vBISpy - AJAX real-time feed of new posts/threads (for vB3.5)

After seeing the http://www.digg.com/spy application; I wondered if this could be done for vBulletin as well. I came across this webpage which had a "how to" on how they built a similiar application to do the same thing. Taking a page from their book (i.e. the code), I modified it for use with vBulletin.

During development, I also came across this post here on vBulletin.Org where the very subject had already been discussed.

So I put this together; a simple ZIP file with a single PHP script, three javascript files and 4 images.

Installation

. UNZIP the file into your forums directory
. That's it!

Virtually all the code to customize the page is in the vaispy.php script; there are no plugins, no templates and no phrases. You do not need to do anything further; this should work right out of the box.

In your browser, open the URL:

http://www.yourforum.com/forum/vaispy.php

You can see examples of this at:

http://www.viperalley.com/forum/vaispy.php
http://www.extremefitness.com/forum/vaispy.php

Note: I claim no ownership of this code except for the file vaispy.php - the rest of the files were using 'freely distributable' sources. As such, you may use these files as you wish, but please do not remove the copyrights.

This version is for vBulletin 3.5 users only, for vBulletin 3.6 you will need to download the 3.6 version located here.

JOIN THE vBIspy Network!
Once you have this mod installed, you can join the vBIspy network to have your threads appear on this site; the vBIspy Network is a great way for people to see what's going on in various vBulletin communities and for forum owners to promote their sites and generate new traffic.

Optional add-ons

Who's Online mod for this: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=126209

vBAdvanced Module: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=126421

UPDATES
1.0.2
Added buro9's code from here

1.0.3 - 9.9.06
Modified some JavaScript in va_spy.js to remove split strings

1.0.4 - 9.10.06
Added date cuffoff code from here and changed init() to spyinit() - changed vaispy.php and va_spy.js files.

1.0.5 - 9.11.06
I've changed the query to grab the preview text from the last message; the downside to this change is that people with very large "post" tables will want to add an index to their table to significantly improve the performance on this script.

ALTER TABLE `vb_post` ADD INDEX ( `dateline` )

1.0.6 - 9.12.06
va_spy.js: Added a forum url variable to allow for integration with portals or other products outside the forum directory
va_spy.js: Added xmldelay variable at top of script for easier configuration or repolling
Updated files: vaispy.php, vb_spy.js

1.0.7 - 9.13.06
vaispy.php - changed code for checking for forum permissions to include password protected forums, added javascript tag for script code
va_spy.js - changed link to use goto=lastpost to fix links

1.0.8 - 9.16.06
vaispy.php
va_spy.js
va_effects.js
- modified to allow for proper display in Opera browsers and moved more html into vaispy.php to allow for stylevars, trimmed va_effects.js to remove unused code (ForumDog's suggestions, except not using templates yet), changed way threads are parsed (removes html as well)

1.0.9 - 9.17.06
va_prototype.js - removed 20kb of unused code

[MPDev]

Okay, I did some checking - the postid is coming from the first post in the thread; not the last. This is a problem for vB3.5 and requires making the change I outlined above.

I can update the module here, but people running larger sites will want to add an index on dateline in the post table.

[djwins]

Originally Posted by MPDev

You can try the change from this post:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....8&postcount=42

And see if that makes a difference.

I cant find where to make the change.
My line 57 is blank.

[MPDev]

Download from the current file and upload the va_spy.js and vaispy.php files.

[djwins]

I want to make the change you posted here, but not sure my line 267 is the same as yours. Can you post the code from the line before as well?

[MPDev]

It would be easier if you just downloaded the current files.

[ChurchMedia]

Thanks for the cool hack!

On mine, it isn't following permissions correctly. It's showing *all* the threads no matter who you are. Could this be because I'm running 5.2?

[Gizmo5h1t3]

ok, ive uploaded the most recent files, which obviously overwrite the old ones...thing is, the fix u supplied in the last one to get the thing to go to the last post in a thread, the code u supplied i cant find now in the file to adapt...can u help, as now the newestfiles dont go to the last post, they go to the FIRST.....

[MPDev]

Well, the only change I can think of is in va_spy.js at line 279:

		post_url = vburl + 'showthread.php?t=' + threadid + 'goto=laspost';

[djwins]

Actually, this is better:

	post_url = vburl + 'showthread.php?goto=lastpost&t=' + threadid;

Is there a way to get that query/performance improvement ported over to the 3.5 version?

[stud]

i noticed this also. The link it is generating is incorrect:

http://www.domain.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1484#60

#60 will not work as a modifier