Deluxe vB User login and access control on non vB pages

Hack Description

This is the deluxe version of the user authentication and access control system I use on the non vB pages on my website.
For the simple no frills version look here.

This uses the vB 3.5 login system to log you in and out. It allows you to move between your forums and other pages on your site while remaining logged in.

It allows you to do things such as restrict pages by usergroup, display different content depending on a user being logged in or not.
For example, you can have banner Adds displying to non members only, and/or let members access to specific content.

It also displays the logged in users Avatar, number of unread PM's, New posts since last visit, total posts and total threads.
It also allows you to specify a maximum Avatar size, and resize any avatars larger than that, while keeping their height/width ratios in proportion!
Its very handy if you allow large avatars, but want a small format display on your non forum pages.

If the user is not logged in, a login box is displayed, along with total posts and total threads in the forums.

I will try and offer support, but work and family commitments mean I dont have much free time.

This code is a mix of my own, and pieces I have used from other hacks that are floating around.

This is a work in progress and currently a beta version. It was a little rushed as a few people were pushing for it Its missing a couple of planned things like newest member etc, but they will be added in a later version.

This script has been confirmed as working on

• vB 3.5.x - All Versions
• vB 3.6.x - All Versions

Known Bugs
Will not display Avatars correctly if they are kept in the file system (database avatars are fine)

Changelog

Version 2.20 (24th April 2007)

• Fixed - // in paths bug
• Fixed - Javascript warning in some browsers
• Fixed - Tidied up some code
• Fixed - Avatar display code bug

Version 2.10 (4th June 2006)

• Fixed - "MySQL Error : Invalid SQL " when using Database thread/forum marking.
• Fixed - Javascrip error in some versions of IE.

Version 2.00 (16th April 2006)

• Fixed - "MySQL Error : Unknown column 'newposts' in 'field list' "
• Fixed - Number of PM's not displaying in all installs.
• Added - Displays date and time of last login.
• Added - Total number of saved PM's.

To upgrade just overwrite the existing login_inc.php file with the new one.
You will need to re-edit the path on line 3 and also redo any formatting changes you may have done for the last version.

Version 1.0 (15th Feb 2006)

• Initial Release

Click on Install
If you have this script installed then please click on the install link because;

• You will get notified if any security issues are reported.
• You will get notified when there are any upgrades to this script
• It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and motivates me to develop more

Donations
First of all, to be clear. This script is 100% free.

However if you feel an urge to donate I'm not going to say no.
Donations can be made at http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3/bd_donate.php

[ArchieMB]

I'm no coder but I want to insert your hack into joomla (I hate those bridges), is this possible?

[ArchieMB]

I think I have to place it in a joomla module, but I don't know how

[xKillswitchx]

Originally Posted by erinys

You should release this as a 3.6 pluging so it shows up in the 3.6 listing its working perfectly fine with it anyway

Indeed it does, I have it running on my site (3.6.4) and have logged alot of my site downloads with it, works very well. Displays avatars fine, not problems with it.

Archie, I may be able to help, give me a pm, Im pretty familiar with Joomla.

Edit - If anyone wants to add to this nice mod, by showing total num. of registered users, that would be nice

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by ArchieMB

I'm no coder but I want to insert your hack into joomla (I hate those bridges), is this possible?

Not without modification.
You would need someone quite skilled in joola to make the necessary modifications.

Originally Posted by xKillswitchx

Edit - If anyone wants to add to this nice mod, by showing total num. of registered users, that would be nice

Will add to the todo list
(might already be on there actually)

[ArchieMB]

Originally Posted by Billspaintball

Not without modification.
You would need someone quite skilled in joola to make the necessary modifications.

Damn, I thought I found the perfect solution for my community without bridges

My first idea was creating a new module in joomla, insert your code there, publish this module and upload your login_inc.php file - But that would be too good to be true

[xKillswitchx]

Originally Posted by ArchieMB

Damn, I thought I found the perfect solution for my community without bridges

My first idea was creating a new module in joomla, insert your code there, publish this module and upload your login_inc.php file - But that would be too good to be true

It would work, but the only problem, is you cant add the first few lines to the top of the template file, you'd have to dig into Joomla code and work it into whatever writes the header and all. Think its the joomla.php file.

Oh Bill, if you don't get too it, I will grab it soon I am actually working on a news publishing script for my homepage (outside of VB), which comments and all take VB user info, and hope to get it integrated more to VB, so I will need something similar soon anyways.

[Luke Brown256]

Hi i am having one issue,
when i try to read a variable parsed through the URL:
index2.php?page=home
for example
when i access $_GET['page']
all it contains is 0
i ran some tests, and if i echo it BEFORE i include global.php it is fine, if i do it after i get 0

anyway to resolve this?

**edit it will let me enter numvbers for some reason, and will parse those through fine:
i.e:
index2.php?page=65464
is fine

** additional edit, just realised page must be a reserved word, for the page number the user wishes to view in a topic,
sorry about that.
Do you have a list of reserved words by any chance?

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by Luke Brown256

Do you have a list of reserved words by any chance?

No.

I keep running into the same problem myself.
A list of vB reserved names would be very handy.

[Zia]

helo..if the target page placed in different server?
inthat case will it work?
or how could we?

[Dave Rosteck]

Am I stupid or is it impossible to put the content of my choosing inside the "Your logged in so we can display this" field for the logged in users? It won't accept PHP includes (which I would prefer) or anything beyond normal HTML tags such as <center>, <br> or <p>. In result, I continue to receive parse errors. What am I doing wrong?