vbArticles v0.4 -- For your repository of Articles/Tutorials/FAQs etc.

UPDATES
version 0.4 is out

- Now allows for basic VBCODE input.
- Fixed somemore bugs.


Background
Required a section on my site to display articles/tutorials
No such hack in the Hacks Database
Decided to try my hand at it

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This hack uses a lot of code from Arunan Sridharan's vB Links Directory v2.0
I use that hack too and was inspired to code something around that
A big thank-you must go out to him for coding the Links Directory in the first place (I merely modified much of the code to suit my needs for this hack)

Appreciation also goes out to Kars10 for aiding me in this hack
He coded the portion in version 0.3 on number of articles count as well as article hits count
He also suggested several template changes which have been incoporated into version 0.3
A great big special shout out to TheComputerGuy, 97cobracpe, dontpanic for stamping out the bugs with your fixes. Thanks guys


WHATS IT DO ?
This hack allows you to have a database of articles/tutorials etc on your site/forums.

FEATURES

AdminCP
Installer script

Admin options

View Categories
Edit Categories
Add Categories ( category name, category icon, category order, category description )
Delete Categories
Add new article ( title, description, author, date, content )
Edit article
Delete article
View ALL articles in database
Option in vB options to turn validation of articles on/off
Fully template based as to how you wish to display the articles,categories and main article home page.
Addition of articles accepts basic VBcodes

Member options

View Categories
Browse Categories
View articles
Submit new article
Submission of articles accepts basic VBcodes


INSTALLATION & UPGRADING
This Hack should work on ALL 2.2.x versions and v2.3.0
Please read the install_readme.txt file in the package for fresh installation instructions
IMPT: If you installed a previous version pls read the upgrade_readme.txt file carefully for upgrade instructions

HACK DOWNLOAD

Version 0.4 of this hack can be downloaded here

ADD-ONS
i) Add-on for vbHome
ii) Add-on for ForumHome
iii) Add-on to enable only registered members to be able to view the article section


DEMO SITES
http://www.runaked.com/forums/articles.php ( running v0.4 ) - TheComputerGuy's site

http://www.mcseworld.com/forums/infocenter.php ( running v0.3 ) - dontpanic's site


Feel free to submit your sites if u installed this hack so it can be listed as another live demo site

SUPPORT
I cannot promise any support on this as i am pretty new to this but I will try my best.
If you are using this hack , pls click the INSTALL button
to be kept in the loop of any bug reports, add-ons and hack version updates.

Thanks everyone

[Repec]

i got one comment though, when you submit an article the redirect page flashes by, u cant even read what it says.

Is there a way to make it go slower so that you can what it says?

And maybe another suggestion, can you make it so that a user can edit his or her article after it has been validated?

[Kars10]

@ cinq, you have email.

@ repec, open template vbArticles_doneaddarticle and serach for <meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="0; URL=articles.php?action=main"> replace it with <meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="2; URL=articles.php?action=main">

[cinq]

Gone through it briefly.
Looking good on localhost

I dun think I will package this as an add-on , but rather , to merge it to be part of the hack. Seems logical some might want hits counter for their articles/tutorials etc.

Will go thru it in depth and make the neccessary changes and push out the next beta version with hit counters hopefully by tmr.
Thanks Kars

[cinq]

UPDATES
version 0.3 is out

- Now displays total number of articles in each category on Articles Home
- Now counts article hits ( views )
- Similiar navigation style ( as forum )



Re-download the attached zip package and read the upgrade txt file carefully if upgrading. Instructions on how to upgrade from both version 0.1 and 0.2 are included.

For fresh installation , pls read the readme txt file contained in the zip package

[kaotic]

Yet another update! Good news! I always like new features. Thanks, cing.

Edit: Got a question. What exactly does your install file do? I need to know the querries. In order to do what I'm trying to do (install the same hack for different sections of the same site in one database), I'll need to change the querries some.

[cinq]

kaotic , drop me a PM with your queries , hope not to deviate in this thread with other instructions that might confuse others

[cinq]

Btw , Kars and myself are already working on the next version which should incoporate some form of reviewing and commenting system.

We will try to push it out soon

[kaotic]

A commenting system too? Exceptional.

Btw, I sent you a PM.

[gmarik]

cinq, you're programming really fast
/me say THANKS!

[swanienufan]

I think this is a great hack for my website, but I was wondering if I was missing something.

How can I place a link inside my article. I have tried both vb code and html and everything just prints out as text. Any ideas??

G