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Tenacious D

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First, I should say that I have purchased several DB mods, and have been exceedingly pleased with the many benefits which they have brought to my site, and its users. Both the product and support have been excellent, without exception.

But, after having recently purchased both VBCredits and VBShop, and in spending much of the last two days reading (and in some cases, re-re-re-reading amidst heaving sobs of failure) all available information (i.e. the Pro support threads, the main forum documents here, the text and/or html documentation supplied with each product, etc.), I find myself unable to grasp a cohesive understanding of how each can be best utilized, both individually and in an integrated fashion. Likely, much of my confusion results from not being a coder / programmer, or from a simple lack of the basic intelligence required to establish the necessary parameters of each (I am comfortable in admitting my ignorance, having practiced it for years). Be that as it may, below, I have compiled a list of the most pressing / frustrating / confusing aspects which continue to elude my competency, and for which I am utterly bankrupt to solve on my own.

I apologize in advance for both their rudimentary and haphazard nature, but to minimize this to the greatest possible extent, here is an overview of what I hope to achieve:

1. I want users to be able earn credits through site participation via pre-defined actions (i.e. posting, tagging a thread, adding a friend, etc.), several of which I have already established in VBCredits (and by "established", I mean, I have built these actions, assigned them points, and made them active in my shop).

2. I would also like users to be able to purchase credits via PayPal, in minimum increments of $5 and at a 100:1 ration toward credits (i.e. $5.00 = 500 credits).

3. These credits, while delineated between those earned via participation or purchased via PayPal, would be automatically totaled for combined use (i.e. if the user purchased 500 credits at $5.00 via PayPal, and had earned an additional 250 credits from site participation metrics, I just want their account to show, "Credits Earned: 250" "Credits Purchased: 500" "Total Credits: 750"). I don't care what these units of measurements are ultimately named - be it, "credits" "points" "dollars" "pesos" or "creamed corn" - so long as they function as one single source of payment, and integrate across both platforms, equally and (preferably) automatically.

4. These (combined) credits could then be used to purchase any number of pre-established items via the site's VBShop, some of which would be relatively straightforward (i.e. bold username, colorized username, etc.), and others of a more intricate design, if even possible (i.e. access to a forum, access to Shoutbox, the ability to ignore a user, etc.).

5. I would like the user's reputation to factor into both their rate of return, meaning, the more reputable, the higher "paycheck" rate (just as an example) or lower costs to purchase a mod (perhaps a discounted rate?).

6. I want all of these things - awards, purchases, credits, etc. - to show up neatly in my VBPostBit tabs, and in a similarly "boxed" format as my other items - and not as part of the static postbit (i.e. outside of the tabbed system).

7. I would like to do something about world hunger and finding a cure for the common cold, too, but will leave those items left for another day. While I believe each to be of far greater importance, admittedly, they seem to involve a tremendously lesser degree of complexity.

So, with all of those introductions being noted, here are my specific questions / concerns, and which I would be most appreciative of any help you may be kind enough to provide:

1. How do I identify the best form of "currency" to use (be it fictitious credits, or cold hard cash via PayPal) and to establish it to be automatically integrated across both platforms? For the record, I have changed, "points" to "credits" as a previous thread instructed - it had no effect, whatsoever, insofar as I can tell.

2. From the standpoint of a clean install, and approaching it as if you are instructing a toddler on how to perform open-heart surgery via text message (enumerated lists are always welcome, and enormously helpful) - can you explain the precise actions that are required to establish the means by which members can purchase credits via PayPal. Surprisingly, I have long since successfully established my own PayPal account, so that step can be safely skipped, but the more details you can provide thereafter, the better - and delineating which mod they should be accomplished, or in VB AdminCP, itself.

3. How do I configure a custom (exotic?) action to occur and assign it an award amount? A few quick but specific examples, I've wrestled with (and lost to):
a. How do I charge users for access to Shoutbox? A specific forum? Editing their profile page? Uploading a picture into an album?
b. Is there a way to allow banned members to pay to un-ban (re: reinstate) themselves? What about a way for members to buy a usergroup upgrade to moderator status? If so, how?
c. How can I enable users to take action against another member - be it changing their username, placing them on their ignore list, or even banning them from the site for a day (or hour?)?
d. How can I give users some limited mod ability for a finite period of time, say to give infractions, but not allow them to have any other mod power / access, besides that very limited action (i.e. they couldn't ban someone, access the mod-only forums, etc.)?
e. How can I provide the means for users to be rewarded for successfully inviting another member?
f. How can I best provide a means for users to be credited for writing a blog? Giving reputation to a poster? Liking us on Facebook?

4. How do I get all of these things to show up in my VBPostBit tabs, and not as part of the static postbit, and in a "boxed" format (i.e. each entry on a single line - surrounded by a border and shadow)?

5. Speaking of the postbit, how do I get the items to appear as a single line item?
Like this: "Credits: 750" and not on two lines, like this -
"Credits:"
"750

6. How could I establish a recurring billing system to be integrated with the credits of each member? For example, let's say I charge 15 credits to underline your username - how could I also implement a recurring charge of an additional 3 credits each month, as maintenance of that underlined mod, if even possible?

7. I don't show any means of showing the user how to "Purchase" or "Charge" (to acquire additional) credits in their PostBit. Where is this supposed to appear, and what prerequisites need to be accomplished in order to do so, if any?

Obviously, I have a great many questions, but I will stop here for now, and will only add them later, as they continue to arise.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly describe what you are trying to do, versus giving up :) We are glad to help; these addons do a lot for many different people, so their complexity has grown as a result...

To set up purchasing credits with paypal:

ACP > vBC > Currency Pricing Conversions > (f you havent set up your paypal account with vbulletin, youll be redirected to do that first) > Add / edit a conversion:
Active yes, credits currency, 0.01 USD per credit, minimum of 500 (thats $5 / 500 credits) - cannot set increments. Ignore the rest and save.
Ensure you have a Purchase event set up which specifies who is allowed to purchase credits. You can leave the amounts as 0 so that the purchased amount is awarded directly.
Now users can buy credits anywhere credits are shown on your site by clicking the number and selecting to purchase from the dropdown. As they type the amount they want, the price is calculated in realtime and submitting the form takes them directly to paypal to complete the payment. Upon return, they should have their credits (assuming you set up your IPN settings etc - if it was working for paid subscriptions, it should be good).

Note however you cannot have a currency that is both separated yet works as combined with other addons. That is just a fundamental contradiction. You can edit the currency titles at ACP > vBC > Multiple Currency Integration (just dont alter the database table or column unless you know what you are doing) - though titles are really just aesthetic. By keeping it as a single currency, should have no trouble using it with vBShop. Fillip H. can help with that.

All actions in vbcredits, vbactivity, and vbshop need to be integrated before they can be used. Fillip H. can confirm or not being able to purchase in vbshop shoutbox access, accessing a forum, unbanning themselves, usergroup/moderator upgrade timed/limited or otherwise, affecting the display/access of other users, subscription billing. vBCredits doesnt support awarding credits for blogs, shoutbox, or facebook activity (im not even sure facebook notifies your site when this happens for it to even be acted on). vBCredits can help you Charge with the following actions: editing profile - "Fields", uploading album picture - "Album", as well as Award for the following actions: inviting a member - "Referral", giving reputation to a poster - "Give Reputation". ACP > vBC > Activity Amounts Configuration to modify which actions you are currently utilizing, and see the dropdown at the bottom of the page to begin a new event using an action I just listed.

I wont make an unrelated modifier affect all events... that makes things even more complicated. I used to have something similar to that (not reputation though) in an older incarnation of vbcredits, but it was widely ignored due to confusion, but also made things much more difficult to manage on a programming side :) So... I dont think that will ever get implemented.

Looks like you're already a proud postbit tabs owner! There are some exciting new features in beta that will allow you to easily move all postbit elements added by any addon which Fillip H. might explain to you. However, that does not magically add boxes around stuff - that is up to each addon to define a template for you to edit. For example, vBCredits already has a postbit display at ACP > vBC > Automatic Template Edits > Postbit. You can edit the indicated credits_display_postbit_row template to change how it displays each currency (though by default it already does Credits: XXX without a break! Must be some css or width issues you are having). Again, this already sets up the popup you can access by clicking the number shown anywhere on your site. If you wanted to surround all of your currencies with a fieldset, you need to add a new template and set it up with your postbit display there, and use the beta feature in postbit tabs to move it to a tab, but I can help you with that stuff later.

Let me know if you need anything else.
 
vBShop's "Usergroup Permissions" item types let you sell items that override any vBulletin usergroup permission. If it's in the Usergroup Manager, vBShop can override it.
 
Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly describe what you are trying to do, versus giving up :) We are glad to help; these addons do a lot for many different people, so their complexity has grown as a result...

To set up purchasing credits with paypal:

ACP > vBC > Currency Pricing Conversions > (f you havent set up your paypal account with vbulletin, youll be redirected to do that first) > Add / edit a conversion:
Active yes, credits currency, 0.01 USD per credit, minimum of 500 (thats $5 / 500 credits) - cannot set increments. Ignore the rest and save.
Ensure you have a Purchase event set up which specifies who is allowed to purchase credits. You can leave the amounts as 0 so that the purchased amount is awarded directly.
Now users can buy credits anywhere credits are shown on your site by clicking the number and selecting to purchase from the dropdown. As they type the amount they want, the price is calculated in realtime and submitting the form takes them directly to paypal to complete the payment. Upon return, they should have their credits (assuming you set up your IPN settings etc - if it was working for paid subscriptions, it should be good).

I've completed these actions, as described, but there is neither a pop-up box which occurs when the user clicks on the amount (number) whether its in their postbit or profile, nor do I see any option (i.e. button, hyperlinked text, etc.) which suggests any means by which they can purchase credits. And my PayPal link is active on my site, having been previously established.

Also, when I attempt to click on the, "Currency" link on navbar, nothing happens, and it seems inactive (the text is there, but its almost like the hyperlink has been removed).

Any suggestions?



Note however you cannot have a currency that is both separated yet works as combined with other addons. That is just a fundamental contradiction. You can edit the currency titles at ACP > vBC > Multiple Currency Integration (just dont alter the database table or column unless you know what you are doing) - though titles are really just aesthetic. By keeping it as a single currency, should have no trouble using it with vBShop. Fillip H. can help with that.

Sorry, I misspoke. I didn't mean to imply that two separate currencies could be integrated and yet seperated. What I meant to say was that I'd like the user to be able to see the total amount of their credits, and that this totaled amount be broken down (for informational purposes, alone) between those credits which were earned via site participation versus purchased via PayPal.

Is this possible?

All actions in vbcredits, vbactivity, and vbshop need to be integrated before they can be used.

I don't have VBActivity on my forum. But, could you elaborate on the process of integrating my VBCredits with VBShop? I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by that, or how to go about accomplishing it.

Fillip H. can confirm or not being able to purchase in vbshop shoutbox access, accessing a forum, unbanning themselves, usergroup/moderator upgrade timed/limited or otherwise, affecting the display/access of other users, subscription billing.
I believe he answered this in his later post, but I'll address these questions with him. Thanks for pointing me in the correct direction.

vBCredits doesnt support awarding credits for blogs, shoutbox, or facebook activity (im not even sure facebook notifies your site when this happens for it to even be acted on). vBCredits can help you Charge with the following actions: editing profile - "Fields", uploading album picture - "Album", as well as Award for the following actions: inviting a member - "Referral", giving reputation to a poster - "Give Reputation". ACP > vBC > Activity Amounts Configuration to modify which actions you are currently utilizing, and see the dropdown at the bottom of the page to begin a new event using an action I just listed.


Thank you - I'll see if I can navigate setting one of these events up.
I wont make an unrelated modifier affect all events... that makes things even more complicated. I used to have something similar to that (not reputation though) in an older incarnation of vbcredits, but it was widely ignored due to confusion, but also made things much more difficult to manage on a programming side :) So... I dont think that will ever get implemented.

If you believe it's too confusing, there is no hope for me to understand it, even if possible. We'll just slowly walk away from this question, and act as if I never asked it to begin with. :)

Looks like you're already a proud postbit tabs owner! There are some exciting new features in beta that will allow you to easily move all postbit elements added by any addon which Fillip H. might explain to you. However, that does not magically add boxes around stuff - that is up to each addon to define a template for you to edit. For example, vBCredits already has a postbit display at ACP > vBC > Automatic Template Edits > Postbit. You can edit the indicated credits_display_postbit_row template to change how it displays each currency (though by default it already does Credits: XXX without a break! Must be some css or width issues you are having). Again, this already sets up the popup you can access by clicking the number shown anywhere on your site. If you wanted to surround all of your currencies with a fieldset, you need to add a new template and set it up with your postbit display there, and use the beta feature in postbit tabs to move it to a tab, but I can help you with that stuff later.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks for these responses - seriously, I know that you guys are busy. I'll give these a whirl and follow-up with any other questions or problems which I encounter.
 
vBShop's "Usergroup Permissions" item types let you sell items that override any vBulletin usergroup permission. If it's in the Usergroup Manager, vBShop can override it.

Belazar - thanks for your help.

So, if I wanted users to have to "pay" to use Shoutbox (via credits) - would the answer be to simply set up another usergroup that had access to it, and which could only be accessed via credit payment, and to then disallow all other user groups access to it?

What about the idea(s) to un-ban yourself - for example, if a "banned" member (once banned, they are placed in a "banned" user group by default on my site) was still allowed to access the site - VbShop - and their credits; could they be allowed to purchase an upgrade to their usergoup, say, from the "banned" group to a registered user?

And as to the postbit, while the new developments which may soon arrive (which DarkWalt mentioned in his post) sound promising, I'd prefer to correct this now, if only manually. Can you advise me as to how to get these fields to integrate with my VBPostbit mod, and if not too much trouble, how to apply the "boxed" look, once integrated (i.e. which template, which line(s) of code to encapsulate in a field setting, etc.)?

Thanks in advance for any help / guidance you can provide.
 
Belazar - thanks for your help.

So, if I wanted users to have to "pay" to use Shoutbox (via credits) - would the answer be to simply set up another usergroup that had access to it, and which could only be accessed via credit payment, and to then disallow all other user groups access to it?

What about the idea(s) to un-ban yourself - for example, if a "banned" member (once banned, they are placed in a "banned" user group by default on my site) was still allowed to access the site - VbShop - and their credits; could they be allowed to purchase an upgrade to their usergoup, say, from the "banned" group to a registered user?
Yes to both questions :)

And as to the postbit, while the new developments which may soon arrive (which DarkWalt mentioned in his post) sound promising, I'd prefer to correct this now, if only manually. Can you advise me as to how to get these fields to integrate with my VBPostbit mod, and if not too much trouble, how to apply the "boxed" look, once integrated (i.e. which template, which line(s) of code to encapsulate in a field setting, etc.)?
I don't know how that would be done so unfortunately I'm not able to offer any advice on this :(
 
I've completed these actions, as described, but there is neither a pop-up box which occurs when the user clicks on the amount (number) whether its in their postbit or profile, nor do I see any option (i.e. button, hyperlinked text, etc.) which suggests any means by which they can purchase credits. And my PayPal link is active on my site, having been previously established.

Also, when I attempt to click on the, "Currency" link on navbar, nothing happens, and it seems inactive (the text is there, but its almost like the hyperlink has been removed).

Any suggestions?

You can try it on dbtech here - click the fifth dot on my postbit and look at the bottom of it - vbcredits is displaying the Credits: and Points:, and you can click the number to get a popup. From there, From Account has a dropdown where you can select to Purchase, and continue as I described. If you arent seeing this on your site or its not working like that... will have to see whats up with an admin login, but first verify and let me know.

Sorry, I misspoke. I didn't mean to imply that two separate currencies could be integrated and yet seperated. What I meant to say was that I'd like the user to be able to see the total amount of their credits, and that this totaled amount be broken down (for informational purposes, alone) between those credits which were earned via site participation versus purchased via PayPal.

Is this possible?

No, sorry - the system doesnt keep track of what makes up a user's current total. This could be calculated (it keeps full logs), but its not an existing feature. Typically, sites that have paypal will dispense it into a separate currency that might or might not be transferable to their regular site earnable one (to keep them separate for legal and display purposes). They could still operate together within vbcredits, but not automatically as they are in different places and most third party addons only take one.

I don't have VBActivity on my forum. But, could you elaborate on the process of integrating my VBCredits with VBShop? I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by that, or how to go about accomplishing it.

You can visit ACP > vBC > Multiple Currency Integration for an overview on the technical setup for your currencies, and Fillip H. can help you plug those values into the appropriate places in vbshop to make it work :)
 
No, unlike yours, my "credit" information neither shows up in my PostBit Tabs, nor has a hyperlink associated with it (neither does it have any hyperlinked properties with it in the navbar, either).

I have PM'd you the Admin credentials which you requested.
 
Thanks for sending that - ill have a look over the weekend and get that straightened out for you. Thanks for your patience!
 
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Legacy vBCredits II Deluxe

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