Version: 2.0.4, by CyberRanger
Developer Last Online: Jan 2015
Version: 3.5.4
Rating:
Released: 02-05-2006
Last Update: 08-01-2006
Installs: 249
DB Changes Uses Plugins Template Edits
Additional Files
No support by the author.
What is AboutToday?
AboutToday provides a central place to bring daily items of interest to your forum visitors. It includes two main components: an RSS Reader System and Local Events database System.
Please NOTE: This mod has been modified for vb ver 3.6.4. It should work on vb ver 3.5.4 and 3.6.x.
An RSS Reader system where the admin can enter RSS feeds that will then be displayed on the page. RSS feeds can be set to AUTOMATICALLY create threads or be set so that users can easily create a thread from a feed.. Feeds can be read via fopen or cURL.
The RSS Feeds are fully intergrated with vbAdvanced and could actually be placed anywhere you want!!
A database system that can hold unlimited categories of "AboutToday" events. For example, you could have a history category (like a Today in History) with sub-categories for different eras in history. Or, you could have a daily joke or software tip of the day, etc.
The "Add Event" feature is intended to help you if you want for example - Sports: Today in History. With the vb calendar, you cannot have categories and you are restricted with how far back the dates can go.
So with the "Add Event" feature, you could have a category tree like:
Hockey
Professional
College
High School
Football
American Football
The Rest of the World (Soccer)
Baseball
with the normal calendar feature, you cannot have categories. And with "Add Event" you can have any date. So, if you want an event like "Jan 1, 132 B.C. - the first ball was invented", you can do that. But, that isn't possible in the normal calendar. Also, the events in "Add Event" are fully searchable.
Installation
Copy the following files to your server in the forums directory:
From the admincp, import the product file product-abouttoday.xml (Manage Products - Add/Import Product).
REFRESH your admincp window. You should now see a listing in the left column of the admincp for "AboutToday".
Getting Started
NOTE - if this is a new install, a Yahoo RSS Feed and CNN Entertainment Feed have been automatically added to give you a feel for how the product looks.
If you plan to use the RSS Feeds:
1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - RSS Feeds. Add an RSS Feed.
2. From the admincp, select Usergroups - Usergroup Manager. Add permissions so the Administrator group can use the product.
3. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php. 4. If you want the feeds to AUTOMATICALLY create threads, go to admincp - abouttoday - settings. There you must set the userid of the account to use to create the thread. Then, edit the RSS Feed with the forumid of where the threads for that feed should be created!
If you plan to create your own "today in history" type of database:
1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - Categories. Add a category.
2. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php. "Add" your first event to the category you have created!
Version Status
I've tested this product extensively but ... use this totally at your own risk!
Credits
I learned a lot about how to code this and used a lot of the code from what Ron1n did with ecDownloads. What I've learned from his code while helping to support ecDownloads has been invaluable.
Here is a new abouttoday.php. Can you give it a try? It appears that for some reason your site is not seeing the "do" when I have it coded as $_GET['do'] but is seeing it as $_REQUEST['do']. The attached file will let me know if that is indeed what is happening.
[This change plus the product change for the description getting lost in IE have been added to the product zip file.]
ok, tried that.. but I got the same error as before when running the abouttoday.php?do=rss
The url is really wrong, i replaced the url and it worked like a charm!
Guys: Do not put in the wrong RSS url
it will prompt XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45 error
Thanks westpointer.
Tom
In the future I plan to have any RSS errors written to a separate field that is only displayed for admins. For now though, you will get the error above if the feed is bad.
I uninstalled that plugin awhile ago... Hmmmm... How can I fix it?
PHP Code:
SQL query:
ALTER TABLE vb350_usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
MySQL said:
#1091 - Can't DROP 'vbspacecomments'. Check that column/key exists
Couple more ideas to help you here (cause you really do need to fix this our your won't be able to change any usergroup permissions)
1. Check you includes/xml folder for any xml files associated with the "Profile Comments" system. Remove any if you find them then rebuild your bitfields.
2. Trick the system! Add the field vbspacecomments back into the usergroup table. (ALTER TABLE usergroup ADD vbspacecomments INT( 10 ) UNSIGNED DEFAULT '0' NOT NULL)
[This isn't an issue caused by AboutToday. I don't want first time readers to be confused and think it is or was.]
In the future I plan to have any RSS errors written to a separate field that is only displayed for admins. For now though, you will get the error above if the feed is bad.
Hi Westpointer,
you've created one of the least problematic or even problemless plugins i've used. It's simple but very contributing for not so techie VBulletin users like me.
uhm, if you can tell me if there's a way to quickly integrate this into VBAdvanced, i'd love it!
AboutToday - Bring RSS Feeds and Daily Events to Your Site! Details »»
About Developer
DB Changes 
No support by the author.
02-07-2006, 11:38 PM
