VAForum 2

[Tom]

Does this editor output HTML or BBCode? If it's HTML it'll be stripped by the BBCode parser... (Allowing people to post whatever HTML they want is somewhat dangerous)

[Felipe]

Hello, Tom! I don't know if anyone suggested before, but is there any possibility of updating it to have some BBCode to post Youtube videos?

[Tom]

Hello, Tom! I don't know if anyone suggested before, but is there any possibility of updating it to have some BBCode to post Youtube videos?

Yep, will be in the next one!

If you have any more suggestions could you post them here: http://forum.phpvms....ule/ - discussing rewriting it

[Felipe]

Great!

[Fernando]

Hello, everyone!

I'm having problem with the charset using this add-on. My language is portuguese. It has accents into some words. This, for example, should be...

não tão bom, mas no momento não há diferença

... and it is being shown as...

n?o ? t?o bom, mas no momento n?o h? diferen?a

It has to be something inside the add-on, because on other parts of my site and add-ons it does not happen. Does anybody know how to solve it?

[Tom]

Hello, everyone!

I'm having problem with the charset using this add-on. My language is portuguese. It has accents into some words. This, for example, should be...

não tão bom, mas no momento não há diferença

... and it is being shown as...

n?o ? t?o bom, mas no momento n?o h? diferen?a

It has to be something inside the add-on, because on other parts of my site and add-ons it does not happen. Does anybody know how to solve it?

Can you check the encoding of the forum database tables? You'll need it to match the encoding for the rest of the tables on your site. You'll likely also need to re-enter or convert special characters as changing the encoding probably won't fix those characters once they've been entered.

[Fernando]

Tom,

Thank you, already coded all the tables, but the error continues, it is only in your module others do not have these problems,

I'm posting a picture for you to see

I tried also use the encoding in the archives,

<?php
ini_set('default_charset','UTF-8');
?>

but the error continues,

in the database appears accented letters, when I open the module characters appear (?????) in each word pronounced.

detail:

When I create a topic with special characters, is only sent to the database letters before the characters.

example:

Topic (topic)

When I open my database, only the letter T was imported.

Any idea?

[BewareOfButtlice]

Are there any plans to make a post a "sticky" in this module? Great module btw. I have almost fully skinned it to match my website!

[Fernando]

I still have the same problem, already changed the forum tables, but when there acentudas words is automatically converted to characters (??????)

[Tom]

I still have the same problem, already changed the forum tables, but when there acentudas words is automatically converted to characters (??????)

Not sure what to suggest at this point, if the encodings all match exactly and you've input fresh content so it's correctly encoded on entry then there's not much that could change the encoding.

I'd need to spend some time looking around your site & database.

Are there any plans to make a post a "sticky" in this module? Great module btw. I have almost fully skinned it to match my website!

I've done it before so it's certainly possible, however if I were to I'd rewrite the module from scratch. Perhaps I will.

[Fernando]

Edited all tables and insert pictures in the forum, that is your job as it was,

paster at the top with green color to the background, passes a pilot last information recorded in my VA and all pilots in flight at the time.

[in2tech]

Is this VAForum basically an open source project? Meaning that if I make small changes, although it may just be styling for now, that it can be redistributed as long as credit is given to the original authors, and it is available for free for everyone?

And how would one go about making images that show the status of a topic like a regular forum, where it is one image with no post and a different image to show new post have been made in a category?

One more question since I am trying to learn to code in php. Is a general php forum completely different than the phpVMS forum code because of the structure of core, common, modules, and template structure? I am guessing it is!

Thanks for your help,

[Tom]

Is this VAForum basically an open source project? Meaning that if I make small changes, although it may just be styling for now, that it can be redistributed as long as credit is given to the original authors, and it is available for free for everyone?

And how would one go about making images that show the status of a topic like a regular forum, where it is one image with no post and a different image to show new post have been made in a category?

One more question since I am trying to learn to code in php. Is a general php forum completely different than the phpVMS forum code because of the structure of core, common, modules, and template structure? I am guessing it is!

Thanks for your help,

Yep, open source. This is released under the license of the original VAForum, and any derived works should be too.

Feel free to open a pull request too, I'm happy to merge in any changes if they benefit everyone.

The general code structure is the same as phpVMS. Also I'll let you figure out how to show different images, I'm sure there's many different ways to do it...

[in2tech]

Like I said as I learn more about php I am mainly focusing on the styling of the VAForum2 I think is the last version? So until I come up with my own css, for the time being if you have an HTML or Bootstrap site with buttons already defined in the css, which most do now a days, the VAForum2 will take your css and apply it towards the forum, and replace the text like "Edit Post", etc... and apply a nice styled button to spice it up a bit. I really like the look myself, but to each his own.

I also have created, moved, edited, whatever you want to call it the administration functions to be at the top with the Main Index, and they are also there on every page for an admin, not just the first page. Now having said that, I am trying to get the breadcrumb to be below the Main Navigation and right now it is above it and looks kind of weird

Here is a screenshot with one of my templates. I have tried it on 2 so far, and the main one I worked on looks fine, and the other just needs some adjustments, because the default css styling is a bit different. But doing it this way mean's that you don't have to upload any buttons and make links to them. Just use the styling that comes with your template to customize it to suit your needs. Still needs some work as I want to make some buttons smaller than others and such. But the main code will be there for everyone to change themselves.

Kind of cool I thought:

See the breadcrumb code above the main navigation and I am trying to get it below that, and above the board topics

Next item on the agenda is to make images that show, post and New post and the images change to alert you that new topics have been posted. I have no idea where to begin on this at this time, but I will eventually figure it out Any help with that is appreciated. Also, adding a Search feature at some point, which may be way above my pay grade at this time

Ohh well...let me know what you think so far? And Thanks Tom and SimPilot for the original code.

Edited October 9, 2016 by jnascar

[TAV1702]

Nice looking skin job. I have done the same exact thing to mine as well. It works out real nice. My issue is I have yet to get font awesome to work in all the echo statements.

On another note, I get a for each error on line 28 of forum_list_post when i try to delete a post. Now ironically enough, that was yesterday. today the error is gone, but the post deletion is still not right.

When I delete a post, instead of going back to another page like I think it should, I go here instead: http://imgur.com/a/x6jtJ *EDIT* I just realized this is the deleted post page. I get redirected back here since it does not delete the topic, but only the post as you will see in the next pic I linked to.

Now when I go back to look at my forum, the post I just deleted it still shows up as a valid topic. http://imgur.com/a/x6jtJ

Now I got curious and went to go look at my database to see what the 411 (information for the youngsters out there) was. Sure enough, the post was deleted. The topic, was not.

One more quick one that comes up from time to time as a ghost ship does, On another VA site that I have setup using this forum 4 years ago or so, it has a post that someone will make that just mysteriously will not allow replies. the author or admin can edit the post, but no one can make a reply to it. I can look in the database and the reply is there, but not on the forum page. lol Odd to say the least. But we are talking 1 post in 50 or so that it happens to so no biggie to me really. But problem 1 I posted with the screenshots, that is an issue I need to try to fix. Any help would be awesome.

Here is a attached screenshot of mine so far. Not the fanciest in the world I am sure but it will suffice for me.

Those font awesome fonts you see in the category name, I don't recommend my method to make that work. I was not able to do it via the code obviously because ti calls once and pulls each category. Therefor, it would give the same font awesome font to every category. I had to go in the database and edit the category name and include the link tot he font. It totally jacks up the edit category page up top near the category name. The only way to fix it is to get in the database and delete the font awesome from the category name in the database. Dirty fix but works in a pinch.

I wish someone would pick this forum back up and go with it open source and let others add to it, maybe recode and loose all the echos if possible. Just grabbing at straws. I love the other forum that is available here but the cost (and it is well worth it) stops me from using it.

**EDIT**

I just added forum Icons to mine as well.

Edited December 3, 2016 by TAV1702

[TAV1702]

I want to move the new topic and reply buttons to the top of the forums and threads instead of the bottom but I keep getting errors. My little php knowledge is not getting me very far tonight. Anyone?

And I am in need of a good WYSIWYG for it as well. the last one I tried got my site hacked (ages ago). Preferably one that allows youtube. that would be sweet.

Edited December 8, 2016 by TAV1702

[shakamonkey88]

I am really struggling to style this to suit my VA. I have been inputting a table class but it seems to not actually reflect the changes on the site. I guess I am editing the wrong line of code or wrong file - anyone offer any help?

Regards

[TAV1702]

hi shaka. Since this forum is 100% table based, it is in my own opinion that you need to create a table style based on your likes. Essentially what I did was borrow some of the css from Eddies Blue Ice template and change the colors and a couple minor tweaks to suit my needs for the forum. Everywhere you see a

<table>

tag, you add your table class to it for example I might call mine class="forum_table" so it would look something like (and not exact),

<table class="forum_table">

Also, this forum has some embedded css that you will need to play with for links and such. That is a must.

How do we add buttons? Well, same way as the forum, we create a button style in the css file. Everywhere you see something that says something like this:

<input type="submit" value="Delete Board" />

You would change that code to reflect your new button style by adding a class to it and changing it to button type like this:

<button type="submit" class="button_style" value="Delete Board" /> Delete Board</button>

Essentially, it does take some work and tweaking to get the forum right. If it is time you have, then you will pull it off. if you are short on time, I would avoid working on it right away. At bare minimum, you need to get a good table css created to start with.

If you post some a screenshot of what you are trying to change in one place, I will tell you exactly what to change or where to do it at least.

[shakamonkey88]

Thanks for the information TAV1702.

I am trying to change/style the forum categories into a banner like yours. ie. NOTAMs, etc

[TAV1702]

I want to move the new topic and reply buttons to the top of the forums and threads instead of the bottom but I keep getting errors. My little php knowledge is not getting me very far tonight. Anyone?

And I am in need of a good WYSIWYG for it as well. the last one I tried got my site hacked (ages ago). Preferably one that allows youtube. that would be sweet.

I hate to quote myself, but I did install a really decent WYSIWYG and got it working! Until I submitted a post and it was then that the reality set in , crap! The forum don't support those BBCodes. Bummer. Its a nice editor to. Back to plain styled forums lol.

[TAV1702]

Thanks for the information TAV1702.

I am trying to change/style the forum categories into a banner like yours. ie. NOTAMs, etc

Ok give me about 10 minutes or so and I'll post right back. I got to take my dogs out real quick. I'll dig the code out for you.

What I did was edit my forum style to make it reflect my wants and needs. My forum_style looks like this:

<style type="text/css">
/* Forum */
.forum_signature{margin:0 0 10px 0;}
.forum_sighr{height:1px;background:#666;width:60%;margin:5px 0;}
.forum_img{max-width:90%;}
.row0{background:#ffffff;}
.row1{background:#ffffff;}
.cat{position:relative; margin:10px 5px 10px 5px; background-color: #0c2577;}
.cat h4{padding-top: 10px;
padding-right: 9px;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-left: 9px; color: #ffffff; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.3em;}
.cat table, .forumtable{border:1px solid #999;}
.editcat {position:absolute;top:10px;right:10px; font-color:#ffffff;}
a.editcat:link { color:#FFF; text-decoration:none; font-weight:normal; }
a.editcat:visited { color: #FFF; text-decoration:none; font-weight:normal; }
a.editcat:hover { color: #d9534f; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal; }
a.editcat:active { color: #FFF; text-decoration:none; font-weight:normal; }
</style>

Now take my word for what it is worth please, I am not a pro. I get lucky from time to time and things just work out. That being said, I am not sure my styling is correct, it just works for me. As for the Icons in front of the category names, you can not add random images to the category names so each one has it's own icon like mine. If you try, each category will end up with the same Icon. Please see below to find out how I did it.

**DISCLAIMER**

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING!! I can not be held liable for any damages you may do to your database. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE FONT AWESOME INTEGRATED IN TO YOUR SITE, STOP NOW! YOU CAN NOT MOVE FORWARD.

1. Backup your database
   
2. Make sure your database backup is good.
   
3. If you are not sure, back it up again!
   
4. Get the idea? Great lets move on.
   
5. Get in your database via phpMyAdmin and look for your forum categories.
   
6. Edit each individual forum category row Name for example category name My Forum.
   
7. Before the name, go to font awesome, if you have it integrated in to your site (if not, stop right now and go no further), and drop in the font awesome code and a space before the category name. For example:

   <i class="fa fa-bullhorn" aria-hidden="true"></i> Announcements
   

   
   

8. Save the row and enjoy.
   

Now don't go try to edit your category name from within the forum now as you won't like the results. You will need to edit it just like you just did until you get rid of the code. then you can go back to editing categories by your forum it self then.

Here is a couple screenshots of the database action.

http://prntscr.com/dgyiaj

http://prntscr.com/dgyioi

**EDIT**

And I forgot, I also changed the css in my forum_index.php the style in it is

<style>
/* unvisited link */
a:link {
   color: #232323;
}
/* visited link */
a:visited {
   color: #232323;
}
/* mouse over link */
a:hover {
   color: #d9534f;
}
/* selected link */
a:active {
   color: #232323;
}
</style>

Now obviously those colors reflect my sites needs. Your will need to be altered to reflect your site color needs.

Edited December 8, 2016 by TAV1702

[shakamonkey88]

Perfect! Thanks for taking the time to write that out for me. I am just struggling to move the "edit category" links located underneath each forum category name. I guess that is being done in your table css?

Also - changing the css in my forum_index.php doesn't seem to have any affect which is strange.

Edited December 9, 2016 by shakamonkey88

[TAV1702]

Yeah that took a little effort (edit category links). let me go look real quick and see if I can tell what I did to make it happen. I know it was the padding or margin stuff in the forum style. I am all but 99% certain. It took me a fair amount of time to get it just right the way I wanted it.

As far as the no effect from changing the css that is odd. is there any chance at all that you have some embedded style added to your layout.php header section like the Lance skin for example? If so, that will over ride it for certain. I'm just guessing at that. any css you chance in the forum index should work.

Let me go dig that info up. Ill be back in a short.

By the way, any way I can get a link to your site? If it is still being worked on and you don't want it public, feel free to PM me a link. I kind of want to go and use my firebug on your site to look at css.

Edited December 9, 2016 by TAV1702

[shakamonkey88]

What kind of link do you need? The site is http://www.alaskairvirtual.com

[TAV1702]

That will work. Sorry it took so long to reply. Something came up earlier and I had to leave home unexpectedly.

And I just thought about it, I cant see your forum anyhow. I have to be logged in to see it and view css. Hmm. Let me think about his for a minute.

[TAV1702]

Yeah I cant see the forum. Any possibility you have a test account, non admin a guy can login with? Suffice to say, that is the only way I can even attempt to see what is going on. You either have css overriding your index or forum style. If I can't see the forum, i can't give a fair explanation to you but only a guess.

Oh and you have an extra or missing </div> on your index page. I still have the ocean blue template. i may be able to look at mine and find it.

[TAV1702]

Please verify you have this snippet in the head of your website:

<? Template::Show('forums/forum_style.php'); ?>

If not, that is where your issue is at. I viewed your generated code and do not see the forum_style being called at all.

[shakamonkey88]

Ah ok. Does that need to go in the layout.php file?

[TAV1702]

yes, that needs to go in between the opening and closing head tags in the layout.php.

<head>
 Your other css links here
<? Template::Show('forums/forum_style.php'); ?>
 scripts not in footer go here
</head>

You get the idea I'm sure. I get carried away with examples sometimes. My apologies.

That should get you in the ballpark. Once you get that in, your css alterations should work and your forum style should come to life. But we need to get that in the head first so we can go from there.

**EDIT**

And please pardon me for intruding, but I think your doc type and database may be using different encoding for special characters.

I would start here

<!DOCTYPE html> and <meta charset="utf-8" />

And check that verses your database.

This specific character � is usually the sign of an invalid (non-UTF-8) character showing up in an output (like a page) that has been declared to be UTF-8. It happens often when

• 
  a database connection is not UTF-8 encoded (even if the tables are)
  
• 
  a HTML or script source file is stored in the wrong encoding (e.g. Windows-1252 instead of UTF-8) - make sure it's saved as a UTF-8 file. The setting is often in the "Save as..." dialog.
  
• 
  an online source (like a widget or a RSS feed) is fetched that isn't serving UTF-8
  

Exert retrieved from stackoverflow on 12/11/2016

**Moderators**

I know this part of the thread is not related to Toms and Dave's VA Forum. So please feel free to moderate if needed. No hard feelings either way. Just trying to help a fella out while I was at it already.

Take care and happy holidays!

Edited December 11, 2016 by TAV1702

[shakamonkey88]

Thanks TAV1702 but I'm now getting

The template file "/home/alaskair/public_html//core/templates/forums/forum_style.tpl" doesn't exist in /home/alaskair/public_html/core/classes/TemplateSet.class.php on line 248

I've tried a combination of .php, .tpl, .php.tpl..... We're on an old version of phpVMS currently.

My database says we're using utf8 - I presume that is the same as utf-8?

edit: fixed it by changing it to

<meta charset="ISO-8859-1" />

edit: fixed the forum style snippet - it needed to be pointed to /forum_style instead of forums/forum_style

Edited December 11, 2016 by shakamonkey88