Major Additions - Links and Downloads Manager

What this is and does

LDM is a general-purpose tool for managing libraries of links and files, and handling uploads and downloads in a flexible way, while tracking and control user access. It has a range of integrated media players and a large library of 'plugin' extras.

Installation and Usage Explained in the on-line Wiki, with a brief explanation in the file instructions.txt in the release zip.

Please use carefully and always backup your database before upgrading. Post reports of problems and suggestions for enhancements in this thread. You can also find extensive discussion of this mod in the VB3.7 mods section.

14.06.09 Version 2.3.0 is the the officially-supported version. Works with 3.7 and vb 3.8.

14.02.10 Post-1 version uploaded with minor bug fixes, including dealing with PHP 5.2.12


Staff Note: Sadly, Andrew D, the developer of the Links and Downloads Manager has passed away after a long period of illness.

[AndrewD]

I've uploaded an update to this version, which corrects the reported error with PHP 5.2.12 and a few other minor bug fixes. No major changes made, and none planned - development has switched to the vb4.0 code.

[Zookie]

Thanks for responding so fast!

Originally Posted by AndrewD

These are both done via the ldm admin/settings page.

1) You either have (or have had) installed the "add-page-information" 'extra' which gives you a group on controls and a the text box (pageinfo_message) to set this message.

I'm pretty sure I haven't added any special add-ons to LDM nor to vB besides LDM. When I go to the LDM admin console I can't find any reference to "pageinfo_message". If I do have it installed then where would I find the value to edit it?

2) This is done with the "use_instructions" box on the settings page.

The "use_instructions" box is empty.

The first of these messages can be modified on a per-category basis (using the edit category/control settings page) but the second can only be set globally.

None of the existing custom text I'm wanting to change appears anywhere in any box in the LDM admin console. I'm not sure I've accurately described the text areas I want to change. Don't know why I didn't think to give links before.

The first area I want to edit can be viewed at http://www.spellquizzer.com/communit...ks.php?catid=1. The text area I want to edit is the light blue inside box that has the following text"

SpellQuizzer spelling lists that have been exported to an .sqexp file and can be imported into SpellQuizzer. Only one spelling list per export file please.
- Click the "Upload a Spelling File" menu link in the blue menu bar above to upload an exported spelling list of your own.
- Click the "How to Import Spelling Lists" link in the Pencil menu above for help on how to import a list into SpellQuizzer.

The second text area I want to change is at http://www.spellquizzer.com/communit...ddlink&catid=1. Unfortunately, you need to be signed in to my forum to view that page. But the text I want to change is the heading of the form for uploading files. The current text reads "User Uploaded Spelling Lists" which isn't really right since this is a form for uploading lists, not browsing existing lists. I'm thinking this may be a category title I somehow set previously and that it has to be the same for both the page where existing entries are listed as well as the upload form. It would be nice if I could have different headings for those two pages since they are functionally different (one for browsing/downloading while the other is for uploading). Feel free to register with the forum to be able to view the page (though I'll of course understand if you don't want to) I'm referring to here.

[AndrewD]

Sorry, I jumped to conclusions too quickly.

Originally Posted by Zookie

The first area I want to edit can be viewed at http://www.spellquizzer.com/communit...ks.php?catid=1. The text area I want to edit is the light blue inside box that has the following text"

SpellQuizzer spelling lists that have been exported to an .sqexp file and can be imported into SpellQuizzer. Only one spelling list per export file please.
- Click the "Upload a Spelling File" menu link in the blue menu bar above to upload an exported spelling list of your own.
- Click the "How to Import Spelling Lists" link in the Pencil menu above for help on how to import a list into SpellQuizzer.

This is the "extended description" for the category, which is changed by going into "Edit Category".

Originally Posted by Zookie

The second text area I want to change is at http://www.spellquizzer.com/communit...ddlink&catid=1. Unfortunately, you need to be signed in to my forum to view that page. But the text I want to change is the heading of the form for uploading files. The current text reads "User Uploaded Spelling Lists" which isn't really right since this is a form for uploading lists, not browsing existing lists. I'm thinking this may be a category title I somehow set previously and that it has to be the same for both the page where existing entries are listed as well as the upload form. It would be nice if I could have different headings for those two pages since they are functionally different (one for browsing/downloading while the other is for uploading). Feel free to register with the forum to be able to view the page (though I'll of course understand if you don't want to) I'm referring to here.

As you say, this header is simply the category name. You could change it (if you really want to - beware that you will then need to remember you made the change if you upgrade) by editing the links_addnewlink template. Find the sequence that reads:

<tr align="center">
	<td class="tcat" align="center" colspan="2">
	$viewcatname
	</td>
</tr>

and replace $viewcatname by whatever text you want.

I think that a better (cleaner) solution will be to leave this title alone and set the "use_instructions" for the category by going to Edit Category/Control Settings. The text you enter there will appear immediately under the title.

[Zookie]

Thank you Andrew! I'm all set now!

[obmob]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

This turns out to be a warning generated in php version 5.2.12 but not in earlier versions, which explains why it is only just being reported.

You can fix the problem (I think) by editing one of the code files, includes/local_links_include.php. If you are not comfortable making edits, get back to me.

a) Make a backup copy of that file, in case something goes wrong
b) Find function ldm_catcmp, which is between lines 1543 and 1571 in your version of LDM
c) Replace all these lines by the contents of the attached.

Let me know if that fixes things.

That helped, i was having that issue after moving another site

[j1mmy]

Very interesting, I might change from my current file manager to this.

However, as I have about 700 or so files to transfer, does this offer some sort of import feature which I can use to avoid having to enter in each file 700 times? If not, what other alternatives is there within this mod that will help me achieve this?

Also, is it possible to have one directory for each category on the server?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by j1mmy

Very interesting, I might change from my current file manager to this.

However, as I have about 700 or so files to transfer, does this offer some sort of import feature which I can use to avoid having to enter in each file 700 times? If not, what other alternatives is there within this mod that will help me achieve this?

Also, is it possible to have one directory for each category on the server?

There are several options that you may find useful:

a) You can set up LDM to carry out automatic synchronisations of directories and categories. This will bring in all your existing entries and maintain the directory/category alignment. It will not automatically name/describe all your entries, but see c).

b) You can create and import an xml file describing the database you want to set up, including entry names, descriptions, urls, etc.

c) You can also update the names/descriptions of a synchronised database via an xml file.

There is some explanation of these steps in the online wiki.

[Alfa1]

In my forum, I have subforums that are really links to a LDM category. These subforums list the latest entry. The width of this listing is very narrow, which makes titles to be spread over several lines. This looks very ugly.
Is there a way to control this and make it wider? Or alternatively turn it off?

A small bug/inconsistency: the number of files in a category are listed, but not the number of comments. It seems that the number of files belongs in the 'threads' column, while the number of comments belongs in the 'posts' column. Currently the number of files is listed in the 'posts' column.

[CThiessen]

Hi,
I do have problems to get webthumbs runnig.

Easywebthumbs is working.
Normal Upload is working
Thumbnails for Uploaded Photos is working.
Directory is set to 777

But whatever i edit with the webthumbs plug in enabled give me a error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ')' in /x/x/x/x/home/forum/includes/local_links_include.php(1932) : eval()'d code on line 642

Or have anyone an Idea how to use http://fadeout.de/ for that.
They have very nice screen shots and it for free.

Thanks
Christian

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by CThiessen

Hi,
I do have problems to get webthumbs runnig.

Easywebthumbs is working.
Normal Upload is working
Thumbnails for Uploaded Photos is working.
Directory is set to 777

But whatever i edit with the webthumbs plug in enabled give me a error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ')' in /x/x/x/x/home/forum/includes/local_links_include.php(1932) : eval()'d code on line 642

Or have anyone an Idea how to use http://fadeout.de/ for that.
They have very nice screen shots and it for free.

Thanks
Christian

Christian, there's a coding bug in the plugin, which had been there for some time but no-one had noticed.

You can fix it easily as follows:

- go to vb/admincp/products and plugins/manage plugins
- edit the plugin called "Links and Downloads Manager - Use BlugaNet WebThumb to autoimage a site" which is atached to hook ldm_link_autoimage
- go almost to the end of the code (it's quite long) and find the sequence:

		$path = ldm_make_filename($links_defaults['upload_dir'], $my_webdir);
		$fullpath = ldm_get_local_filename($path);
		require_once(DIR . '/includes/functions_file.php');
		ldm_create_directory($fullpath, $links_defaults['secure_nullindexfile'])) {

and change the last of these lines to

		ldm_create_directory($fullpath, $links_defaults['secure_nullindexfile']);

- Save

That should do it.