Membership Extra site add-ons

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

I have recently been around to a few new forums and seen things I'm just jealous of. Lol. I'd like to include some of these things on my forum that I'm working on, but I legit have no clue where to even start with these things. Some of them include: Rotating Member of the Moment spot <-- This is just badass, self rotates when you refresh the page, and I have NO CLUE HOW TO DO IT. There was also a site that had a weather widget on their site, and I'd definitely like that, though I think I can accomplish that by picking a small town somewhere int he vicinity of the fictional one I'm using and just embedding a weather thing for that area...so I'll probably just do that. I also saw on one site where randomly plot prompts would popup at the top of the forum. Just quick few words would rotate like "There's a sudden growl from somewhere nearby, it doesn't exactly sound friendly does it?" which is kind of like offering a built in thread prompt system just to help people along. Lol. I haven't the foggiest how to do this either. I did find one answer that was put up in early 2014 for that last one, but the links in it weren't good anymore, I has a sad. XD

 

What are some of the add-ons you have on your forum, or have spotted on others forums that you're jealous of/would love to learn how to do yourself?

[The Duchess 8]

You might be able to find a ... hm what is the word I'm looking for... a text randomizer code? I swear I've seen that before or googled it before. But that might be good for a prompt thingo.

[Sage 289]

I like quote rotators! Like the MOTM thing you mentioned, where it changes when you refresh the page. I think showcases quotes is more telling of the characters and writers you have on the forum than anything, and they're a fun peek into what's going on IC!

 

The same thing could work for your prompt rotator. It's a just a script.You put in all the options and it pulls one of them for every load of the website. I used to have one somewhere so I'll see if I can find it for you!

[Uaithne 543]

I feel like I've stepped back in time. These were cool things to add 5-7 years ago, and then post templates and dohtml and CFS caught everyone's attention and whisked away all thoughts of rotating images and prompts.

 

I do like them, though. I used to have rotating banners with people's characters' pictures. It really engages the members if you can find something that brings special attention to their personal characters. And it's nice for the admin because you don't have to update it weekly with new styles and themes to reflect a new "member of the week."

[Claire 18]

I like accordian menus, have done for ages. Also the weather widget is cool - can just grab one from google as you suggested though. ^^

[VirusZero 176]

I built a similar code for my site to the random member using php... It randomly picks a plot of the various ones I've added, about 20 currently, and shows it. Though I built mine as an actual mod for MyBB. (It hooks right into the database and has it's own section in the ACP. It has admin permissions so I can control who can access it. I've also been considering to go back and make some upgrades to it to make it more useful. But that requires time and I currently lack a huge amount of time.)

 

So mine is undoubtedly more complex than what most people do. Most just use a javascript code to randomly pick between a few options. (And on sites like Jcink it's about all you can do given users can't access the database or make/upload/implement custom mods.)

 

 

[Gina 17]

27 minutes ago, VirusZero said:

I built a similar code for my site to the random member using php... It randomly picks a plot of the various ones I've added, about 20 currently, and shows it. Though I built mine as an actual mod for MyBB. (It hooks right into the database and has it's own section in the ACP. It has admin permissions so I can control who can access it. I've also been considering to go back and make some upgrades to it to make it more useful. But that requires time and I currently lack a huge amount of time.)

 

So mine is undoubtedly more complex than what most people do. Most just use a javascript code to randomly pick between a few options. (And on sites like Jcink it's about all you can do given users can't access the database or make/upload/implement custom mods.)

 

 

 

Omg this would be super neat. Is it a personal plugin or one you've made public? >>

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

@Claire  :: I did actually accomplish this with a simple weather widget. I found one that was basically customizable, and it took the name of the location OFF the weather widget so I was able to label it myself. It provided an embed div code, that I stuck right into my header:

 

 

It's definitely nice. In fact it has so many details that if you hover over it it gives you wind and such. I adore it. Definitely helps keep the weather in mind AND I don't have to self upload different weathers daily or weekly. 

 

 

@VirusZero Ugh that would be pretty badass to have for my jcink forum XD

 

I have also figured out where the Member of the moment thing is. IT's embedded into the Unreal Portal on the jcink panels. I'm currently asking the community if there's a way to place parts of the unreal portal elsewhere on forum without having to have a full portal page for it. We'll see.

[VirusZero 176]

It's one I made for myself and never made public, never really felt the need to make it public since it was kinda specific for my site. Though I could probably gear it up for more things like random profiles, individual topics, etc... since it shouldn't be that hard to modify the code. (The core difference would be where it's picking from and how it handles that...)

 

Unfortunately because of how I made it (via php) it is pretty much impossible to put on a Jcink forum. Someone might be able to use javascript to replicate some functions... but it's not likely to be as indepth. (Plus if there are any JS errors anywhere else it might tank that code too.)

Edited June 27, 2017 by VirusZero

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

@Sage I -just- saw what you said. That would be amazing if you can find something like that. >.<

[Gina 17]

Just now, VirusZero said:

It's one I made for myself and never made public, never really felt the need to make it public since it was kinda specific for my site. Though I could probably gear it up for more things like random profiles, individual topics, etc... since it shouldn't be that hard to modify the code. (The core difference would be where it's picking from and how it handles that...)

 

Gotcha. I tend to mess around with the plugins I install and I've always been on the lookout for something like that, so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask! haha

 

5 minutes ago, anthrxmilkshake said:

I did actually accomplish this with a simple weather widget. I found one that was basically customizable, and it took the name of the location OFF the weather widget so I was able to label it myself. It provided an embed div code, that I stuck right into my header

 

Can I ask which widget? >> We have a fictional city that has weather very similar to Denver and this would probably be super helpful for my members. 

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

Sure @Gina I found http://www.willyweather.com to be extremely simple, and it does allow for a bit of color change to blend with the skin, as well as options to add or remove things, like the name, or the header. It was REALLY easy to use. For instance I just plugged in The Ozarks Lake in MO, which is the area and weather for the fictional town I'm using for my new forum, and it was instant and easy. I adore it.

[Gina 17]

@anthrxmilkshake Thanks!!!

[Claire 18]

Oh a spangly thing I've always wanted and something a friend is working on in python is a travel time thingam. Basically its a thing with drop downs or whatnot that calculates the time it takes to travel between point A and point B, sometimes with the awesome addition of how it's travelled,  like by foot, horse, boat etc.

[Rune 1,099]

For a werewolf based site, having the moon phase widget is always handy.