NNTP Gateway for Usenet ( Newsgroups ), Mailing Lists

The latest version: V2.3.2 (31 Oct 2004)

What is it?

This hack provides a gateway from vBulletin forums to the USENET. It allows forum members to read newsgroup messages as well as to send posts to the newsgroups. In a nutshell, it turns vBulletin forums into a basic function news reader.

For an added bonus, this package also supports mailing list archive and forum to mailing list gateway. The software retrieves messages from a pop3 account and import them into the forums threaded. It also allows a forums user to send messages to the mailing list by the forum posting interface.

Why?

The gateway will be appreciated by forum members who do not know how to set up a news reader, or people who do not have port 119 open in their network. A forum interface to read and post news are often considered to be better than a news reader.

The gateway adds more contents to your forums and allows the members to interact with wider audience. It is common to see new users signing up to use this feature.

History

This hack is basically a hacked vB2 NNTP gateway written by Gilby to work with vB3. The original hack can be found here:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...7&page=1&pp=15


Features

Some of the features and improvement include:

• Handles both newsgroup posts and mailing lists.
• Handles MIME encoded messages and attachment.
• Handles UUEncoded messages.
• Two Admin Control Panels for all settings.
• Automated installation.
• Correct thread implementation. All imported messages and posts sent to newsgroups will be threaded correctly according to References and Message-ID headers.
• Optional setting to thread by subject for mailing lists that strip references header.
• Supports TABLE_PREFIX.
• Imported messages will be searchable just like normal forum posts.
• Similar threads are built when the messages are imported if the system setting is on.
• Multiple attachments importing.
• Save attachment to database or file according to vB setting.
• Thumbnail created while importing image files.
• Multiple attachment post to newsgroup is also supported.
• Selectable X-No-Archive header honouring system.
• Light on system resources.
• Global Killfile to filter out unwanted messages. Killfiles can have OR and AND effectiveness.
• Strip footer by setting for incoming messages. Strips out repeated message footers.
• Built options to disable signatures and footers for out going messages.

Future development

• AdminCP interfaces. (completed)
• Installation/upgrade script. (completed, coded into AdminCP)
• Traditional "> " lead posting interface.

What do you need and do not need?

You do not need to edit vB php files if you use two bookmarks
You need to edit one vB php file to insert two lines of code if you want direct click links within AdminCP.
No need to run SQL.

Installation

Basically the AdminCP interfaces take care of installation as well as upgrade in the background. Back up your database first. The scripts can modify your database without alerting you!

Please follow the instructions in the readme.txt file for more details.

Support

Please post your support questions to this thread. Please check the FAQ in the third post within this thread first.

================== UPDATES ======================
Jul 31 2004 (release version 2.2.0)

• Provided option of not importing attachments
• Provided option of pause between messages
• Provided option of not sending messages to USENET
• Provided mechanism to skip importing a message if it was crashed on it
• Provided "Default Footer" option
• Provided strip_footer function for mailing lists
  (written originally by KevinM)
• Provided Killfile functions with Header/Body/AND/OR settings
• Provided ability to thread messages by subject for mailing lists
• Provided ability to use a single POP3 account for different mailing lists
  (use prefix)
• Merged KevinM's attachment routine, save thumbnail to hard drive
  as vB3.0.3
• Official support to have the script run by Scheduled Tasks
• Many bug fixes

Please note, when you manually run the script, you must turn on the debug mode. Otherwise nothing will be displayed on the screen.

To run as debug mode: http://forums.yourdomain.com/gateway.php?debug=1

25 Oct 2004

• Provided the option of sending posts using the real email address
• Provided the option of sending posts using a fixed email address for
  each group.
• Posts are now held back if they are in the moderating queue
• Scheduled task log is now working
• Provided the option of sending the debug messages to the vB3 cron log
• Bug fixes

31 Oct 2004

Fixed bugs running the gateway by the vB3 Scheduled Tasks

1 March 2004

Uploaded the new zip file. It contains one or two bug fixes.

[BustaCap]

That's what my posts looked like before I applied Kevin's hack. Double check your gateway.php file and make sure you followed the directions exactly. Also, run gateway.php manually, copy and paste what the screen log shows, and post it here.

[Princeton]

Originally Posted by Cold Steel

What is the point of having newsgroups in the forums, then? Just another content source?

Some of the information in mlist is very valuable; however, if you or a member does something wrong you can be removed/banned. I would like the option to prevent posting to mlist for this very reason. A forum member will always be able to post to the forum - it just won't be sent to the public mlist.

ARCHIVE - for information only; some of the content found in newsgroup/mlist can answer posted questions on forum (similar threads)

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by princeton

I'll look again ... it was working before.

If you still can't get it working, post the 10 lines from gateway.php just before this mini-hack and I'll have a look.

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by john_rsd

I applied Kevins mod, but it seems erratic. As the mail list is not public and the posts spread reasonably evenly across the day I do not think its a server issue.

From your screenshot, that is exactly the problem that this mini-hack fixes. It picks these up by their subject title and threads correctly where the reference in the email header is missing.

Like BustaCap say, check the installation in gateway.php, and if you still have problems post the output here.

[Princeton]

I got it working ... thank you. :up:

[Princeton]

Kevin,
I never get this error when I call the file directly. However, I do occasionally get this error when Schedule Task runs the file.
[sql]Invalid SQL: INSERT INTO post
(postid, threadid, title, username, userid, dateline,
pagetext, allowsmilie, showsignature, ipaddress,

iconid, visible, isusenetpost, msgid, ref, parentid)
VALUES (NULL, ,
'',
'', 0,
'',
'', 1, 0,
'', 0, 1, 1,
'',
'',
+ 0)
mysql error: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '
'',
'', 0,
'',
'', 1, 0,
'', 0, 1, 1[/sql]
(I direct this to you (kevin) because it only happens when I use your mini hack.)

[john_rsd]

Kevin

Today it was working and I have not changed the gateway.php file.

Output from running from inside AdminCP

Gateway version 2.1.0 1 group(s) gatewayed. Successfully connected to the 'mail.rsdtv.com' pop3 server Retrieving 6 E-mails from the 'mail.rsdtv.com' pop3 server Getting message number 1: '[dxp] OT: Differential Stripline Impedance' from Jason Morgan. New thread. Getting message number 2: 'Re: [dxp] show footprint on schematic' from Don Lucas. Thread found by Subject Title. Getting message number 3: 'Re: [dxp] [dxp]: Junction Printing Error' from Don Lucas. Thread found by Subject Title. Getting message number 4: 'Re: [dxp] PCB manufacturing via internet?' from Don Lucas. Thread found by Subject Title. Getting message number 5: 'Re: [dxp] PCB manufacturing via internet?' from Richard Pender. Thread found by Subject Title. Getting message number 6: 'Re: [dxp] PCB manufacturing via internet?' from Don Lucas. Thread found by Subject Title.

I set this up as a scheduled task in the AdminCP to run every 15 minutes but it seems to have no effect, I have to push it manually to run. If I tried to run it directly from the browser I got an error that it was already running so I have set the check in AdminCP to 1 now.

However it seems the ones before failed to match (title '2004 simulator ops') see attachment

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by john_rsd

However it seems the ones before failed to match (title '2004 simulator ops') see attachment

It looks to be working correctly. The thread that you mention looks like a duplicate post (it has no "Re: " in the title), so the correct action is to start a new thread.

It will only search for a match by subject title under the following circumstances:

1. There are no references in the header that match an exisiting thread

AND

2. There is at least one "Re: " in the subject title, which gives an indication that there should be a parent thread for this post.

The output from gateway.php which you have shown also indicates that it is working correctly.

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by princeton

(I direct this to you (kevin) because it only happens when I use your mini hack.)

It's hard to tell from the sql query what is causing it to fail. If it ever happens when you are running gateway manually, make a copy & post the output which was running at the time.

Are you running the 'threading by subject' hack? There was an error in my first release which caused the $parentid not to generate, which would produce a error like the one you have. It was corrected with this version shortly afterwards:https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=181

[john_rsd]

Kevin

Could it be that some users have just removed the subject prefix (or their mail clients have not added one?) . I have not used any other mail clients except Eudora or Outlook and these both addd it.

So in order for the threading function to be initiated it checks the first chars of the subject feild for matches on 'RE' ? Then parses an subject index for a match?

Guess its not case sensitive?

BTW, thanks for this really cool mod