Curio
01-18-2008, 04:03 PM
Today's update is a customization tutorial on the power of replacement variables.
Replacement variables work like the search and replace function of many text editors. In the AdminCP you simply specify a chuck of text you want to be replaced and and alternate for that chunk, and vBulletin will automatically do this before each page is delivered. This functionality is beneficial on many levels.
Replacement Variables for Text Replacement
For example, Humphrey and Donna Shimellfinny own a forum called Big Basketball Forum. They love basketball and their forum, but often members slip casual references to other similar forums in their posts. Humphrey and Donna wish if only there was a way to replace these site names and links with links to their own site.
Oh but there is! Mr. and Mrs. Shimellfinny's wish can be accomplished through the use of replacement variables.
Adding a Replacement Variable
To use the replacement variable manager, point your browser to your forum's AdminCP and navigate to
AdminCP -> Styles and Templates -> Replacement Variable Manager
On the loaded page you should see a list of all of the style you have active on your forum. Find the one you want to change and click the link next to it that says [Add New Replacement Variable]
On the next page are a few options.
http://www.vbstartup.com/images/basketball.gif
The first option is the style you selected to place the replacement variable on.
Below it a box to input the text you want to be replaced. This text is not case sensitive so inputting Big Al's Basketball Forum will replace any combination of capitalized / lower case letters that match that string.
The largest box at the bottom is for inputting the text you want it to be replaced with. The contents of either of the boxes can range from plain text to html, although if you are using the replacement variables for coding purposes instead of text replacement it is recommended that you make your replacement triggers html tags as they are disabled on most forums.
This leads me into another handy feature of replacement variables which is template coding.
Replacement Variables in Template Coding
Replacement variables are also handy when it comes to template coding. Here at vbStartup we use them when coding our styles by specifying all image paths in our templates with { IF } and using a replacement variable to change it to the actual path of the image. This not only saves a bit of time when it comes to coding, but it also makes it easy if customers want to change the location where they're storing the style images.
Drawbacks
Of course, all good things are not without at least one drawback.
One drawback to replacement variables is that they do not work if you plan to store your forum stylesheet in an external file. The file is not parsed through the replacement variable script and therefore image paths will be incorrect; however, this is easily remedied.
To replace all instances of a replacement variable in a template simply point your browser to:
AdminCP -> Styles and Templates -> Search in Templates
This page contains vBulletin's actual search-and-replace functionality that can be used to find all instances of a replacement variable in your templates or any text for that matter and replace it with alternate text of your choice. This makes changing values a breeze so that customers who feel like using external stylesheet are able too
Thanks for reading
This has been the first in what I hope will be many tutorials provided by vbStartup.com. (http://www.vbstartup.com)For more vBulletin information and resources, including the free Chromite Style (http://www.vbstartup.com/index.php?page=products), visit us at vbStartup.com (http://www.vbstartup.com).
Replacement variables work like the search and replace function of many text editors. In the AdminCP you simply specify a chuck of text you want to be replaced and and alternate for that chunk, and vBulletin will automatically do this before each page is delivered. This functionality is beneficial on many levels.
Replacement Variables for Text Replacement
For example, Humphrey and Donna Shimellfinny own a forum called Big Basketball Forum. They love basketball and their forum, but often members slip casual references to other similar forums in their posts. Humphrey and Donna wish if only there was a way to replace these site names and links with links to their own site.
Oh but there is! Mr. and Mrs. Shimellfinny's wish can be accomplished through the use of replacement variables.
Adding a Replacement Variable
To use the replacement variable manager, point your browser to your forum's AdminCP and navigate to
AdminCP -> Styles and Templates -> Replacement Variable Manager
On the loaded page you should see a list of all of the style you have active on your forum. Find the one you want to change and click the link next to it that says [Add New Replacement Variable]
On the next page are a few options.
http://www.vbstartup.com/images/basketball.gif
The first option is the style you selected to place the replacement variable on.
Below it a box to input the text you want to be replaced. This text is not case sensitive so inputting Big Al's Basketball Forum will replace any combination of capitalized / lower case letters that match that string.
The largest box at the bottom is for inputting the text you want it to be replaced with. The contents of either of the boxes can range from plain text to html, although if you are using the replacement variables for coding purposes instead of text replacement it is recommended that you make your replacement triggers html tags as they are disabled on most forums.
This leads me into another handy feature of replacement variables which is template coding.
Replacement Variables in Template Coding
Replacement variables are also handy when it comes to template coding. Here at vbStartup we use them when coding our styles by specifying all image paths in our templates with { IF } and using a replacement variable to change it to the actual path of the image. This not only saves a bit of time when it comes to coding, but it also makes it easy if customers want to change the location where they're storing the style images.
Drawbacks
Of course, all good things are not without at least one drawback.
One drawback to replacement variables is that they do not work if you plan to store your forum stylesheet in an external file. The file is not parsed through the replacement variable script and therefore image paths will be incorrect; however, this is easily remedied.
To replace all instances of a replacement variable in a template simply point your browser to:
AdminCP -> Styles and Templates -> Search in Templates
This page contains vBulletin's actual search-and-replace functionality that can be used to find all instances of a replacement variable in your templates or any text for that matter and replace it with alternate text of your choice. This makes changing values a breeze so that customers who feel like using external stylesheet are able too
Thanks for reading
This has been the first in what I hope will be many tutorials provided by vbStartup.com. (http://www.vbstartup.com)For more vBulletin information and resources, including the free Chromite Style (http://www.vbstartup.com/index.php?page=products), visit us at vbStartup.com (http://www.vbstartup.com).
