Template Editing

[ljianyih]

Hi,

I've noticed that we're not able to edit the templates in the cloud system like we do if we host the vBulletin ourselves. Is there any plan for the vBulletin cloud updates which will allow us to edit the template? I would need to do some customizations on some of the stuffs, i.e. I need to show the parent forum name in the title through manual template editing (http://www.worldsofsports.com/forum/...self-motivated - the title behind I wanted is "How do you keep yourself motivated - Body Building" but not "How do you keep yourself motivated - Sports Forum").

If I really wanted to edit the template, what can I do? I'm willing to wait for a while if vBulletin cloud is going to allow template editing in the next update, but if VB is not planning on allowing template editing, then I might consider other approaches and this is considered vital issue for us.

[glennrocksvb]

I don't think vBCloud will ever allow template editing at least in the foreseeable future.

But you don't have to edit any template in order to change the site name in the title. Just go to AdminCP > Settings > Options > Site Name / URL / Contact Details and change the Forum Name field.

[ljianyih]

Ah, that's a BIG disadvantage, we should have checked on all the VB cloud restrictions. Template editing is considered a basic and important built-in feature of VB forum. We're actually going to use the parent forum title parameter so that each thread will have the behind title following the parent forum instead of the general forum name.

I guess we would need template editing feature for lots of customization aspects in the future. In fact, I think many people using VB cloud system would need the template editing customization as well. If template editing is not possible (I guess file editing is even not possible), is it possible for us to switch VB cloud to our own hosting (by shifting all the files and databases)? Or is there any solutions for those who really needed template editing?

[Wayne Luke]

I don't want to say we will not offer this in the future. However there are no current plans due to security issues this opens up.

Many common look and feel customizations can be accomplished via CSS which is available. For what you want to do, you might enter an improvement request to allow the name to be shown as an option. You can do that by clicking on Tracker above and clicking on Create Issue.

[glennrocksvb]

Ah I thought you wanted the site name. I didn't realize you wanted the parent forum name in the title.

[ljianyih]

I chose VB Cloud because originally I thought it would be just like a hosting or a shared hosting with VB system installed. Why don't VB consider to behave like the web hosting and allows cloud users to edit template as well as editing the files and allowing ftp (since web hosting didn't have security issue affecting other sites, I wonder if VB cloud can achieve this)?

I would suggest at least give VB cloud customers to have the options in choosing between basic VB cloud with no template editing and others (for those who just want a simple forum), or the advanced with template editing, file editing, and ftp if they wanted to (for those who really needed these).

[Wayne Luke]

The system isn't designed to be a hosting platform with vBulletin pre-installed. The template editing isn't turned off to protect customers. It is turned off to protect the system from security intrusions.

[ljianyih]

When we host ourselves we can edit the template, but when it is hosted by VB cloud, we can't edit the template. Does this means there is no security intrusion for own host vs there is security intrusion for VB Cloud host if template editing is allowed? Is there any way for VB cloud to provide alternative solutions or make exception for those who really in need of template editing? I'm sorry for keep asking about the template editing, but we really need it badly and hopefully there is a good solution to this.

[Mark.B]

There is no way to make an exception.

It's a security risk on a server set up with multiple sites running, it's not a security risk when it's just your site on your server, unless you plan to maliciously hack your own site of course.

In answer to your earlier question, yes if you decide to move from Cloud to self-hosted, we can provide you with a database backup that you can import. You can also opt to pay us the $149 professional installation fee, in which case we'll handle the entire migration for you.

[ljianyih]

Shared hosting plan like Hostgator's have hundreds of websites and they're fine with ftp, databases, etc. Template editing uses only preset variables in HTML not involving server side php and we hope that VB will consider to improve template editing feature for Cloud customers (such as allowing some common templates or safer variables with no security risk to be edited and used).

I'm just expressing some of my thoughts and needs, and have no offence to VB cloud though. We actually like a lot about VB Cloud as there are lots of benefits such as the support, the updates, etc (it's good for both customers and VB in the long run). Hope VB Cloud will get better and better in no time.

[Wayne Luke]

We're not selling Shared Hosting. We're selling a Cloud Configured version of vBulletin. On shared hosting, they take more care to separate individual site configurations. That is not what we're trying to do. We're running hundreds of sites off the same configuration. There are key differences. The biggest among these are:

1) Many files are shared across Cloud sites via Symlinks and NFS shares. Those files that are required to be unique have been grouped in their locations based on the FID used to identify the individual site.
2) All configuration files (config.php) are held in a database this includes the individual database information for each website.
3) Caches are held on Memcache Servers shared by all installations.

The reason this is a security risk in our cloud environment is that you can make direct calls to the databases and API via the templates. You can also set variables via the templates in vBulletin 5. Someone with malicious intent can try to access, gather and/or pollute the three key resources above. We will not allow template access on Cloud for the foreseeable future. The same holds true for any other feature we see as potentially disruptive to the smooth operation of all Cloud sites.

If this changes, we'll let everyone know.