vBulletin Connect 5.1.5 Beta 1 is now available

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  • Wayne Luke
    vBulletin Technical Support Lead
    • Aug 2000
    • 73981

    vBulletin Connect 5.1.5 Beta 1 is now available

    We're proud to announce the release of vBulletin 5.1.5 Alpha 6. This is a maintenance release focused on resolving issues within the software. All together over 115 issues have been resolved in vBulletin 5.1.5. In addition to fixing outstanding issues, we've added a few new features and continue to update existing features.

    PHP Minimum Version
    Due to changes in required third-party libraries, the minimum required version of vBulletin 5.1.5 and higher will be PHP 5.4.0. Also at this time, PHP 5.3.X has reached end of life and will no longer be updated. It is recommended to upgrade your servers to 5.4.0.

    Facebook Connect Updates
    Facebook Connect in vBulletin 5.1.5 has been reworked and updated to the latest version of the Facebook API. As of December 31st 2014, Facebook will no longer accept Connect Apps under the old API. As of April 30th 2015, Facebook will no longer communicate with Facebook Connect implemented in versions of vBulletin prior to vBulletin 5.1.5. This update reworks how Facebook is integrated into vBulletin 5.1.5 completely down to the CSS in order to provide a better user experience across the board.

    Featured Content Slider
    A new module has been added to allow you to highlight 'Featured' content. Since vBulletin Connect has been released, you have been able to mark content as featured. This can then be used in searches to allow you to highlight this content. In vBulletin 5.1.5, we have added a customized module that will highlight this content in an Image Slider. Using the first image in the content, you can show off your featured content in a customized module. If there is no image in the content, a default image is provided. You can choose how much content to feature in your slider. This module can be placed anywhere modules are available but is perhaps better suited to some of the wider columns in the layouts.

    User Mentions and Notifications
    New BBCode has been added to handle User Mentions in content using either the @name or Guest. When using the @name style, you will be given a lookup list of usernames to choose from.
    Examples
    Usage: @%username%
    Guest
    Example Usage: @"John Doe"
    @John Doe
    Guest
    Example Output: @[a href="#"]John Doe[/a]
    @[a href="#"]John[/a] Doe
    @[a href="#"]John Doe[/a]





    New Style Variables
    In order to accomodate these new themes, 26 new stylevars have been added. These can be used to create your own themes or styles. More information to come on this. You can find a complete list of style variables in vBulletin 5.1.5 here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/stylevars

    Customers can discuss this release here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/node/4223536

    Warning: As an Alpha release of software currently in development, no support is provided for this version of vBulletin at this time. It is not advised to use this software on production sites.
    Last edited by Mark.B; Tue 9 Dec '14, 3:45pm.
    Translations provided by Google.

    Wayne Luke
    The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
    vBulletin 5 API
  • Wayne Luke
    vBulletin Technical Support Lead
    • Aug 2000
    • 73981

    #2
    vBulletin 5.1.5 includes six new themes that can be selected in Site Builder. This will give users more variety in the default look of their site. I have included screenshots of these themes in the Photo Gallery below.
    Translations provided by Google.

    Wayne Luke
    The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
    vBulletin 5 API

    Comment

    • Wayne Luke
      vBulletin Technical Support Lead
      • Aug 2000
      • 73981

      #3
      New Modules in vBulletin 5.1.5

      vBulletin Connect 5.1.5 introduces two new modules that you can use on your pages. New installations also receive two new search modules placed on the Blog and Group pages to show your blog and group activity. I'll go over how to create these search modules on your pre-existing installation later.

      Content Slider Module
      This module was requested a lot by vBulletin 5 customers. By default it allows you to show featured content anywhere on your site in an image slideshow format. Currently this is very easy to setup with few options but those can be expanded in the future if there is demand.

      First we need to feature some content. Go to an article, topic or blog entry and you can feature content by using the inline moderation tools. Select the Topic menu and click on the "Feature Topic". See the screenshot below.

      Click image for larger version

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      Once you have a few topics featured enter Site Builder and edit the page where you want to add your Content Slider. Drag the content slider to the location you want to place it on your page at. We recommend a wide or 100% column. Once placed, it should look like the image below:

      Click image for larger version

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      Advanced Settings
      You can configure this using a JSON Search String. These can be created by typing out the JSON string or using a search module to configure your options and then clicking the advanced tab to get the string. We hope to improve the functionality for this module in the future.

      Statistics Module
      The statistics module from vBulletin 4 and earlier has been recreated to fit in with Site Builder. You can place this module wherever modules can be placed. The statistics module does not have any specific options at this time except for the ability to give it a custom title. It does share the hide title option with all other modules though.

      Click image for larger version

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      My Groups and My Blogs
      With the default installation, two new modules are added. One for blogs and one for groups. They are designed to show the blogs and groups that you own. There are instructions on how to recreate these modules for upgrades below. The modules themselves are simply searches built using JSON search strings. However they use new filters made available in vBulletin 5.1.5 to achieve their effect.

      Click image for larger version

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      To create these modules on existing forums that are upgraded, follow these steps:
      1. Using Site Builder edit the page you want to place the modules on. By design, these would be either the Blog or Group pages.
      2. Add a Search Module.
      3. Edit the module and click the "Switch to Advanced Editor" link at the top.
      4. Choose your options:
        • Blog:
          Title: My Blogs
          Results: 5
          JSON: {"my_channels":{"type":"blog"},"sort":{"lastcontent":"desc"}}
        • Groups:
          Title: My Groups
          Results: 5
          JSON: {"my_channels":{"type":"group"},"sort":{"lastcontent":"desc"}}
      5. Save the module and then save the page.

      Last edited by Wayne Luke; Fri 12 Dec '14, 8:22am.
      Translations provided by Google.

      Wayne Luke
      The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
      vBulletin 5 API

      Comment

      • Wayne Luke
        vBulletin Technical Support Lead
        • Aug 2000
        • 73981

        #4
        vBulletin 5.1.5 Beta 1 is now available for testing by all customers.
        Translations provided by Google.

        Wayne Luke
        The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
        vBulletin 5 API

        Comment

        • Wayne Luke
          vBulletin Technical Support Lead
          • Aug 2000
          • 73981

          #5
          Facebook Connect is temporarily disabled on this site. This is due to a PHP versioning issue. We will re-enable this functionality in the future.
          Translations provided by Google.

          Wayne Luke
          The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
          vBulletin 5 API

          Comment

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