Integration with vBulletin - Zoints Thread Tags System

Demo:

Popular Tags - Forum Tags By Zoints

A great article on the importance of tagging can be read here.

The Zoints Thread Tags System will improve forum side search, SEO, and traffic for forums that choose to utilize it. And in my opinion, it's just plain cool

When a member creates a new thread, they can now input a series of "tags". Tags are simply keywords that describe the thread.



If you then go to your-forum.com/tags you will be presented with what is called a "tag cloud". The more times a tag is used, the larger the text grows. As you can see, the tags are also searchable.



Clicking on one of the tags in the cloud then lists all of the threads that are tagged with that particular keyword. The default option lists tags in a forumdisplay format. There is an option in the admincp to use a simple format.



Clicking on the thread title of one of the above threads then takes you to the thread. If you have the option on, the tags the thread are tagged with are also listed above the thread. Clicking one of those tags takes you to all the threads on the forum tagged with the same tag. Search engine spiders are going to have a field day with this



The thread starter and moderation staff have a slightly different view which allows for administration of tags:



The forum's tags are also searchable via the search dropdown. The advanced search option allows for a variety of additional criteria to be seached for. Your members create a whole new (and highly efficient) forum search engine!



If you have the option on in the admincp and register your forum, once every hour, your tagged threads in publically viewable forums are linked via the corresponding interest tag on the Zoints Forum Network. For example, if you go to children - Members and Communities tagged with children - Zoints you will see what is pictured below. Not only is this a great relevant inbound link for SEO, but you will get traffic from Zoints direct to these threads!

Another example of this in action: music - Members and Communities tagged with music - Zoints




The admincp options

















Official support for this modification will be at Zoints Network in this forum.


Change log:

2006/10/24 - 1.2.1
* Bugfix: breaking inline moderation when tag cloud below posts
* Bugfix: ajax input not working when tag cloud below posts
* Bugfix: seo hook effective for "results as threads" option
* Bugfix: Autogenerated tags have "quot" removed
* Bugfix: Automated template edit screwing up styles
* Improved instructions for manual template edits

2006/10/19 - 1.2.0
* Option to display results as threads
* Advanced search page
* Popular tag cloud pagination
* Popular tags displayed in forums
* Option to display tags in showthread at the top/bottom
* Fix for vbadvanced products navbar links
* Other minor fixes and tweaks

2006/10/02 - 1.1.2
* Bugfix: Foreign language characters in thread description
* Bugfix: Commas showing up when removing first tag in showthread via ajax
* Removing some redundancy in the tags AJAX removal

2006/09/30 - 1.1.1
* Bugfix: Preventing all HTML from being parsed inside tag descriptions

2006/09/30 - 1.1.0
* Adding and deleting tags from showthread via AJAX
* Mass-deleting single tags from entire cloud for admins
* Automatically generate tags for older threads (with option to show or hide on main cloud)
* Automatically stripping out tiny (2 or less characters) tags

2006/09/28 - 1.0.8
* Minor bugfix

2006/09/28 - 1.0.7
* Bugfix for required tagging

2006/09/28 - 1.0.6
* Character replacements
* Tag limit per thread
* Option to require tags for a thread
* Bugfix where stopwords may not have worked properly
* Bugfix for vBSEO / main cloud not showing up

2006/09/xx - 1.0.5
* Unreleased dev build

2006/09/23 - 1.0.4
* Ability to add multiple tags via showthread.php
* Ability to exclude certain forums from utilizing tags
* Addition of custom hook for developers to change thread urls

2006/09/21 - 1.0.3
* Ability to add and remove tags from showthread.php
* Bugfix for older versions of mysql

2006/09/21 - 1.0.2
* Small bugfix

2006/09/20 - 1.0.1
* Showing tags list on showthread.php

2006/09/20 - 1.0.0
* Initial release

I heard about this,,
I really like this, but this part "Forum Tags by Zoints" and the option where we send info to zoints.com/tag

but... you guys are really getting close to selling me on zoints..lol I made a profile a month ago.. I'll think about this during this week, and more then likely will install this, and posibily intergrate my site with zoints better...

and If I can't sleep tonight, I may give it a try tonight..lol

Great idea guys

[dchapman]

Hey Brandon,

I hope you've had a good weekend

Originally Posted by loco.m

I heard about this,,
I really like this, but this part "Forum Tags by Zoints" and the option where we send info to zoints.com/tag

That is 100% optional and is opt IN. You have to obtain an authentication key from Zoints to make it work. The thread tags will work perfectly fine without doing it.

But as a forum owner myself, i'm not sure I can make a good argument to NOT opt in to sending the link to Zoints. They're great relevant inbound links and free traffic. An example would be the threads at the bottom of http://zoints.com/tag/music

Free inbound links, free traffic But again, it's 100% optional

As for the link, anyone who uses the Zoints Network can remove it. Most big mods these days come with a link like that.

Originally Posted by loco.m

but... you guys are really getting close to selling me on zoints..lol I made a profile a month ago.. I'll think about this during this week, and more then likely will install this, and posibily intergrate my site with zoints better...

Sounds good I'm uploading version 1.0.4 which has a couple nice enhancements. And we'll of course be improving this offering a LOT in the future.

Originally Posted by loco.m

Great idea guys

Thanks bud

[dchapman]

Version 1.0.4 is now released:

This is added to the admincp options:




Change Log

2006/09/23 - 1.0.4
* Ability to add multiple tags via showthread.php
* Ability to exclude certain forums from utilizing tags
* Addition of custom hook for developers to change thread urls

2006/09/21 - 1.0.3
* Ability to add and remove tags from showthread.php
* Bugfix for older versions of mysql

2006/09/21 - 1.0.2
* Small bugfix

2006/09/20 - 1.0.1
* Showing tags list on showthread.php

2006/09/20 - 1.0.0
* Initial release


How to turn off the automatic template updates

If you want to DISABLE the automatic template edits for whatever reason, then you can do so by going to the Admin Control Panel:

Plugins & Products > Plugin Manager

Find the plugin titled "Zoints Thread Tags (automatic template edits)" and uncheck "Active", then click "Save Active Status" at the bottom of the page.

[dchapman]

Version 1.0.8 has been released:

2006/09/28 - 1.0.8
* Minor bugfix

2006/09/28 - 1.0.7
* Minor bugfix

2006/09/28 - 1.0.6
* Character replacements
* Tag limit per thread
* Option to require tags for a thread
* Bugfix where stopwords may not have worked properly
* Bugfix for vBSEO / main cloud not showing up

Now available in the admincp:

- You can now require that members have to enter at least one tag prior to submitting a thread.

- You can set a maximum number of tags allowed per thread. This will stop trolls from entering 5,038,004 tags in a single thread.



- We now allow for character replacement. This will be especially useful for non-english boards.




To upgrade, overwrite files and the product.

Enjoy

[todorov]

it's great but where is the download link??

[dchapman]

Major upgrade is now available:

2006/10/02 - 1.1.2
* Bugfix: Foreign language characters in thread description
* Bugfix: Commas showing up when removing first tag in showthread via ajax
* Removing some redundancy in the tags AJAX removal

2006/09/30 - 1.1.1
* Bugfix: Preventing all HTML from being parsed inside tag descriptions

2006/09/30 - 1.1.0
* Adding and deleting tags from showthread via AJAX
* Mass-deleting single tags from entire cloud for admins
* Automatically generate tags for older threads (with option to show or hide on main cloud)
* Automatically stripping out tiny (2 or less characters) tags

[dchapman]

Originally Posted by todorov

it's great but where is the download link??

It's linked at the left side of the thread. The zips contain the code.

[dchapman]

Major update:

1.2.0 and 1.2.1 have been released. Please see the first post in the thread for new screenshots. I apologize for not updating this thread sooner.

2006/10/24 - 1.2.1
* Bugfix: breaking inline moderation when tag cloud below posts
* Bugfix: ajax input not working when tag cloud below posts
* Bugfix: Search Engine Optimization hook effective for "results as threads" option
* Bugfix: Autogenerated tags have "quot" removed
* Bugfix: Automated template edit screwing up styles
* Improved instructions for manual template edits

2006/10/19 - 1.2.0
* Option to display results as threads
* Advanced search page
* Popular tag cloud pagination
* Popular tags displayed in forums
* Option to display tags in showthread at the top/bottom
* Fix for vbadvanced products navbar links
* Other minor fixes and tweaks

[Lizard King]

Thanks David ,

This is an awesome hack. Google is eating tags like crazy. I advise everyone to install this hack without any hesitation.