Portal Software - WebTemplates 3.7.x: VB Integrated CMS (Content Management System)

(This hack is for vb version 3.7.x & 3.8.x ONLY. For vb 3.6.x, 3.5.x, 3.0.x and 2.x see my profile for relevant threads.)

"WebTemplates" is a vBulletin integrated Content Management System which allows you to create vb integrated "HTML" pages in your vb admin cp very easily. The pages can inherit your vbulletin skin/style, can recognize logged-in user, can be applied permissions per user or usergroup basis, can keep visit logs, hit counts and do many more.

VB4 version Update (9.9.2010): Please find 4.x version of WebTemplates4.x in its own thread.


WEBTEMPLATES 3.7.x BASIC FEATURES:

• Very Easy Installation : Webtemplates can be installed to your board without modifying even a single vbulletin file. It is coded as a vb product and can be imported very easily.
• Apply VB Permissions: You can ban any webtemplate to any user or usergroups easily. So for instance you can design a webtemplate which only members can see while guests can not, or only user A can not see etc.
• Page Counter : Each webtemplate has a built-in counter and you can display page count to your visitors and you can edit it or turn it OFF/ON per webtemplate basis.
• Visitor Logging&Tracking : You can track certain users' (by usergroup or userid) webtemplate visits to see who visited a webtemplate and when. This is configurable per webtemplate basis.
• Site Contributers (Editor) Support : You can grant editing permissions for certain users or usergroups for your webtemplates individually and they will be able to update these webtemplates using their own editor interface. vB's WYSIWYG editor is supported in Editor interface.
• Page Browsers & Who is Online Display: Webtemplates can display who is browsing that webtemplate while visitor is reading them (like default forum browse display of vbulletin). Webtemplate visits can also be monitored in who is online page.
• Header/Footer Inclusion : Webtemplates can automatically use headers/footers (your default vb header/footer or custom ones)
• Help Documents : The script comes with an extensive help document.
• Admin Panel in Webtemplates : Your webtemplates can include an "admin panel" displayed to only admins and by using them you can access many details and stats of your page while you are browsing them.
• SEO friendly URLs: You can make webtemplate URLs seo friendly in vb settings (Requires apache server).
• XML Import/Export : XML Import/Export feature allows you to backup your webtemplates and use other hack users webtemplates in your board.

ADVANCED FEATURES FOR ADVANCED USERS:

• Webquery Feature : With advanced "webquery" feature you can create dynamic webtemplates which include database query results. For instance you can easily add "last 10 threads forum X", "most active users list" etc. to your webtemplates with default webqueries that comes with installation or you can create your custom webqueries with basic SQL knowledge.
• Multi Parsing : Webtemplates can parse PHP or HTML or TEXT (=smilie/img tags/bbcode parsing like vb posts). This means you can design a page just like vb posts (TEXT parsing), standart HTML (HTML parsing) or even in PHP (PHP parsing).
• PHPINCLUDE per webtemplate : Every webtemplate has its own "phpinclude" field which you can run PHP codes before loading the Webtemplate
• Theme Support : Webtemplates support "themes" which are parent webtemplates which include child webtemplates in them. For instance if you have 20 similiar pages which uses the same visual look, you can make a single theme for all of them, then just insert their content into this theme. If you change theme later, all 20 pages' visual will change automatically.
• Conditionals : Webtemplates supports VB3 template conditionals so you can design webtemplates which change their display under different conditions.
• Default variables : You can use/display certain variables in your webtemplates like username of the visitor, visitor email address, last visit time, page creation time, page last edit time, Last visitor name, last visit time etc.

Sample WebTemplates from Sites using this hack:
(Some 3.5 and some are 3.0 versions but WebTemplate look and feel didn't change much so both will give you the idea.)

http://www.worldwideknights.com/view_mission.htm
http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/view.php?pg=aboutus
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/view_guidelines.htm
http://www.worldwideknights.com/view_info.htm
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/view_books.htm
http://www.worldwideknights.com/view_spread.htm
http://www3.fertilethoughts.com/forums/view.php?pg=acronyms
http://www.makeuptalk.com/forums/view.php?pg=makeuptalk-newsletter
http://www.bklab.com (entire site is designed with Webtemplates only)
(Actually this hack is one of the most popular vb hacks so it is used by hundreds -if not thousands- of vbulletin sites and you can easily find them if you go to google and search "Logician's WebTemplates" WITH quotation marks)

3.5 version Admin CP screenshot attached to this post. 3.0.x screenshots (here and here) also still applies for this version.

If you use the hack, clicking here will make sure you'll know about updates&bug fixes. It will also help me understand how many people is using the hack so please click the install button if you use it. Thank you..

About this 3.7.xx Version: This 3.7.xx version is same as previous 3.6.x version. 3.6.x version was already working in vbulletin 3.7.x except a few minor bugs and these bugs are fixed in this version to make it dedicated solely to vbulletin 3.7.x. Please see "what's new" in the next post for more details.

Version Updates:
29.July.2008 - > Version 3.7.00
* Hack 3.7.00 is released.

[Ohiosweetheart]

WONDERFUL!!!!! I'm so happy to see this excellent add-on updated for 3.7 (even tho the previous version works on my 3.7 sites flawlessly).
I've nominated it (again) for MOTM, and I'll be sending a donation as soon as I get back to work. I use this on every forum site that I have, wouldn't be without it!

(Actually this hack is one of the most popular vb hacks so it is used by hundreds -if not thousands- of vbulletin sites and you can easily find them if you go to google and search "Logician's WebTemplates" WITH quotation marks)

I found my sites

[Rideharder]

:up:
wow

[Ohiosweetheart]

I have to say how impressed I am with the work that went into this upgrade to 3.7. Logician, you are amazing! All the new templates are just great, and very much needed on most sites, imo. I'll be using most of them on both of mine, eventually.

Thanks, once more!

[ArnyVee]

Originally Posted by Logician

Yes you can do what you want. After the installation, create a new parent webtemplate which is exact copy of one of the defaults (eg. Default Basic Theme), than edit it and remove sections you don't need (eg. $navbar). If you don't want header or footer as well, you can remove them too or create new webtemplate headers/footers with your changes and use that one in your splash page.

However when you told "a new domain that I'm starting", I hope that forum is also under that same domain. Obviously you can't have forum in domain A and splash page in domain B. Webtemplates will be in the same domain your forum is installed.

Thank you for the instructions on that!

I'm going to try it out in the next couple of days (hopefully this Tropical Storm doesn't turn into a Hurricane or do damage in our area) and report back if I need some help.

As far as the quoted statement...I was planning on having a new 'entry-point' to my site with it's own domain name and have it 'point' to the new template page created. But, I just realized that I won't be able to do that directly. I'd have to do a 301 redirect to the web template page that I create. Then, launch to wherever I'd like to from there. That should work, right?

[Dugchugger]

Drats... I see no one else has posted about the issue I have. I just know this is going to be one of those forehead-smacking DOH moments.

In the installation directions it says to import the file named product-webtemplates.xml. The only xml file I see that I was directed to upload is cpnav_webtemplates.xml. I'm given the option to Either upload the xml file from my computer OR import from my server. I'm guessing I need to import it from server... but where do I find it? *blush*

[Logician]

Originally Posted by Dugchugger

Drats... I see no one else has posted about the issue I have. I just know this is going to be one of those forehead-smacking DOH moments.

In the installation directions it says to import the file named product-webtemplates.xml. The only xml file I see that I was directed to upload is cpnav_webtemplates.xml. I'm given the option to Either upload the xml file from my computer OR import from my server. I'm guessing I need to import it from server... but where do I find it? *blush*

It is not among the uploaded files. When you unzip the file, there are 2 xml files OUTSIDE forum folder it creates. They are in the same folder where you find the installation instructions.

[Logician]

Originally Posted by ArnyVee

Thank you for the instructions on that!

I'm going to try it out in the next couple of days (hopefully this Tropical Storm doesn't turn into a Hurricane or do damage in our area) and report back if I need some help.

As far as the quoted statement...I was planning on having a new 'entry-point' to my site with it's own domain name and have it 'point' to the new template page created. But, I just realized that I won't be able to do that directly. I'd have to do a 301 redirect to the web template page that I create. Then, launch to wherever I'd like to from there. That should work, right?

Not sure if I can read you correctly on this, but I believe you can do what you want with a redirect or iframe.

[Dugchugger]

omg... there they are too. I'm such a nub. ^^

Need more coffee... it's too early.

THANK YOU!

[ArnyVee]

Originally Posted by Logician

Not sure if I can read you correctly on this, but I believe you can do what you want with a redirect or iframe.

I have my WaltDisneyBoards.com site where my forum is (and where this template is going to be built).

I then have my WDBHUB.com domain that I'd like to use this template for. But, since I can't use it directly on the domain name....I would have to do a little 301 redirect from that domain name to the WaltDisneyBoards.com/NewTemplatePage so that it would 'seem' like this NewTemplatePage was at this different domain.

That would work, I assume.

[Logician]

Originally Posted by ArnyVee

I have my WaltDisneyBoards.com site where my forum is (and where this template is going to be built).

I then have my WDBHUB.com domain that I'd like to use this template for. But, since I can't use it directly on the domain name....I would have to do a little 301 redirect from that domain name to the WaltDisneyBoards.com/NewTemplatePage so that it would 'seem' like this NewTemplatePage was at this different domain.

That would work, I assume.

301 redirection will work but then the url will change. So for instance your visitor will type wdbhub.com in her browser but after 301 redirection, she'll end up at waltdisneyboards.com/forum/view.php?pg=wdbhub

If this is ok, yes you can do it. If you don't want browser url to change, you can consider options these:
1- If you domain registration company supports domain forwarding you can give it a forwarding command in your control panel and their name server will automatically push users to your webtemplate without domain change
2- You can put a simple html file to your wdbhub.com which has a iframe to waltdisneyboards.com/forum/view.php?pg=wdbhub and users will not notice domain change in the addressbar.