Shared Forum Mod -- latest version: 0.2.5.4

[Sarge]

Great idea! Where in the template do you suggest the drop-down menu should be placed?

It should read on that bar: Jump to: [forum dropdown list] [current forum board dropdown list][go]

Implemented. Just a little bit different:
Forum: [forum dropdown list] [go]
Jump to: [current forum board/category dropdown list][go]

[KreedGhost]

I would love to test this on my forum, I have been looking for a MOD like this for sometime....

[DenDen60]

I wrote :If you look at your web site:
http://www.albwebmaster.com/index.php? the name on the top stays AlbWebMaster wheter your are on one forum ot the other.

I need this to change each time I change forum.

You wrote: Well spotted.  It was set in TPortal.php, a TP file. I changed that too.

Well I think I did not explain it well. I meant The title needs to change.

Thanks

Denis

If you are talking about the page title (the window title in your browser), now it changes every time you switch to a(nother) forum. It only stays "AlbWebMaster" while you have not  entered a forum yet. The mod has no way of knowing which forum should be displayed without the user telling the mod which forum to display (i.e. by clicking on a forum, board or topic link). Do you have any idea about what should be done about this?

If you're talking about something else, please tell me.

Sarge, I am talking about the name of your forum that appears in the Blue sky just under Hello... and you have 0 message. There you see Albwebmaster. I need this to change to reflect the name of the forum where the person is.

DenDen60

[Sarge]

rge, I am talking about the name of your forum that appears in the Blue sky just under Hello... and you have 0 message. There you see Albwebmaster. I need this to change to reflect the name of the forum where the person is.

DenDen60

I see. I will fix that.

[Sarge]

I have added some options in the mod's control panel:



I've implemented some of them and I'm working on the rest.

Please comment on what should be there (or not).

[DenDen60]

rge, I am talking about the name of your forum that appears in the Blue sky just under Hello... and you have 0 message. There you see Albwebmaster. I need this to change to reflect the name of the forum where the person is.

DenDen60

I see. I will fix that.

That would be great. Thanks

[DenDen60]

I have added some options in the mod's control panel:



I've implemented some of them and I'm working on the rest.

Please comment on what should be there (or not).

From my point of view some of these should be options that user could select while using.

Ex. In one case user would like to see only his own post or unread replies in current forum, but in another he would like to see his own posts or unread replies from all forums.

Same for the search. Sometime you want to search local, sometime you want to search global.

In my humble opinion of course

DenDen60
Ps.: You are doing a good job. ;-)

[Sarge]

From my point of view some of these should be options that user could select while using.

Ex. In one case user would like to see only his own post or unread replies in current forum, but in another he would like to see his own posts or unread replies from all forums.

Same for the search. Sometime you want to search local, sometime you want to search global.

Where would the user select these options?

In my humble opinion of course

DenDen60

Your opinion counts as much as mine.

Ps.: You are doing a good job. ;-)

Thank you.

[DenDen60]

From my point of view some of these should be options that user could select while using.

Ex. In one case user would like to see only his own post or unread replies in current forum, but in another he would like to see his own posts or unread replies from all forums.

Same for the search. Sometime you want to search local, sometime you want to search global.

Where would the user select these options?

When he is using it. Ex. Profil, view my post in this forum, view my post in all forums.

Search would be when the user uses advance search. He could select this forum or all forums.

DenDen60

[Sarge]

Adding a user option to display own posts in all forums should be easy. I plan to implement it after the first beta is released.

I will see about the "search in all forums" option.

[Sarge]

Adding a user option to display own posts in all forums should be easy. I plan to implement it after the first beta is released.

I will see about the "search in all forums" option.

I figured out a way to enable displaying own posts in all forums as well as global search. The online demo of the mod will reflect these changes as soon as I can get some time to work on it.

I intend to make a "set it and forget it" mod, meaning that an admin will only have to install the mod and create forums; the admin will only have to set options to enable own posts, searching etc. globally (i.e. for all forums, just like in an original SMF installation). Therefore, I will change options from "current forum only" to "all forums", so that the admin can enable them if he/she wants.

Due to real life obligations, I don't think I'll be able to work with the mod during the next few days. But I hope to release a working beta by the end of next week.

Please be patient. Thank you.

[Sarge]

Just a small update. The head of page now displays current forum title instead of main forum name, as requested:

Sarge, I am talking about the name of your forum that appears in the Blue sky just under Hello... and you have 0 message. There you see Albwebmaster. I need this to change to reflect the name of the forum where the person is.

The change is made in Load.php, so it should work in all themes.

[DenDen60]

Excellent.

Your doing a good job

Denden60

[Sarge]

I updated the mod and uploaded it to www.albwebmaster.com. Most changes are behind the scenes, so don't expect much of a difference from a user's perspective. That said, I fixed the jumpto in the search results page and added an additional jumpto for forums there. If you spot anything (visual or otherwise) that should be fixed or modified, please don't hesitate to write in this topic.

I implemented all of the mod admin panel options, except for the last (I will implement it too); also, the last change I made (see above) interferes with the first mod admin panel option, so it needs some tweaking.

From my point of view some of these should be options that user could select while using.

Ex. In one case user would like to see only his own post or unread replies in current forum, but in another he would like to see his own posts or unread replies from all forums.

Same for the search. Sometime you want to search local, sometime you want to search global.

I will implement these options next. They will rely on the global settings. For example, if the admin has disabled "Search in all forums," the user won't be able to do so; but if the admin has enabled the global option, it will be deactivated by default, but the user can choose it if he/she wants to.

I need some ideas about where to implement the user options for search, unread posts, unread replies, own posts and whatever else. I'm talking about the visual appearance and functionality, leave the coding to me.

For some reasons, I don't like to set any mod-related user options in their profile - it seems like there are quite a few mods for profiles, so SFMod might conflict with some of them.

The list of changes made so far is a bit long: 36. However, most changes are small and shouldn't interfere with the normal flow of operation.

The first beta version of the mod will (hopefully) be released this weekend, with each change listed as a separate file modification, so it should be easier to find and fix installation issues.

[DenDen60]

I need some ideas about where to implement the user options for search, unread posts, unread replies, own posts and whatever else.


Well I think you should add unread posts and unread replies on the 'frontpage". When people would clik or mouse-over it the options would appear.

Same thing for "Search". When people would clik or mouse-over it the options would appear.

For unread posts and unread replies , I would put tme under "Profile".  You could have the option "All" and "List of all the forums" that the person participated in.

IMHO of course

[DenDen60]

If you are able to do so, It would be good that you add an extra option in TP so that we can have a different FrontPage for every forum.

DenDen60

[Sarge]

Well I think you should add unread posts and unread replies on the 'frontpage".

I think those are already there, in the User block...



Exactly what are you suggesting? Do you mean adding global ("... in all forums") options there?

When people would clik or mouse-over it the options would appear.

What do you mean by "mouse-over"? Maybe I've missed something, but I don't think you can set options by "mousing over," at least in the default template.

Same thing for "Search". When people would clik or mouse-over it the options would appear.

See above my question about "mouse-over". But I guess I can add a "Search in all forums" option in the Advanced Search page. Where exactly would you like me to add it? I believe it would have to be a link (not a checkbox), in order for the "Choose a board to search in, or search all" list to include all forums...

For unread posts and unread replies , I would put tme under "Profile".  You could have the option "All" and "List of all the forums" that the person participated in.

Well, I did write that I don't really like the idea of messing with Profile, didn't I? Besides, that's not where those options are in the default template -- instead, they're in the Recent bar at the top of forum(s):



So I might add the "Show unread posts in all forums since last visit." and "Show new replies to your posts in all forums." options there. What do you think?

I'm not sure I understand what do you mean by "List of all the forums". Can you elaborate please?

If you are able to do so, It would be good that you add an extra option in TP so that we can have a different FrontPage for every forum.

Yes, that would be cool! I'll see what I can do after the first beta is released.


Thanks a lot for your time, comments and suggestions, DenDen60!

Regards,
Sarge

[Sarge]

I implemented all of the mod admin panel options, except for the last (I will implement it too); also, the last change I made (see above) interferes with the first mod admin panel option, so it needs some tweaking.

I have some difficulties with the "Let the Recent block show recent topics from all forums in homepage? (TinyPortal)" option, so I left it unimplemented for the moment. That block uses ssi_recentTopics() in SSI.php instead of Recent.php code, so I have to experiment with it a bit more.

The conflict between "Hide main forum in linktree?" and setting the current forum name at the top of the page is fixed. Previously, the main forum name (if shown) in linktree was set to the current forum name, which is not the desired behavior.

Other changes: the current forum name is now set also in the RSS/XML feeds, the Wireless template and the Printpage template. Please test them and report any errors. Thank you.

From my point of view some of these should be options that user could select while using.

Ex. In one case user would like to see only his own post or unread replies in current forum, but in another he would like to see his own posts or unread replies from all forums.

Same for the search. Sometime you want to search local, sometime you want to search global.

I will implement these options next. They will rely on the global settings. For example, if the admin has disabled "Search in all forums," the user won't be able to do so; but if the admin has enabled the global option, it will be deactivated by default, but the user can choose it if he/she wants to.

These will be done after the first beta.

The first beta version of the mod will (hopefully) be released this weekend, with each change listed as a separate file modification, so it should be easier to find and fix installation issues.

The beta will be released for TinyPortal only.

You will have to add (sub)forum links yourself; I will tell you how I added them in AlbWebMaster.

Regards.

[Sarge]

PLEASE NOTE: This is beta software, not meant for production sites. Use it at your own risk!

Shared Forum Mod 0.2.0 - Beta 1 for TinyPortal is released.

Download it from here:
http://www.albwebmaster.com/index.php?topic=4.0



The mod's control panel is at Admin > Features and Options > Shared Forum tab.



How to add forum links in your TP site:

1. Go to Admin > TinyPortal > Block Manager.

2. Switch to Add MenuItem tab.

• Enter the Title (name or description) for your first forum.
• Select Link in the Type column.
• Enter your forum link:
  http://www.yoursite.com/forum/index.php?action=FORUM_NAME (replace FORUM_NAME with the name of the forum you want to add)
  in the Item column. (This presumes you have already created the forum in the mod's control panel.)
• Select a Position (the default one should be fine).

Repeat step 2. for each forum.

3. Switch to Menu Manager tab.

• Arrange positions in the first column (Pos).
• Turn "Off Demo Articles".

5. Switch to Edit Blocks tab

• Add a right side block as a menubox.
  
  • Select a block title (for example, Forums).
• Activate the block.

Enjoy!

Please report all bugs, errors, suggestions, ideas and comments in this topic.


Notes:

-- This mod only modifies the default (SMF Default - Core) theme; you have to modify other themes manually.
-- If "Override forum theme (admins only)" doesn't work for you, please select a user-default theme in your profile; you may choose any theme you want (even the one that is used as default) -- just don't select "Forum or Board Default".

Regards,
Sarge

[KreedGhost]

How to add forum links in your TP site:

1. Go to Admin > TinyPortal > Block Manager.

2. Switch to Add MenuItem tab.

• Enter the Title (name or description) for your first forum.
• Select Link in the Type column.
• Enter your forum link:
  http://www.yoursite.com/forum/index.php?action=FORUM_NAME
  in the Item column. (This presumes you have already created the forum in the mod's control panel.)
• Select a Position (the default one should be fine).

Repeat step 2. for each forum.

3. Switch to Menu Manager tab.

• Arrange positions in the first column (Pos).
• Turn "Off Demo Articles".

5. Switch to Edit Blocks tab

• Add a right side block as a menubox.
  
  • Select a block title (for example, Forums).
• Activate the block.

Enjoy!

Please report all bugs, errors, suggestions, ideas and comments in this topic.


Notes:

-- This mod only modifies the default (SMF Default - Core) theme; you have to modify other themes manually.
-- If "Override forum theme (admins only)" doesn't work for you, please select a user-default theme in your profile; you may choose any theme you want (even the one that is used as default) -- just don't select "Forum or Board Default".

Regards,
Sarge

Right now the only problem I am having is when I make all the changes as you said above, but no matter what forum I choose they take me back to the same one. You can see what I am saying if you go to www.sabnnetwork.org and look to the right side in the links menu for forums and click on Sabn Network or San Andreas by Night...
**Edit***
I figured it out......It had something to do with the address url path....Alright also, when I go to create a new catagory for the new subforum it doesn't show up and I made the catagory list 3,4,5 and nothing shows up...

Fixed that, so far I have no errors in the logs at all with anything..The mod is awesome.....