vBulletin Forum Sideblocks - VC_Countdown (FORUM BLOCK)

D E S C R I P T I O N

Countdown timer for forum sidebars that is configurable from the admin control panel. This countdown timer will calculate the remaining time left to reach your targeted event according to the GMT Time Zone Offset that you have pre-set in the admincp (VC_Countdown options). This countdown will expire at the same moment in time for all viewers, regardless of their separate time zones.

You can count down to any future month/day/time within the next 12 months.

This countdown timer is ideal for counting down to:
- have competitors meet at the same time for tournaments on gaming servers (which is what I have used it for)
- for fixed term offers
- for items available in X days
- for sale begins in X days time
or for whatever else tickles your fancy.

This is a no-frills countdown timer but there are no files to upload to your server and there is no need to fiddle around with templates and codes to adjust the countdown expiry date.
You can easily adjust this countdown display to suit forum sidebar widths from 165px to 300px.

I N S T R U C T I O N S

1. Import Product
Plugins & Products / Manage Products / Add/Import Product
Import: product-vc_countdown.xml

2. Create Forum Block
Forums & Moderators / Forum Blocks Manager / Add Block

Select Block Type: Custom HTML/PHP
Title: Event Timer (or whatever you prefer)
Description: VC_Countdown Event Timer
Content Type: HTML
Content: <div></div>
Template to use: block_VC_Countdown

3. Configure VC_Countdown
Admincp / Settings / Options / VC_Countdown

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PLEASE NOTE: I have only tested this as working on 4.0.8 PL4.
Confirmed working well on 4.1.3 by rammieone

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Updates:
v1.0.3
Removed superfluous css
Added css to enable proper font-color control over all four strings of text
Added ability to include background image
v1.0.4
Added 4 levels of bgimage transparency
Added bgimage 100% height & width of forum block container
Removed option for image:repeat
Added padding options for between (Event Name & top of forum block) and (Event Name & Countdown Numbers)
v1.0.5
Removed "X Days from Now" option (If you don't experience save/default problems using version 1.0.4 there is no need to update to 1.0.5)

[Ba'al]

1 question,can you add a height variant option, the width is fine but the height squishes my image down, my image is 220X220 and by doing that you can up the text pixel size as 14px is a little small for us.


If i go into the code on line 32 and edit this

height:80px;

to this

height:220px;

and then re-upload and over write the xml will that make the change for me?

[midnz]

Originally Posted by Ba'al

1 question,can you add a height variant option, the width is fine but the height squishes my image down, my image is 220X220 and by doing that you can up the text pixel size as 14px is a little small for us.


If i go into the code on line 32 and edit this

height:80px;

to this

height:220px;

and then re-upload and over write the xml will that make the change for me?

Yes, doing that will change the height of the image display.
You might also need to consider changing the height of the counter - look on line 62.
You might also need to play with the alignment of days,hrs,min etc but adding or removing spaces. Look on line 123.
Experiment to see how it looks by making one of those changes at a time until you get what you're looking for.

[Ba'al]

Originally Posted by midnz

Yes, doing that will change the height of the image display.
You might also need to consider changing the height of the counter - look on line 62.
You might also need to play with the alignment of days,hrs,min etc but adding or removing spaces. Look on line 123.
Experiment to see how it looks by making one of those changes at a time until you get what you're looking for.

Alright thanx i'll give it a try and report back.

ok, so far so good, image @ 220px is good set font weight to bold, now on what line do i find the spacing between the counter numbers i want to move them closer because as i go up in size they move further out.

[midnz]

Originally Posted by Ba'al

Alright thanx i'll give it a try and report back.

ok, so far so good, image @ 220px is good set font weight to bold, now on what line do i find the spacing between the counter numbers i want to move them closer because as i go up in size they move further out.

I don't believe that's an option I'm sorry. There is no adjustment for the spacing between the separate counter numbers. I've looked at the javascript and I can't see where/how that option could be included.

[Ba'al]

Originally Posted by midnz

I don't believe that's an option I'm sorry. There is no adjustment for the spacing between the separate counter numbers. I've looked at the javascript and I can't see where/how that option could be included.

Thats cool, its working great and i will continue to tweak it, thanks for all your help.

[jasff]

I'm running vB 4.2.2. I'm checking in to see if this will work properly and if the installation instructions are updated/complete.

Thank you

[midnz]

Originally Posted by jasff

I'm running vB 4.2.2. I'm checking in to see if this will work properly and if the installation instructions are updated/complete.

Thank you

It works on my 4.2.2 installation. The instructions remain unchanged.

[jasff]

Thanks for this great mod.

I'm trying to adjust the Forum Block to 220 x 220

For some reason I can't locate where I can adjust the lines for the sizes.
Any direction on where to locate it?

Thank you. Running 4.2.2

[midnz]

Originally Posted by jasff

Thanks for this great mod.

I'm trying to adjust the Forum Block to 220 x 220

For some reason I can't locate where I can adjust the lines for the sizes.
Any direction on where to locate it?

Thank you. Running 4.2.2

AdminCP/ Settings/ Options/ VC_Countdown > Forum Sidebar Width - change that to 220 using the drop down option.

I didn't include a height option but you might be able to achieve what you want by increasing the padding between some of the other options.
Check ... Event Name / Adjust padding between EVENT NAME and top of container and Adjust padding between EVENT NAME and COUNTDOWN NUMBERS

[jasff]

Thanks midnz,

Yes, the height is what I can't get to adjust. I wanted to know where to get into the coding to adjust.

I saw Ba'al where he mentioned changing the height in coding.
I don't know where to access that.

I'll still try and play around in the paddings, but seems to cut the numbers off and the cell height doesn't expand.