Can VB4 "showpost"? (Generate a URL that shows only an individual post.)

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  • Christophe_O
    Senior Member
    • Jul 2002
    • 133

    Can VB4 "showpost"? (Generate a URL that shows only an individual post.)

    I have almost decided to buy a VB4 suite for HolisticReview.com except each non-forum page will be a "wiki" style: edited at will by several dozen approved moderators, generally holistic MDs, chiropractors, health food store owners, etc.

    But to attract these people I need to give them each a Blog. And to argue with each other, and with perhaps one thousand secondary members, we need a Forum.

    Instead of running wiki + VB4 suite--and attempting to synchronize the user base etc. etc.--I already have a system that uses a PHP include to place the text of any VB3 "post" inside any web page. (Kwik-n-free interactive template.)...

    So... I've decided to make the text of each "wiki" page actually the "post" within a subforum, to which every primary member is a "moderator."

    1. The problem. In VB3, if you click on the post no., it generates a URL that shows only the post (not the thread): http://starnectar.com/showpost.php?p=2&postcount=1. This is essential to convert a "post" into a "wiki." In VB4, this no longer happens when I click on the post number. But is there still some URL that I can write manually that will "show post"?

    (If so, I tried but couldn't figure it out. For answer, please give me the URL of this post we are now reading?)

    2. Secondary questions. I can work without these options but it would be nice...
    1. How do I force every moderator "edit" to leave an "edited by" note? (In VB3 this seems to happen only if the moderator leaves a 'reason.' I would like an edit date even if the reason is blank. Perhaps I can just pre-add the word "unspecified" into the template?)

    2. Can I get VB4 to place the previous "edited by" note(s) into the bottom of the message text. (It is alright if the moderator is able to delete those. I just want them placed in the text by default. Some old forums used to do this, years ago.)

      edited by Bill. date:____ reason:____
      edited by Sam. date:____ reason:____
      edited by Jill. date:____ reason:____
    Last edited by Christophe_O; Sun 21 Nov '10, 11:33am. Reason: site name update
    sigpic Krystof
    Starnectar Free Forums
  • we_are_borg
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2004
    • 5454
    • 4.2.X

    #2
    The url for your post is http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...=1#post2075530 so you have the same in vBulletin 3 only the syntax is different.

    To give you another option there is a wiki add-on for vBulletin you can check it out at http://www.vaultwiki.org/ its not that expensive.

    Comment

    • Christophe_O
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2002
      • 133

      #3
      Vbulletin sales personnel please answer

      Originally posted by we_are_borg
      The url for your post is http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...=1#post2075530 so you have the same in vBulletin 3 only the syntax is different.
      Thank you Borg (especially for the VaultWiki reference)...

      ...But sorry, this does not work...

      Your "showpost" reference shows the entire thread. Evidently, you just clicked on the post number. This "used" to work in VB3, but no longer works in VB4. I already tried that. I also tried using the "old" syntax. VB4 just forwards it to the new syntax.

      I.E.--For a PHP text include--I cannot use an entire VB forum page--I cannot use a "showthread" page with headers, breadcrumbs, Quick Reply box, etc, etc! I must have the old "showpost" template--where only the post shows. Click below to see the difference:

      VB3 default showpost (bit-tech.net)

      VB4 default showpost (suggested by Borg)

      Is there any VB4 URL syntax that still produces the VB3 "showpost" effect?

      (Vbulletin sales personnel please answer.)
      sigpic Krystof
      Starnectar Free Forums

      Comment

      • Steve Machol
        Former Customer Support Manager
        • Jul 2000
        • 154488

        #4
        That is no longer an option in vB4. Sorry.
        Steve Machol, former vBulletin Customer Support Manager (and NOT retired!)
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        Steve Machol Photography


        Mankind is the only creature smart enough to know its own history, and dumb enough to ignore it.


        Comment

        • Christophe_O
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2002
          • 133

          #5
          Thank you Steve. Glad you are still here. I can't blame Vbulletin for removing the old "showpost." It was basically annoying for most situations. Who wants a link that only shows one post? Nobody except for something very quaint like my faux-wiki.

          Darn good thing Borg told me about VaultWiki. Otherwise, any possibility of my using VB4 would be nil.

          Still, I have to think carefully. VB4 suite + VaultWiki will need to integrate thematically with the HolisticReview.com A-Z side navigation bar. Probably with template modification. I can do that but I am not very proficient in webdesign or template modification. This will take me extra time and a lot of work before I know the results. If the results are not good, my effort and expense are lost. After paying about $285 for VB4 + $0 VaultWiki Lite--I might have to scrap the whole thing. (Then just use VB3 + KNF template + Wordpress. Which I know would work, although not seamlessly.) I.e., on top of investing time and effort, with uncertain results, I also am risking the $285.

          The "sandboxed demo" is no help in this situation.

          Please tell the upper office that I find it very unfortunate that there is "no trial version" and "no 30-day refund" for VB4 suite.
          sigpic Krystof
          Starnectar Free Forums

          Comment

          • BirdOPrey5
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2008
            • 9613
            • 5.6.3

            #6
            Actually Lynne posted on vBulletin.org instructions for editing showpost.php (which is actually still included in the VB4 package) to get it work like it used to in VB3... these weren't specific instructions but something someone good at PHP and vBulletin could follow... As the OP says he not very proficient it's probably something he could request (paid) on vbulletin.org. I tried myself but then I realized I don't care about VB4 that much so I didn't get far.

            These were posted maybe 3 to 6 months ago, I don't have the link, but I'm sure it can be found if you search for showpost.php in the VB4 and/or unpaid requests forums.

            Comment

            • Christophe_O
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2002
              • 133

              #7
              Thank you BirdoPrey. This opens up flexibility.

              If I can find such advice as you say, then I can "probably" learn to work with VB4 even if VaultWiki turns out to be overly rigid for my page designs. Notwithstanding which, I am also eager for the excuse to give VB4 suite + VaultWiki a jolly good try. VaultWiki looks like a unique product that deserves support.

              I could not readily find Lynne's "showpost" suggestions. However I found the following discussion which "might" do the trick. (I am not able to understand exactly what Lynne is talking about, without actually doing it.)

              Create your own Vbulletin page.

              Anyway, I will save this thread for reference, in case I ever do need to resort to custom Vbulletin pages. Thank you again, BirdoPrey, Steve and Borg.
              sigpic Krystof
              Starnectar Free Forums

              Comment

              • Zachery
                Former vBulletin Support
                • Jul 2002
                • 59097

                #8
                Not sure if someone anwsered the vBulletin edit issue, but its a setting to leave an edited by message or not per usergroup and has been for a bit

                Comment

                • BirdOPrey5
                  Senior Member
                  • Jul 2008
                  • 9613
                  • 5.6.3

                  #9
                  FYI - this was the thread I was talking about: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=247950

                  Comment

                  • satlazone
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2008
                    • 190
                    • 4.0.0

                    #10
                    this option was harmful for seo.
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                    • BirdOPrey5
                      Senior Member
                      • Jul 2008
                      • 9613
                      • 5.6.3

                      #11
                      Originally posted by satlazone
                      this option was harmful for seo.
                      There are other ways the SEO issues could have been handled besides removing the feature... or they could have made it an option... but whatever, almost no one cares or uses it anyway except in these special circumstances.

                      Comment

                      • Christophe_O
                        Senior Member
                        • Jul 2002
                        • 133

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Zachery
                        Not sure if someone anwsered the vBulletin edit issue, but its a setting to leave an edited by message or not per usergroup and has been for a bit
                        Thank you ZACHERY! It was hard to find without knowing the section. Now I've found it. Usergroup Manager -> General Permissions.

                        Thank you BIRDoPREY! Now I could probably reconstruct the VB3 showpost into VB4 if necessary.

                        Originally posted by satlazone
                        this option was harmful for seo.
                        toon79: It has been removed for SEO purposes
                        Two cryptic remarks. If by chance anyone can summarize briefly why the "showpost" was SEO-harmful, or point to a discussion, I would be interested. I have not been active in SEO for several years.

                        Only possibility I can think of, was maybe the "showpost" was spidered as a "mirror" (identical) page, causing negative points in Google's secret algorithm...? But if so, was this conjecture, or was there hard evidence? And in any case, how about fixing this by just making the link SEO-opaque with javascript or "nofollow"? (Same problem and solution can occur with PDF documents, or so I've heard.) Secondarily, the "showpost" page having few or no out-links, would make it "unhelpful" for SEO, but I would not say harmful... But if anyone cares to comment, I am always curious to learn something about SEO...

                        P.S. I just stumbled across this answer at vbseo.com: Replace showpost with permalinks. Points made in that discussion:
                        Originally posted by Joe Ward
                        • ...replacing showpost pages with Permalinks can really mean the difference between waiting weeks or months for full search indexing, to waiting multiple years...
                        • Duplication - Showpost pages are partial duplicate content...
                        • Inefficient - Showpost pages create unnecessary work for search engines...
                        • Slower Indexing - Causes slower indexing of thread pages...
                        • Reduces Ranking - Steals large amounts of link value away from threads & reduces their rank...
                        • Sitemap Overloaded - Makes your sitemap less effective...
                        • Google does NOT favor massive content if it's not unique! Any spammer can create a content grabber to populate a site with millions of pages of recycled content. Google wants to find unique content... Thread pages tend to be unique. Showpost pages are not.
                        Last edited by Christophe_O; Sun 21 Nov '10, 11:04am. Reason: p.s.
                        sigpic Krystof
                        Starnectar Free Forums

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                        • Mark.B
                          vBulletin Support
                          • Feb 2004
                          • 24286
                          • 6.0.X

                          #13
                          Behold!


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                          I have showpost.php working in vB4 thanks to Lynne's instructions and some template trickery.
                          MARK.B
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                          • traen
                            Senior Member
                            • Oct 2009
                            • 273
                            • 4.1.x

                            #14
                            Hey Mark, would you mind sharing how you were able to add showpost back in to vb4? Thanks.

                            Comment

                            • Mark.B
                              vBulletin Support
                              • Feb 2004
                              • 24286
                              • 6.0.X

                              #15
                              Originally posted by traen
                              Hey Mark, would you mind sharing how you were able to add showpost back in to vb4? Thanks.
                              There's an article HERE that explains the basics of how to do it. Depending on how you upgraded you may still have the relevant template and it'll just need converting to vB4 format. if not you'll need to grab one from a vB3 installation (SHOWTHREAD_SHOWPOST).

                              I found I had to mess about with some THIS_SCRIPT conditionals in postbit_legacy as well, to prevent some buttons showing when showpost was called, eg multiquote (as the two both use the same layout). This wasn't necessary in vB3 and I'm unsure why.
                              Last edited by Mark.B; Thu 14 Jul '11, 10:37am. Reason: Cobblers! Forgot the ruddy link! Can't get the staff these days.
                              MARK.B
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