Well, to begin with you need to look into each of the listed mods and select the best one that suits what you need. IntegraMOD has this feature built in but I don't know which mod it is.
After reviewing a couple, I would think this one would be good '"Avatar Database Storage and Resize"
To install the mods:
1. Download the mod
2. Unzip the mod
3. Read all "readme" and "install" text files
4.
BackUp ALL related files! This includes
ANY file(s) you will be touching in any way. (Including your database)
5. Open the install file and follow the directions.
Examples]OPEN[/b] - This is telling you to open the file and get it ready to edit. I would suggest using a more advanced text editor. Notepad will most likely just cause your problems (I use HTML-Kit and Notepad+)
FIND - This is telling you to find a specific part of the file. This will always work in conjunction with "BEFORE, ADD and AFTER, ADD and REPLACE WITH". So what I do is copy (CTRL+C) what it tells me to find, then in the editor do a "Find" (CTRL+F). This will take you straight to the text the mod is asking you to find.
Note - In some cases you will not be able to "find" the text and there can be many reasons for this. Such as:
1. The file has been edited before, and the original code is no longer there.
2. Some editors exclude certain code from their find feature
3. The code might have been changed, depending on your version of phpbb and what the mod was designed for.
4. Almost all theme files are different. The mods are always made to be installed on an ordinary version of phpbb with the default theme called "subSilver"
So in the case that you cannot find the required text, you can try to shorten the text you are looking for. If it asked you to find
- Code: Select all
$template->pparse("body");
And you could not find it, try changing it to something shorter, but keep important words or phrases, like so
- Code: Select all
$template->pparse
Then manually look at the code and see if it matches.
Ok, back on topic]BEFORE, ADD[/b] - This is telling you to add this text
BEFORE the text that you have found. This means to add the text on the next line
up from the text it asked you to find. Be sure to maintain the structure of the file and use common sense.
AFTER, ADD - This is telling you to add this text
AFTER the text that you have found. This means to add the text on the next line
down from the text it asked you to find. Be sure to maintain the structure of the file and use common sense.
REPLACE WITH - This is telling you to replace the code it told you to find, with the new code. A good practice to get into would be to keep the highlight that you get when you find the original text, then just paste(CTRL+V) the new code in it's place.
Note - This method would not work unless you found the entire piece of code that it asked you to, to begin with of course.
SAVE & CLOSE ALL FILES - This is just telling you to save and close the files (mainly for easymod) When I do mods or file edits, I save and upload each file as I get done with it because my ftp program is still in the folder I got the file from and it just makes it easier.
Then once you have done the entire install you should go visit your board to see the results. I would not suggest looking at your board until you are finished because you will most likely get errors until all of the edits are done and the mod is complete.
In the same sense, I also suggest disabling your board while you do the mod, but the simple truth of it is, the absolute
best practice here would be to try the mod install on a demo board or even on your local machine first.
I can tell you right now, even the most experienced users and even developers miss something or mess something up at some point. So if you do not succeed on your first attempt, don't give up, try it again.
Hope this helps you some, and in worst case scenario you could always invite someone to install the mod for you. Although I highly suggest you learn it yourself!
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:02 pm