vBadvanced Forums  

Installation Upgrading F.A.Q. Help & Support


vBadvanced CMPS (Content Management & Portal System)
Introduction
vBadvanced CMPS (Content Management & Portal System) is an advanced portal / content management system that will allow you to easily include different elements from your vBulletin message board on your web site's homepage. It also allows you to easily create and manage new pages in which you can set different settings other than the default. It's module system also makes it very easy to add custom modules without hacking any of the files, plus it is very easy to integrate with other vBulletin pages and hacks. Everything is also template based and completely integrated with vBulletin, so it is very easy to customize and change everything through your Admin CP.
Features:
  • Easily create and manage your site's content and new pages through your vBulletin Admin CP.
  • Easily add new modules without hacking any vBulletin or vBadvanced files.
  • Movable modules which allows you to change the position of each module by simply clicking a link.
  • Add an unlimited number of custom blocks.
  • Control access to each module or page with usergroup permissions.
  • Module Types - Includes BB Code modules, Template modules, and PHP file modules. Perfect for the beginner or the advanced coder.
  • Ability to set a different value for each module's settings on a per-page basis.
  • Easily enable/disable modules on a per-page basis.
  • Set and change all options via the Admin CP.
  • Upload / Download Module interface that makes adding a new module as simple as uploading a file through your browser.
  • Everything is completely template based so it is very easy to customize.
  • Fully phrased to support the vBulletin language system.
  • Install file that will make all database queries and templates for you in seconds.
  • Un-installs in seconds.
  • Tested and stable with vBulletin 3.5.0+
  • 100% validated XHTML 1.0 compliance
  • And Much more!

Included Modules:
  • Site Navigation - A navigation module allowing your users to easily navigate your CMPS pages and the rest of your web site.
  • Welcome Block - Creates a login box for members to log into your site on the homepage, or shows logged in users their avatar, last visit, private message info, reputation info, and rank (all of which may be enabled/disabled).
  • News - Pick specific threads, or just select a forum to pull posts from and have these posts displayed as news articles on your CMPS page. Additional options to show attachments, avatars, icons, ratings, images, HTML, and more in your news posts.
  • News Archive - A condensed version of older news posts. Includes options to control the number of archived posts to show.
  • Latest Topics - Show the latest threads started in your forum. Additional options to set the number of threads to display, pick specific threads or forums to pull threads from, show a preview of the first post, ratings, icons, last post info, and more.
  • Current Poll - Show a poll and allow users to vote and see the results on your homepage.
  • Buddy List - Show the user's buddy list for members who are logged in.
  • Online Users - Shows a list of active users, including the stats for your 'most users ever online'.
  • Stats - Shows statistics such as total members, threads, posts, top poster, and newest member.
  • Today's Birthdays - Shows all members with a birthday today, along with their age and a link to their profile.
  • Mini Calendar - Shows a mini calendar with links to days with scheduled events from the calendar you select.
  • Search - Search box to allow users to quickly search your forums.
  • Quick Moderation - Shows the number of posts, threads, users, attachments, and calendar events awaiting moderation for users that have permission to moderate these items.
  • Custom Page Content - Allows you to easily specify a template to include the content from on a page.

More modules available in the vBadvanced Forums.
Help & Support
Before asking for support Please read the F.A.Q below!
If you have any problems or questions that are not covered in the F.A.Q. please post them at vbadvanced.com in the appropriate forum. We will be more than happy to help in any way we can if the request for help is made there. Anyone trying to contact a staff member via e-mail, private message, or any other means will be ignored.
Copyright
This script is © 2003 - 2004 vBadvanced.com and PlurPlanet, LLC.
This script is NOT to be re-distributed in any way or placed on a web site for download.
All copyright notes in the script itself must remain unchanged unless you have purchased a Branding Free license.


Installation Instructions
Step 1 - File Modifications

In your cmps_index.php file:

Open your cmps_index.php file in this folder and find:
$forumpath = '';;

Add the full path to your forum between the '' marks, so that it looks like this:
$forumpath = '/home/yoursite/public_html/forums';

Not sure how to find your path?

Note: If you are installing this script in the same directory as your forums then you may simply comment out this line.
Step 2 - Upload Files
Upload the new vBadvanced CMPS files to the directories listed below. Note that this guide assumes your vBulletin files are in a folder called 'forum'. If vBulletin is uploaded elsewhere or the folder is named something different, you will need to upload the folders and files in the 'forum' folder with this package to whatever folder your vBulletin files reside in.
root foldercmps_index.php (you will probably rename this file to index.php once everything is set up)
root/forum/admincp vbacmps_install.php
vba_cmps_admin.php
root/forum/cpstyles vba_cp_logo.gif
root/forum/includes adminfunctions_vba_cmps.php
vba_cmps_include_bottom.php
vba_cmps_include_error.php
vba_cmps_include_template.php
vba_cmps_include_top.php
vba_cmps_plugin_newpost.php
root/forum/includes/xml cpnav_vbacmps.xml
root/forum/images/misc noavatar.gif
root/forum/modules Upload this folder and all of it's contents.

Note: Be sure to upload the /forum/images and /forum/cpstyles folders and their contents in Binary mode and the other files in ASCII mode.

Now you will need to chmod the /forum/modules folder to 777:
Step 3 - Run the Install Script
Now you're almost done! Run the install script from your browser by going to http://yoursite.com/forum/admincp/vbacmps_install.php.
This script will make all necessary changes to your database and install the modules, templates, phrases, settings, and etc for you. Once the script is done, go to your Admin CP and you will see a new group of options called "vBadvanced CMPS". This is where you will modify the settings, add/edit modules, and add/edit new pages.

Note that you will find the main page of your CMPS wherever you uploaded your cmps_index.php file to.

For more information on how to use your new product, please see the User's Manual available at vbadvanced.com.


Frequently Asked Questions
Q.I'm not sure how to find the path to my forums.
Or
I get an error like this when I first try to install the script:
Invalid forum path specified! Please edit this file and be sure to include the correct path for your $forumpath variable.
A.The path to your forums directory is set incorrectly. Look in the "Extras" folder that came with your download for a file called 'forumpath.php'.

Upload that file to your server into your 'forums' folder where you have vBulletin installed, go to it in your browser, and it should print out the correct path to your forums.

Copy that path, paste it over what you currently have for your path in cmps_index.php file, and re-upload that file.
Q. Now that I've installed this script I'm having problems logging in or out of my forum.
A. Try clearing your cookies. If you're still having problems afterwards, edit your 'Cookie Domain' setting (Under Cookies and HTTP Header Options in your vBulletin options section) and change that to ".yoursite.com" (note the two dots!).
Also make sure that the 'Path to Save Cookies' setting right above is set to "/" (without the quotation marks).
Once those things are done, close all browser windows, clear your cookies again, and then try to log in/out again.
Q. Some of my images are broken on my vBadvanced pages.
A. Upload the install file for your vBadvanced product, go to it in your browser, and select the option to update your image paths from there. If the script is unable to update your paths for you then you will need to update them manually.

Updating Smilies & Icons Manually:
Log into your Admin CP, go to your Smilie Manager or Icon Manager, and add the full URL to each image listed in those sections.

Updating Style Images Manually:
If it is the buttons/logo/status icons/etc that you are having a problem with, go to your Style Manager in your Admin CP. From there, select 'All Style Options' from the select box next to the style you are having a problem with, and then hit the "Go" button. On the next page you will see a list of image paths once you scroll down a couple of times. Make sure that all of the paths there contain the full URL to each directory.
Help & Support
Before asking for support Please read the F.A.Q above!
If you have any problems or questions that are not covered in the F.A.Q. please post them at vbadvanced.com in the appropriate forum. We will be more than happy to help in any way we can if the request for help is made there. Anyone trying to contact a staff member via e-mail, private message, or any other means will be ignored.


Upgrading
  1. If you have not already, ensure that you are running vBulletin 3.6+.
  2. As with any program, you should always backup your database before upgrading.
  3. Upload all of the new vBadvanced CMPS files in this package over your existing ones, with the exception of the cmps_index.php file.
  4. Go to the install file in your browser by going to http://yoursite.com/forum/admincp/vbacmps_install.php. Once there, select the option to upgrade.