Question About Hacks...

Howdy Everyone,

I'm thinking about taking a shot at writing a small hack for vBulletin...something I'd love for my own board and something I think will be useful for others...but, I have a problem:

I'm only so-so with PHP and MySQL, which means my code will likely be AMAZINGLY sloppy/messy and un-organized...and probably not nearly the most efficient way to do what I want to do.

My question is: should I even bother? Does the neatness of the code matter, or does it simply have to function?

Thanks!

If it works then it must be great. I am sure some of the experts here will be happy to suggest improvements to make it quicker/more efficient.

Ok, cool.

Just so you know: I've gone ahead and begun work...and so far it looks really good! The result...that is: not the code!

Another downside is that I'd have to organize it, provide installation instructions...and then comment it all over the place.

Tell ya'll what: I'll keep working on it...if it works fine on my tests, then I'll install it on my board (or some test board) and let you all see it - if you decide you all like it, I'll make it available to everyone...but I will DEFINETLY need help cleaning it up!

Anyone guess what the hack is yet?

Well i was guessing the poll but without dampening any spirits i think that has already been made and will definitely be included in the next vbulletin release.

No no, not the poll.

I'm trying to create a "My Favorite Threads" area where people can save different threads for later viewing. So far its working out well...I'll probably need help at some point using cookies for the username and password, etc.

My code is VERY sloppy, but so far it works!

That is really cool. I think there was a thread back sometime where we discussed ideas about this. Someone created a cool looking image to give an indication of how it would work. Perhaps you saw that.

I certainly look forward to seeing it, an excellent feature.

Didn't see that, but did see a few threads about it...one of them was me requesting it, and another was someone else semi-requesting it...

yeah, code polish is important, especailly in mysql calls. you can often reduce the calls with some nice programming tricks.

doron: could you tell me more about that, either here or through email (chris@movieforums.com)? I'd appreciate some help with "polishing"...my hack is basically functional...all it comes down to now is polishing, documenting and just a tiny thing or two about the templates.

I think it's done!

It's functional, at least...I do have a few problems still I'd like to fix:

http://www.spunkyjunk.com/testboard/index.php

Username: test
Password: test

Go ahead and try saving topics...there's a link on each thread underneath the Email to a friend/Print Thread links...

And YES, I made the folder icon for the fivelinks template, and I created the little yellow disk - cool, huh?

The one thing I really think it's lacking (other than the use of templates...I'm getting to that!) is a username and password ALREADY entered when the page loads...like when you post a reply - what code can I use to grab that cookie info like vB does?

Thanks! If the response merits it, I'll finish this hack and release it...want to see if you all have use for it first.