Links and Downloads Manager

LDM extends VBulletin to manage a library of documents, files and links to other web sites. Documents can be stored on your own web site, stored on your server separate from the web site, uploaded by your user community, or held somewhere else altogether. So you can use LDM to provide your user community with access to your own files and allow them to share files with each other.

12/08/06 - Versions that work with vb36 are available and supported in the VB36 thread. Version 2.2.1, which works with VB 3.5 but not with VB 3.6, remains available here.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with all the design, testing, etc.
Translations are provided (thanks dLutt and LeeWicked) into German, (thanks to Allan) into French, and (thanks to Hugo) into Spanish. Harry1951 has handled the Dutch translation.

Screenshots, Instructions and How to Install

Full details and instructions are available as a Wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php...nloads_Manager

LDM installs as a VBulletin product. There are no modifications required to standard VB code.

Basically - upload php files and run the installer through VB's Product installer. No changes needed to VB code. Remember to BACKUP YOUR DATABASE. By default, LDM prefixes its database tables 'local_'. Edit the configuration file, local_links_init.php, if you need/wish to change this.

LDM can handle an essentially unlimited number of categories and nested subcategories, and an unlimited number of entries (hyperlinks or downloadable files). Each entry can be placed in one or several categories. Categories can have styles. Descriptions and titles can optionally include BBcodes, smilies, images and html, giving the possibility to add images, colouring, etc. File types can be flagged using icons and individual entries can also have associated thumbnail images.

Standards templates are provided for libraries of links, files, documents, and photographs.

Users can offer comments and rate the links/downloads. Each user is allowed one rating and many comments per entry, and can freely edit these if they change their mind.

Permission to use specific features is established via the product's admin page, where the administrator specifies which usergroups can add and edit entries, comment and rate these entries, moderate, etc.

By default, all entries are visible to all users. You can restrict visibility/access to links and categories by using the permissions masks from your board's forums.

Moderation of new entries is available but turned off by default.

Users can report bad links to the relevant moderators/administrators.

Each user can flag links as his/her "Favourites".

Modules are provided for VBAdvanced.

Hooks are provided in suitable places in LDM and sample plugins are included in the release (see extras directory), for example to integrate with ID3 tags in mp3 files, for slideshows, to autocreate new threads in your forums, etc.

Plus much more.

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

This will be included in 2.1.1 - I coded the change this morning.

awesome!!! you rule. This hack rules.


now..I'm actualllly having a couple problems...but let me ask one at a time:


================================================== =====

PROBLEM:
I can't seem to get the filetypes to work for uploads. ie..this section doesn't seem to actually do anything for me:

upload_filetypes
Filetypes that can uploaded (if blank, all types in VB attachments table are allowed; if set, limits attachments table. "

This is what I put in that box:

wmv, doc, gif, jpe, jpg, jpeg, pdf, png, psd, rar, zip, txt, mov, wmv, mpg, swf, wav, mpeg, mp3, wma, midi, ram

no matter what I put in there...it still goes by the Vb attachment table.
Is there something I am missing? Does an item have to be added to the vb attachment table to be added here? (seems to defeat the point though :/)

It only worked when, as a test, I added the extension to the vb attachement table (specifically wmv files).

(REF: my upload dir =

/forums/LDM/upload/

Also, dunno if it matters I haven't touched the jukebox settings yet -- step-by-step )

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

no matter what I put in there...it still goes by the Vb attachment table.
Is there something I am missing? Does an item have to be added to the vb attachment table to be added here? (seems to defeat the point though :/)

This setting *limits* the types that can be uploaded. An upload is only possible for those types is defined in the VB attachment table, and attributes like maximum size, mimetype, etc, are read from there. If you set *upload_filetypes* to anything, then *only* the types that appear in both lists can be uploaded.

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

This setting *limits* the types that can be uploaded. An upload is only possible for those types is defined in the VB attachment table, and attributes like maximum size, mimetype, etc, are read from there. If you set *upload_filetypes* to anything, then *only* the types that appear in both lists can be uploaded.

ic ic. is this true for the jukebox file types as well? (I will get to that soon).
that is, I have to make sure the jukebox file types are list in the Vb attachments table as well?

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by GrendelKhan{TSU

ic ic. is this true for the jukebox file types as well? (I will get to that soon).
that is, I have to make sure the jukebox file types are list in the Vb attachments table as well?

Yes - all files that are to be handled as uploads, downloads or through the jukebox have to have types that are in the VB attachment table, because that is where LDM finds the mimetype information.

The Jukebox settings on the LDM admin page control which of these are played either by Windows Media Player or by Real Player.

[nexus851]

i have a mp3 file that is a music file that can be played. However, when the link is clicked, it has to download the whole file before it plays, is there a way i can change the mime types or any other way to let it START playing same time that its downloading... sorta like streaming play... this way my users dont have to wait to download 10megs before they can hear it....

pls let me know.. appreciate it =)

P.S - 1 more thing, the MP3 file doesnt seem to play in the JUKEBOX in either Windows Meda or Realplayer mode... it just says "ready..." in windows media, and in REAL PLAYER, it says "Requested File not found. The Link you followed maybe outdated or inaccurate." What might be the problem here??

Thanks for ur attention =D

[CSS59]

Andrew,

I love this hack; I am using it on two of my sites. My questions are:

1..Can you make it so we can select how many columns we want to display on the page like with the script I am testing here:
http://cardraft.com

2. How can I make it so instead of showing the number of links in a category like ?[6 entries]? to show as just ?(6)? right after the description? (as you can see on the link above)

3. Is there any way we can run this hack in mysite.com/local_links.php instead of in mysite.com/forums/local_links.php ?

[Nam]

Originally Posted by nexus851

i have a mp3 file that is a music file that can be played. However, when the link is clicked, it has to download the whole file before it plays, is there a way i can change the mime types or any other way to let it START playing same time that its downloading... sorta like streaming play... this way my users dont have to wait to download 10megs before they can hear it....



pls let me know.. appreciate it =)


P.S - 1 more thing, the MP3 file doesnt seem to play in the JUKEBOX in either Windows Meda or Realplayer mode... it just says "ready..." in windows media, and in REAL PLAYER, it says "Requested File not found. The Link you followed maybe outdated or inaccurate." What might be the problem here??


Thanks for ur attention =D

Andrew has helped me here with the similar quesiton, you can check it out Here

And thanks Andrew for the category permission, I didn't thought of that, really appreciate it.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by nexus851

i have a mp3 file that is a music file that can be played. However, when the link is clicked, it has to download the whole file before it plays, is there a way i can change the mime types or any other way to let it START playing same time that its downloading... sorta like streaming play... this way my users dont have to wait to download 10megs before they can hear it....

The text link is simply an instruction to download the file (or jump to another site, if it's a regular url). For an mp3 file (and for most file types), the user's pc will wait until the file is complete before doing anything with it.

As far as I understand (I'm not an expert), to 'stream' mp3s so that the user does not have to wait for the download to complete, you wrap them up in m3u playlists. For example, to stream a file http://yoursite/xxx.mp3, then write a m3u file as follows:

#EXTM3U
http://yoursite/xxx.mp3

You also have to set up the m3u mimetype information in the VB admin/attachments page, and provide an m3u.gif icon in your files_icons_dir directory. The correct mimetype is Content-type: audio/x-mpequrl.

One possible problem with the m3u route is that it reveals the whereabouts of the main mp3. Possibly I could wrap all this up inside LDM, but that will have to take its place in the wish list.

Originally Posted by nexus851

P.S - 1 more thing, the MP3 file doesnt seem to play in the JUKEBOX in either Windows Meda or Realplayer mode... it just says "ready..." in windows media, and in REAL PLAYER, it says "Requested File not found. The Link you followed maybe outdated or inaccurate." What might be the problem here??

Happy to take a look - PM me with your board's address and an admin username and password - apologies if you've already done this - I lose track.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by CSS59

Andrew, I love this hack; I am using it on two of my sites.

Thanks

Originally Posted by CSS59

1..Can you make it so we can select how many columns we want to display on the page like with the script I am testing here:
http://cardraft.com

Will add this to the wish list - do you want columns for both categories and the entries in categories or just categories? And do you want the sort order to go across the page (easy) or down the columns (slightly more work)

Originally Posted by CSS59

2. How can I make it so instead of showing the number of links in a category like ?[6 entries]? to show as just ?(6)? right after the description? (as you can see on the link above)

You edit the links_catbit template, e.g. to use the attached.

Originally Posted by CSS59

3. Is there any way we can run this hack in mysite.com/local_links.php instead of in mysite.com/forums/local_links.php ?

I'll think about this - it should be a simple change.

[AndrewD]

Originally Posted by nexus851

P.S - 1 more thing, the MP3 file doesnt seem to play in the JUKEBOX in either Windows Meda or Realplayer mode... it just says "ready..." in windows media, and in REAL PLAYER, it says "Requested File not found. The Link you followed maybe outdated or inaccurate." What might be the problem here??

See PM:

I moved mp3 from musicbox_filetypes_realplayer to musicbox_filetypes, and all the entries in your music and video category seem to work fine - e.g. your uploaded talk show and an mp3 I added from our test site (see AD test mp3) - plus the videos.

With mp3 sitting in the musicbox_filetypes_realplayer list, it seemed to me that realplayer is trying to obtain a quicktime plugin - not sure why.

I couldn't trigger your error message at all.