[Billspaintball]

Usage

The hack is pretty useless without some usage instructions so here they are.

We can use conditionals to hide or display depending on a number of things such as
Logged in or out status,
or restrict to members of a specific usergroup.

We do this by using conditionals in php tags where the normal content of a webpage would go.


If you want something only accessable to a certain usergroup, use this code in your webpage. This example is only visible to members of usergroup 6.

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

You can use a simple variation of this to restrict entire pages to a certain usergroup.
For example,

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

You can of course use multiple usergroups by just modifiying the if statement a little.
For example:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

Another use is to display different content to users depending on if they are logged in or not. For example

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

Another use is to restrict advertising to people who are not logged in.
For example

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

Of course you can play around with conditionals to do a whole range of things, these are just brief example snippets.



Troubleshooting

If your reading this chances are you are having problems.

Here are some common causes and fixes.

1. Headers already sent or cookies already sent errors. Chances are that there is something, even just a space before the 4 lines of code in part 1. Edit this and ensure that there are no spaces before it.
   
   
   
2. Path problems are the next biggest problem. Your paths must be exact else it will not work. Double check that all paths are correct.
   If you are unsure what the path is place the following code in a page all by itself.
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   Name this file something like path.php then upload it to your website, browse to it and it will show you the exact path to your sites root.
   
   
   
3. Appears to login ok, but wont show you as logged in
   Often caused by the vB cookie path setting.
   To fix log into you vB admin area;
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   
   
4. Subdomains and cross site logins
   This is a known issue with many scripts (not just this one), sometimes fixable sometimes not. Its caused by vB, PHP and your hosts security measures.
   
   First change your "cookie domain" settings.
   vB Admin > Control Panel > Cookies and HTTP Header Options > Cookie Domain
   Change it from being blank to
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   You may need to set a post referrer in your whitelist.
   vB Admin > Control Panel > General Settings > Post Referrer Whitelist
   Instructions on what to enter are listed where you change this setting.
   
   That should fix it if your forum is a subdomain.
   
   If that fails then,
   Open your /forum/login.php file and look for this code:
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   Below that add
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   Now save this and overwrite the file on the server with this one.
   
   A further reported work around is to make a copy of the required Forum Forum files on your second Server. Then you must set in the config.php on the second server to use the ip of the server with which the VB-Database is running.
   
   
   
5. 404 Error on expiring passwords
   Cause - When redirected for expired password you are redirected to the directory that your login script is located in, not your forums root.
   
   Fix - Edit phrase called
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   Your current phrase should be
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   change it to
   
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   where ../forums/ is your forums directory.
   
   
   
6. Still got problems?
   It may be a conflict with somthing already in your site.
   To check this we can just make a simple page.
   Call it test.php and use just this code in it.
   (Make sure there is no whitespace before the 1st line)
   
   

   Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
   Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

   
   Naturally, change paths to fit your forums, then upload it.
   Browse to it and run it.

[punchbowl]

superb stuff, brilliantly presented info. Thanks

[NeuroLancer]

Good one

I have been wanting to do this but have been putting it off due to time restrictions.

You've made things alot easier and quicker for me by creating this mod, thank you so much.

*installed

[dilbert]

Wow, very timely!
I am developing a new section of the site, but it will be for forum users only.
My one glitch, the pages will be in cold fusion, not php. Any chance something like this could be modified for cfm pages?

[ramsayeg]

Just about to launch my new layout and wanted something like this to be released, thanks!

[smooth-c]

wow! this is great!!

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by dilbert

Wow, very timely!
I am developing a new section of the site, but it will be for forum users only.
My one glitch, the pages will be in cold fusion, not php. Any chance something like this could be modified for cfm pages?

I have zero experience in cold fusion so I cant answer this either way.

[texas_txu]

I have been struggling getting this to work for me. I am just trying to get the test.php script to work first. when i am not logged in, i cannot log into the pages off of vb, they are linked to the folder i have my non-vb files in, rather than the forum folders.
www.mydomain.com/forums
www.mydomain.com/music

i want to use this script in the music folder. when i try to load the test.php file, it looks for images and registration stuff under /music/images and /music/register.php rather thant /forums/images and what not. i have tried various setups for the login_inc.php file and also put the music folder inside the /forums dirstory (/forums/music) and still with no luck.

im pretty sure its something stupid and i'm over thinking this whole problem. but your help would be much abliged. thanks much.

[pdblizzard]

I had a devil of a time with this too, until I changed the URL in my login_inc.php from
this:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

to this:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

I have no idea if this will help you in your circumstances, but I thought I would share it just in case. I had multiple domain names pointing to the same content.

[texas_txu]

still running into issues...the login page that is generated makes links for the registration page and the login script to the /music/log.php etc...rather than /forums/login.php. even the logo is messed up

[justchil]

Super simple and works great!

[pdblizzard]

Originally Posted by texas_txu

still running into issues...the login page that is generated makes links for the registration page and the login script to the /music/log.php etc...rather than /forums/login.php. even the logo is messed up

Maybe if you post more information, i.e., the php code with your path statements (the part you're supposed to customize) we can help you out.

[texas_txu]

Originally Posted by longin_inc.php

<?php
// Version 2.00
// Released March 21st, 2008
// For vB 3.7.x
// Edit the line below to show path to your forums
$forumpath = "./forums/";

also tried with
$forumpath = "https://www.mydomain.com/forums/"; (yes secure domain)
$forumpath = "c:\domains\mydomain\wwwroot\forums"; (IIS Server nomenclature)

and my php test file looks like (in mydomain.com/forums/music with login_inc in mydomain.com/:

<?php
$curdir = getcwd ();
chdir('../forums');
require_once('../forums/global.php');
echo getcwd();
chdir ($curdir);
echo getcwd();
?>

....

<?php
echo getcwd();
require_once('../login_inc.php');
?>

[berry05]

i did this hack and got this error...

Unable to add cookies, header already sent.
File: /home/content/b/e/r/berry05/html/tyler.php
Line: 3

and i did what the troubleshooting told me to do also...