Question Snapshots?

[Captive Reefs]

What are snap shots? and how do I use them?

Is there a way for me to compare activity today with activity two months from now to calculate the change on a per user?

 

[Fillip H.]

Snapshots are basically a capture of existing points settings.

Let's say decide to have a "Spam Fest" week where all action points give 5x the normal amount.

You could save a snapshot of the "normal" settings (your current configuration) and then change them all to 5x their values, then save that as another snapshot.

That way, you can simply click "Load Snapshot" to instantly switch between normal and spammy points

 

[Captive Reefs]

Can you think of any way...no matter how manual to compare points between say now and two months from now?

 

[Fillip H.]

Depends on what exactly you need, you could try to do a couple SUM()'s on the dbtech_vbactivity_pointslog if you can get the unix timestamps of the date ranges you need.

 

[Ozzy47]

Manage Snapshots

Navigate to Manage Snapshots (DBTech - vBActivity > Manage Snapshots) in the AdminCP.



From within the Snapshot Manager, it is possible to create and manage snapshots of the vBActivity Points configuration. The Snapshot Manager lists all of the currently available snapshots with a title and description. From there you can select to Load Snapshot, Edit or Delete them.



The Snapshots store the data of the Points values, allowing you to update the values of certain features. For example, if you wanted to promote the use of the blog, you could save your current point values, and then increase the value of the various blog actions, allowing users to gain more (or if you choose, less) points for their use of it. You could then revert back to the older values at a later date.


The system is automated as will be explained in the next subsection below.
When selecting Add New Snapshot (or editing an existing snapshot), the form presented requests the following options:

·
Title: The title you want the Snapshot to use.
· Description: The description you want to have of the Snapshot.
· Snapshot Points Data: In this section you can change all of the points values manually (by default they load the existing values) for each of the available Activity Points available.

The saved Snapshot can then be loaded or edited as needed, perhaps in tangent with the Snapshots Schedules.
Manage Snapshot Schedules

Navigate to Manage Snapshot Schedules (DBTech - vBActivity > Manage Schedules) in the AdminCP.

 

[Ozzy47]

The Snapshot Schedules Manager allows you to control when a Snapshot is used, setting it’s start and finish, though only within a weekly span. This Snapshot could be used along with an Activity Contest allowing users to benefit from increased or reduced Points in certain areas.


When you select Add New Snapshot Schedule you are taken to a form with the following options:


· Start Hour: The start hour the Schedule will run from.
· Start Day: The day you want to start the Schedule on.
· End Hour: The hour you want to finish the Schedule at.
· End Day: The day your Schedule will run to. These first four areas allow for a regular weekly schedule, but not a specific date.
· Load Snapshot: The Snapshot you want to be used for the duration of the Schedule.
· Snapshot to Revert to: The Snapshot that will be reverted to on the conclusion of the Schedule. This does not necessarily have to be different from Load Snapshot, or be the Schedule you were using before the Schedule started.
· Active: Whether the Schedule is actively set to run.
One advantage of this approach is that you can designate certain times of the week as ‘key’ times for a section of the site, increasing awareness to blogs or posts over the weekend, for example.

 

[Captive Reefs]

Depends on what exactly you need, you could try to do a couple SUM()'s on the dbtech_vbactivity_pointslog if you can get the unix timestamps of the date ranges you need.

I'm just trying to tease out a way to run a contest. Maybe I could download the table that contains user points now and then do the same at the end of the contest and subtract them in a spreadsheet?

 

[Fillip H.]

I suppose you could, although that's not something we'd be able to give assistance with unfortunately

 

[Captive Reefs]

What happens if I reset all points? Could I then just count points from now until the end of my contest? Would that trigger any notifications or possible member annoyances? Would members know any different other than points were back to zero? Achievements would remain unchanged right?

Also is there any way to exclude posts and threads from counting toward activity points from certain forums?

 

[Fillip H.]

Achievements would remain unchanged, but all member levels would drop.

There's currently no per-forum exclusion, that's coming in a future version though

 

[Captive Reefs]

Does vbactivity count a referral before or after the referee has confirmed their account?

 

[Fillip H.]

Whenever vBulletin increments the "referrers" count in the user table