new type of forum:
Prefix Driven
instead of using sub-forums, you can now simply apply your Prefix Sets as navigation thru a forum.
On top of the FORUMDISPLAY page, instead of showing sub-forums, it will show a list of Prefix Sets, which become linkable categories. When you click a prefix, only threads related to that prefix are shown, like if you browse a specific sub-forum.
as it’s a per-forum setup, you can configure different features:
1- select which prefix is by default
2- select how much columns, for styling
3- select if using Plain or Rich text prefix styling
…
i’m coding this today, as i need it for a specific forum. i think it can be one of the free addons provided with MTF-core, because it is not adding anything to the functionalities of the forum, it’s just changing behavior of the usual prefix dropdown…
i’m not coding it as a MTF addon, i’m doing it pure plugins right now because i have not the time to check at the MTF… will be more available after this week, as i do not have to handle the kids anymore… for 3 months.
Views: 20
Good Idea.. Yeah i will integrate it into MTF after
the only detail i need right now is to find a way to avoid queries when doing this:
[php]function fetch_prefixed_threads($forumid)
{
global $vbulletin;
# count threads per prefixid
# info about last post per prefixid
# fetch if unread thread per prefixid (to show the proper icon)
}[/php]
Queries aren’t a bad thing you just need to make sure they don’t load for that long 😉
they are quick queries, and actually i changed a lot of things in that technique, most of it is done with only two queries now… will see… 0.0005sec is good.. lol
Yeah that is very good. How do you test query times? i have a few methods but i would like to know more.
i have none, i just test here 😉
you can have 100 queries per page, if they are written properly they are not loading the server… 1 bad query can overcharge a server in 0.5 second…
Yeah it’s just a matter of testing..
ok, now first step in the admincp is done:
as you can see, i added Descriptions to Prefixes set… had to reproduce the entire prefixes-set management because there is no hook on that file.
With this description, we will have the choice to display prefixes sets the exact same way we list forums with their sub-forums on forumhome. (title, description, sub-forums in mini, lastpost…)
Yeah, I see the point but how will you advertise that this is different from just using sub forums?
people find a use for it themselves… it’s not a big tool, just a different display, and a different way to list threads…
it’s also less trouble to manage a single forum with prefixes than 10 sub-forums with different permissions… if you take the sub-forums to class your topics, people have to visit these sub-forums to actually see the threads. prefixes are in the same forum, and you can show prefix X or prefix Y only, and you can still see how much there is from other topics.
admin can decide to consider prefix X by default and let the others shown below, like we do with stickies…
Yeah.. vb.org should really use this mod when it comes out.