Pliggs

Articles and Pligg

acegrenuand — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:50:58 +0000

Much like Wordpress and with some knowledge of HTML and PHP, you can use Pligg for almost any type of website.

Most Pligg based websites use it for what it was designed for, a Digg style website. But, there are many things you could use it for. For example, an image gallery website or even an article database like Article Alley where users can Submit Articles or find Free Articles for use on their sites..

Article databases are great for attracting traffic from people looking for articles to people writing them.

Using Pligg to run an Article Alley would require minimal effort and almost no code changes.

Basics steps to accomplish this:

Five star voting:

Admin > Configure > Voting > Voting Method > Set to 2

Remove URL field on submission process to Submit Articles:

Admin > Configure > Submit > Require a URL Wen Submitting > set to FALSE

Admin > Configure > Submit > Show the URL Input Box > set to false

Admin > Configure > Submit > No URL Text > set to say Article

Admin > Configure > Submit > HTML Tags to Allow > add whatever tags you want here

TinyMCE WYSIWYG Editor:

I would also add the TinyMCE WYSIWYG Editor module available from Pligg.

Monetize it:

For this you will need to edit your link_summary.tpl file. As you can see on Article Alley, they have added Adsense to their articles, you can do this as well, simply by adding the Adsense code where you want the ads to appear.

SEO:

One thing Article Alley doesn’t do is make their URLs search engine friendly http://www.articlealley.com/article_964583_4.html is their URL structure, this not only looks better but also makes it easier for searching for Free Articles, make sure you use URL method 2 in the Admin panel at

Admin > Configure > URL Method > set the value to 2

If you are up to the challenge give it a go, use Article Alley as your inspiration if you need to and see what you can come with and post a link to it in the comments below.

What other use for Pligg can you think of?

Pligg 9.9.5 released After a my
Pligg v1.0 RC1 Review Well after
reCaptcha for submit – Pligg 1.0 The Pligg

reCaptcha for submit – Pligg 1.0

Geoserv — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:00:26 +0000

The Pligg CMS comes with many great components, SPAM protection isn’t one of them. As with previous versions, Pligg developers have decided SPAM protection isn’t important. Fellow members have come up with great solutions including our submit anti-spam solution but they ignored it.We released a way to prevent spam subissions by robots in version 9.9.5 that has worked magically for owners of the 9.9.5 version.

The modules works pretty well the same for version 1.0, why haven’t the developers adopted this method? Who knows.

Here is how to do it for you 1.0 owners:

Step 1: open submit_step_1.tpl

Find:

{#PLIGG_Visual_Submit1_NewsSource#}

After, add:

{php}
require_once(’recaptchalib.php’);
$publickey = "PUBLICKEY"; // you got this from the signup page
echo recaptcha_get_html($publickey);
{/php}

Step 2: open submit.php

Find:

// submit step 1
function do_submit1() {
global $main_smarty, $db, $dblang, $current_user, $the_template;

after, add:

//captcha
if(enable_captcha == ‘true’) {

require_once(’recaptchalib.php’);
// Get a key from http://recaptcha.net/api/getkey
$publickey = "6LcgbAIAAAAAAI9nYv__8BgVklHK71UijWSTbIP4 ";
$privatekey = "6LcgbAIAAAAAAMUqdB3ROC19UhxV6KcAgh34Gtq_";

# the response from reCAPTCHA
$resp = null;
# the error code from reCAPTCHA, if any
$error = null;

# was there a reCAPTCHA response?
if ($_POST["recaptcha_response_field"]) {
$resp = recaptcha_check_answer ($privatekey,
$_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"],
$_POST["recaptcha_challenge_field"],
$_POST["recaptcha_response_field"]);

if ($resp->is_valid) {
echo "Succesfully verified that you are human.";
} else {
# set the error code so that we can display it
$error = $resp->error;

}
}

if (!$resp->is_valid) { // if incorrect captcha code was entered
$main_smarty->assign(’register_error_text’, "badcode");
$main_smarty->display($the_template . ‘/submit_errors.tpl’);
return;
}
// fin capthca

Find:

}

// submit step 2
function do_submit2() {

replace with:

}}

// submit step 2
function do_submit2() {

Download the latest reCaptcha library from here and upload to your “root”.

You will also need reCaptcha keys for your site, you will need to register and add your site to reCaptcha. Register here.

In the above snippets, retype all instances of the single apostraphe ( ‘ ) as they are not appearing properly here. In the download they will appear properly however.

If the user/bot fails to enter the correct reCaptcha code, they will be forwarded to your error page controlled by submit_errors.tpl, I have not come with a custom error message for this, maybe someone can submit one.

This should eliminate almost all spam submissions.

reCaptcha for submit – Pligg v9.9.5 One of the
FREE Pligg modules A while ba
Stopping Comment Spam One of the

Finding the best host

Geoserv — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:10:13 +0000

So, you have decided to take the plunge and run your own Digg style website, now what? You need a good host, one that comes recommended or can provide the speed that any good website requires.

Let’s be positive and assume your Pligg powered website will be successful and get a steady traffic stream, the one thing that will kill your chances of success is a slow website. Just because the hosting package is cheap, doesn’t mean it wil be good or bad.

Tip: a VPS is probably the worse investment, as it doesn’t give you any more speed than a regular hosting package.

There aren’t many hosting companies that cannot host Pligg, as long as it has PHP4 (preferrably PHP5) and mySQL your set.

We suggest you check out the reviews at Web Hosting Geeks, they’ve been rating hosting companies for 5 years and know a thing or two about it.

Web Hosting Geeks

Now, if your Pligg powered website does get successful, a regular hosting package will not have the power or resources to keep up with the demand and offer the speed needed to keep people coming back. Once you properly monetize your website, consider choosing a dedicated server hosting package.

InMotion Dedicated Hosting

A decent dedicated server will start at $150/month, anything less than that probably is lacking in something, like space or RAM.

What’s up with Green Hosting? We feel green hosting is just a way for hosting companies to cash in on the “global warming” fad. However, “global warming” is a whole other issue and one not for this blog. If you are so inclined to go “GREEN”, check out this list of “Green Hosts“.

Super Green Hosting

We here at Pligg’s use HostGator and have no issues and highly recommend them, we do NOT use an affiliate link when linking to them, therefore, we make nothing if you decide to use them.

Who are you using? Are you satisfied and would you recommend them?

Leave us a comment below.

Good resource for link building

Geoserv — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:50:35 +0000

After you have designed your end product whether it’s a Pligg install or not, the next big hurdle is traffic and getting backlinks to your masterpiece.

For most site admins, the hardest part is getting links pointed to their new site. Backlinks give you exposure to potential members and of course search engines. If you going after Page Rank, backlinks are critical.

I recently started searching for tutorials, articles and resources to see what else I could do to increase the number of backlinks to my projects and was overwhelmed by the number of results that all said the same things.

Then I came across a site that seems to have a huge compilation of articles and resources to aid in picking up backlinks all in one place, Link Building Wiki.

Backlink Wiki

If you haven’t heard of the site, like me, or have never checked out what they offer, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to peruse the list of article and tutorials they have that are sure to keep you reading for a while.

I especially enjoy their section on Link Building Tools, as I discovered a few that I haven’t used before.

Anyways, let me know what you think.

jQuery Pligg Tooltip

Geoserv — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:06:56 +0000

jQuery has really progressed the web development world to the next level. I am going to show you how to add a simple jQuery feature to your Pligg install that will add a nifty feature that your users will definitely find useful.

One of the problems with most social media websites, like Digg, is you don’t always know if the link you are visiting will take you to something good or not.

That’s what jQuery and Tooltip come in.

I came across this little script when I was trying to find the fastest loading jquery tooltip to add to FAQPAL.

Here’s how to implement on your site, no matter what version of Pligg you are using.

First, download the following zip:

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Extract the contents and upload:

jquery.js and main.js to the js folder in your root directory

Open, pligg.tpl:

After,

{checkActionsTpl location="tpl_pligg_pre_title_thickbox"}
{checkForCss}
{checkForJs}
{checkActionsTpl location="tpl_pligg_pre_title_lightbox"}
{if $pagename neq "published" && $pagename neq "upcoming"}
{if $Spell_Checker eq 1}

{/if}
{/if}

add,

Save.

Open, link_summary.tpl,

Find,

{if $use_title_as_link eq true}
{if $url_short neq "http://" && $url_short neq "://"}
{$title_short}
{else}
{$title_short}
{/if}
{else}
{if $pagename eq "story"}
{$title_short}
{else}
{$title_short}
{/if}
{/if}

change,

{$title_short}

to,

{$title_short}

Save.

Open, main.css

Add,

/* */

#screenshot{
position:absolute;
border:1px solid #ccc;
background:#333;
padding:5px;
display:none;
color:#fff;
}

/* */

to the end of the file. Save.

That’s it, now when you hover over the story title, it will show a tooltip with a thumbshot.

Test drive it at FAQPAL.

SEO for Pligg This post
FREE Pligg modules A while ba
Protect your Pligg template files Want to ke

Pligg developers disagree about Pligg

Geoserv — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:11:55 +0000

I browse the Pligg forums daily, mostly looking for what Pligg owners are looking for and questions they have. I will soon be launching a forum of my own so stay tuned for that.

Browsing the Pligg forum is like a sitcom, between the number of sarcastic replies by the infamous chuckroast, who I am sure has issues beyond repair, and the number of people told Pligg 1.0 can already do that when it actually can’t, it’s a wonder anyone uses their forum.

Why can’t people be straight? If a user has a question or a problem, don’t screw them around, tell them the truth. Perhaps the issue is the developers, namely chuckroast, has no clue what Pligg 1.0 can do. He is too busy producing modules that are worthless and trying to scam members out of paying for them.

If Yankidank left the project would be dead. I honestly do not know how the project keeps going. Oh wait, the members keep it going, bloggers like Lincoln over at Social CMS Buzz who keep releasing news, modules and hacks are actually keeping the project alive.

But like me, Lincoln is not welcome at Pligg. At first I wondered why, but I soon learned why. Anyone exposing the developers for the hacks they really are is banned, namely chuckroast. I personally have great respect for Yankidank, but chuckroast will be the death of Pligg.

What will the next module be that will rip a member off. This developer is a rip-off artist and Yankidank is sitting by enjoying the money brought in by these modules. Maybe Yankidank is in on it, who knows.

The original mission of this blog was to be an off shoot of the Pligg forum, offering help and FREE templates, the purpose has stayed true, but it soon turned into what it is today, a whistle blower. Aside from Yankidank, I have serious issues with chuckroast as do many people and other TRUE coders.

Browse the Pligg forum and you will soon see that chuckroast is not only a sarcastic person, scam artist, liar and incompetant. I say this stuff because it’s true and because I know he doesn’t have the guts to post a comment refuting it as I know he reads this blog.

To make my point that he has no clue about what he is talking about take a look at “select images for submission in development“, this thread is asking deveopers to help with adding the Digg function of scrapping images during the submission process and using them for displaying the image in the story. This is a great feature that the original poster has made great headway on, but the developers showing their true knowledge show, they have no idea how to do this.

This is no reflection on their expertise, but one has to wonder why a group who has come with such a great script like Pligg and cannot tell their members that they need simple save method to make the module work. Instead, like true fashion, chuckroast comes on and says:

Pligg 1.0 has this feature.
I would recommend updating since Pligg Beta 9.9.0 is almost a year and a half old and the person that started this modification is no longer around or supporting it.

Wow, Pligg 1.0 has the feature, good job guys getting it working.

Wait a minute, no version of Pligg has this feature including the current realease. But one of the developers says it’s there, so I search, actually I didn’t search.

The feature doesn’t exist!

The thread proves it, here is the entire chain of events:

chuckroast: Pligg 1.0 has this feature.
I would recommend updating since Pligg Beta 9.9.0 is almost a year and a half old and the person that started this modification is no longer around or supporting it.

kevin4uguys:

////////Pligg 1.0 has this feature.
I would recommend updating since Pligg Beta 9.9.0 is almost a year and a half old and the person that started this modification is no longer around or supporting it///////
but am using the pligg 9.9.5 i have those modules but most of modules are not supporting for me

chuckroast: To be clear. Your profile says you are using Pligg Beta 9.9.0. If you are not, you should set it to the correct version you’re using so when you ask for help people can assist you better.
Regardless if you are using Pligg Beta 9.9.5 you still can’t use this feature. To do this you will need to update to Pligg 1.0.

oobie11:RC4 has this feature? You can have your “submit” crawl and find images from a the page? How do you implement it? I’m using the wistie template on RC4, what do I do to get this working?
Yankidank: If you’re looking for a feature similar to how Digg.com finds images from teh submitted url and crops them into a square that has not yet been developed for Pligg 1.0. I know of another company who developed a version of this, but it was never as clean as the Digg procss.

oobie11: damn, thats too bad

chuckroast: yes, sorry for the confusion I was thinking “select” as in “browse and select” from your computer.

Not sure how chuckroast got confused as the entire thread is about a mod to scrape images like Digg does. The thread even starts out with a way to scrape the images but needs a way to save the image selected.
But hey, chuckroast says the new version does it, so awesome. Wait, no it doesn’t.

chuckroast is an idiot, period. Instead of trying to rip people off with worthless modules, maybe he should ask the current REAL developer to tell him what the current version can and can’t do.

I guarantee neither chuckroast nor Yankidank are coding the core files of Pligg right now. Neither of them have written a line of code for the recent release. With the exception of the useless modules that they have released in their Pro Shop that I have already shown to be useless on my FREE Pligg modules post.

Another example of members running Pligg and not the so called “developers”. Perhaps Pligg will someday allow memebrs who actualy have a clue like Lincoln to help move the project forward instead of the current direction.

Ooops, it did move in anew direction…Social Web CMS, thats better.

Please go away chuckroast so Pligg can move on and actually be the CMS it should be.

Pligg upgrade nightmares The latest
Pligg developers robbing new members Chuckroast
Pligg’s new future? With the r

Limiting submissions – good or bad?

Geoserv — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:59:25 +0000

As previously stated by myself and many others, Pligg can be a major SPAM magnet if you let it become one. There are ways however to combat this, namely reCaptcha.

There is a module that Pligg has that enables the Administrator to limit the number of submissions a person can do in a 24 hour period.

While this may eliminate or reduce spam, this has to be the most idiotic thing to use on your site I have ever seen.

This basically penalizes all of your members because of spammers and because you are too lazy to deal with spam and have failed to adopt measures to reduce spam.

Imagine a member who has submitted 2 stories trying to submit a 3rd and then being greeted with this:

congratulations, you just lost a valued member!

Do you honestly think a member will stick around or come back while being placed under these restrictions? If you do, you have no business running a website. This has to be the biggest slap in the face for your members I can think of.

While the logic may have some weight here, the use of it doesn’t.

I can imagine Digg or Mixx doing this, they would never hear the end of it. Folks at TechCrunch would eat them alive and rightfully so.

Don’t penalize your members because your are getting spammed and have taken no steps to eliminate or reduce it yourself. Don’t be a lazy Pligg install owner and try to take an easy way out.

Would you be a dedicated member of a site that placed such limitations on you just for trying to help the site out by supporting it? It’s a 2 way street, if you want members to submit and support you, you need to make it easier for them to submit not harder, this backward thinking and I wish anyone who uses it luck as I will not support any site using it.

And more importantly, don’t penalize valued members because of spammers, because if you do all you will have is a site of no submissions or submissions that you are submitting and then I wonder if you would agree with me on this one.

I would love to hear your thoughts and your arguments for actually using this ultimate piece of junk on your site.

Leave me a comment below.

BUMP it, FLOAT it or PAL it? There is n
Stopping Comment Spam One of the
reCaptcha for submit – Pligg 1.0 The Pligg

Protect your Pligg template files

Geoserv — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:16:39 +0000

Want to keep people from viewing and stealing your template files? Of course, we all do.

Here’s a simple way to keep prying eyes out of your template files and stealing your layout and functions.

In your .htaccess, add the following to the very top:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://domain.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://domain.com$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.domain.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.domain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*\.(tpl)$ http://www.domain.com [R,NC]

Replace all cases of domain.com with your domain name.

The last line you can specify where to send the visitor that attempts to view your .tpl file. I would leave it at your main page.

This will keep prying eyes from viewing your .tpl files.

Test it by trying to view my pligg.tpl file at http://www.faqpal.com/templates/yget/pligg.tpl

That’s it.

This is the best way I have come up with to protect your files. Got a better idea, post it below.

How do you protect your files?

Enhancing your 404 page What
FREE Pligg 9.9.5 template – Pliggblogs My latest
Free Pligg v9.9.5 Template – aJack With our l

Stopping Comment Spam

Geoserv — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:04:52 +0000

One of the biggest issues with the Pligg CMS is SPAM. As a Pligg powered website owner you are constantly dealing with submissions of links that are blatent spam, spam bots and spam in the comments. To be fair, Pligg is not the only CMS that faces this issue, but it does have very little deterents in place to prevent it.

I have told you how to prevent auto-submitters or spam bots from submitting to your site by using reCaptcha on step 1 of the submission process. If you successfully install it, you will see a drastic decrease in spam as bots will no longer be able to submit, which is the source of the most of the spam submissions.

The only other source of spam is via the comments. This again has been a problem with Pligg since day one and if you search their forums the developers have yet to post a solution to users being able to post links in their comments.

I will show you 2 methods for dealing with comments that contain spam links.

Making comment links nofollow

Open libs/utils.php, find:

function text_to_html($string) {
return preg_replace(’/([hf][tps]{2,4}:\/\/[^ \t\n\r]+[^ .\t,\n\r"\'])/’, ‘$1’, $string);
}

change it to:

function text_to_html($string) {
return preg_replace(’/([hf][tps]{2,4}:\/\/[^ \t\n\r]+[^ .\t,\n\r"\'])/’, ‘$1’, $string);
}

Make links un-clickable:

Open libs/utils.php, find:

function text_to_html($string) {
return preg_replace(’/([hf][tps]{2,4}:\/\/[^ \t\n\r]+[^ .\t,\n\r"\'])/’, ‘$1’, $string);
}

change it to:

function text_to_html($string) {
return preg_replace(’/([hf][tps]{2,4}:\/\/[^ \t\n\r]+[^ .\t,\n\r"\'])/’, ‘$1′, $string);
}

That’s it. Which method, is up to you.

Which one will you be using?

How Entrecard’s comment initiative rocked the blogosphere Today I in
reCaptcha for submit – Pligg 1.0 The Pligg
Pliggs News Like most

Pligg upgrade nightmares

Geoserv — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:12:20 +0000

The latest release from Pligg v1.0 came with a lot of promise. New features, a new admin panel and what was belived to be a more stable version. This sadly is not the case.

While the latest version is on the right track, it should NOT be available for download unless it is for testing only. But if you go to the homepage of Pligg and click the download button, it’s what you get. This is only hurting Pligg as it is making members more frustrated and upset because this release has no business being the default download.

I’m not going to get into reviewing this release because I already did that back on February 19th with my post Pligg v1.0 RC1 Review, this post is to alert new members of Pligg that using the download provided by the Pligg developers is a waste of time.

I cannot put my finger on what happened in this version to make it a disaster, perhaps they spent too much time on the admin panel, which works, or the template, which is awful, or maybe it was the Groups addition, which seems to be one of the only working parts of this release.

When I reviewed this release I said that it was commendable that they were able to create the Group feature, and I still feel this way, though not many Pligg installs need it or should use it unless you have a great traffic base. While it was asked for in the forums, it came at the price of a now worthless CMS.

Anyone who downloads the latest version or upgrades to it, will be sorry as it will result in headaches and a lot of fist pounding.

For the sake of the project, I plea to the developers to make the default download from the homepage, download the 9.9.5 version and work on the kinks and errors with this release before telling new members to download it. But for some reason I do not see this happening.

We will NOT be releasing any templates for the 1.0 version as it only encourages people to upgrade or download it. Instead, we will start releasing templates for the 9.9.5 version to encourage people to stick with v9.9.5 until the developers have all the kinks worked out of v1.0.

This brings me to my next point, the developers. I will say this again, I love the CMS but have issues with the developers. Period. About a year and a half ago I was banned from the Pligg forums and rightfully so. However, I recently decided that I would attempt to have my member name (Geoserv) reinstated. I emailed the admin team asking for a truce and for the reinstatement, a week later no reply.

I summized they are probably busy working the errors with this releases, but then I also realized that I was getting responses from none other than chuckroast when he was receiving emails asking for assistance with modules from the module store that I had purchased to see what I would get and to see what support I would get on.

If you give them money, they will come!

Want the developers attention, give them money, they will reply almost immediately. But if you submit a general question, good luck getting help. Chuckroast will reply in the forums, but it will almost always be a smart remark or a remark only an egotistical !@#hole will give or it will be as useless as the current version is.

I did all of this as a test to see where their real attention lies, it’s on their worthless modules that they are trying to pawn off on you to get your money to support a version that is worthless.

Again, they are only interested in making money with worthless modules and not developing the CMS.

I listed a couple of these modules here and told you how to get the same thing for free. That shows that I am interested in only one thing, making Pligg users happy, not profiting from it. I will be exposing more modules soon as well.

Again, I am not bashing the project, anything open source I am on board with, but for all Pligg users you need to be concerned. If the developers, 2 at present, continue on this current path it will certainly mean the end of this CMS. People will not support a script that is flawed and only interested in ripping you off.

Pligg’s head developer and the only one with a brain, Ashdigg, left the project and started his own at Social Web CMS, and most likely because he saw this crap coming. Now, do I suggest you drop Pligg for Social Web CMS, no. But I encouage you to look at the past and what Pligg was back when Ashdigg was there. It was a much better run script that didn’t focus on ripping you off, instead it focused on actually coding a script and helping members, you know the members who helped Pligg get to where it is now.

Without people like Ashdigg, LincolnHawks, davemackey and myself, Pligg wouldn’t have some of the things it has today. But they don’t see that, they simply see us as enemies, too bad sice we are some of the few actually working to help it.

Thats my rant.

Now, for those of you looking to download the v9.9.5 version or to revert back, I have attached it below, it is the original 9.9.5 version, I recommend you use it until v1.0 gets a lot more work done to it.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

What do you think of the latest version?

Pligg developers disagree about Pligg I browse t
Pligg’s new future? With the r
Pligg developers robbing new members Chuckroast