PluhNews 1.5

UPDATED! Woohoo!

I just fixed/added stuff from version 1.0!

Download the new version 1.5 if you have the old 1.0 - lots of better features.

From the readme.txt:

This script isn't really a hack, just an external script that pulls information out of the VBulletin Database for news
or whatever reason you see fit. It's easy to install and configure, and has tons of the same features that many other
news scripts have, except you don't have to modify any Vbulletin source code (which I'm never comfortable doing
for some reason, but that's just me .

I had a really rough time finding a good, EASY news script that did what this does. I searched and found some, but
it really came down to easy installation. I didn't want to modify MySql tables or mess with the advanced Vbulletin
source (well, to me anyway). So I wrote this script. Yer.

This script was intended for VBulletin 2.0 only (I don't know if it will work with previous releases) and PHP4.

Working Demos can be found in use at http://pluh.com/forums/PluhNews.php and for headlines,
http://pluh.com/forums/PluhHeadlines.php

After you install, if at all possible, I would appreciate some credit to my script. A link to http://pluh.com
on your page before or after your news would be great. Let me know when you have it installed too - I love
seeing my stuff working on other websites!

You can check out the raw demo here for PluhNews: http://pluh.com/forums/PluhNews.php

And Headlines! http://pluh.com/forums/PluhHeadlines.php


Let me know if you like it! (Thanks Dark Wizard and Bane)

*NOTE: I will not be able to provide support for this hack, as I am extremely busy. Sorry...*

[FleaBag]

Running this on vB3 also, wicked. Good to be able to come back to this after vB2.

[martinh4]

Thank's Mithan for the VB3 changes got this working now.

[HUNTER|UF]

ok little help need to get rid of the errors above the script inclues here:

http://www.cunning-play.com

[Beowolf]

Originally Posted by Kayn

Working on those new features, and yes, the script includes the (0 Comments, last comment was by So-and-so).

This might take a while, so bear with me...

Ok, just incase anyone needs to full code that works on vb3, I am using this successfully from my basedir (i.e PluhNews.php is not in my /forum directory)

You will need to change the two occurances of "username" at the top and bottom in chdir() to your site username.

PHP Code:

<?php
chdir('/home/username/public_html/forum');
//PluhNews 1.5 released under GNU GPL Licence version 2.0 (see copying.txt file for more info)
//Set your permissions in your control panel to make sure that only YOU and who you specify can post news. Otherwise, everyone and their dog can register and post in your news forums, thus posting where your news will appear. But for this script to work it's extra magic, be sure your members can reply to your news posts.

require("./global.php");
require("./PluhConfig.php");
require("./includes/config.php");

//scroll down to edit the HTML for the news
//**********************

//Start the goodies (please do not edit to goodies unless you know what you are doing

//connect
$connection = mysql_connect("$servername","$dbusername","$dbpassword") or die ("Cannot connect to server.");

//select database
$db = mysql_select_db("$dbname", $connection) or die ("Could not select database.");

// create sql statement
$sql = "SELECT threadid, title, forumid, replycount, postusername, postuserid, lastposter, dateline, iconid FROM thread WHERE forumid = \"$newsforums\" ORDER BY threadid DESC LIMIT $newsitems";

//execute sql query
$sql_result = mysql_query($sql, $connection) or die ("Could not execute query.");

if (!$sql_result) { 
  echo "<p>Could not get record.";
} 

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result)) {
   $threadid = $row["threadid"];
   $title = $row["title"];   
   $forumid = $row["forumid"];
   $replycount = $row["replycount"];
   $postusername = $row["postusername"];
   $postuserid = $row["postuserid"];
   $lastposter = $row["lastposter"];
   $iconid = $row["iconid"];
   $dateline = $row["dateline"];

//create the second SQL statement to pull the post from the thread it resides in
$sql2 = "SELECT postid, threadid, username, userid, title, dateline, pagetext, iconid FROM post WHERE threadid = \"$threadid\" ORDER BY postid ASC LIMIT 1";

//execute second sql query
$sql_result2 = mysql_query($sql2, $connection) or die ("Could not execute query in second sql statement.");

if (!$sql_result2) { 
  echo "<p>Could not get record in second statement.";
} 

while ($row2 = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result2)) {
   $pagetext = $row2["pagetext"];



//gotta convert that damn unix time crap
$dateposted = date("D j M Y, g:i A",$dateline);
//end the goodies

if ($replycount==1) {
 $commenttext = "Comment";
 }
else {
 $commenttext = "Comments";
 }

require_once("./includes/functions_bbcodeparse.php");
$bericht=parse_bbcode2($pagetext,"1","1","1","1","1");
// **********************
//Edit the HTML here (keep in mind that any double quote that is HTML requires a backslash in front of it)


echo "

<a href=\"$forumspath/showthread.php?s=&threadid=$threadid\"><b>$title</b></a> - <a href=\"$forumspath/showthread.php?s=&threadid=$threadid\"><b>$replycount</b> $commenttext</a><br>
Posted By <a href=\"$forumspath/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=$postuserid\"><b>$postusername</b></a> at  <i>$dateposted</i>
</center>

<blockquote></a>$bericht</blockquote><center><a href=\"$forumspath/showthread.php?s=&threadid=$threadid\"><b>$replycount</b> $commenttext</a> Last comment was by <b>$lastposter</b></center><hr noshade height=\"1\" width=\"60%\"><p>
";

}
}


//add news search stuff (this is optional - delete if you do not wish to include this, or edit it to meet your needs
echo "<center><a href=\"$forumspath/search.php?s=\">Search the News</a> | <a href=\"$forumspath/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=$newsforums\">View All News Posts</a></center>";

//end HTML edit
//**********************

//disconnect
mysql_free_result($sql_result);
mysql_close($connection);

chdir('/home/username/public_html/');
?>

[mrplow]

One thing seems different since my u/g to vb3, and that is the URL parsing...

With vb2 if a news post had a really long URL in it the pluhnews page would show the http://www.blahblah...blah.com (i.e. cut down size) link just like the normal showthread templates do. With pluhnews running on vb3 the links no longer get cut down... they still get cut down in the normal forum view but on the news page the full length URL is shown. This sometimes causes havoc with the site layout.

Anyone have any idea why that is and how it can be changed?

[FleaBag]

A function name has probably changed between vB2 and vB3.

[mrplow]

Originally Posted by FleaBag

A function name has probably changed between vB2 and vB3.

Any idea what that might be?

[speedracer68]

Is there a way for PluhNews to pull info on the most peoplied or the hotest topic at the time? I would like to put a box on my home page that would show the hotest topic each time the home page it loaded.

I looked at some of the sites people listed above to see how theirs worked and every single page I clicked on is no longer there. It's like all the link above point to old web sites that are no longer there.

Thanks for the help!

[ChiefPhillips]

I've tried everything here... and not one thing worked, guess PluhNews isn't for me

I use 3.0.6, imported IPB 1.3.1 into it, working just peachy.. well.. cept PluhNews, heh.

[PsiNyde]

good job Beowolf! I've been hounding Kayn for weeks now to update that script to work with vB3 [I work at his site now], but since he's moved on to bigger and better projects for news posting on home page, he has abandoned it. FOR CRY! Glad to see somebody figured out the bbcode parse problem! That was the only real hangup. Awesome job, thanks again.