Integration, importing and a few others

[John D]

Hey,

Do you have an import script for articles from the vbgeek's article script?

Can the script be used as a review system, i.e. being able to rate a number of different things in a review, just like the vbgeek has?

I was just going to use the CMPS so I can have a custom homepage with a few columns and rows beside the menu PLUS my own menu with my own content then the forums on another page?
You can see my menu here. The menu is in the header template and I would need to keep something like this content but it will be one menu just for the homepage which will be a bit different.
Apart from the homepage, I will be using my normal site header on all other pages.

Can dynamics be used to create this custom homepage just like the CMPS?


Do I need to keep in any linked copyright notice?

Thanks for the help

[Brian]

Do you have an import script for articles from the vbgeek's article script?
GARS just uses the existing vBulletin thread/post tables for it's articles. There is an import script posted in the forums here that allows you to import data from your vBulletin forums that will also work with GARS.

Can the script be used as a review system, i.e. being able to rate a number of different things in a review, just like the vbgeek has?
I wasn't aware that GARS allows you to rate a number of different things. vBa Dynamics allows you to rate entries, but there are not currently any options for rating anything else.

Can dynamics be used to create this custom homepage just like the CMPS?
vBa Dynamics could be used as a homepage, though the CMPS may still be a better solution for that.

Do I need to keep in any linked copyright notice?
There is a 'Powered by vBadvanced Dynamics' copyright notice in the footer of all pages. We do offer a branding free license option which allows you to remove this though for an additional $49.99.

[John D]

Thanks Brian.

Can you tell me the main difference in using dynamics and the CMPS as the homepage?
I could use the same modules from the CMPS couldn't I?
Anything that would make the CMPS better suited?

Thanks Brian

[Brian]

I suppose you could get about the same look with vBa Dynamics if everything on the homepage was disabled, so there really wouldn't be a difference.
Yes, most of the modules from the CMPS should also work with vBa Dynamics. About the only limitation I'm aware of is that the 'Edit Threads' links you'll find in the settings with some vBa CMPS modules will not be available if they are uploaded to vBa Dynamics instead.

[John D]

Hey Brian,

Got a license and someone was working on integrating it and doing a few custom things but he told me that my forum would have to be moved to a different directory and most of my navigation and other links are hardcoded just to go straight to the directory and file.

Can dynamics not be installed if my forum is also in the root folder?

[Brian]

Your forum does not have to be moved. You would just need to upload the folders and files from within the 'forum' folder in the download package to your root directory, and then upload the 'dynamics' folder to your root directory as well.

[John D]

Thanks Brian.

Can both be installed in the root directory then and just change the filenames like index.php for dynamics portal page then forum for the forumhome, just like the CMPS is coded?

I just want to use dynamics as my homepage so my site is more of a portal and the homepage is a portal system instead of the forum then use the other features like articles on another page/section.

Thanks

[Brian]

In that case, it may actually be better to move your forums into a new folder, as you would have problems with vBulletin and vBa Dynamics having duplicate filenames (ex: search.php, newreply.php).
Other than that, the next best thing I could suggest would be to rename your vBulletin index.php file to something else (and be sure to change your 'Script Name for Forum Home Page' vB setting to match) and then add a new index.php file that just redirects to your dynamics/index.php file.

[John D]

Hey,

Would the import script work for this?
I saw that is for importing the forum threads etc. to dynamics.

The coder also said about redirecting the index, thats a lot better than having to move the full forum and having to wait for SEs to update.

[Brian]

I don't think the import script would really help, as all it does is import your threads/posts/etc, but it's more of a one time thing.

[John D]

ok.

Guess its going to be a redirect.

Any reason it was coded so it couldnt work in the same directory?
I thought a lot of people would have wanted to run it on sites that have their forum as the homepage and in the root directory, I cant think of any reasons for coding it so that wouldn't be possible?

I would really like to see this in a future version so I dont have to use redirects :)

Thanks for the help

[Brian]

The product is really geared more towards article posting and file sharing than just being a homepage. It can still be used as a homepage obviously, but having your forums in your root directory makes that a little more difficult. Some of the filenames use the same name as vB's though since they do about the same thing, and it prevents us from having to run extra replacement functions on the vB templates that are used.

[usertr]

The product is really geared more towards article posting and file sharing than just being a homepage.

Maybe asking about this statement can clarify some questions I've had about your products.

I have CMPS 2 right now. I'm thrilled with it. It has allowed me to do a lot without coding. Within a few days, I'd planned to upgrade to CMPS 3 to allow me to work on an alternate home page of two columns and other pages as well, without interfering with the present home page of 3 columns. These are both pages outside the forum. My forum is not in the root. I assume that everything that I've done in 2 will be intact when I upgrade to 3, and that I can start from there.

I planned a few weeks after that to get vBaDynamics. I'd get it so that I could create a right-side column on my Forum pages that could then contain modules, ads, etc. I think that's some of what integration means. I'm also looking for something that handles articles on the home page or other outside-of-forum page.

I'd hoped that I could have, for example, one module on the home page that would be what you call a News column that would get posts from one particular forum and another "News"-type module that would pick up an article (this article could reside either in the forum or in a CMPS page, it doesn't matter). In other words I'd like one News module that would pick from one forum and another News module that would pick from another forum, both on the same page, or maybe three or four modules getting the latest post/article, each from a separate forum.

Are these the sort of things that Dynamics can do? Should I have CMPS 3 and Dynamics running concurrently? Is the move from CMPS 3 to Dynamics an upgrade? If I have to replace CMPS 3 with Dynamics, do I keep what I had as a start? How many Dynamics licenses will I need to do what I want?

Please feel free to move this post if you think it belongs somewhere else.

[Brian]

usertr - Honestly, it doesn't really sound like you need vBa Dynamics. vBa CMPS and vBa Dynamics are really 2 completely different products for completely different purposes. vBa Dynamics is more like having a completely different section of your web site where you could allow users to post articles, share files, or just about anything similar. If you just need a portal to show news from your forums and a few additional custom pages though, the CMPS should be all you need.
Upgrading to v3.0 should not be much of a problem. It's just a matter of uploading the new files and then running the upgrade script (there are full instructions in the readme.html file that comes with the download package). Everything from your current CMPS setup should remain in tact, though we do always recommend making a database backup before upgrading just incase.

[usertr]

I have to upgrade from CMPS 2 to 3 to allow me to work on a new home page with two columns while the old home page with three columns is still up, and to be able to create other varied outside-the-forum pages.

My Task Number One:
Once I’m done with that, my next task will be to create a sort of sidebar in the actual forum pages. I want something on those forum pages a little like this page:
http://www.facebang.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15

except that:
I’d like my sidebar on the right.
I may have custom modules in the side bar, some may be graphics w/ links

I notice that he’s got “Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0 RC2” near the bottom of the page as well as the vB verbiage. My forum pages don’t show that. It’s only on my non-forum pages

Is this something I can do with CMPS 3 on my forum pages? If not, can it be done with Dynamics? If neither, I’ll go back to my plan B of coding a column over to the right in a table cell or something, and it will become a non-vBa question.


My Task Number Two:
Right now, one of my vBa pages takes the last post off of a forum that’s really sort of a weekly article. It does this using the News module. I move a new one into that forum and the old one to another forum on a weekly basis. I restrict new threads but not new posts to a user group made up of only the author in the vB admin panel.

I’d like eventually to have a page (CMPS? Dynamics?) that has, say, a “News” module at the top of the first column that pulls the last item in Forum A, then a separate “News” module below it that pulls the last item from Forum B; maybe even another “News” module at top right that pulls the last item from Forum C; all on the same page.

Can I do this separate-News-modules-tied-to-separate-forums-on-same-page thing with CMPS3? With Dyamics? With neither?


A Third subject, related to the previous one, Articles vs threads:
vBa Dynamics is more like having a completely different section of your web site where you could allow users to post articles, share files, or just about anything similar.

This sort sounds like something that could be made into an articles module, just by restricting new threads to one person (the author) but not restricting posting thereto in order to allow for comments. Maybe I could even change “post reply” on this “completely different section” to “Comments” to make it look more like a separate articles feature.

Maybe I could get something like the following:

If you go to this page:
http://www.sitepoint.com/
and scroll down below the fold to "Outsourcing for Great Profits"
and click on that, you get to the first page for the article:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/outsourcing-great-profits
(My articles could be restricted to one page)

If you follow the prompt at the bottom of the article, you go to the last page of it:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/outsourcing-great-profits/3
at the bottom of which you get “Comments” that are posted.

Except for the limitation on who may start a new topic and the “Comments” vs posted reply, and the layout, it looks very much like a bulletin board structure stored in a database somewhere, and, in fact, their actual Forum uses vB.

How much of this format/look can be created by either CMPS3 or Dyamics?



Sorry for the long-winded post, but it's the only way I can let you know what I'd like to do and find out whether and how as regards vBa.

[Brian]

1). Looks like they're just using the integration options from v3.0.
http://www.vbadvanced.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22586

2). That can be done with either version of the CMPS by using the 'Copy Module' feature to copy the news module, and then just select a different forum in your copies.

3). That could probably be done with either product really. In either case, you would just need to set your forum permissions (or category permissions in vBa Dynamics) to only allow certain groups to post new threads/entries, while every group can reply. A "comments" link could either be added with some <if conditions> if you wanted to use the CMPS and vB, or the code just altered if you use vBa Dynamics. vBa Dynamics does include options for multi-page articles like in your example (whereas vB does not), but with either choice the replies would be shown on every page instead of just on the last.