http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/ en Sat, 18 May 2013 17:27:42 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/images/dragonbytev2/misc/rss.jpg http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/new-free-mod-5-feature-updates-vbdonate-bugfix-vb5-skin-preview-334/ Sat, 18 May 2013 00:26:20 GMT *DBTech News* Yet another big batch of releases this week, with 1 new free mod, 5 feature updates (including a major release for vBSecurity!) and... DBTech News

Yet another big batch of releases this week, with 1 new free mod, 5 feature updates (including a major release for vBSecurity!) and 1 bugfix update!


New Releases

Our new and completely FREE mod this week is Banned From Reporting. It does pretty much exactly what it says - it lets you ban someone from using the "Report" feature in vBulletin. This can be quite useful if your forum has issues with members reporting posts of other members they don't like, wasting your moderators' time. The mod gives you the option of either banning entire usergroups - so you can create a special usergroup for these time-wasters - or simply banning individual members. Read about it here.


Updates & Bugfixes

The biggest update this week is vBSecurity v1.1.1, adding three major new features designed to improve the security of your members' accounts, aid in disaster recovery, and tip you off to any potential unauthorised access. The Pro version now has the option of creating password rules, enforcing a certain level of security for members' passwords before they are allowed to register or change their password. You can also quickly reset the password of every user in case of a catastrophic security breach, as well as see at a glance if an unauthorised party has logged in to the AdminCP with your account the next time you login. Check out the full release notes here.

Another major update comes in the form of vBSearch Log v1.1.0, which is now available for vBulletin 3.8.x by popular demand. vBSearchLog can be an invaluable tool for ensuring your forums are providing the content your members are ionterested in seeing judging by their search habits. The changelog can be found here.

For those of you testing the Beta version of vBSuperPMs, Beta 3 has been released, adding three major new features including the often-requested Attachments in PMs. This is one of the most frequently requested features in vBulletin 4, and it's available to all Pro customers right now! This release also lets users quickly "Reply to All" when viewing a PM with multiple CC'd users, and PMs can now optionally be pruned via a cron job. Read the full release notes here.

Next up is Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.1.4. This mod is now even more multi-language friendly, with translatable button titles! If youre running a multi-language forum', you'll definitely like the ability to provide your buttons in all your available languages. Read the release notes here.

vBNavTabs v1.3.1 is now Gold, making the Lite version available to all users. vBNavTabs is now fully compatible with vBulletin 4.2.1 and the changes introduced in that vBulletin version. The features that are now built in to vB 4.2.1 should no longer show up for forums running that version. Click here for the full changelog.

Lastly, vBDonate v1.4.4 has been released, fixing a couple display issues on the My Contributions List page. Read the changelog here.


Skin News

Our skinner @the-danzor has been hard at work making an entrance onto the vB5 scene, and has sent us this sneak preview of the MMO skin for vB5:



Be sure to leave your feedback in the comments section below, personally I think it looks amazingly good!


Special Offers

Our MOTM victory celebration special for vB Optimise is still ongoing, you can receive a 25% discount on all vBOptimise licenses by using the coupon code OptimiseMOTM


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on vBArcade for vB5 & making Forum Ads Gold
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version, as well as a major vBQuiz update
@Darkwaltz4 is on a leave of absence
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PMs
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a Classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins


Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Forum Ads Gold in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBQuiz update in the next few weeks
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next month or so
vBArcade for vB5 in the next few weeks
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months


Decado's Corner

Things being kept ticking over at DBTech towers, hopefully you guys are enjoying the cool new stuff for your sites and the frequent updates!

Belazor has taken over vBArcade for vB5 and it should be out in the next few weeks, he's also been working on vBSecurity and Forum Ads, what a busy boy!

For those interested in my surgery and such, you can check out a blog post I made on it over on the MMA site I write for: http://www.mmasentinel.com/2013/05/surgery-journey/


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/new-free-mod-5-feature-updates-vbdonate-bugfix-vb5-skin-preview-334/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-username-change-333/ Tue, 14 May 2013 13:21:05 GMT Username Change is a mod designed to allow your users to easily change their usernames, with options for limiting the frequency of which they can... Username Change is a mod designed to allow your users to easily change their usernames, with options for limiting the frequency of which they can change it. Coupled with a username history feature as well as adhering to vBulletin's username rules as defined by you, Username Change is a simple but powerful mod.


Username Change Delay
You may want to restrict how frequently users can change their usernames, in order to ensure that new members who are still learning who's who don't get too confused.

The usergroup permissions section for this mod allows you to set a number of days between each username change.


Username Change Limit
You can also configure how many times in total a person can change their username.

The usergroup permissions section for this mod allows you to set a number of times each username can be changed.


Minimum Posts
This mod also supports setting a limit on the number of posts a user has to have posted before they can change their username.

The usergroup permissions section for this mod allows you to set the number of posts needed.


Username History
This mod has a flexible username history feature integrated with member profiles, and settings to control who can access it.

The usergroup permissions section for this mod allows you to set who can access the history and the number of items displayed.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-username-change-333/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-completely-free-mods-released-along-3-updates-332/ Sat, 11 May 2013 00:56:41 GMT DBTech News

Tons of releases for you guys this week, 4 completely free mods for you, just because you're all awesome, 2 bugfix updates and a huge feature update to our new Forum Ads Beta.

New Releases

First up is our Logo Rotatation mod. It does exactly what you think it does - it rotates the logo at the top of your forum with other logos. You can even set date ranges to have special holiday banners rotate in during certain days/weeks. Read about it here.

Next is DragonByte Private Text in Posts - this allows your members to leave hidden messages that can only be seen by the member they target it at. Ever wanted to comment on a post someone made to your friends? Now you can leave a hidden piece of text in your post only they can see. Want to leave private information like your phone number or email address for one specific person without resorting to the PM system? Now you can do that too! Check out the details here.

Third up is a mod designed to help your registration rate - Guest PM Notice. This mod will let guests know they have a PM waiting for them and direct them to register to read it - they genuinely will have a PM waiting for them as well as this mod only works if you have a Welcome PM on registration. Read about it here.

Last but not least is a mod designed to improve your analytics and let you better understand what the users of your site are looking for. vBSearch Log lets you see a log of what your members and guests are searching for so you can better target your content to give people what they're looking for! Full details here.

Updates & Bugfixes

The big update this week is DragonByte Forum Ads going to Beta 2 and incorporating over two dozen new features, changes and fixes! If you want to monetize your forum quickly and easily you should get in on the beta release of this mod to have your say in what features should be added before it goes Gold. Check out the Beta 2 features and changes here.

There have also been bugfix releases for DragonByte Forum Tabs and Advanced Post Thanks/Likes. Details here.

Special Offers

To celebrate the MOTM win of vBOptimise you can receive a 25% discount on all vBOptimise licenses by using the coupon code OptimiseMOTM

What's Going On

@Belazor is working on making Forum Ads Gold
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is on a leave of absence
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PMs
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins


Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Forum Ads Gold in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next month or so
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Decado's Corner

Tons of releases for you guys again this week, including a bunch of free ones, hope you enjoy them!

For those wondering about our xenForo plans, they are on hold indefinitely. The long and short of it is that when it comes to interactions with us, we've experienced much more negativity than positivity from the community there. The market is tiny and at this point unprofitable and none of the coders have any desire to release work there in order to perhaps build our presence for the future. Why does the attitude of the community matter? This post explains that pretty thoroughly. The thread as a whole does a good job of showing just what the xF community is like, as does this one.

What this DOES mean is a renewed focus on vB5 (as well as our core vB4 work of course). If you're thinking of doing something to freshen up your site, vB5 is going to have a lot more options in terms of professional, well supported mods than xF is.

In other news it looks like i'm still going to be off my feet for the foreseeable future. My recovery isn't going as well as *I* had hoped, my feet and ankles aren't healing very fast, due to the sheer amount of work done down there (my achilles tendon and all 3 major tendons running across the top of my foot were cut and reattached). The work on my calf muscle appears to have healed fine though, so it's not ALL bad news.

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-completely-free-mods-released-along-3-updates-332/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbdownloads-331/ Mon, 06 May 2013 19:16:29 GMT vBDownloads is a mod designed to allow you or your users to host files on your server, sharing them with the world or just your community. Featuring... vBDownloads is a mod designed to allow you or your users to host files on your server, sharing them with the world or just your community. Featuring a modern, AJAX-based uploader as well as many customisation features for both admins and users, vBDownloads is one of the most powerful forum-integrated download scripts.


Add New / Modify File Extensions
You may want to restrict what type of files your users can upload, or simply edit the maximum dimensions of images uploaded. You may also want to group similar extensions together to quickly toggle their permissions for categories.

Simply access the "Manage Extensions" page for this mod and either add new extension groups, new extensions, or modify existing ones.


Per-Category Settings
This mod has multiple category settings, ranging from ability to choose which extension groups are permitted in this particular category to controlling usergroup access.

You can use the "Manage Categories" page for this mod and modify each category setting within that interface.


Import Utility
At the time of writing, this mod supports importing downloads from "DownloadsII", allowing you to make the switch with ease.

Simply access the "Import Utility" page for this mod and follow the instructions on-screen.


vBulletin Options
This mod has multiple vBulletin Options available, such as the ability to disable certain features or control certain system-wide limitations.

Simply access the "Settings" page for this mod and see if the option you're looking for exists!



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbdownloads-331/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/decado-returns-new-forum-ads-mod-thread-ratings-v2-vboptimise-wins-motm-specials-330/ Sat, 04 May 2013 02:21:03 GMT *DBTech News* New release, updates and a couple of specials this week! First off the biggest news, FORUM ADS IS FINALLY HERE! Forum ads is... DBTech News

New release, updates and a couple of specials this week!

First off the biggest news, FORUM ADS IS FINALLY HERE! Forum ads is DBTech's foray into the advertising product market. Our aim is to let you sell adspace to potential advertisers quickly and easily, and offer you many customizable options and campaigns to ensure no matter who your target market is you can offer them the campaign they need to be effective.

It still has many features yet to come and will be in active development for a while yet so if there is something you want it to do, this is the time to buy in and let us know so it gets added!

You can read about all the features here.

Also released this week is Thread Ratings v2 which brings over a dozen new features including the much requested 5 or 10 stars rating choices and the thread rating instances to allow different forums to have different rating criteria. Accompanying the release as always is a price increase. For the next week you can still receive it at less than the old price by using the coupon code ThreadAds though. You can read all about the update here.

Last but not least vBOptimise became our SEVENTH MOTM win last month, making us the most successful account EVER on vbulletin.org! To celebrate we have not one but TWO specials this week.

Special Offers

First up is our special to celebrate the two new releases - if you enter "ThreadAds" into the coupon box you will receive 35% off both Thread Ratings AND Forum Ads.

Secondly to celebrate the MOTM win of vBOptimise you can receive a 25% discount on all vBOptimise licenses by using the coupon code OptimiseMOTM


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on Forum Ads and a small new mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version and a small new mod
@Darkwaltz4 is on a leave of absence
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's and a small new mod
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins


Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Forum Ads Gold in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next month or so
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Decado's Corner

Well ladies and gents, I am officially back! And I come bearing gifts! The Beta release of Forum Ads v1 and Thread Ratings v2.

I've been off recovering from my bilateral calf surgery - i've been laid up, unable to walk and taking way more pain meds than i'd like, but I wasn't entirely useless. I spent my time working on other side projects - for instance www.mmasentinel.com where I am a co-host along with former Tapout Radio host Stephie Daniels and the best Artist in MMA Evan Shoman.

It's been a lot of fun learning a whole new skillset - writing articles is something i've done plenty of but conducting interviews and being on podcasts isn't. My most recent interview was with UFC Heavyweight contender Roy Nelson which fortunately went well - if you're interested you can listen here.

Beyond that i've been doing plenty of research (e.g into XenForo) and making plans. We'll be doing a number of small mods this week for you guys to get me back into the whole swing of designing again, so expect plenty of releases next week.

Oh and if you haven't already, check out @Belazor's site improvement blog for this week. It covers how to use AJAX Threads to the best of its abilities! http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs...x-threads-329/

It's good to be home, ladies and gents!

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/decado-returns-new-forum-ads-mod-thread-ratings-v2-vboptimise-wins-motm-specials-330/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-ajax-threads-329/ Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:30:59 GMT AJAX Threads is a mod designed to make threads update in real-time, negating the need to refresh the page in order to see new posts. The inserted... AJAX Threads is a mod designed to make threads update in real-time, negating the need to refresh the page in order to see new posts. The inserted posts are also fully compatible with all vBulletin features like Quick Edit and anything else that works through a normal "quick reply" post.


Selectively Disable - Per Category/Forum
You may have certain forums that you don't want automatically refreshed threads in, such as a spam forum. The mod enables you to selectively disable the mod per category (Lite) or forum (Pro).

Simply access the "Forum Manager" for this mod and tick the boxes for the forums you don't want threads to automatically refresh in.


Per-Usergroup Idle Setting
Each individual usergroup can have their own "Idle Timeout" setting, allowing admins to keep watch of a thread indefinitely whereas keeping the performance enhancements that come with having a finite time till idle is reached.

You can use the "Usergroup Manager" for this mod and follow the instructions on screen to control the idle time of each usergroup.


Per-Usergroup Permissions
This mod has multiple usergroup permissions, and they can be configured quickly for a large number of usergroups.

The "Permissions" screen for this mod allows you to configure the various usergroup permissions and save them all quickly.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-ajax-threads-329/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/vbdownloads-v2-1-0-gold-forum-tabs-v1-0-8-5-bugfixes-new-site-improvement-motm-328/ Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:34:37 GMT *DBTech News* A swarm of bugs squashed along with a big feature release this week! The big news this week is the release of *vBDownloads v2.1.0... DBTech News

A swarm of bugs squashed along with a big feature release this week!

The big news this week is the release of vBDownloads v2.1.0 Gold, bringing over half a dozen new features from the list of most frequently requested features submitted by you, our users & customers.
The Pro version sees added value with a "Who's Online" and "vBDownloads Statistics" block for the main page as well as the ability to bypass the "Minimum Posts" setting in the AdminCP.
The Lite version gains additional functionality and performance enhancements by giving you the ability to search only in the currently viewed category, control what image is used for thumbnails, and generating a separate thumbnail image for your chosen image rather than loading the full image - saving both bandwidth on your end and reducing load times on your users' end.

vB Optimise is currently leading the charge with a narrow margin in the final days of this month's Mod of the Month poll! Exciting times for our team as we watch the month coming to a close.
As always, we encourage you to vote for your favourite modification - even if it's not ours. You can vote here.

This weeks Site Improvement Blog is about vBSignatures and how to make the most of it!


Updates:

vBDownloads v2.1.0 Gold has been released, adding over half a dozen new features such as a "Who's Online" box, vBDownloads Statistics block, and improvements to the thumbnails. The full release notes can be found here.

DragonByte Forum Tabs v1.0.8 has been released, adding a new method of loading the AJAX for the mod as well as fixing a couple of bugs. The full release notes can be found here.


Bugfixes:

Draft Posts v1.0.5 has been released, fixing an issue with guests seeing options they should not. The release notes can be found here.

InfoPanels v2.0.8 has been released, fixing an issue with Internet Explorer over-zealously caching the top stats. Read the release notes here.

Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.1.2 has been released, fixing an issue with the new "Compact" display style corrupting the button clicks display for subsequent posts. Read the release notes here.

vBShop v3.1.0 Hotfix #2 and vB Optimise v2.5.3 Hotfix #1 have been released, fixing a couple Pro-only bugs. Read the release notes here.


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on an Advertisement mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is continuing work on vBArcade for #vB5
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins


Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Advertising mod in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next month or so
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Belazor's Corner

You're not quite rid of me yet :p

This past week I've been hardcore working on the Advertisement mod - quite a challenging task because as someone who doesn't grasp the concept of marketing, I don't fully understand everything that is needed to make a good advertisement mod. I'll be working more closely with @Decado on this project than on most other projects for this specific reason - the very fact that you're reading this right now is testament to the magniture of how much more he knows about this subject than I do.

I don't have anything terribly interesting to write outside of work stuff if I'm honest, this mod has kinda just sucked me in like a programmatic black hole. The closest thing to interesting is what's going to be happening tomorrow when for the first time in a while I will be watching grown men punch eachother in the face again, courtesy of UFC 159. Not only that, but I'll be picking up Injustice: Gods Among Us - a game that I know exceptionally little about.

Yeah, I'll definitely say tomorrow is going to land in the "interesting" column, at least for me. My life is exactly as boring as that makes it sound, haha.


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/vbdownloads-v2-1-0-gold-forum-tabs-v1-0-8-5-bugfixes-new-site-improvement-motm-328/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbsignatures-327/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:07:17 GMT vBSignatures is a mod designed to allow users to construct a stylish signature for themselves and set it as their forum signature. With the ability... vBSignatures is a mod designed to allow users to construct a stylish signature for themselves and set it as their forum signature. With the ability to sell individual signature parts, users have a wide range of customisation options that help them create a signature that they like.


(Pro) Integrating With Other Points Mods
The built-in points system in vBSignatures is limited (by design) to posts and threads. Your forum most likely has another points system like vBCredits II Deluxe installed, and you'd want to integrate it with vBSignatures to allow people to use their vBCredits to buy signature parts.

Simply access the "General Settings" for this mod and change "(Pro) Points Table" & "(Pro) Points Field" to the relevant values. For vBCredits, the default Points Table is user and the default Points Field is credits


Control Signature Layers
If your forum's artist has created some new layers, or you no longer want to use one of the built-in ones, you can control them easily via the AdminCP.

Simply access the AdminCP and click "Manage Layers" and configure your layers. You can change the load order, add new layers or deactivate existing ones.


Automatically Update Forum Signature
You may want to save your signature as your forum signature - especially if this is the only signature type allowed by the forum.

Simply access the Inventory and configure your signature, hit Save Signature and then choose Set as Active Signature Picture. You should ensure you have the [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] BBCode added to your forum signature. Next time you make configuration changes, your forum's signature will automatically update.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbsignatures-327/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/vbnavtavs-vbulletin-4-2-1-advreg-vbdownloads-vbshop-bugfixes-new-site-improvement-326/ Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:05:43 GMT *DBTech News* Another week of juicy bugs squished! This week sees yet more bugfix updates, with Advanced Registration leading the charge in... DBTech News

Another week of juicy bugs squished!

This week sees yet more bugfix updates, with Advanced Registration leading the charge in number of bugs squished. vBNavTabs takes the lead in the list of mods with vBulletin 4.2.1 compatibility updates required, and it's currently in a Pro-only Beta. If you're still rocking vB4 and have an active licence for vBNavTabs, you should grab the new version and let us know how it works for you. It will work with both vB 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 :)

This weeks Site Improvement Blog is about vBAvatars and how to make the most of it!


Bugfixes:

vBNavTabs v1.3.0 has received a compatibility update for vBulletin 4.2.1. The release notes can be found here.

Advanced Registration v2.0.5 has been released, fixing 5 bugs. Read the release notes here.

vBDownloads v2.0.4 has been released, fixing an issue with the cron job inserting "blank users" and an issue with 0-byte downloads. Read the release notes here.

vBShop v3.1.0 Hotfix #1 has been released, fixing a couple Pro-only bugs. Read the release notes here.


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on an Advertisement mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is continuing work on vBArcade for #vB5
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins


Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Advertising mod in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next month or so
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Belazor's Corner

Here I am again, coming to you (in no way, shape or form) live from the interwebs of Glasgow!

This past week I've moved my external efforts on to a new site - it's not quite ready for shameless plugging yet, but it's an exciting project nonetheless. It's a network of sites that run t-shirt printing businesses.

In unrelated notes, I'm currently working on catching up with Mythbusters in anticipation of their new series. I'm sure I don't need to tell anybody why Mythbusters is awesome, but if you've somehow managed to find a rock that has an internet connection and you've been living under it, you should totally go check it out.

Yesterday, we also ordered a camera, tripod and microphone - we'll be doing some interviews for the site I plugged last week (MMA Sentinel), so I'll be having fun learning how to operate that. The start of an epic journey that ends with me becoming a famous movie director? Why yes, that was exactly what I was thinking as well!


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/vbnavtavs-vbulletin-4-2-1-advreg-vbdownloads-vbshop-bugfixes-new-site-improvement-326/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbavatars-325/ Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:54:37 GMT vBAvatars is a mod designed to allow users to construct a personalised "persona" for themselves and set it as their forum avatar. With the ability to sell individual body parts, users have a wide range of customisation options that help them create an avatar that most represent themselves (or who they want to be).


Allow Non-Staff Management Powers
This mod is heavily based on graphics, obviously. We recognised that not every forum wishes to have their artists able to access their staff forums or control panels, so we created a feature that allows you to define users as artists and grant them powers to manage certain aspects of the mod via the front-end.

Simply add them via the "Manage Artists" page and configure their permissions, and they will have new management options available to them via the vBAvatars side-menu.


(Pro) Integrating With Other Points Mods
The built-in points system in vBAvatars is limited (by design) to posts and threads. Your forum most likely has another points system like vBCredits II Deluxe installed, and you'd want to integrate it with vBAvatars to allow people to use their vBCredits to buy avatar parts.

Simply access the "General Settings" for this mod and change "(Pro) Points Table" & "(Pro) Points Field" to the relevant values. For vBCredits, the default Points Table is user and the default Points Field is credits


Manage Multiple Outfits
Just like in real life, your avatar may want to have different clothes for different occasions. vBAvatars allows you to save an unlimited number of separate outfits for your avatar, and load them with a single click.

Simply access the Inventory and configure your avatar, type an outfit name and then hit Save Outfit. Next time you want to revert to this configuration, choose it from the drop-down and hit Load Selected Outfit.


Automatically Update Forum Avatar
You may want to save your avatar as your forum avatar - especially if this is the only avatar type allowed by the forum.

Simply access the Inventory and configure your avatar, hit Save Avatar and then choose Set as Active Avatar. Next time you make configuration changes, your forum's avatar will automatically update.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-vbavatars-325/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-bugfix-updates-new-site-improvement-blog-motm-324/ Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:22:18 GMT DBTech News

Bugfix rollups aplenty this week!

vB Optimise is doing well in this month's Mod of the Month poll, currently neck-in-neck with the AdminCP Firewall mod!
As always, we encourage you to vote for your favourite modification - even if it's not ours. You can vote here.

This weeks Site Improvement Blog is about Forum Live Feed & User Wall and how to make the most of it!


Bugfixes:

vBSuperPMs has received a hotfix, so if you're in the Beta group for that mod you should update to ensure you have the latest files. The release notes can be found here.

vBDownloads v2.0.3 has been released, a bugfix rollup of hotfixes to v2.0.2. Read the release notes here.

vBMail v1.1.10 has been released, a bugfix rollup of hotfixes to v1.1.9. Read the release notes here.

Forumon RPG v1.0.11 has been released, a bugfix rollup of hotfixes to v1.0.10. Read the release notes here.


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on an Advertisement mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is continuing work on vBArcade for #vB5
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins

Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Advertising mod in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next few weeks
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Belazor's Corner

Seems like you guys can't get rid of me just yet! :p

This past week I've been helping out on a non-DBTech related site, MMA Sentinel. If you have even a vague interest in MMA, you should check it out. It's a great place to get a collated view of what's happening in the world of MMA. Sadly I'm not as much into MMA as @Decado so the amount of advertisement I can provide is naturally going to be limited :p I can, however, say that it is ran by a team of beautiful, talented and passionate people who actually do know a lot about Mixed Martial Arts.

They host frequent radio podcasts with a live chat, and often score interviews / guest chats with important people like Joe Rogan.

The site's still in a state of construction, but it's calming down now and things are starting to fall into place. If you have even a passing interest in MMA, you should totally check it out!

In a related note, my new go-to entertainment while stuffing my face is Robot Combat League. Over-acting aside, it's pretty damn cool if you're a geek that's simply biding your time until the singularity happens and you can finally start praising our new robotic overlords. Giant robots controlled by exoskeleton harnesses? Hells to the yeah! I actually do hope it takes off, since any new technology developed for entertainment purposes will also have untold other applications within multiple areas of science.


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-bugfix-updates-new-site-improvement-blog-motm-324/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-forum-live-feed-user-wall-323/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:05:19 GMT Forum Live Feed & User Wall ("Live Wall" for short) is a mod designed to provide a live updated feed of the forum's activity, with advanced options for controlling what content from whom is displayed both on the "forum live feed" and the "user wall".


Content Types
A "Content Type" is a source for an entry on the live wall. For instance, "New Posts" lets you control more details for whose posts are displayed on the wall.

You can turn off the content entirely, control the content preview length (if supported / applicable), control who can see this content type and who is excluded from having their entries shown on the wall.


Permissions
This mod lets you set usergroup permissions for various actions.

Can View Live Feed
If no, this usergroup can't access the mod at all.

Can View Other Users' Live Walls
Part of the mod is displaying a feed sourced only from a single user, this permission lets you disallow others from seeing that feed.

Can Manage Own Statuses
The mod has a Facebook-style status that can be posted, this controls whether statuses can be edited / deleted.

Can Manage Others' Statuses
Controls whether users have moderator powers over other users' statuses.

Can Delete Own Comments
Controls whether users have moderator powers over their own comments to entries.

Can Delete Others' Comments
Controls whether users have moderator powers over others' comments to entries.


Settings
This mod comes with a plethora of global settings that can be used to customise the experience, such as globally disabling previews, enabling statuses / comments, and hiding images from the feed.


(Pro) Favourites
Users are able to "favourite" an entry, quickly referring back to them via a handy link in the front-end panel.


(vB4) Forum Sidebar
The mod also has a forum sidebar for vBulletin 4.x, which lets users perform many of the same actions they can perform on the "full" page, such as posting status updates & favourite an entry.

You need to deploy it via the "Forum Blocks Manager" if you want to include this feature.


Per-User Settings
In the UserCP, users can configure not only what they see on their feed and from whom, but they can also configure who can see their own entries, making it a very powerful privacy feature.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-forum-live-feed-user-wall-323/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-mod-updates-new-site-improvement-blog-motm-322/ Fri, 05 Apr 2013 22:58:02 GMT DBTech News

This week, we've got a couple updates for two of our most popular modifications, as well as a couple bugfix releases.

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to all of you wonderful dragonlings that came out of your lairs to report issues in our mods as a result of our mega-update last week. The amount of responses blew us away, and we really appreciate that you're taking the time to report your issues and work with us in fixing them.

Additionally, yet again we have three modifications up for Modification of the Month on vBulletin.org; vBPhrases by @Ozzy47, Follow User also by @Ozzy47 and vB Optimise from @Belazor.
A huge thanks to everyone for nominating our modifications! As always, we encourage you to vote for your favourite modification - even if it's not ours. You can vote here.

This weeks Site Improvement Blog is about Postbit Tabs and how to make the most of it!


Updates:

vB Optimise v2.5.3 has been released, improving the error message for incorrectly configured opcode cachers. Read the release notes here.

Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.1.1 has been released, adding support for vB Optimise for its "Show Thread" queries. Read the release notes here.


Bugfixes:

Threadmins and Group Moderators v2.0.7 PL1 has been released, a bugfix release. Read the release notes here.

Follow User v1.1.4 has been released, a bugfix release. Read the release notes here.


What's Going On

@Belazor is working on an Advertisement mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is continuing work on vBArcade for #vB5
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins

Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Advertising mod in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next few weeks
vBDownloads v2 Gold in the next few weeks
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Belazor's Corner

Once again it is I, Belazor, doing the blog!

What a week this has been, phew! As I put in the intro, the amount of support issues raised in the past week has overwhelmed me - I had allocated a day or two, I didn't expect a whole week (with no signs of slowing down yet)! :p
Truthfully I am glad to see the issues be brought to light - it serves no-one any good for them to exist and nobody speaking up about them :)

Beyond that, nothing much has been going on with me in the past week. I've been beefing up the security of our servers recently, by disallowing root logins & password logins via SSH. That means I'm using only a private/public key pair to log in to the server, and once logged in, relying on su if I need to do more than just monitor the health of the server.

Since it is a bit complex to set up and work with, it's not a setup I can hands-down recommend to anyone - and if you're into that sort of thing (...server security! Get your mind out of the gutter! :p) you're probably thinking "wow, it took him this long to sort that out? WORST SYSADMIN EVAR!!!!11" :p

I do like learning about Linux and server security - my aim is to one day free myself from having to use control panels to run web servers. That's quite a ways out though...


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/4-mod-updates-new-site-improvement-blog-motm-322/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-postbit-tabs-321/ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:07:20 GMT Postbit Tabs is a mod that's designed to let you organise your postbit by allowing you to create blocks of code and sort them at will, even organise them under different tabs.
This can be invaluable for keeping your postbit from growing too large if you have a lot of modifications installed.


Tabs
The tabs are your master groups of content, they will be housing all the individual blocks that you want to move around.

The Pro version lets you configure what usergroups are prohibited from viewing this tab (for instance, a Staff Info tab may contain information such as the number of infractions a user has received and their infraction points).


Views
Views are blocks of code that belong to a Tab. You can re-order the views within a tab by using the Display Order system, letting you create the kind of setup that makes the most sense for you. Additionally, you can select "Ungrouped" in order to not have this block appear under a tab, while still maintaining the freedom to move blocks around.

If you're using certain other DBTech products, you may encounter some pre-generated Views that do not let you alter their code - this is because any alterations made to this product's templates will be automatically picked up by Postbit Tabs!
Otherwise, you will see a HTML Code field. Simply cut/paste code from the postbit{_legacy} template into this field - the syntax is the same.

The Pro version lets you configure what usergroups are prohibited from viewing this block (for instance, Infraction Points contains the number of infractions a user has received and their infraction points).


(Pro) Per-User Settings
Exclusive to the Pro version, Postbit Tabs also features a powerful customisation system for your users. Users will be able to choose their own background colour for the tabs, as well as the ability to re-order, re-group and even hide certain tabs & views.

For instance, let's say your user strongly disagrees that "Gil: x" should be grouped under Activity Stats, next to vBActivity levels and achievements. Maybe your user wants to be able to see at a glance how much Gil their peers have while viewing their user info (such as post count, etc).

All they'd have to do was re-group the "Gil" view to the User Info tab, and voilą.
If you add a new tab or a new view, it's instantly available for customisation in the UserCP, letting your users tailor their browsing experience to their own personal tastes.



Hopefully these tips helped some of you out, feel free to post a "How do I?" question in the support forums if you have any further questions :)

As always, thank you for your continued support :) ]]> Belazor http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/belazor/improving-your-site-postbit-tabs-321/ http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/all-products-updated-branding-free-changes-special-offer-dbtech-hiring-320/ Sat, 30 Mar 2013 04:19:31 GMT *DBTech News* A number of important news items this week and updates to ALL of our mods! Firstly, We have completely re-designed our Branding... DBTech News

A number of important news items this week and updates to ALL of our mods!

Firstly, We have completely re-designed our Branding Free system from the ground up to be more robust, trackable and less susceptible to fraud. If you own branding free licenses for any products simply download the new "v2" key after downloading the latest version of the modification.

To celebrate, not only has every single product in the DBTech roster that has branding on it received an update of some sort - be it bugfixes or feature additions, but we have also introduced a new Branding Free Special for one week only.

Secondly we would like to announce that DBTech is once again hiring. We are looking for coders with high level PHP and AJAX skills, with experience in MVC preferable. The job is commission based and gives the opportunity to work with one of the most experienced forum product development teams in existence for the largest vBulletin development house in the world.

If you are interested please send 3 samples of your work (preferably vBulletin or xenForo based) to dbtech@dragonbyte-tech.com along with links to any support threads if available. Use the subject Coder Position. Good luck!

Lastly we want to remind you all to submit your sites to our forum directory - this is a great way for you to advertise your forum on one of the top 50,000 most trafficked sites on the web, as well as qualify for special contests and offers given only to those customers listed in the directory and using our stats mod. You can see the site directory here and apply here.

Special Offer

For one week only you can receive 33% off of any Branding Free license purchase, including the normally discount-resistant Global Branding Free license. To receive your discount simply enter the coupon code BFNEW in the coupon code box beside any branding free license purchase.

Site Improvement Blog

This weeks Site Improvement Blog is about DragonByte vBForms and how to make the most of it!


Feature Updates:

This is a list of all of the mods updated this week with new or improved features. Read details of all the feature updates here.

Global Branding Free v1.0.1
No longer requires allow_url_fopen to function

Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.1.0 Gold
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

Advanced Registration v2.0.4
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

Advanced User Tagging v3.0.6
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

AJAX Threads v1.1.2
You can now disable the "Live" image via a vBulletin Option, Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

DragonByte vBForms v1.1.1
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

Forum Live Feed & Live Wall v1.2.6
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

Forumon RPG v1.0.10
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

InfoPanels v2.0.7
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

Member Map v1.1.1
"Minimum Posts" option to limit users appearing on the map

Re-Order Posts v1.0.1
Added custom phrases for "From" and "To" for the log page

Thread / Post Bookmarking v1.1.1
It is now possible to bookmark your own posts

Username Change v1.2.2
Minimum Posts usergroup option

vB Optimise v2.5.2
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions, Added DBTech Affiliate ID support, The resource saving statistics in the global footer can now be translated / altered via a vBPhrase

vBActivity & Awards v3.0.4
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBAnalytics v1.2.0 Gold
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBAnswers v1.0.3
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBAvatars v2.0.1
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBDownloads v2.0.2
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBSecurity v1.0.6
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBNotifications v1.0.5
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBShop v3.1.0 Gold
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBShout v6.1.1
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBSignatures v1.1.1
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBSlider v3.0.1
Improved logging details for Control Panel actions

vBNominate v1.2.7
Ability to disable poll post creation

Dragonbyte Gallery v1.2.6
Ability to change number of other images shown below when viewing an image, Limit gallery post image to forum posts

Thread Ratings v1.0.5
Usergroup to set users not able to rate own thread

Profile Hover v1.4.2
Add As Friend link if not currently friends

Spotlight v1.6.6
Can now specify userid's not selectable

DragonByte Custom Navigation v1.2.0
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support, Added a setting to disable the navigation items on any styles you don't want them showing up on

vBNavTabs v1.2.1
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support, Added option to remove the Hivelocity from the footer. (Lite Only)

Redirect Banned Users v1.1.0
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support, Ability to torment users by IP Address

vBPhrases v1.1.1
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

vBDonate v1.4.3
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

Staff Only Hidden Posts v1.1.2
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

Threads Auto Close v1.0.1
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

Follow Users v1.1.3
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

vBSuper PM's v1.0.0 Beta 2
Added DBTech Affiliate ID support

DragonByte Forum Tabs v1.0.7
Added StyleVar to help control the right to left languages.

Threadmins and Group Moderators v2.0.7
Option to Enable/Disable the Member Action Dropdown Menu (Postbit) (Pro only), Option to Enable/Disable the Administrative Menu (Show Thread) (Pro only)



Bugfixes:

A list of all of the mods given bugfixes this week, you can read more here.

Post Templates v1.6.1
1 bug fixed

Random Questions v2.0.1
1 bug fixed

Copyright Management v2.0.1
1 bug fixed

Global Branding Free v1.0.1
1 bug fixed

Advanced Registration v2.0.4
4 bugs fixed

Auto Discussion Thread Creator v1.0.1
1 bug fixed

DragonByte vBForms v1.1.1
2 bugs fixed

Easy Article Management v1.0.1
1 bug fixed

Forum Live Feed & Live Wall v1.2.6
1 bug fixed

Forumon RPG v1.0.10
2 bugs fixed

InfoPanels v2.0.7
1 bug fixed

vB Optimise v2.5.2
2 bugs fixed

vBArcade v2.0.2
1 bug fixed

vBCredits v2.1.1
1 bug fixed

vBDownloads v2.0.2
2 bugs fixed

vBEditorTabs v1.1.1
1 bug fixed

vBSignatures v1.1.1
1 bug fixed

vBSlider v3.0.1
2 bugs fixed

vBQuiz v1.2.7
1 bug fixed

Dragonbyte Gallery v1.2.6
2 bugs fixed

Advanced Censor Options v1.0.2
1 bug fixed

Spotlight v1.6.6
1 bug fixed

DragonByte Custom Navigation v1.2.0
1 bug fixed

vBPhrases v1.1.1
1 bug fixed

Draft Posts v1.0.3
1 bug fixed

DragonByte Forum Tabs v1.0.7
4 bugs fixed

Threadmins and Group Moderators v2.0.7
2 bugs fixed






What's Going On

@Belazor is working on an Advertisment mod
@Dylan is working on Thread Ratings v2 including a vB5 version
@Darkwaltz4 is continuing work on vBArcade for #vB5
@Ozzy47 is working on vBSuper PM's
@bszopi is on a general leave of absence
@Mokonzi is working on a classifieds mod
@the-danzor is starting work on vB5 skins

Coming Soon

Classifieds mod in the next few months
Advertising mod in the next few weeks
Gallery-complementing mod in the next few months
vBDonate vB5 Gold in the next few weeks
vBDownloads for vB5 in the next month or so
vBSuper PM's Gold in the next few weeks
More Focus Group Surveys & Prizes
Several more vB5 Ports in the coming months

Belazor's Corner

It is I, Belazor, once again. I filled in for Iain last week and again this week because he's currently recovering from surgery - don't worry, it's nothing life-threatening. He's had his leg muscles stretched in order to faciliate walking like a normal person and not some sort of burglar, tip-toeing everywhere.

I've also filled in for him in the day-to-day management of DBTech, which has been an interesting experience. Well okay, in fairness, I only did a fraction of his actual job; making sure that people are doing their jobs. That being said, I still enjoyed doing it, mostly because I knew I was helping a brother out by taking as much of a load off his shoulders as I could - being entrusted with the responsibility to do it and do it right.

There's nothing really new on the gaming / entertainment front for me this week - any of you who read the list of mods and knows the size of my portfolio here on DBTech will quickly realise why :p
That being said, since September 2012 I have been (very rarely) toying with the Starter Edition of StarCraft II. Eventually I'll pick up the full game, as the Starter Edition don't allow you to play Protoss (which is obviously the master race). I do declare, I quite enjoy the game, but maybe that's because I've only played the training maps of the Matchmaking area, and not actually faced a real human being :p


Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your responses in the comments,

Iain & The DBTech Team ]]> Decado http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/blogs/decado/all-products-updated-branding-free-changes-special-offer-dbtech-hiring-320/