Major Additions - vBCredits - Ultimate Points System

vBCredits is the ultimate points system for your vBulletin!
Click here for the vB3.6 compatible version

Yes, this also works for vB3.8!

Thank you to everyone who voted us MOTM

Features:

• Earning Credits
  • Twenty-Four Actions Eligible for Awards
    • Induction
      • Registration, Promotion, Subscription, etc
    • Referral
    • Paycheck
      • Definable Time Period
    • Activity
      • Definable Qualification
    • Birthday
    • Grant Reputation
      • Can Integrate with Rep Power
    • Receive Reputation
      • Can Multiply Reputation Points
    • Infraction
      • Can Multiply Infraction Points
    • New Thread
    • Rate Thread
      • Can Multiply Rating
    • Posting
    • Own Thread Posting
    • Post Size
      • Multiply Against Chars or Words
      • Can Strip BB Code Prior
      • Definable Maximum
    • Your Thread Viewed
      • Can Disable Guest Views
    • Your Thread Rated
    • Your Thread Replied
    • Your Profile Viewed
    • Poll Creation
    • Poll Vote
    • Upload Attachment
    • Sending PM
    • Calendar Event
    • Profile Picture
    • Profile Fields
      • Can Multiply Number of Fields
      • Can Set Minimum Fields
  • Decimal Settings for Credits and Percentages
  • Protocol for Negative Balances
  • Award Recalculation when Action Changes
  • Award Negation Multiplier
    • When Action Revoked Such As Post Deletion
  • Forum Overrides
    • Twelve Eligible Actions by Usergroup
    • ACP Tool to Configure Multiple at Once
    • Earning in Forums Can be Turned Off
• Displaying Credits
  • Everybody, Private, Nobody
    • Usergroup Permission to See All Private Amounts
  • Displays by Global, Usergroup, Forum
  • Lock Usergroups from Entire System
  • AJAX Navbar Amount Refresh
  • Display / Order by Savings, Checking, or Both
  • Richest User Listing
    • Can Exclude Usergroups From Listing
  • Display Credits in Memberlist
• Extensive Referral System
  • Validate by Time, Posts, and Reputation
  • Referee Credit Incentive
  • Number of Referrals per Referral Point
  • Maximum Referral Points
  • Referral Points Multiplied Against Additive Referral Bonus
  • ARB Increases ALL Other Action Award Amounts
• Post Award System
  • AJAX Through Thread or Profile
  • Can Spend From Central Board Account
    • Filled from Taxes, Fees, etc
  • Daily, User, Thread Limits
  • Can Disallow Negative Awards
  • Disable by Usergroup, Forum
  • Moderate by Usergroup, Forum
  • Can Publicly Display Awards in Thread
• Transaction Log
  • Displays All Donations, Awards, Payments, Winnings, etc
  • Can be Split into Pages
  • Usergroup Permission to View All Users' Logs
  • Specify Transaction Alerts via PM
  • Comments and Reasons Allow BB Code
• Donations
  • Support for Comments and Anonymous
  • Time Based User Limits
  • Donation Fee
  • Fee Handling Protocol
  • Moderate / Cancel Donations
• Drawings
  • Unlimited Concurrent Drawings
  • Raffle / Lottery Types
  • Static / Raising Jackpots
  • Per Drawing Ticket Cost
  • Maximum Active Tickets
  • Minimum / Maximum Tickets Sold for Drawings
  • Recurring Drawings
  • Usergroup Discounts
  • Configurable Title and Date
  • Exclude Usergroups
  • Optional Winner PHP
  • Allow Lottery Number Picking
  • Tax on Winnings
  • Archive Time Limit for Completed Drawings
  • Retry Period for Ineligible Drawings
• Savings Accounts
  • Validate Access by Time, Posts, and Reputation
  • Minimum Balance for Interest
  • Bank Transfer Fee
  • Pending Deposits
  • Early Withdrawal Fee
  • Interest Intervals
  • Maximum Savings per Usergroup
  • Configurable Usergroup Interest Rates
  • Moderate Deposits
• Loans
  • Moderate Loans
  • Maximum Total Loans and Amounts
  • Minimum Loan Amount
  • Minimum Payment by Due Date
  • Late Payment Fee
  • Automatic Recurring Payments
  • Accountability Rating for Loan Repayment
  • Good and Bad Rating Thresholds
  • Lock Spending Ability if Below Bad Rating
  • Transfer Usergroups when Threshold Passed
    • Reward or Punish Users with New Rates and Abilities
• Administrative Utilities
  • Mass Usergroup Updater
    • Select Template Usergroup to Copy Settings
    • Select Multiple Target Usergroups
    • Configure All Usergroup Settings and Awards
  • Mass Credit Updater
    • Retroactively Award Users Based on Settings
    • Can be Used to Award Static Amounts to All Users
    • Can be Used to Reset Entire Usergroups
    • Pick and Choose Usergroups and Awards to Calculate
  • Modify User Accounts by Criteria
    • First Search for Users Using Familiar Options
    • Can Search by Savings and Checking Amounts
    • Can Alter Resulting Users' Amounts Directly
    • Can Apply Easy-to-Use Custom Defined Formula
      • Use Simple Math, Numbers, and Variables
        • Days Registered
        • Post Count
        • Reputation
        • Infraction Points
        • Checking and Savings Amounts
• Overall Quality
  • Everything is Easily Disabled / Unlimited
  • Will Not Alter Environment for vB or Other Hacks
  • Fully Phrased
  • Complete Admin Help*
  • WOL Locations
  • Includes Hooks
  • Unique Plugin Optimization
  • Uses Bitfields and Datastore
  • Maintains Sessions
  • Includes TMS Support
  • No File Edits

and much more!

Just follow the directions carefully in the zip based on whether you are clean installing or upgrading


Fully integrated with vBulletin and easily integrated with third party scripts:
Many hacks allow you to specify a points system by entering the table and column for the points data. Use TABLE: user COLUMN: credits when integrating vBCredits with such hacks (note: you may need to include your table prefix with some hacks)! If you are unsure about integration - ask me!

Why is this version not the gold version yet?
vBCredits 1.4rc1 went through a long bugtesting process at the official site, and rc2 is largely bug free in its entirety. However, *it is missing most of the admin help and post/thread deletion actions are temporarily removed while I figure out how to fix them.

Footnotes:
Thank you for using vBCredits, I would be happy to hear your feedback and correct anything that comes up. For more tailored support, please indicate you have installed this hack, and if you like it you can nominate this for MOTM. Use of this free hack requires that you retain the copyright line at the bottom of the forum (PM me otherwise). If you do not agree with this, please do not use vBCredits - thank you for your understanding and support!

[imported_silkroad]

Hello,

Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Is there an addon or feature where we can assign points for moderation and/or admin activities?

[Darkwaltz4]

Originally Posted by imported_silkroad

Hello,

Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Is there an addon or feature where we can assign points for moderation and/or admin activities?

if i understand correctly - not really (except maybe getting an infraction). but to be sure, what kind of activities did you have in mind?

[imported_silkroad]

Sorry not to be clear, I mean to reward moderators:

(1) Giving infractions
(2) Approving threads and posts
(3) Approving visitor messages
(4) Deleting posts as spam
(5) Approving attachments

etc... other moderating tasks.

Also, the same for admins:

(1) Installing a plugin
(2) Modifying a template
(3) Adding a new phrase
(4) Changing a users profile

etc etc

[imported_silkroad]

Hey Darkwaltz4,

Great plugin system, BTW. We installed yesterday and our users seem to really like it. It is a keeper! We have around 80K registered users and nearly 3M PVs a month these days, so I am sure I will have a lot of questions

One of the most important activities by users is to search a forum before posting a question.

Is there any reason you did not including giving credit for searching in your vBCredit system?

[imported_silkroad]

Hey Darkwaltz4,

I tried to add

$userinfo[credits]

from the members info page to another template (another mod).

In the members info tempate it gives total credits. but it only gives checking account credits in another template.

Do you have a handy was to add something like:

<span class="shade">$vbphrase[credits]:</span> $userinfo[credits]

to a different template and get the total credits?

[imported_silkroad]

More questions.

How can Admins and Moderators edit the comments made when credits are awarded for a post?

I don't think they can!

This means the vBCredits systems has the potential for abuse and spam since poster scan post any comment, good, bad, profane, ugly, etc. when they award credits for a post !!

I thought we could edit these when editing the post or thread, but no joy. Everything can be edited, except the vBCredits information...

Whoops ... !

[Darkwaltz4]

Originally Posted by imported_silkroad

Sorry not to be clear, I mean to reward moderators:

(1) Giving infractions
(2) Approving threads and posts
(3) Approving visitor messages
(4) Deleting posts as spam
(5) Approving attachments

etc... other moderating tasks.

Also, the same for admins:

(1) Installing a plugin
(2) Modifying a template
(3) Adding a new phrase
(4) Changing a users profile

etc etc

No, these are not supported. Theres also no hooks for most of them :-/ would require a lot of file editing.

Originally Posted by imported_silkroad

Hey Darkwaltz4,

One of the most important activities by users is to search a forum before posting a question.

Is there any reason you did not including giving credit for searching in your vBCredit system?

Not...really... you are the first to request it

Originally Posted by imported_silkroad

Hey Darkwaltz4,

I tried to add

$userinfo[credits]

from the members info page to another template (another mod).

In the members info tempate it gives total credits. but it only gives checking account credits in another template.

Do you have a handy was to add something like:

<span class="shade">$vbphrase[credits]:</span> $userinfo[credits]

to a different template and get the total credits?

The variables are rendered in the templates you were instructed to add them to. If you want to change or add more places, then corresponding hooks need to have the rendering code applied to them. if you tell me where you want to add it, i can probably tell you the plugin part to add.

Originally Posted by imported_silkroad

How can Admins and Moderators edit the comments made when credits are awarded for a post?

I don't think they can!

This means the vBCredits systems has the potential for abuse and spam since poster scan post any comment, good, bad, profane, ugly, etc. when they award credits for a post !!

I thought we could edit these when editing the post or thread, but no joy. Everything can be edited, except the vBCredits information...

Whoops ... !

You are right, but they still obey your censor and bbcode settings at least. Most people dont allow use of the post award system for nontrusted groups (although it is built to allow it).

[imported_silkroad]

Thanks for the answers.

Regarding the total credits for a user, I am trying to add that to another template outside of the vBCredits system called "Meet Our Staff". When I add:

$userinfo[credits]

... we get only the Checking Account, not the totals.

Also, I noticed the same problems existing in vBCredits in the user profile-->statistics page.

PS: Why does vbulletin.org not have BB code icons for easy BBcoding when writing or editing a post??

[EagleNick]

Does this count points from the day I install the mod or does it count all previous activity from the beginning of the forum's existence? Or is there a way to choose which setup I'd like to use?

[imported_silkroad]

Reference:

http://www.vbcredits.com/forum/showthread.php?p=16541

Dear dark and pix,

We implemented vBCredits on our forum with nearly 80K registered users and upwards toward 3M monthly PVs. We renamed "Credits" based on our team's suggestion and off we went. What a great idea you guys have!

I spent about 10 hours tweeking various configuration combinations and running the mass update tool. After all that time, I still don't understand how that tool actually calculates legacy credits (LOL), but nevermind, after working all night, I came up with a baseline for our users, many of which have been around for nearly 10 years.

Then, after abit more tweeking, I created a spreadsheet and a table so our mod and admin teams could understand which activities awarded what credits to which (primary) user groups (more on this in another post). I ended up installing the BBCode Tables mod just so I could present this info to our users in an easy to read format.

Then, as you guys know by now, with the force of our user base being me asking questions, I starting asking questions to you guys in rapid fire.

Your replies have been, if I may summarize "we have got cool (commercial) products other than vBCredits, like vBAdvertise/Customize/Commerce and more"..... All of this is great stuff, and I agree you guys have a winning formula for a potential to become one of the top vB addons, far more useful than ipProArcade etc. or the other popular mods (and more profitable!). For sure, credits++ has the potential to be the most powerful. You could build an entire on-line game around vBcredits, more fun that anything in the video arcades!! But I digress.....

However, for our site (and I suspect others as well), we want every user to give currency to everyone, as rewards, for fun, even for profit. We want users to trade them and exchange them. All of this will become the "core economic engine" of the site, so all users can get the max benefit from vBCommerce and more in the future. First, we need a solid economic engine, and vBCredits is not quite there yet.

I think your business model of giving away "the core" vBCredits is very sound and is a must for your future growth. I can understand why you are working on licensing and addons that compliment the core system. Based on my (short few days) work with your product, you have some infrastructure problems as well. I would like to express those to you, if you don't mind, in order to help based on experience running an active, fairly large community.

First, your "free core" is incomplete. Your transaction logging and auditing for admins is non-existent, so it is not possible to see an overall picture of what is happening! This is a very basic requirement.

Second (actually part of the first), the "core banking system" does not provide overall banking statistics such as "total currency in the central bank", "total of all savings and by usergroups " "total of checking and also by usergroups" etc. These are pretty basic economic stats that you must provide to make the "core" feasible to move beyond "an experimental core" to "the future of vBulletin addons". To be a cyber currency for a site, admins and users must know what is the total of all currency in the system, including the central bank, so we can calculate ratios, FDP (Forum Domestic Product, LOL) and know how much currency is floating with the users versus in the central banks, etc. This is not very difficult for you to do in vBCredits, and completes the "core banking system" so to be useful to build virtual economies. This is critical for you for all your underlying future business models.

Third, I forgot! I was so focused on the above, I forgot the other items in my head!! (Something about the need for admins and mods to edit award comments, because we need all users to be able to participate in the virtual economy, not only priv' users)

Basically, you guys are "on to something big" and it seems, from a new admin on the block using your core for a fairly large and busy forum perspective, you guys are seemingly ignoring developing the core free system in order to pursuit commercial addons. I can understand, perhaps, you want to make money, and that is good, because we are certainly willing to pay. I have nothing against you guys making big money, that is why I am writing this post!

However, as I have mentioned, your "core system" is incomplete and therefore the foundation is weak and this weakness is a constraint to your business growth. I am sure you are well aware of this, and you are (more than likely) resource constrained, and maybe you have choosen to focus on the newer (commercial) addons so you can someday "quit your day jobs", which is a great idea! Actually, I don't know what is in your heads, but I do know, as a user, your core product is a constraining weakness.

Althought you are focused on good things such as "advertising models for boards", I can tell you that this has much less potential for your future revenue that focusing on the "core system" so boards can build cyber economies. With a strong core cyber economy, anything is possible. I mean anything!

Please, please. Consider my post as a friend who likes you guys very much and only wishes you the best! I want you to get rich! You can do it, I believe, if you refocus your efforts on the core system for a few months and strengthen it. If you do, it will pay off in big real hard currency and strengthen your commercial offerings.

In the beginning, (a few days ago, LOL), I was very excited as were our users. However, as we use the system, there are key essential parts missing in the core. I kindly suggest that you need to build vBCredits as a viable core economic-engine first, and when you do, the sky is the limit for you guys. Developers will even develop on top of your core. You must know this already!

Please. Fix the core engine. I am happy to help guide you based on our site, because we need your engine for our core economy now. (I notice that others have communicated bits-and-pieces of this message to you as well). We don't need an Advertising model, we have one, LOL (however, we might use vBAdvertise in the future for sure!) We need an internal, virtual, economic model first. We want our forums to be a cyber community with a virtual economy where users can interact with each others with virtual currency. If you guys can do this, you are the big winners as so are board admins and users.

Thanks for listening. Please, consider my advice, and refocus on improving the core. If you do, you will make more money and maybe even become famous.