vBISpy - AJAX real-time feed of new posts/threads (for vB3.5)

After seeing the http://www.digg.com/spy application; I wondered if this could be done for vBulletin as well. I came across this webpage which had a "how to" on how they built a similiar application to do the same thing. Taking a page from their book (i.e. the code), I modified it for use with vBulletin.

During development, I also came across this post here on vBulletin.Org where the very subject had already been discussed.

So I put this together; a simple ZIP file with a single PHP script, three javascript files and 4 images.

Installation

. UNZIP the file into your forums directory
. That's it!

Virtually all the code to customize the page is in the vaispy.php script; there are no plugins, no templates and no phrases. You do not need to do anything further; this should work right out of the box.

In your browser, open the URL:

http://www.yourforum.com/forum/vaispy.php

You can see examples of this at:

http://www.viperalley.com/forum/vaispy.php
http://www.extremefitness.com/forum/vaispy.php

Note: I claim no ownership of this code except for the file vaispy.php - the rest of the files were using 'freely distributable' sources. As such, you may use these files as you wish, but please do not remove the copyrights.

This version is for vBulletin 3.5 users only, for vBulletin 3.6 you will need to download the 3.6 version located here.

JOIN THE vBIspy Network!
Once you have this mod installed, you can join the vBIspy network to have your threads appear on this site; the vBIspy Network is a great way for people to see what's going on in various vBulletin communities and for forum owners to promote their sites and generate new traffic.

Optional add-ons

Who's Online mod for this: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=126209

vBAdvanced Module: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=126421

UPDATES
1.0.2
Added buro9's code from here

1.0.3 - 9.9.06
Modified some JavaScript in va_spy.js to remove split strings

1.0.4 - 9.10.06
Added date cuffoff code from here and changed init() to spyinit() - changed vaispy.php and va_spy.js files.

1.0.5 - 9.11.06
I've changed the query to grab the preview text from the last message; the downside to this change is that people with very large "post" tables will want to add an index to their table to significantly improve the performance on this script.

ALTER TABLE `vb_post` ADD INDEX ( `dateline` )

1.0.6 - 9.12.06
va_spy.js: Added a forum url variable to allow for integration with portals or other products outside the forum directory
va_spy.js: Added xmldelay variable at top of script for easier configuration or repolling
Updated files: vaispy.php, vb_spy.js

1.0.7 - 9.13.06
vaispy.php - changed code for checking for forum permissions to include password protected forums, added javascript tag for script code
va_spy.js - changed link to use goto=lastpost to fix links

1.0.8 - 9.16.06
vaispy.php
va_spy.js
va_effects.js
- modified to allow for proper display in Opera browsers and moved more html into vaispy.php to allow for stylevars, trimmed va_effects.js to remove unused code (ForumDog's suggestions, except not using templates yet), changed way threads are parsed (removes html as well)

1.0.9 - 9.17.06
va_prototype.js - removed 20kb of unused code

[MPDev]

As with any "new thing" you add, there can be an impact. I haven't had any problems on my site; but I would expect with a large number of users you'd see a higher load because it would be like all of those users hitting the refresh button every 5 seconds or so. That's why I would suggest moderating the delay to suit your needs on your site (see the 3.6 thread for that info).

[MPDev]

Originally Posted by RFViet

Can you make it display within a box, anh about first 5 or 10 new posts , just display the thread name (so you won't worry about bbcode) . So, member can see live new posts without refresh the page . !!

At this time I have no plans to work on derivatives; sorry.

[lexx27]

Great Hack!!!! Thank you

Do you have in mind to make something similar with feeds?

[lexx27]

I have 2 problems.

1. Doesnt work in ie
2. Doesnt refresh in firefox,flock and opera

I didnt change a thing from the code(only the title) and all the files are in the right place.

here is the link http://www.webz.gr/forum/vaispy.php

[MPDev]

lexx27 - your link is working just fine for me.

[Gizmo5h1t3]

Originally Posted by MPDev

I just tried it on your site using FF and it took me to the second post. Check the link - it has a #X in it which is used by vB3.5 to take a person to a specific post; we could possibly change the link to use "goto=lastpost" instead of the #X in vb_spy.js

tried that mate, and it stil goes to the first post....

weird...and a shame, cracking hack this, but would be complete with the ability to get to the final post in a thread with just one click.

[MPDev]

Try grabbing the current files; I think I have it resolved (hard to keep track of these two versions and the changes, lol).

[Intex]

Great addition. Would be nice to have the same ajax functionality with who's online.

[RFViet]

Is there anyway to limit the characters to display ??

[username12]

Originally Posted by Lonny

what about server load?

Way too much for me, but I may try editing the delay as suggested.