How to make template edits more manageable for upgrades

[waterwheel]

Every time I up grade vB I have to revert a bunch of templates to get my forum back to how it was. It's nothing too hard, like some extra buttons here and there, this, and that, but I was wondering if there were any methods to make this easier.

Could I make my own plug in that would put the code where I want it, or is there something else I don't know about?

[MRGTB]

If your adding custom code, wrap this arround your code so you know what changes you have made.

<!-- custom code start -->
CODE HERE
<!-- / custom code end -->

Then all you have to do to find all code changes you made later, is use the template search engine and enter "custom code start" etc to find them all

[waterwheel]

If your adding custom code, wrap this arround your code so you know what changes you have made.

<!-- custom code start -->
CODE HERE
<!-- / custom code end -->

Then all you have to do to find all code changes you made later, is use the template search engine and enter "custom code start" etc to find them all

Thanks for the good tip!

I've noticed a few products and plugins over at vb.org that you can use the admin cp to turn them off and on, and they make the necessary template changes. Is there a way that I can make my own product to make some simple code additions in common locations?

Where can I find some documentation on how to create a plugin/product?

[Steve Machol]

Here is the online documentation for the Plugin system:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/plugin_system

Here is some information regarding vB Plugins at vBulletin.org:

[How to] Write Plug-ins/Hooks

[How-to] Hooks and Plugins

[patrickb]

Take a look at the Template Modification System (TMS) plug-in on vb.org.