Administrative and Maintenance Tools - Commbull (Community Bulletin) 5.1a for vBulletin 4.01

This not the CommBull product itself. This is simply instructions for adapting it to work with vBulletin 4.x.

Download CommBull from: Commbull (Community Bulletin) 5.1a for vBulletin 3.8x

grandeur_69 has released his latest version of CommBull as a free add-on, indicating that he no longer has time to continue developing it. I am posting this here for the benefit of other vBulletin 4.x who don't want to lose the newsletter feature (grandeur_69 has approved this).

At https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....6&postcount=71 a member asks:

Hi, the version 5.1a work fine with vbulletin 4.0.1 ?

My response is posted at https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....5&postcount=72 and reproduced here...

I have the previous (commercial) version, 4.5f, which does run successfully via a cron job, running on 4.01. It required some modification of the installation instructions but it does work. I expect you should be able to get this version running as well, although as the coder noted the cron capability won't work.

1. Edit product-Commbull.xml and find the following line:

PHP Code:

        <dependency dependencytype="vbulletin" minversion="3.6.0" maxversion="3.8.99" /> 


Change to:

PHP Code:

        <dependency dependencytype="vbulletin" minversion="3.6.0" maxversion="4.99" /> 


2. Upload the files and import the product.

3. Now you need to do the template edits so that members can opt-in or opt-out of your newsletter. The current instructions are as follows:

4. Template modifications
--------------------------------------

Template: "Modify User Option" -> "modifyoptions"

After:

PHP Code:

                    <tr>
                        <td><label for="cb_adminemail"><input type="checkbox" name="options[adminemail]" value="1" id="cb_adminemail" $checked[adminemail] />$vbphrase[receive_email_from_bulletin_board_staff]</label><input type="hidden" name="set_options[adminemail]" value="1" /></td>
                    </tr> 


Add:

PHP Code:

                    <tr>
                        <td><label for="commbull"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull" value="1" id="commbull" $checked[receivebulletin] />$vbphrase[receive_email_from_commbull]</label><input type="hidden" name="set_options[receivebulletin]" value="1" /></td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td><br />$vbphrase[newsletterformat]<br /><label for="commbull_type"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull_type" value="1" id="commbull_type" $checked[receivebulletin_type] />$vbphrase[type_email_from_commbull]</label>
<input type="hidden" name="set_options[receivebulletin_type]" value="1" /></td>
                    </tr> 


Now, obviously this won't work in 4.x. These need to be modified as follows:

1. Edit Template: "Modify User Option" -> "modifyoptions"

FIND:

PHP Code:

<vb:if condition="$show['friend_email_request']">
                    <li>
                        <label for="cb_receivefriendemailrequest"><input type="checkbox" name="options[receivefriendemailrequest]" value="1" id="cb_receivefriendemailrequest" tabindex="1" {vb:raw checked.receivefriendemailrequest} /> {vb:rawphrase receive_friendship_req_email}</label>
                        <input type="hidden" name="set_options[receivefriendemailrequest]" value="1" />
                    </li>
                </vb:if> 


ADD AFTER:

PHP Code:

<vb:if condition="$show['receiveemail']">
<li>
    <label for="commbull"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull" value="1" id="commbull" tabindex="1" {vb:raw checked.receivebulletin} />{vb:rawphrase receive_email_from_commbull}</label>
    <input type="hidden" name="set_options[receivebulletin]" value="1" />
</li>
</vb:if> 


That first part (above) is the option to receive or not receive the newsletters.

Next would be the option for HTML or plain text emails, which should be:

PHP Code:

<vb:if condition="$show['receiveemail']">
<li>
    <label for="commbull_type"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull_type" value="1" id="commbull_type" tabindex="1" {vb:raw checked.receivebulletin_type} />{vb:rawphrase type_email_from_commbull}</label>
    <input type="hidden" name="set_options[receivebulletin_type]" value="1" />
</li>
</vb:if> 


Update:

This now works. I had a ( instead of a { on the previous code. Thanks to grandeur_69 for pointing this out!

Notes:

1. The product is not mine so I can't offer any support for CommBull itself. However, I have been using the paid versions of this mod for some time and I'm happy to offer what support I can for making the changes necessary to get it running on 4.x.
   
   
2. I have been in communication with grandeur_69. He has indicated that he has no objections to this thread and that as he gets time he will be trying to develop this add-on further as a free product.

Update July 12, 2010: Product XML file provided by grandeur_69 for vBulletin 4.x.

NOTE:

1. If you have already done the manual edits, do NOT use the XML file. And if you import the XML file, you should not need to do the manual edits.
   
2. Some people are encountering problems using the XML file. If you are one of them, uninstall the product and use the manual edits. Those seem to work just fine.

Update July 14, 2010: Error in XML file corrected.

[djbaxter]

That's a server error. You'll need to contact tech support for your hosting service.

[racingsolution]

Installed this on my 4.x forums and it's working great.. thank you

[asuccar]

Great add-on...work perfectly

Request though, i can sent latest posts, polls, b'days, events...but can we also send out latest blogs and articles? Does anyone knows how?

oh, just one more question

I want to greet the user as 'Dear Username', where i want the username to appear, to '\$vbphrase[username]' or just '$username'...or is it something different?

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by asuccar

Great add-on...work perfectly

Request though, i can sent latest posts, polls, b'days, events...but can we also send out latest blogs and articles? Does anyone knows how?

No. This add-on was originally created for vBulletin 3.x, before the Suite was released. It will work on 4.x with the modifications outlined here but I know of no way to include articles and blogs.

Originally Posted by asuccar

oh, just one more question

I want to greet the user as 'Dear Username', where i want the username to appear, to '\$vbphrase[username]' or just '$username'...or is it something different?

Not sure I understand your question but if you want it to appear as "Dear asuccar:" you would use:

PHP Code:

Dear \$username: 


[asuccar]

Cheers dude...and yep, that was exactly what i was asking

[hudarsono]

Hi,

I just installed this mod. But i couldn't find the option to send html newsletter? Does it has html editor for us to write the newsletter ourself?

Thank you

[djbaxter]

Depending on which version you installed, you should find it in the Admin CP -> Users menu.

Scroll down to Send Community Bulletin.

[kaype]

Tried to install this on 4.1.3, but did not install the XML, gave me the following error message below. Any help will be appreciated.

The following dependencies were not met:

This product is not compatible with version 4.1.3 of vBulletin. (Compatible starting with 3.0 / Incompatible with 4.1 and greater)

[djbaxter]

You'll need to edit the product-Commbull.xml file.

FIND around line 10:

PHP Code:

<dependency dependencytype="vbulletin" minversion="3.5" maxversion="3.8" /> 


CHANGE TO:

PHP Code:

<dependency dependencytype="vbulletin" minversion="3.5" maxversion="4.9" /> 


[StarBuG]

I get the following error when I try to send the newsletter:

Warning: Missing argument 1 for vB_Database::query_write(), called in [path]/acp/commbull_functions.php on line 366 and defined in [path]/includes/class_core.php on line 438


Database error in vBulletin 4.1.4:

Invalid SQL:
;

MySQL Error   : Query was empty
Error Number  : 1065
Request Date  : Friday, July 1st 2011 @ 02:27:27 PM
Error Date    : Friday, July 1st 2011 @ 02:27:27 PM
Script        : http://www.adsenseexperts.com/acp/commbull.php?do=send
Referrer      : http://www.adsenseexperts.com/acp/commbull.php
IP Address    : xxx
Username      : me
Classname     : vB_Database
MySQL Version : 5.0.51a-24+lenny5

I run 4.14

Any help is appreciated