vBa Links Directory 2.0 Beta 2 Now Available!

[ncangler]

I am in the process of upgrading from 1.01 and I get this message:

The following phrases have been found, but are not from the current version of vBa Links Directory. If you have added any phrases for hacks or any other reason, please un-check the box next to any phrases you wish to keep. Otherwise, click the "Save" button to remove the selected phrases.

There are about 30 phrases and I"m concerned that some are not related to vbalinks. Is this normal and should I delete all?

[Neutral Singh]

I entered a link in the main category but its information is not showing up in link home page.

http://www.sikhbusiness.net/links/

[ncangler]

I've been doing this long enough to know not to try an upgrade or install when you're dead tired. Just realized I uploaded all the /forums/ files but not the new /links/ files.

Originally Posted by ncangler

I am in the process of upgrading from 1.01 and I get this message:
There are about 30 phrases and I"m concerned that some are not related to vbalinks. Is this normal and should I delete all?

[DSMrSinister]

what are the minimum system requirements to run this script?

[Freesteyelz]

To run vBa Links Directory 2.0 you will need vB 3.6.0 or higher.

vBulletin 3.0.0 or higher. MySQL 3.23 or higher is recommended.

Current Version: 1.0.1 Last Updated: 08-14-2006 03:17 PM

@Brian: I think you need to update the information on the homepage when you have the chance. The current version is still pointing at 1.0.1 which was updated 8/14/06.

[Neutral Singh]

Hi, I am unable to create a new category. Therez a syntax error.

Missing argument 2 for fetch_query_sql() in /includes/functions.php on line 822


Invalid SQL:

### INSERT QUERY GENERATED BY fetch_query_sql() ###
INSERT INTO
(`title`, `description`, `displayorder`, `parent`, `newlinkemail`, `newpostemail`, `haslinks`, `valid`, `active`, `allowusercats`, `password`, `catuserid`, `options`, `useroptions`)
VALUES
('Websites on Sikhism', 'Website Dedicated to Sikh Religion and Philosophy.', '2', '1', 'admin@sikhphilosophy.net', 'admin@sikhphilosophy.net', '1', '1', '1', '0', '', '', '46811', '0');

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '(`title`, `description`, `displayorder`, `parent`, `newlinkemai
Error Number : 1064

[Brian]

Freesteyelz - Thanks for pointing that out. Just updated it to show the correct date.

Neutral Singh - Just posted a fix for that in the bugs forum.
http://www.vbadvanced.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18061

[swa]

awesome update! I love the autofill!

[cheesegrits]

Originally Posted by ang2el

Could you please explain the following

• Random links are now generated once an hour via a cron job to save on server resources.
• New options to add "rel=nofollow" to links on a per-category basis.

Thanks

Brian is probably kind of busy getting the Beta whipped into shape, so I'll have a stab at answering these.

1) If you are showing random links on a page, the links to be shown can be generated in one of two ways. One way is by hitting the database every time the page with the random links display is loaded. Not a problem on a smaller site, but on a very busy site this can put a heavy load on the server.

So an alternative way to do it is to run a 'cron job' (a scheduled task), which runs once an hour (or any interval you care to set it to), grabs the random links from the database, and stores the results in a temporary file on disk. Then the random links display just has to read that file when the page loads, instead of consulting the database. This is much easier on the server (it probably won't even have to read the disk itself on a busy server, as the file will most likely stay in the disk or file system memory cache).

2) The "rel=nofollow" tag is a special attribute you can put in a link to tell search engines (like Google, Yahoo, etc) not to count the link in their "page ranking" for the site being linked to. It is typically used in links added to a site by "guests", and is intended to discourage spammers from adding links to their sites in things like blogs, forum postings and link libraries.

If you don't put this tag in a link, then the search engines will count that occurence of the link towards a sites page ranking, hence bumping it up the search engines listing. You would typically set this option to "yes" if you, as the webmaster / owner of the site, do not want your Links entries to affect page rankings on search engines, and hence discourage spammers from adding their trash to your site. There are other reasons (mostly editorial in nature), but discouraging link spamming is the most common reason.

[NOTE - some people will tell you that the 'nofollow' tag tells search engines not to "follow" the link for indexing purposes. This is not the case. Nobody quite knows why they called it nofollow, which is a misleading name, but there ya go.]

-- hugh

[phifou2]

The 3.5.x version will be really welcome

[ang2el]

Originally Posted by cheesegrits

Brian is probably kind of busy getting the Beta whipped into shape, so I'll have a stab at answering these.

Thanks cheesegrits for your time.

[KW802]

Originally Posted by cheesegrits

[NOTE - some people will tell you that the 'nofollow' tag tells search engines not to "follow" the link for indexing purposes. This is not the case. Nobody quite knows why they called it nofollow, which is a misleading name, but there ya go.]

The nofollow tag is a Google recognized tag. Google, at least, will not follow the link; don't know about the others (MSN, Yahoo, etc.).

EDIT: Some reference links...

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/...ment-spam.html

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050118-204728

[beduino]

Hello Brian and Kevin!
I'm owner 2 licences of vb-links, but his use is lower in the 2 sites. IMHO the reason is a lack in vBa modules.
I don't find a module in vBa for exibition a 'new links' and/or 'better rated' or a summary.
You think in work a module to connect vBa and vblinks?
All the best
beduino

[Skaterscafe.com]

Originally Posted by Brian

Probably not. If there is enough of a demand from vB 3.5 customers we may release a compatable version, but currently I'm not sure it's worth it to try and keep a separate version for each.

Not sure how you will measure demand but I have 3.5 also and would be interested.

[AVC]

Why not just upgrade your forum to 3.6

[KW802]

Originally Posted by anthonycea

Why not just upgrade your forum to 3.6

A lot of people that may be running hacks & other non-stock additions find it easier to just maintain the current version. Plus custom styles would have to be updated.

I can understand why some people choose to keep running an older version of vBulletin but they also have to understand that not everything will be made available for older versions of vBulletin.

[AVC]

Do you guys keep pace with the vB updates with all your products so they are always compatible with the latest version of vB

[KW802]

Originally Posted by anthonycea

Do you guys keep pace with the vB updates with all your products so they are always compatible with the latest version of vB

Yes. Generally as soon as a vBulletin 'Gold' release is issued then the vBadvanced products are updated to the public shortly after.

[AVC]

Thanks old boy, that is sure good to know!

[Skaterscafe.com]

Originally Posted by anthonycea

Why not just upgrade your forum to 3.6

Money, time, etc..

My board has alot of stuff added and the time and cost to upgrade yet again is not worth it for now.