Miscellaneous Hacks - Ultimate Side Columns 2.2

Ultimate Side Columns
By Kerry-Anne www.peterska2.co.uk

Welcome to Ultimate Side Columns 2.2 !

USC 2.2 has now been released!!!!

Introduction

Following the success of the left and right side column modifications, and building on their weaknesses, the Ultimate Side Columns system was born.

Ultimate Side Columns (USC) is your one stop shop for all your side columns needs. It is an easy to configure, all in one solution.

USC 2.0 was born through the evolution and bug fixing of USC 1.0 for vBulletin 3.6 and is for vBulletin 3.7.0 RC1 and later only. It is not supported with earlier versions and may not work with them.

Features

USC 2.0 is fully customizable, can use conditions and variables (not available in USC 1.0), has greater flexibility in where it can be omitted from (after requests received), and contains new functionality of both independently collapsible columns and user defined custom links to be displayed on a per user basis in the column location of the administrators choosing.

A maximum of 20 blocks spread over the two columns are available at this time. However, if more are required then an expansion pack will be provided. The blocks can be reordered and moved between the templates with ease through simple template edits.

USC 2.2 Change Log:
Fixed bug with profile.php?do=editattachments
Added All Pages options

USC 2.1 Change Log:
Fixed blank page caused by missing template in the XML
Added compatibility with 3.7.0 Stable/Gold
Manual Template Edit instructions added to package
Enhanced the display page choices to allow exact selection of the pages where USC is to be displayed
Added usergroup permissions in addition to the global options for viewing the left column, viewing the right column, and using the custom contents block.

USC 2.1 has additional files. You need to upload the files first BEFORE importing the product

Upgrading from USC 2.0
Upload the contents of the upload folder, except the admincp directory, then import the XML.

Go to vBOptions > USC Options and set the display pages using the new options
Go to Usergroups > Usergroup Manager and set the permissions for each usergroup as desired. By default no permissions are given to any usergroups.

Upgrading from USC 1.0

USC 2.0 has been rewritten from the ground up and therefore all the blocks have been moved from the settings into the templates. Therefore, a unique upgrade script has been provided which must be run before importing the new product. Importing the new product first will result in the loss of your existing USC contents.

The upgrade script is located in the admincp directory after uploading the USC files and is ran by pointing your browser to admincp/usc_upgrade.php

Full upgrade instructions are included in the upgrade readme file in the zip.

Installation Instructions

Download the zip, unzip it and upload the contents of the upload folder to your forum directory. Import the product, all done.

Full instructions are included in the install readme in the zip.

Support

This modification has limited support only and is therefore flagged as unsupported. Support will be given when possible although it is always preferable when users of USC support each other. This was very successful with USC 1.0 and therefore is continued with USC 2.0

If you have any other combinations of pages that you would like to see available for the column options, please post them in the support thread ensuring that you add the title "USC Page Combination Request" to your post, or use this as the first line of your post ensuring that it is in bold text. This is very specific as due to the limited nature of support and time, the support thread will only be quickly skimmed through and therefore requests may be missed if it is not clear what they are.


The screenshots attached to this post and the next one show a range of pages with a range of column combinations. They are not labeled but they are pretty self explanatory.

Enjoy USC 2.0.

Kerry-Anne


PLEASE NOTE: This modification is unsupported. You may not receive a reply right after posting. Please try and help each other out.



Problems with your side columns not showing?
For your side columns to show, you need to update your usergroup permissions from the usergroup manager for each usergroup

Problems with errors in your vBOptions?
Point your browser to admincp/index.php?do=buildbitfields then try again

[peterska2]

Originally Posted by therogueforums

Can you describe it a bit more in detail? Perhaps some screenshots?

@ Kerry-Anne: Wow! I have been drooling for something like this for 3.7. Thank you, a million times over, for this release. I will be implementing it on my site when we go to RC2 or higher. Very nice work, as usual!

[high]* peterska2 looks confused[/high]

There are a load of screenshots in the first and second posts of this thread. More screenshots, although of the older version, can be found here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=141870

Note: The ACP is different in this version to the original version.

[therogueforums]

Originally Posted by Kerry-Anne

[high]* Kerry-Anne looks confused[/high]

There are a load of screenshots in the first and second posts of this thread. More screenshots, although of the older version, can be found here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=141870

Note: The ACP is different in this version to the original version.

No, I was referring to the post by tonytly, about it conflicting with personal style.

[SEOvB]

USC 2.0 is fully customizable, can use conditions and variables (not available in USC 1.0), has greater flexibility in where it can be omitted from (after requests received), and contains new functionality of both independently collapsible columns and user defined custom links to be displayed on a per user basis in the column location of the administrators choosing.

But whenever i use a variable in this side colum such as $newuser it doesn't show on forumhome and the variable is already being processed in the whats going on box so i know it works on forumhome.

Any idea?

[Dez_U]

great idea.
Can this be used so that its not seen in the index page if one was using vbAdvanced? so its on the forums only?

thanks

[Dez_U]

sorry, just read through the instructions and it answered my question

again, great idea

[DubaiHost]

Perfect ..!
just want i need ..
thanks for this release ..

[rinkrat]

Is there an easy way to turn this off for certain usergroups so my donating members can avoid the sidebars entirely?

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

Originally Posted by rinkrat

Is there an easy way to turn this off for certain usergroups so my donating members can avoid the sidebars entirely?

would like toknow as well!

also, is there a way to apply to one one style? I want a fixed and fluid version avaiable and this doesn't work at with my fixed version.

[trigatch4]

Anybody have any tips on moving the login box and breadcrumb stuff to fit into my left sidebar?

[dcce11]

I'm a complete beginner. With that said, what/where is this XML file I'm supposed to be importing?