Add-On Releases - Custom Tag Cloud in vbAdvanced, Forum Home & Related Pages

Download the latest version that supports social groups clouds here: 2.5 Version (VB 3.8 required)

Forum VBA Custom Tag Cloud
This mod adds 6 features to VB?s tag cloud:

1. It allows you to display the tag cloud in forum related pages in any location you want. You can display tag clouds in forumhome, forumdisplay, and showthread, and hook it to any $template_hook or HTML comment. Instead of installing 3 different mods to accomplish this, you can install this mod to do all 3. Plus you can specify if you want to not display the tag cloud in certain pages.

2. It allows you to show the tag cloud in your site?s home page in any location you want if you have vbAdvanced installed (optional).

3. When viewing forumdisplay or showthread (pages listing threads or posts), you can specify custom styles for tags that belong to the active forum or thread being viewed so that users will know which tags are relevant to that forum or thread.

4. It allows you to specify preferred tags that you want to have custom styles so that they will be noticed more. For example, if your site just started a forum about cars with tags like ?Lexus? ?Infinity?, you can specify those tags as preferred to draw attention to the new forum.

5. The tag cloud resides in a collapsible box and has a legend for the custom styles.

6. When viewing a thread (in showthread), this mod will move the thread?s tag box below the tag cloud. The tag box and tag cloud are different: the tag box shows tags specific to its thread, whereas the tag cloud shows tags from all threads. Currently, the tag box is shown at the very bottom of the thread, which can be easily ignored by readers. Moving it next to the tag cloud will make the tag box more visible.

Installation
1. Download the product xml file. Go to Manage Products > Add/Import Product, upload that xml file, set ?allow overwrite? to yes, and click Import.

2. Go to VB Options > Forum VBA Tag Clouds to set the locations of the tag cloud (default is below the navbar) and custom tag styles.

3. Optional: to display the tag cloud in vbAdvanced, go to VBA CMPS > Default Settings > Main Options > add to ?Portal Output Global Variables?:

tag_cloud

.
Update:
Reimport the new product xml file and allow overwrite.
See the 2nd post for a screenshot and template hook selection tips.

Versions:

  1.0.0/ 1.0.1 Initial Release.
  2.0.0 New Features:
  Auto templating ? allows setting the location of the tag cloud anywhere on the page.
  Tag cloud resides in a collapsible box and has a legend for the custom styles.
  Tags that belong to the active forum or thread being viewed can have custom styles.
  Added option to set preferred tags that will have custom styles to get them noticed more.
  2.0.2 Optimized memory usage.
  2.0.5 Optimized code to create tag links. Created preselected hooks for forumhome.
  2.1.0 Fixed a potential conflict with other mods.

Notes:
1. I read all posts for this mod so feel free to post any comments or suggestions.
2. You will be notified by e-mail for future updates if you click ?Marked as Installed.? If you find this mod useful, remember to click ?Nominate for MOTM.?

MAKE SURE TO CLICK INSTALL

[vbboarder]

Things to notice with the new 2.0 tag cloud:
1. Tag cloud is no longer directly below the navbar (you can move it anywhere you want).
2. Button to collapse the tag cloud at the right corner.
3. Legend for the active & preferred tags at the right corner.
4. “Uploaded” is styled red because it’s set as a preferred tag.
5. “Test” & “xml” are styled aqua because they are active/ present in the thread being viewed (for a forum, all tags in its threads will be custom styled).

Template Hook Selection Tips:
1. You can find and place hooks in adv_portal, FORUMHOME, FORUMDISPLAY, & SHOWTHREAD templates. The hook must be $navbar, $template_hook, or a HTML comment (ie: $template_hook[place] or <!-- comment -->).
2. If you set the hook to a nonexistent $template_hook or HTML comment, then the tag cloud will not show. Also, if you don’t specify a hook location then it will not show.
3. If you set the hook to a nonvalid value (ie: $test, test, <td>, etc.), then the tag cloud will show below the navbar by default.
4. If the hook occurs multiple times within the template, then the tag cloud will also appear multiple times.
5. If you’re familiar with the template, you can add your own $template_hook or HTML comment to place the tag cloud where you want.

6. The tag cloud will not show if you choose a hook located within an <if> condition that evaluates to false.
7. Hooks located in a table must be located within a <td> cell, otherwise the table layout may be messed up. Caution: forumhome’s template hooks are not located in <td> cells.
8. Hooking the tag cloud in the middle of a form can potentially disable the form. For example, in SHOWTHREAD if you use <!-- controls above postbits --> as a hook, then the inline moderation & tag editing will not function!

[FreshFroot]

nice hack, will try it out

thanks

[SEOvB]

Um, all the other mods would let you display the tag cloud wherever you'd want to as well.

But nice job none the less, looks good

[vbboarder]

2.0.0 New Features: See the 2nd post for a screenshot and template hook selection tips.
Auto templating – allows setting the location of the tag cloud anywhere on the page.
Tag cloud resides in a collapsible box and has a legend for the custom styles.
Tags that belong to the active forum or thread being viewed can have custom styles.
Added option to set preferred tags that will have custom styles to get them noticed more.

This mod does several things that other tag clouds mods don't do:
1. This is the only mod that will move the showthread's tag box next to the tag cloud.
2. This is the only mod that will show the tag cloud in vbAdvanced without requiring template edits or creating vba modules.
3. This is the only mod that will give you the option of showing or not showing the tag cloud on all 3 types of forum pages without requiring template edits.
4. This is the only mod that allows you to custom style active & preferred tags.

[redlabour]

Absolutely great!

But:

[Bug] Clicking Tabs does not bring you to the Tab related Overview of Topics if you click them at vBadvanced if vBadvanced is not installed in Forumroot. It only makes a refresh of the Portal.

My vBa is installed at / and not at /forum.

Please fix this.

You can see it at http://www.politikstube.de

[vbboarder]

Just updated to 1.0.1: fixed tag links for sites with vbAdvanced installed in a NON-forum directory (other sites should not be affected).

[ujai]

Hi,

How can I edit the tag to be place at other place besides the top?

Thanks in advance

[redlabour]

Originally Posted by vbboarder

Just updated to 1.0.1: fixed tag links for sites with vbAdvanced installed in a NON-forum directory (other sites should not be affected).

Works perfect!

[sinucello]

Hi,

thanks for this mod, I like the flexibility of it. Maybe you could add an option that allows to place a custom marker in one or all of the templates e. g. ###tagcloud###. This would be even more flexible.

all the best,
Sacha