below in both templates...

$vbcode_smilies</td>

...and in both templates, replace it with this:

	$vbcode_smilies<br><center><smallfont><b>Random Term: <a href="#" onclick="alert('$term_description'); return false;">$term_text</a></b></smallfont><br>

	<smallfont><a href="$bburl/glossary.php" target="_blank">More Glossary Terms!</a></smallfont><br></td>

There, you're done!


Add vBGlossary to the forum jump menu
Open forumdisplay.php in your main forums directory. Find this, near the top of the file (line 13 or so):

	case 'cp': $goto = 'usercp'; break;

Right after it, add this:

	case 'gl': $goto = 'glossary'; break;

Next (and last) step: open the forumjump template and add this bit of code somewhere amongst the other options...where you put it depends on where you want it in the menu.

		<option value="gl" $frmjmpsel[glossary]>The Glossary</option>

That's it! All done. Enjoy.

I hope you all enjoy this hack. It didn't take nearly as much time/effort as I thought it would...I really love it, though.

[drumsy]

Installed, works great!

[disquiet]

Just another user saying thank you for a great hack, but also requesting the user submission with moderation function...

Just had to post my two cents...

[cinq]

Originally Posted by Falkware

I was wondering if anybody's modified the code so that when you first enter the glossary it will list total terms/definitions in the database?

If you have a big glossary it's nice to be able to show just how many terms you have in there.

I think you can try the following additions :

In glossary.php
Find

PHP Code:

eval("dooutput(\"".gettemplate("glossary")."\");"); 


Before that, ADD

PHP Code:

$query1 = $DB_site->query("SELECT * FROM glossary");
$total = $DB_site->num_rows($query1); 


Save and reupload glossary.php

In your glossary template
Find :

PHP Code:

<br>

$footer 


Before that, ADD

PHP Code:

<table cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" border="0" {tableinnerextra} width="100%">
<tr>
    <td bgcolor="{tableheadbgcolor}" width="100%"><smallfont color="{tableheadtextcolor}">There are a total of <b>$total</b> terms in the glossary.</smallfont></td>
  </tr>
</table> 


Lemme know if it works

[JamesFrost]

How about a vb3 version of the glossary? I'd certainly be keen to use it.

[TWTCommish]

Originally Posted by JamesFrost

How about a vb3 version of the glossary? I'd certainly be keen to use it.

I've already re-written it. I'll need a bit more time to modify it for public release, though.

[JamesFrost]

Happy to be a test subject if you like.

[Geographic2]

Hey TWT... I really liked this hack. And I've been converting it over to VB3 myself...

I have the whole admin functionality worked out perfect..

But I'm having trouble getting the display for users to work right at all.

Basically things that are repeated such as Glossary entries and the letters to select from
do not display properly, only the last one shows up.

Can you help me figure this out? Or sneak me a peak at the new glossary.php?

[TWTCommish]

Originally Posted by Geographic2

Hey TWT... I really liked this hack. And I've been converting it over to VB3 myself...

I have the whole admin functionality worked out perfect..

But I'm having trouble getting the display for users to work right at all.

Basically things that are repeated such as Glossary entries and the letters to select from
do not display properly, only the last one shows up.

Can you help me figure this out? Or sneak me a peak at the new glossary.php?

PM in transit.

[RobAC]

Looking forward to a vB3 version as well.

[vdich]

The glossary works with vBulletin Version 2.3.0 ?
Do u have me actually files of glossary ?