WARNING: Do not use this MOD with 1.1.4, due to bug reports reported by some users I am pretty sure it needs some changes to work with 1.1.4. Currently I am working with another project taking ALL my time so update to this MOD will still take some time. I will remove this message when I have made update. If someone else is interested and wants to find out what's wrong, go ahead and develop it and post update to forum and I'll then update this.

I am sorry that some people have had problems with this MOD.

--===========================================================
Board News (bnews)
Version 1.21

Author: Oskari Rauta/Jake Irons - jake1981[at]luukku.com
-------------------------=========================----------------------
Readme before install
======================================================---------

What's new in 1.2.2?
===============---.
- I added some extra compatibility for working with other MODs.

What's new in 1.2.1?
================---.
Nothing is new in 1.2.1. Newer versions than 1.0 no longer
needed "Read more" text in language files and removal of it
was forgotten until version 1.2.1. If you are using 1.2
version already, you do not need to upgrade to 1.2.1 version.
It doesn't bring anything new, just one language definition
was removed because it no longer was needed.

What's new in 1.2?
==============---.
- Source code has been simplified a bit.
- Daniel15's code no longer is included in BoardNews MOD
   although, BoardNews is still dependant on Daniel15's code,
   so Daniel15's MOD now is added as a dependancy for boardNews
   MOD. BoardNews no longer works, if you have not installed
   Daniel15's MOD.
- Installer now supports list of dependant MODs. If required
   MOD(s) has/have not been installed, installation is being
   cancelled without no changes made at all and in browser it
   shows a list of MODs that it depends on that have not been
   installed. On list it also shows author's name and provides
   links to contacting author of required MOD and a link where
   to download this required MOD.

What's new in 1.1?
==============---.
- New function for fetching topics as news. This is
   work of Daniel15, modification of a function found from
   SSI.php. Some people had troubles, news items just
   vanished after some time. So this new function should
   be much better than my original.
- Compatibility with original news system. Both systems
    can be used at same time now (it first outputs SMF's
    original news system's news item(s))
- "Compatibility" with all themes that support SMF's
   original news system.
- Compatibility with 1.1.3 tested.
- You can use smileys in topics titles and they will be
   displayed as images.
- URL support in topic's title. If you put this into topic's
   title: "New version of Board News available at
   http://www.simplemachines.org" web address will be clickable
   and it will go directly to that address.
- When hovering mouse over a news item, bbcode tags are
   filtered from previewing text (for e.g.
   http://www.roadrunner.cx only outputs address
   http://www.roadrunner.cx without it being link and without
   showing [url] tags..

What's gone with 1.1?
=================---.
- No [Read more] any more. I took it away. Now just hover
   your mouse over news item's title to see "preview" of
   topic and if you want to see it better, just click it.
- Support for multiple themes. Now this MOD supports only
   one theme at a time and initially it is core/default.
   If you install this MOD and change from core/default to
   classic or babylon, it WILL look weird.

What's changed in 1.1?
==================---.
You no longer should disable original news. Starting from version
1.1, you should be able to use BOTH news simultaneously. If you
do not want to use "original" news, do not disable it, just delete
all news entries.

There's new version, how can I upgrade?
===================================---.
First uninstall previous version and delete MOD from package
list ( or delete it's file from $boarddir/Packages ). After
this, install new version. Your previous settings will be
used with newer version.

Does this MOD require another MOD(s) to be installed?
=================================================---.
Yes it does. It is dependant on Daniel15's
ssi_boardNews Multiple Boards MOD that can be downloaded
from http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=759.

What if I don't install required MOD(s) and I proceed?
==================================================---.
You can proceed to install my MOD without installing
required MOD(s), but then installation will cancel and
display a list of missing required MOD(s) with
download links and links for contacting author of
required MOD.

What is this?
=========---.
This is a modification for simple machines forum(now on called smf).

What kind of modification?
======================---.
It's alternative to news system used in SMF. You can use
admin panel to choose boards where news are imported from.
Then change permissions on that board to allow normal users to
only reply to existing topics. Write a new topic on that forum
and in the news display you see your just written new topic.
If you click [Read more] it takes you to actual post. You can
also hover your mouse over news entry to see preview of it's
contents.

Does it support setup from administration panel?
============================================---.
Yes it does. It gives you new entry to admin's navigation
panel, right before News and Newsletters, you see entry
"Board News", or you can get to settings of this MOD also
from "News and Newsletters", it creates a tab to there too.
There you find settings that change the look of your news
box and which boards are used for importing news.

Is this better than original news?
==============================---.
Yes and no. Some people like this type of way to introduce
news on their forums, some like the way SMF has done it.
This way people can comment to news by posting replies to
entry's topic. And your news can be like any other post
containing images or what ever your posts usually look like..

Why did you do this?
================---.
For site integration issues. We use mkportal, I there use
boardnews to display site's news. I choose same area in there
and in this MOD's settings and there we go, same news entries
displayed in both, forum and portal. TinyPortal aswell uses
similar technology.

What version is it designed for?
============================---.
It has been designed for version 1.1.3.

Is it tested?
=========---.
It's tested under smf's version 1.1.3 with 3 themes and 2 languages.
Worse support is with classic theme and mostly this has been designed
default core in mind..

Is it multilingual?
===============---.
Yes, it supports english and finnish.
If you need support for another language, you
need to check what my MOD inserts to language files:

- forumdir/Themes/default/languages/Admin.english.php
- forumdir/Themes/default/languages/index.english.php

Does it support themes?
==================---.
Yes and no. It's visible on all themes, but initially it's been
optiomized for core/default.

How do I add support for babylon/classic/custom theme?
==================================================---.
Open boarddir/Sources/Subs-BoardNews.php and scroll to
end of file. Check how my MOD manipulates variable
$context['random_news_line'] and make it compatible
with theme of your choice.

I use multiple themes, how do I make this work with all themes?
===========================================================---.
Such feature for this MOD does not exist. You need to make
Subs-BoardNews.php detect what theme is being used and make it
manipulate variable $context['random_news_line'] proper way
for every theme in your forum. I might create someday a new
version of this MOD that will have something like this for
3 basic themes (core/default, babylon and classic) where you
could get a hint of what to do. Currently this kind of
feature is missing.

BoardNews10.zip 10.46 KB

BoardNews11.zip 12.35 KB

boardNews12.zip 11.50 KB

boardnews121.zip 11.61 KB

boardnews122.zip 11.69 KB

Manual installation info 1.1.2 1.1.3