Miscellaneous Hacks - Tab and Link Manager Lite

Please click Mark as Installed if you are using this hack.

What Does This Hack Do?[hr]Silver[/hr]
This hack gives you an easy way to add custom tabs, links and submenu links to the end of the NavBar. This hack has been stable since I wrote it in November 2009 and does exactly what it says on the tin. The first release of the commercial version was actually based on this version with the addition of the impex feature (which has been removed again before being released here as a Lite version).

This hack will not allow you any control over the already existing default tabs, links and submenu links added by vBulletin (Classic or Publishing Suite) nor any other third-party add-on that adds it's own tabs, links and submenu links.

Tab and Link Manager Lite offers you the following functionality:

• Installation type: Co-existence Mode - where the default NavBar tabs/links/submenu links run side-by-side with T&LM engine.
• Add/Edit/Delete a tab.
• Add/Edit/Delete a link.
• Add/Edit/Delete a submenu link.
• Tabs, links and submenu links can be individually controlled by usergroup permissions.
• Tabs, links or submenu links will not be viewable to users not in an authorised usergroup.
• You can change the display order for individual tabs, links and submenu links.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question:

It doesn't work! Help!!!

Answer:

That does not help others help you. Please explain exactly what the issue is, give as much information as possible and that may aid others in helping you.

Question:

I have vBulletin 4.2.0 (or above) installed, will the new Navigation Manager included in vBulletin work with Tab and Link Manager Lite?

Answer:[INDENT]The short answer is no it will not, as the Navigation Manager replicates the functions in Tab and Link Manager Lite in its entirety and you may as well use the Navigation Manager instead of this hack.

Navigation Manger is not included with vBulletin 4.1.12 (and lower), so you are fine using this hack.

Question:

"My tabs do not highlight".... "my links or submenu links do not show up".... "when I click on a link or submenu link my tab does not stay highlighted, but highlights another tab" Help!!!!

Answer:

Information as to why any of the above are probably happening is laid out in the following post here.

Question:

I don't like the copyright branding at the bottom of every page generated by hack, what can I do?

Answer:

The only option if you want to use this hack without copyright branding is to uninstall the hack and not using it at all.

vBulletin Version Compatibility[hr]Silver[/hr]
This hack (Lite version) can be used with vBulletin versions 4.0.0 - 4.1.12.

For vBulletin versions 4.2.0 and above, you should use vBulletin's integrated Navigation Manager instead of this version.

This product will NOT work with 3.8.x and earlier as the new NavBar was not introduced until 4.0.0.


Hack Support[hr]Silver[/hr]
IMPORTANT: This hack is no longer supported.



Branding[hr]Silver[/hr]
There is a small unobtrusive block of copyright branding text at the bottom of each page generated by this hack, which is there to promote my work and allow you to use this hack for free.

You are NOT allowed to remove my copyright branding from this hack.


Install/Upgrade/Uninstall Instructions[hr]Silver[/hr]
The readme_tab_and_link_manager_lite.html instructions file is included in attached .zip file. You will need to open this file in a web browser.


Version History[hr]Silver[/hr]
v4.0.001 - Tuesday 27th July 2010
-- Initial Release


Show Your Appreciation [hr]Silver[/hr]
Although not required, if you have enjoyed the benefits of this hack, and would like show your appreciation for my efforts, then please feel free to click on the Support Developer link and donate any amount you feel is appropriate.

[Old-Git]

I've been playing with this today and I am seeing the same problem as the others, the wrong tab is highlighted!

What I've done is very simple

1.) I've taken a copy of forum.php and renamed it archives.php
2.) I've edited archives.php to reflect this rename; define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'archives');
3.) I setup my tab to call archives.php?f=xx

Everything works as it should do except the focus remains on forum button! So, should I be doing something else like defining a phrase or something like that?

PS - I've discovered that if I simply call archives.php without the ?f=xx that the correct Archives tab highlights perfectly. The problem would appear to be a disjoint between the THIS_SCRIPT setting and the arguments being handed to the PHP file upon execution. Presumbaly this is fixable because if I use a simple piece of code to create a tab in the plugins section then this problem is not evident. Can anyone provide a solution or workaround for this?

[Mosh]

Originally Posted by Old-Git

I've been playing with this today and I am seeing the same problem as the others, the wrong tab is highlighted!

What I've done is very simple

1.) I've taken a copy of forum.php and renamed it archives.php
2.) I've edited archives.php to reflect this rename; define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'archives');
3.) I setup my tab to call archives.php?f=xx

Everything works as it should do except the focus remains on forum button! So, should I be doing something else like defining a phrase or something like that?

PS - I've discovered that if I simply call archives.php without the ?f=xx that the correct Archives tab highlights perfectly. The problem would appear to be a disjoint between the THIS_SCRIPT setting and the arguments being handed to the PHP file upon execution. Presumbaly this is fixable because if I use a simple piece of code to create a tab in the plugins section then this problem is not evident. Can anyone provide a solution or workaround for this?

What exactly are trying to do (the end result)? Be as detailed as possible.

[Old-Git]

I have 'archive' forums which are set as not active so they don't show up on the main forum page. I am attempting to use forum.php?f=xx to display those forums on their own page. xx is the forum ID of the top category forum under which all my archive sub-forums reside.

Obviously if I do this with forum.php I get to see my archive forums but the highlight remains on the forums tab because that is what forum.php is coded to do. So I have 'cloned' forum.php and renamed it archives.php and then called it from the new Archive tab, as I would forum.php, (only difference is I edited the THIS_SCRIPT setting in my cloned file so that it says 'archives' rather than 'index'). All this is correct and if I call archives.php without passing any parameters to it it works fine and highlights the Archives tab I created (but it does not show my archive forums only the main forum page...I need to hand it the forumid of my 'archives' in order to see them). However, if I call archives.php and hand it ?f=xx (where xx is the forumid) then it refuses to highlight the Archives tab. Calling archives.php and the highlight stays on the Archives tab. Calling archives.php?f=xx and it does not highlight the archive tab but reverts to the forum tab. Doesn't matter which tab I was on before clicking the Archives tab it always reverts to the forum tab. Any ideas?

[Mosh]

Originally Posted by Old-Git

I have 'archive' forums which are set as not active so they don't show up on the main forum page. I am attempting to use forum.php?f=xx to display those forums on their own page. xx is the forum ID of the top category forum under which all my archive sub-forums reside.

Obviously if I do this with forum.php I get to see my archive forums but the highlight remains on the forums tab because that is what forum.php is coded to do. So I have 'cloned' forum.php and renamed it archives.php and then called it from the new Archive tab, as I would forum.php, (only difference is I edited the THIS_SCRIPT setting in my cloned file so that it says 'archives' rather than 'index'). All this is correct and if I call archives.php without passing any parameters to it it works fine and highlights the Archives tab I created (but it does not show my archive forums only the main forum page...I need to hand it the forumid of my 'archives' in order to see them). However, if I call archives.php and hand it ?f=xx (where xx is the forumid) then it refuses to highlight the Archives tab. Calling archives.php and the highlight stays on the Archives tab. Calling archives.php?f=xx and it does not highlight the archive tab but reverts to the forum tab. Doesn't matter which tab I was on before clicking the Archives tab it always reverts to the forum tab. Any ideas?

I can see what you are trying to do, and it is not doable with the Lite version of this hack. However, it is with the full version..... you can see a demo of it in action on my site (link in the first post) by clicking on the Forum Tab Demo tab (the type will work with both visible and invisible forums) and no need to replicate and rename files etc,.

If you have more questions regarding the full version, register on my site and ask them there please.

[Old-Git]

Oh I know it's doable. This simple piece of code below will permit me to do it if I load it as a plugin.

$tabselected = '';
$tablinks = '';
if (THIS_SCRIPT == 'archives')
{
$vbulletin->options['selectednavtab']='archives';
$tabselected = ' class="selected"';

}
$template_hook['navtab_middle'] .= '<li'.$tabselected.'><a class="navtab" href="archives.php?f=14">Archives</a>'.$tablinks.'</li>' ;

The only problem with this bit of code is that whilst it gives me the Archive tab and also highlights it, it does not inlude any code to provide the submenu. I think I've isolated the code for the submenu but I haven't yet figured out how to marry the two together...but I'm working on it.

re the commercial version;

1.) IMO, the inability of the lite code to handle parameters passed to the PHP file in the tab url is a bug that needs fixing

2.) Given that opinion, I'm not likely to consider the commercial version until I see bugs in the lite version ironed out. If I want the commercial version it'll be for the additional features not for a bug fix that won't be fixed in the lite version. Not fixing bugs in the lite version does not send me the right message.

3.) I can't be sure that the commercial version will behave any better than the lite version, or that it won't throw up other issues that need to be dealt with. So again where's my incentive here.

Sorry Mosh but I'm just not getting enough incentive here to trust to the commercial version. As it stands your product is now lumped with all the other 'Add-A-Tab' products that either don't highlight or don't provide a properly, functioning sub-menu. Just one more thing I tried but hasn't delivered what I need. Look over all the threads and you'll see lots of guys like me just trying to do something simple and move on (none of us are coders, or want to be coders), we just need quick solutions to allow us to get it done. And maybe it's not the fault of the coders that these things are so problematic, most likely the fault lays firmly and squarely with the VB product, after all something like this should come as standard in the product.

All that said though, you are close to getting it right with this lite product Mosh and if it didn't have this issue I'd be using it. I'd even be looking at the commercial product because I do like the look of the extra features and I would want the copyright removed from my pages. However....!

[Old-Git]

BTW Mosh, if you're looking for another product to add to your stable you couldn't go far wrong if you gave some thought to porting VBAY to 4x. Have a look at the thread for that product and see just how many people would like to have it on 4x. The original coder has not updated it in ages and it is wanted!

[Mosh]

Originally Posted by Old-Git

1.) IMO, the inability of the lite code to handle parameters passed to the PHP file in the tab url is a bug that needs fixing

2.) Given that opinion, I'm not likely to consider the commercial version until I see bugs in the lite version ironed out. If I want the commercial version it'll be for the additional features not for a bug fix that won't be fixed in the lite version. Not fixing bugs in the lite version does not send me the right message.

Definition of what a software bug is - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug

What you are asking for is a feature request..... it is not a bug. This lite version can not do what you ask because I have not added it in.

[Carpesimia]

Mosh,

This is almost PRECISELY what Im looking for. The piece Im hung up on, though, is having to supply some sort of dummy page for the tab. I mean, here's what I want:

A new tab. When someone clicks the tab, it gives them new menu options across the secondary menu.

Now, do i stick a page in there? If so, how to I make a vbulletin shell page? I had just copied forum.php to links.php, and changed the THIS_SCRIPT, but if i just reload the forum page, people arent going to notice the new scripts.

Anyways, i think this is the piece of the puzzle that people are missing. Im off in search of a way to add a page inside vb thats not really vb.

[odln018]

Exactly, that's what I'm missing as well.

[Kahuna900]

Is there anyway to get the highlighting working with photopost classifieds?