UBB.Developers Forums UBB.threads 6 V6 Modifications Forum Design Integration UBBT Calendar - Model 2003

Hello Allen and Dave and Josh and all the gang!

Dave...this post should be of interest to you. I think we've discussed this stuff for a few YEARS now!

Most of you have known me for the past few years (on the old W3T boards) and know I'm always coming up with wild ideas on how to use the basecode for UBBT to do stuff other than simple message posting.

I may be off in right field here, but I thought I'd post this idea I'm mentally working out and we will be building on the Texas Offroad Network sometime over the next months...and see if you guys can point out flaws and fubars....or offer additional ideas to make it better.

Sorry if I'm being long winded....as usual for me....
....but this is a huge idea to put on paper (so to speak)....

I will post our "Wish List" on this first posting....

I will post "The Idea" on the one below....


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We all know the dilema facing webmasters who desire a calendar for users to post upcoming events on....and the inadequate functionality our visitors must deal with.

For a long time now, alot of us have voiced a need for a Calendar and UBBT board integration. We have five Admins on the Texas Offroad Network and we finally gave up on finding a scriptset we could do this with.


The list of features we want for our Offroad Community calendar follows....

We are a webhost for three of the four major dirtbike racing Series in Texas...we want each to have access to a calendar, but we don't want the user to have to search out info and listings on three different calendar applications....we want all the listings to appear on a single Calendar.

We host websites and forums for several dozen offroad related clubs in Texas....we want them to able to list upcoming events as well...and visitors can see ALL the listings for every club in the state...not just those on our network, but also smaller clubs and non-affiliate clubs.

We want all Series, Clubs, Tracks, and Promoters to be able to post original info, then follow up with any changes and updates...without having to delete the original post or add to a text doc that uses pop-up window (and gets too large to display properly).

We want the calendar to keep a consistent layout. We DO NOT want to see the "squares" on the calendar...that is, the daily boxes where event info is posted....to stretch to extremes whenever a post that is too lengthy is added....or when too many events are listed on a Saturday or other heavy event day.

To do that, we want to limit the "subject" line of the posts added to the calendar to just a few characters, so we can control the table layout on the calendar. We want to be able to allow unlimited daily posts and have the calendar expand UNIFORMLY in a way that the visitor is not forced to look at a warped and morphed table layout.


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We want the usual features like the ability to upload Event Flyers as scanned PDF files, or Word docs, or Text files...with directional map attachments or photos or other visual aids.

We want the public and the club members to be able to POST Q+A related to events listed on the Calendar.....and add links to other websites on the network where additional info is posted.

We want to integrate a thread on the forums with a specific event listing on the calendar...by using a simple link.

We do not want the threads to move around according to which posts are NEW when a revision to an event is posted. We want the original DATE to determine where the thread is on the boards.

We would prefer ALL the data from both Calendar and UBBT be in the same MySQL database.


We want all threads on the board...and the dates on the calendar itself....to be SEARCHABLE by DATE using the simple UBBT search functions. We do not want to have to integrate complex search scripts. We want all threads on the board....and the dates on the calendar...to be SEARCHABLE by CLUB or SERIES acronym or name.

We want visitors to be able to create a dynamic LIST of all the Events being planned by any SERIES...or by all the listings on any DATE....especially when NEW entries are added....and link to the posts and Q+A for each entry.

We DO NOT want the Admins to be responsible for keeping the Calendar UP TO DATE. This entire process should be created by the users, updated by the users, and maintained by the users. The Admin job is to watch over their work, not DO the work.

OK gang....time to put on your "visualization" caps.....

If you have seen our website, you know....we use the old W3T_news INCLUDE on the frontpage...now called *ubbtnews* in the Add-Ons folder....and many of our affiliates use it to link a Top Ten posts list from their boards into their websites.

What we do is...each time we create a new forum, we copy the original UBBT_News and change the file name and links to the exact same name as the MySQL field it is stored as....then link it with a SSI to anywhere on the website...or on the web.


This Calendar is based entirely on using that same script...and some fancy table layout.

So far....we have not figured out whether it is best to....

Create a new instance of UBBThreads on your server and assign it a new MySQL named "calendar" ...and try and hook the existing user ID data in for access and permissions.... or

....not hook the info in and set up a new registration to act as a "filter" for who can use the calendar (although this would greatly restrict the public posting capabilities).... or

....use the existing UBBT and MySQL and set up filtering using the Cat number URL method.

I'd appreciate suggestions and ideas on the first choice...it seems to be the best method.

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Here's how you build the UBBT/Forum Calendar - Model 2003.....

1) Create a CATEGORY for each of the MONTHS on the annual calendar. Give the Category the name of the MONTH only....such as " DECEMBER ".

2) Create a new Board for each DATE in each month. (...Yes....365 boards...) Use the Exact DATE only as the Board Title....for example, the board today might be named - - " 12-26-02 " or " 12-26-02 -- Thursday ".

3) Create a new UBBT_News for each board. (...Yes....365 News Includes...) Use the same naming convention as the board name and table name.

4) Create ONE additional board and SSI to be used as a Blank PLACEHOLDER for layout. Name it with a ten periods " .........." so when it is displayed it will appear to have no name, but will force the table to not collapse.

5) Create a NESTED TABLE layout on a standard html page...or in this case a .php page since it is pulling in php includes.... that has SEVEN SSI COLUMNS across and SIX ROWS down within a Parent Table that has Header and Monthly Titlebar and Footer......just like a normal calendar layout.

6) Use this template to create the Twelve Months (or more if you want more)...then use the Placeholder SSI to fill the empty dates before and after the first and last day of the current month.

7) Limit the number of characters allowed on the "Subject" of all POSTS to whatever size will fit on a single line according to the size of your table layout....probably about 20-24 characters maximum.

(Note - this "limit" to subject line is why you need to run a seperate instance of UBBT....so it does not affect the regular length of posts on the boards elsewhere.)

8) Open the *ubbtnews* file and set the *totalnews* to "10" (what we use,,,you can use less if you like)....set the *newsbody* to "none" and set the *includedate* and *includewho* to "no"....so it only displays the single line SUBJECT on the thread.

9) On each DATE board...that is, on all 365 boards AND the Placeholder board....add TEN individual posts (that will create TEN threads) with a subject line of ten periods ".........." and NO COPY on the post itself.

These will ALL act as PLACEHOLDERS on each DATE and keep the Table Layout from collapsing or changing as New Posts are added to the calendar later. Once you have the page LIVE you should notice a nice clean calendar page that is dynamically updated but never changes the basic layout.

10) That's it! You now have a fully dynamic Calendar that has a board for each DATE and can carry up to TEN events on each DATE.....and has a permanent Table Layout that will not change as new events are entered and replace the placeholder posts on the Master Calendar.

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The Table Layout should start with a table that is roughly 760-780 pixels wide...divided into seven columns of 100-110 pixels...depending on the nested tables you use to create borders and background. I never use "border" tags...too unrealiable with browser variables. This will always produce "squares" on the calendar that are roughly 100 pixels wide and you can adjust the number of characters on the subject line to fit your special layout.

The Height of each DATE board will be constant throughout the layout since each uses the same basic ten post base layout and should never need to be specified in pixels. You can also allow the table to have a wildcard height as well since it should never change.

Whenever a post is made.....

We will force the Subject line to be under 20 characters...so it will fit on a single line. Our clubs and series will post subjects like....

TCCRA - Event #5 ....or.... TSCEC - Red River ....or.... AMA20 - Skull Creek

Now, your forum members can add Events, exchange info about events, post Attachments via the forum, and the whole thing is fully searchable and either by Club/Series acronum or by DATE.


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This method of using the SSIs can also be adapted to set up a LINEAR calendar.

Or you can LINK users to WEEKLY pages that contain SSIs for a limited timeline.

Once you have the SSIs you can use them in a number of varieties of layouts.


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Yes....I know this is ALOT of work, but look at what you can do once it's built.
You can streamline the creation process by using alot of copy and paste.
I expect it will take 20 hours to create, but will be the most incredible Calendar ever.
It is EVERYTHING we have all "wished" a Calendar would do....and now it can.

Thank you for your time....I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Hey there Roofdog

That's a heck of a list you have there. I may have to read it a few more times before it all sinks in... LoL

If it is of interest to you I'll be releasing a Integrated Index Page (IIP) pro version in the upcoming months. This version already has a calendar that's under construction. Calendars can be assigned to specific boards and there is a "master" calendar for the site itself. Users can also have personal calendars to store their private events in. Event additions can be moderated or not. Private calendars are of course not moderated since only the owner of the calendar can view their own events.

I still have plenty to finish up with just the calendar feature and your list really has some good ideas. I'll try and keep them in mind while I'm at it.

You can check out the calendar here:
http://www.chattersonline.com/test/ubbthreads/iip/calendar.php?Cat=

Hi Dave!

Yes, I've followed your struggle with this...it seems like forever.

BTW - I created a new user and tried to test the Calendar you linked, but it would not let me post.

I suspect that if I were to post seven events with very long Subject lines, the whole calendar will dynamically expand and the layout will explode. Anyway...that's what I've noticed most about the Calendars I've seen other UBBT guys testing on live websites.

The dynamic quality of multiple entries totally screws up the layout of most calendars....and the "squares" where too much new content is posted get really tall...and the rest of the calendar looks really awful.

None of our 12 or more webmasters on the TON have liked anything any of us have tried in the past...and we have several years of calendar scripts among all of us.

Most of our guys use the scriptset created by Matt Kruse...which in my opinion is currently the best on the web.


I'm just looking at a potential for ALOT of event entries and we want all our users to have access to them, but still control the layout when things get way too crowded on weekend dates.

We want a Calendar that does not change the table cell dimensions within the columns and rows....regardless of what bozo tries to add all the details of his event posting to the Subject line!....and regardless of if a single date gets more than 5 or 6 or 7 posts and causes the whole table to get fubared.


I really don't mean to be critical of your work. I am planning to totally revamp the TON frontpage this spring with your IIP so I don't want to burn this bridge....I think you've done an amazing job of building the old "integration" ideas we all had long ago into a really fine looking frontpage interface.


Sorry for being longwinded....this has been a real brainstorm for a few days among our Admins.

LoL don't worry about expressing ideas.

I have been spending more time on custom side projects then working on IIP. It's a work in progress and probably will always be so... LoL

The only way I can see that a calendar wouldn't lose it's form is by the use scrollable contents per table cell or limiting the number of subjects that are displayed with a link to the full list. I know there are many fans of the mouseover popup to see the events listed but I honestly don't like them do to the size these pages can become but perhaps I should look over such an option a bit closer. I to dislike the stretching of the display that occurs when a specific date recieves a large number of events.

When I get the calendar feature completed I'll let you know.

One thing you might consider is keeping the number of characters to a limit and using a title tag to display the full event title so when moused over you see it. You can see something very similar in how the thread titles are handled here:

http://www.stand318.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi - those that are too long get the '...' treatment and mousing over them gives you the full title.

ummm... mebbe you've already covered that somewhere here

I like that idea Allen. It hadn't occured to me actually. There will still be problems with dates that have a ton of entries though. I know people want to see everything at a glance but if we want preserve the layout it just wont be possible.

I remember when you tested the scrollable content for the code tag here. It wasn't pretty on a Mac but with windows it seemed fine. Perhaps some variation will work across all standards compliant browsers.

What I don't want and will not do is sacrifice standards compliancy to make a layout that only looks good in a specific browser. The other problem I have for my own personal site is that I get a fair number of webtv users. Now that's a whole nother ball game... lol

Frankly....I expected the first thing anyone would reply was related to the server loads of SSIs and how some sort of caching would be absolutely neccessary in order for anyone to even consider this crazy idea.

I still cannot mentally grasp what the server loads would be on a page that uses 30 SSI per load on a site that get a new visitor every 10-15 seconds...like our site does. Friday afternoons before the guys hit the road would be a last-minute-check killer!

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Dave - - I'd like to find out more about the RSS feeds you are working on. Could they replace the SSI stuff I use now to syndicate our boards to other websites...and if so, could I use a daily compiling and caching of RSS files to create this Calendar idea?

I realize I'm not knowledgable at all in RSS, so any links you can provide me would be cool. I have been to Radioland many times and have a copy of Nuke, but I'm still not a language skills kind of guy.

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What Allen pointed out with the "..." is what the ubbtnews does as well when you designate a preset number of characters for the post content displayed before it ends and shows the "more info..." line below.

I agree, there is no way to compensate for an unlimited number of events, but we find we seldom ever go over ten events in a single day, even among Texas dirtbiker clubs, so we use that as the base for our idea.

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Off Topic -

As far as Mac compatibility goes....I work in commercial printing in prepress and I am on a Mac all day, then a PC in the evenings at home. I see sites from both sides and I seldom can create a Mac friendly page or a NS friendly page. BTW - I also seem to get a few percent of WebTV users too....arrrg!...poor souls.

Back in 1998, I used to try, but by around 2001 I decided to quit. At that time I concluded, ultimately, it is up the the browsers to be compatible with the webmasters, not the other way around.

The evolutionary process will determine who survives...even on the web. It is not our duty as webmasters to "carry' the weak and crippled until they can reproduce enough times to possibly create a new generation that can survive on it's own.

And it is up to the public to use whatever tools they must...in this case, IE....until a newer and better solution comes along.


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Way Off Topic -

Dave - - Don't spend ANY of your precious God given "life" time on this pursuit of compatibility issues.

XML is proof that the evoluntionary process of languages is as true for computing as it is for humans. From the complex SGML to the more complex HTML and so on....we progress into more and more complex structure that has more vulnerabilities to failure....until we reach a point where something similar to McLuhan's Four Laws of Media kicks in and after a certain point, a reversal takes place and simplicity again replaces the complex.

Soon....compatibility issues (which is just language translation fallen into corruption) will no longer be an exclusive communication tool of the modern day Shamans and Wizards, but will be available to anyone who can write their own Schema for what their language is...and the computers will only require a reference point to find the library where the translation tools are stored and the spiders can access it.

In the next ten years or less, the need for "universal standards" will VANISH and everyone will be able to access and translate any document written in any programming language...and most of the modern human languages as well.

The new world OS may even use a linear timeline and some sort of intelligent media proxies (like millions of webbots and spiders) who work on our behalf as proxies to seek out other proxies and to instantaneously find relative content for any query or content on my system or any other connected to the www....and Windows will become as obsolete as a horse and buggy is to a rocketeer.

I have little doubt a nation other than the USA will introduce a programming team that has created a totally new Operating System someday very soon...an OS that does not even use this familiar, yet totally unintuitive and frustratingly difficult windows interface....and it's stupid reliance on proprietary rules of organization.

And these days of struggling with Morse Code will be history.

Use your time to create better and faster ways for the Community to share information. That is the work that will survive the test of time. The technology we use to communicate changes constantly, but the community that uses it is the only constant....even from generation to generation.....

Uhhhh....sorry.....I should not go off the deep end.....

Give me more tutoring on how I can replace SSIs with RSS...and I'll be fine!

I haven't used server side includes in a long time now since moving to php. I will be using cache with the calendar though since events are not something that's constantly being posted.

RSS is a simplified way of syndication. The link I found most usefull would be this one: http://backend.userland.com/rss
RSS is not a two way road though. The content provider produces the RSS feed. Other sites pull the feed in and cache (well they should cache) the information and display it with a parsing script to give the feed it's layout. I do have both the ability to generate the feed and to parse external feeds up and working, just not in use. I will be extending this ability to public boards so other sites could be allowed to pull board feeds in and display them elsewhere. I haven't seen it done but I don't see why an entire calendar couldn't be made into an RSS feed... but this isn't something I intend on doing... lol One is probably better off to generate a static calendar page and allow other sites to pull that page in for their own displays. (provided their php setup allows for the opening of files via their URL)

I will be adding Allen's suggestion for the title attribute to truncated subjects. Thanks Allen

The way my calendar is layed out may just work for you as far as the display issues go. Empty cells are governed by a template in which you can adjust the number of blank lines being displayed. Cells with events replace this and provided that there is at least one empty cell in the row they should all keep the same height untill the events go beyond the empty cell's height.

Thanks for your tolerance of my endless questions, Dave -

"I will be using cache with the calendar though since events are not something that's constantly being posted."

"I haven't seen it done but I don't see why an entire calendar couldn't be made into an RSS feed... but this isn't something I intend on doing... lol"


Yeah....I never thought I'd be doing this either.....still not sure I'm game...!

After thinking about your RSS comments for a few minutes, and the statements above, I now am wondering if I could set a 6 hour crontab for the twelve main pages for the months? Even if someone posted a reply to the threads for any existing DATE thread, the links would still be valid. Only NEW threads for Events would be 6 hours delayed.

I was planning to use your Calendar this past fall, but from what I've seen on sites using the current version of Calendar, the posts are single entry posts by an author and are not actually threads themselves, so do not allow interactive dialog and information exchange?

We usually post events on the club boards and have questions from visitors and those questions would end up occupying threads on the other boards...does that make sense?

Our need for a deeply interactive calendar that ALL our members can access has been what stopped us from implementing anything so far....and our Admins passed ideas back and forth...and suddenly it hit me...it was so simple.

This idea is very LABOR intensive, but a simple idea and uses standard base code so there's NO CODE HACKING now or later! As far as we're concerned, time spent on the initial database creation is time we WON"T be hacking in old hacks on the next upgrade!


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Heck....I'm not sure how to hook the User ID data from the other instance of UBBT, so everybody can access the new calendar boards with current permissions, but I don't need PMs or registrations or the user Control Panel or any number of features the normal boards use....it could even use the same CSS and other user settings.

Once it's created one time, there's no reason we couldn't distro a copy of the virgin MySQL tables that is the foundation for the Master 366 boards and all the Master Threads. Then everybody who wants to recreate this could simply drop in the entire database of boards and posts, then hook their User ID data in, and build on top of that?

I expect someone will drop on this thread any moment and blow me out of the water with some obvious massive failure of observation or programming knowledge on my part! Like I said, I'm not a language skills guys...just a community builder and ideas guy.

Thanks very much for your time and comments....sorry for being a picky old fart....