ZoneX Userguide

ZoneX Userguide

Detailed documentation of ZoneX bulletin board script

NOTE: This documentation covers all issues regarding operation of the ZoneX 1.0. forums. It covers the latest ZoneX 1.0. forum version. If you wish to see all bug fixes and new features available in latest version please read change log for more information. Also, pictures displayed in this document may vary from the one you can get on your forum, due to version or template difference.

Welcome to ZoneX 1.0 forums!! This document should clarify all the issues regarding operation of the ZoneX 1.0. forums. ZoneX is based on phpBB 2.0. forums and we strongly recommend you to read detailed documentation for phpBB 2.0. located on http://www.phpbb.com/support/guide/ first. All important notes regarding installation and basic forum operations that have not been modified in ZoneX are covered in this guide. This document will cover only new features added in ZoneX, as well as all other features that differ from original phpBB 2.0. version. We, the ZoneX team, thank you for choosing our software and hope you find it useful!!!

Installation of ZoneX 1.0. will vary according to your server and database. If you have shell access to your account, you may want to upload the entire ZoneX 1.0. archive (in binary mode!) to a directory on your host and unzip it there. If you do not have shell access or do not wish to use it, you will need to decompress the ZoneX 1.0. archive to a local directory on your system. From there you must FTP all the files it contains (being sure to retain the directory structure) to your host. All .php, .inc, .sql, .cfg, .htm and .tpl files should be uploaded in ASCII mode, while all graphics should use binary mode. If you are unfamiliar with what this means, please refer to your FTP client documentation. In most cases this need not concern you since many FTP clients will automatically guess the correct mode to use.

If the file extension used to execute PHP scripts on your server is not .php but, for example, .php3 or .phtml, you should first rename all files ending in .php and change the value of $phpEx in extension.inc. In the vast majority of cases this step will be unnecessary.

Once all the files have been uploaded to your site you should point your browser to it, eg. http://www.mysite.tld/zonex/ or http://subdomain.mysite.tld/, etc. Of course replace these with the real location!

NOTE: Before proceeding with installation you should ensure you have a database available. Ask your provider for details if you are unsure whether you do or not.

If you already have phpBB 2.0 forum installed on your system you can upgrade it to ZoneX 1.0.1 Currently, upgrade option will work only with phpBB 2.0.19 version - therefore, before proceeding with upgrade, ensure that you have correct version of phpBB. If you're not sure how to perform this, please consult phpBB 2.0 documentation. Also, before upgrading, we strongly recommend that you do a full backup of your database! If you are unsure how to achieve this, please ask your hosting provider for advice. To start upgrade, copy ONLY file update.php to phpBB forum directory and run it - simply point your browser to it, eg. http://www.mysite.tld/phpbb/update.php. Of course replace these with the real location! It is important that you do not upload any other zonemetrics files before update.php finishes upgrade process!!! Just after upgrade process is finished copy all other files to phpBB forum directory (as described for installation). New files will replace old phpBB files - allow changes (file replace)! Note that directory structure should remain the same. Now simply delete update.php file - this last step completes forum upgrade process.

IMPORTANT NOTES: ZoneX 1.0 forum has many new features and therefore will not work with phpBB templates and themes. During upgrade process all themes installed on your phpBB forum will be erased and new templates will be installed. Also, ZoneX 1.0 does not use standard phpBB search engine. Even though all search data, as well as all other forum data (forums, topics, posts, members...), will remain unchanged, after upgrade, you will additionally have to install search engine used by ZoneX 1.0 forums. For more information read section 4.

As mentioned in section 1, ZoneX forums are based on phpBB 2.0 forums. Therefore, ZoneX forums have all phpBB 2.0 features, described in phpBB 2.0 documentation. But, ZoneX have many new features, not available in phpBB 2.0:

One of the major improvements that come with ZoneX 1.0 forums is new forum search engine. Even though we kept few phpBB search engine features, we felt necessary to improve forum search engine. After long research we've finally concluded that mnoGoSearch engine is the best option - all mnoGoSearch engine files are included in ZoneX installation files. After ZoneX 1.0 have been installed, you should install this search engine, as explained in mnoGoSearch documentation. You should use .cgi search engine option as ZoneX is designed to work with it.

Once mnoGoSearch has been installed, you need to add one script alias to jour Virtual Host that will enable mnoGoSearch search page on your forum, like the following one:

ScriptAlias /search.cgi "/usr/local/mnogosearch/bin/search.cgi"
    <Directory "/usr/local/mnogosearch/bin">
        Options None
        AllowOverride All
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>

Of course, alias above is just an example and your alias may differ from it depending on your Virtual Host and mnoGoSearch installation path. Alias above uses default mnoGoSearch installation path.

Many web search engines, such as google, yahoo and msn, index static and dynamic web pages differently. Priority is usually given to static web pages (.htm, .html...) and sites written in such manner usually have higher ranks in search engines. ZoneX forums bring new solutions that will ensure better search engines indexing - all topics and forum pages are automatically rewritten in static html form and search engines will index them as such.

During longer period of time, you will probably notice that the more forums, topics and posts your forum has, the more difficult is for your users to find specific topics / posts. This especially affects new forum users that simply do not know where or how to find all important topics on your forum. As popular topics section is displayed on the bottom of the forum index page, every user will easily spot them. Using administration panel you can easily set how many popular topics you wish to display. Popular topics administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Popular topics link, as showed on picture below.

Popular topics engine uses entered keywords and search forum database for those topics that in their titles contain these keywords. Therefore, you will not need to know exact name (url) of the topic you want to display in Popular topics section but only main keyword from it. Using popular topics administration page (see picture below) you can easily add / edit / delete these keywords. If you whish to add new keyword, simply fill fields in Popular topics entry section and click on SUBMIT button.

If, after some time, you wish to change keyword settings, simply click on Edit link for that keyword. All keyword settings will become editable - after editing desired values, simply click on SUBMIT button. If your list of keywords gets too long, you can easily find desired keyword using Find keyword field - simply enter the keyword you wish to edit and click on SEARCH button.

Just as you can change the number of topics to be displayed for each keyword, you can also set the total number of topics that will be displayed in Popular topics section. Popular topics section on forum index page contains three (3) columns in which links are displayed - by changing this number, you can easily change total number of topics that will be displayed: number of topics = number of links in one column * 3.

Popular topics engine enables you to simply choose which keywords you wish to display at the time (and which not) without having to delete it from the keywords list. This status is displayed for each keyword in column Enabled. If the value is Yes, then topics containing that keyword will be displayed in Popular topics section. If the value is No, than topics containing that keyword will not be displayed in Popular topics section. To change status of the keyword, simply click on current value (Yes or No)

As shown on the picture above, list of all keywords will be displayed on the Popular topics administration page. All important data for each keyword is displayed - position of the keyword (value of the Position field), maximum number of topics that will be displayed for this keyword (Topics limit), number of topics that actually have been displayed on index page last time it was viewed (No. of listed topics), display status of the keyword (Enabled) as well as Edit and Delete links. The color of the keyword is also meaningful - if the color of the keyword is black (as in example showed above) that means that all planned topics are displayed on index page (number of listed topics matches the topics limit number). If the color of the keyword is blue, it means that some, but not all, keywords are displayed on index page. All topics are not displayed because there are no more topics containing that keyword in your forum, or total number of displayed popular topics reached maximum value. If the color of the keyword is red, it means that no topics with that keyword are displayed on index page.

Finally, it is possible to completely enable / disable Popular topics section on index page, without having to switch off every single keyword. On Configuration page, simply choose Enabled or Disabled option for Display popular topics field, according to your desire (see picture below). You can also easily change complete HTML code for Popular topics block, but we strongly recommend you to leave it as it is [Variables: {FIRST_COL} = popular topics links - first column links, {SECOND_COL} = popular topics links - second column links, {THIRD_COL} = popular topics links - second column links].

Related topics are another feature that, similarly to Popular topics, should help your forum users to find topics they are most interested in. At the bottom of each view topic page there is a list of all other topics similar to the one user is currently reading. This way, users reading one topic will have the list of all similar topics on the same page (see picture below).

Related topics engine checks the title of the topic user is currently viewing and searches forum database to find all other topics that have similar titles. But, due to fact that many topics contain common words in their titles such as and, for, at, from... engine matches only words longer than 6 characters. If your forum topics titles contain important words shorter than 6 characters it is possible to include those words in related topics search engine as well. Using administration panel you can easily set all words you wish to include in or exclude from related topics search engine. Related topics administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Related topics link, as showed on picture below.

All words marked as good will be included in related topics search engine while all words marked as bad will be excluded from it. To enter new word, simply type it in Word field, choose Type (Good / Bad) and click on SUBMIT button. Note that bad words list should contain only words longer than 6 characters as all shorter ones are bad by default. Also, you can easily edit / delete both good and bad words using Edit and Delete links for those words.

NOTE: Bad word "bad" displayed in example above would have been considered as bad by default as ALL words shorter than 6 characters are such by default. That word was included in bad words list for presentation purposes only.

Similarly to Popular topics it is possible to enable / disable Related topics section on view topic page. On Configuration page, simply choose Enabled or Disabled option for Display related topics field, according to your desire (see picture below).You can also easily change complete HTML code for Related topics block, but we strongly recommend you to leave it as it is [Variables: {L_RELATED_TOPICS} = related topics title, {related} = related topics links].

We feel that to every forum owner / administrator it is very important to get some feedback from forum users. ZoneX feedback engine should provide just that. When feedback engine is enabled, feedback question will be displayed on each topic and post of your forum (see picture below). Of course, both questions are editable through feedback administration page, as explained further below.

If forum user clicks on YES button, it will lead him to the "yes" page, and if user clicks on NO button, it will lead him to "no" page. Both pages can be edited through feedback administration page. By default, both pages contain appropriate message and links for possible actions - user can simply go back to the topic (Back to topic), ask his own question (create new topic on that forum), enter that discussion (post reply to that topic) or go to the search page to search forum for other topics. Picture below shows default "yes" page message. "No" page message is very similar and it contains the same links.

If user decides to ask his own question (or to enter discussion), topic in which he posts his feedback post will be specially marked - as a feedback topic. That topic will remain such until someone replies to it (ordinary forum user, forum moderator or administrator). Number of such topics is showed in feedback statistics data. Moreover, all feedback topics have special image in Moderator Control Panel (see picture below). This way, moderator can immediately see which topics have posts that "came" from feedback system (last post in that topic) and can pay appropriate attention to it.

If list of topics listed in Moderator Control Panel gets too long, by using See feedback topics for this forum link at the bottom of the page, moderator can easily list only feedback topics from that forum. Moreover, if moderator wishes to see feedback topics from all forums he can use See feedback topics for all forums link. On either page, click on topic title will open that topic.

Using feedback administration panel you can see feedback statistics data, easily set / change feedback questions (for both topics and posts) as well as edit complete content of both "yes" and"no" pages. Feedback administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Feedback link, as showed on picture below.

Feedback statistics data is shown at the top of the feedback administration page (see picture below). Here you can see how many different forum topics received positive (YES) clicks (Topics with YES clicks), how many different forum topics received negative (NO) clicks (Topics with NO clicks), total number of all positive clicks - sum of all positive clicks from all topics and posts (Total number of YES clicks), total number of all negative clicks - sum of all negative clicks from all topics and posts (Total number of NO clicks) as well as number of topics whose last post came from feedback system and haven't been answered to yet (Topics that still need reply).

From version 1.0.1. there is a Reset button located below feedback statistics which you can use to reset feedback statistics data.

Below feedback statistics data are located all other important feedback settings that you can change: feedback questions for topics and posts, complete HTML code for feedback question blocks as well as complete HTML content for both "yes" and "no" pages. Anyhow, we strongly recommend you not to change any HTML formats unless you are absolutely sure in what you're doing.

Finally, it is possible to enable / disable feedback engine. On Configuration page, simply choose Enabled or Disabled option for Enable feedback system field, according to your desire (see picture below).

In order to stimulate your users to write more posts, as well as to get even more feedback, you can use ZoneX vote contest system. ZoneX vote contest enables forum users to vote for every post of the forum. Users get voting contest credits after they have posted a number of posts (by default, that number is 10 posts) and each vote credit can be used to give one vote. Of course, user cannot vote for himself, banned users or current vote contest winner. At the end of a vote contest period (usually last day of the current month) new vote contest winner is declared and all voting credits returned to all forum users. By default, each user during the voting contest should create it's own wishlist worth $100. Vote contest winner prize should be everything mentioned in winner's wishlist. Of course, these are default vote contest rules and you can change them according to your desire. List of top 10 contenders is displayed on forum index page. When vote contest engine is enabled, VOTE button will be displayed on each post of your forum (see picture below).

When user clicks on VOTE button voting panel page will open, allowing user to cast his votes. User can choose how many votes he wishes to give to the post, depending on available vote credits. As only registered users can vote in voting contest, if user is not logged in, he will be automatically redirected to login page and after logging in voting panel will be displayed.

Using Vote Contest administration panel you can see list of top 10 vote contest contenders, easily set / change all vote contest settings, finish current vote contest and declare the winner. Vote contest administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Vote Contest link, as showed on picture below.

At the top of the vote contest administration page you can see the list of top 10 vote contest contenders (see the picture below). Rank, username, votes won and Edit link is displayed for each contender from the list.

If you wish to see / edit user details, simply click on Edit link for that user. As you can see on the picture below, user details will be shown - username, e-mail address, number of votes won and list of all topics in which that user has posts. You can edit the number of votes won for each post - simply enter new value and click on UPDATE button. Please note that even though there is a text field next to each post votes value, only one can be changed at a time. If you wish to change several values, you will have to do it once for each value you wish to change separately.

If you would like to edit details for user that is not among top 10 vote contest contenders you can use FInd user option below the list (see picture below). Simply enter desired username and click on FIND button - details for that user will be displayed shortly afterwards.

As it is already mentioned, current vote contest winner is not allowed to compete in current voting contest - therefore, other users cannot vote for him until current vote contest has been finished. Depending on your vote contest rules, it is possible that you will need to ban some users from voting contest. To ban user from the voting contest, simply enter his username in Ban user from the vote contest field (see picture below) and click on BAN button. List of all banned users is displayed in Banned users list, as shown below. If you wish to "unban" banned user, simply use Unban link for that user - he will immediately be removed from the banned user list.

Using vote contest administration page you can easily change number of posts needed for one vote credit and contest first prize (see picture below). Simply enter desired value in appropriate field and click on CHANGE button. Note that only one value can be changed at a time. If you wish to finish current vote contest and declare new winner, simply click on FINISH CURRENT CONTEST button. Contest will be finished, new winner declared and voting credits returned to all users for the next voting contest.

Using vote contest administration page you can also change Vote contest terms, Wishlist description and Wishlist information easily change (see picture below). We applied default vote contest terms that in the most cases will not need changes. On the other hand, Wishlist description and Wishlist info are by default "empty" and you should enter your own.

Finally, if you don't want to use this feature on your forum, it is possible to enable / disable vote contest. On Configuration page, simply choose Yes or No option for Display vote contest / wishlist field, according to your desire (see picture below). Here you can also easily change complete HTML code for vote contest block on forum index page, but we strongly recommend you to leave it as it is [ Variables: {TOP10} = list of top 10 voting contest contenders ].

ZoneX forum brings new forum index page look. One improvement is new section placed at the top of the index page - it contains news and announcements teasers (see the picture below). Using this feature, your forum users will always be aware of all important news and announcements published on your forum. News section is set to display last two posts from the forum you marked as a news forum. On the other hand, announcements are not retrieved from any forum - you can change announcements by using Teasers administration page, as explained further below.

Using Teasers administration panel you can see statistics data for both news and announcements teasers and change all news and announcements teaser settings. Teasers administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Teasers link, as showed on picture below.

In News teaser section you can see statistics data - how many users clicked on news links on index page news teaser (Clicks on news teaser links). Also, you can easily determine which forum you wish to use as a news forum - simply choose desired forum from the list of forums (News forum). In this section you can easily change the number of posts that will be displayed in news teaser - default value is 2. Please note that if you set this number to more than 2, you will also need to change HTML code for block formatting field - you will need to add HTML formatting for all additional posts you wish to display. To change the number of characters from post that will be displayed in teaser section, simply change value of the Number of chars to display in teaser field to desired value. Default value is 300 characters.

In Announcement teaser section you can see statistics data for announcement teaser - how many users clicked on announcement inks on index page teaser (Clicks on announcement teaser links). To change the number of characters from announcement that will be displayed in teaser section, simply change value of the Number of chars to display in teaser field to desired value. Default value is 300 characters. In this section you should enter your forum announcements - simply enter desired title and text of the announcements. As you can see on the picture below, you are able to enter up to two announcements a time. If you have only one announcement you wish to display, simply leave fields for Announcement No 2 empty.

Using teasers administration page you can also easily change complete HTML code for announcements block on forum index page, but we strongly recommend you to leave it as it is.

Finally, if you don't want to use this feature on your forum, it is possible to enable / disable it. On Configuration page, simply choose Enabled or Disabled option for Display teasers field, according to your desire (see picture below).

Another new feature available in ZoneX 1.0 forums is newsletter. This feature enables all forum users to subscribe to your forum newsletter. Subscription form is displayed on forum index page, as shown on the picture below, enabling non-registered users to subscribe. On the other hand, every registered forum user can choose to subscribe to newsletter during registration process, or, afterwards, by changing it's profile. Of course, registered forum users can use mentioned form from index page as well.

Moreover, we enabled all users to recommend your newsletter to their friends by using Forward to friend engine. Using [your forum root]/ftf/forward.php page (eg. http://mydomain.com/ZoneX/ftf/forward.php) any user can invite up to 5 friends to join your newsletter and forward them last newsletter issue (see picture below). For security reasons, one user can use this feature only once a day. When user submits this form, invitation e-mail will be automatically sent to all e-mail addresses he entered. E-mail contains message with registration link that you can easily edit through Newsletter and Forward to Friend administration panel (explained further below). If invited user decides to accept invitation and join your forum newsletter, he can easily register by using registration included in invitation e-mail. After registration, latest newsletter issue will be automatically sent to that user. For security reasons, registration link from one e-mail can be used for one registration only.

Using Newsletter and Forward to Friend administration panel you can see all important statistics data, download list of all subscribed users and much more. Newsletter and Forward to Friend administration page can easily be accessed by clicking on Newsletter and Forward to Friend link, as showed on picture below.

All important statistics data is displayed at the top of the administration page, as shown on the picture below.

Even though each e-mail, during subscription process, will be checked, there is still a slight possibility that some e-mails submitted in subscription / registration process will be bad. Those and all other e-mail addresses that you do not wish to send your newsletter to, can easily be removed from the list of the subscribed users - simply enter desired e-mail address in Remove e-mail from the newsletter subscription list field and click on REMOVE button (see the picture below).

In ZoneX 1.0.0 version (this version) it is not possible to send newsletter to subscribed users directly from the forum. We are currently developing that module and we hope that it will be available very soon. In the meantime you will need to use another software to send your newsletter. We recommend you to use WorldCast software, available at www.fairlogic.com but you can use any software you prefer. You can easily download list of all subscribed users by clicking on DOWNLOAD button - list is in csv form, which is acceptable by most of the programs made for such purpose.

By using Forward to friend configuration section you can easily change all important Forward to friend settings (see picture below).

By using Last Newsletter Issue section you can easily change the Subject of the e-mail that will be send to user after registering to newsletter through forward to friend engine (using link in invitation e-mail) and last newsletter issue (Complete last newsletter issue). Last field should contain complete content (HTML or other code) of your last newsletter issue.

If you don't want to use this feature on your forum, it is possible to enable / disable it. On Configuration page, simply choose Yes or No option for Display Newsletter field, according to your desire (see picture below). Here you can also easily change complete HTML code for newsletter block on forum index page, but we strongly recommend you to leave it as it is. Finally, you can change the registration page Receive monthly newsletter default field value - simply choose Yes or No option for Receive monthly newsletter field - chosen option will be default field value on registration page [ Variables: {NEWSLETTER_MSG} = message that will be displayed above form fields ].

SECTION 12. Editing Privacy policy, Registration terms, Advertising and Contact pages

At the bottom of each page a number of links is displayed (see picture below). Every link will open specific page (named as a link) whose content you can easily change through administration panel.

Using Advertising, Contact, Privacy Policy and Terms links you can easily open desired administration page (see picture below) on which you can easily change that page content. For example, if you want to change content of the Privacy Policy page, simply click on Privacy Policy link.

Using Advertising administration page you can set / change text that will be displayed on Advertise with us page - simply enter desired texts In Advertising opportunities text and / or Advertising form text fields. Position of these texts on Advertise with us page is shown on the following picture.

Using Contact administration page you can set / change all necessary settings for contact page.

Using Privacy Policy administration page you can easily set / change complete content of the page - simply enter desired content in Complete Privacy Policy page content field.

Using Terms administration page you can easily set / change your site terms and conditions - simply enter desired terms and conditions in Terms And Conditions field.

As mentioned in Section 2, ZoneX 1.0 forums use template system that differs from phpBB 2.0. As ZoneX 1.0 forums contain many new features, additional template pages were needed. Therefore, in ZoneX 1.0 forums you can use only templates specially designed for it. That is the reason why, if you are upgrading phpBB 2.0.17 forum to ZoneX 1.0 forum, all previously installed phpBB themes and templates will be erased and new ZoneX template system installed.

Moreover, many added modules allow forum administrator to change appearance and/or content of several pages. For example, administrator is enabled to change format of the feedback sections, complete content of the Terms and Conditions page, content of the Forward to Friend invitation e-mail, format of teasers block on index page, etc. Most of this editable sections contain many variables that can be used in code. These variables will be replaced with their real values when viewed. As you've probably already noticed, list of all available variables for each field is listed together with that field description. Here are few of the most common variables (all other are explained with field descriptions in which they are used):

Vast majority of forum pages are using language files and, therefore, can be displayed in desired language (of course, that language pack must be installed). But, all pages whose content is editable through administration panel can be displayed only in one language. Accurately, those pages will display text entered through administration panel as it is. This rule applies for all editable sections of the site (message of the Forward to Friend invitation e-mail, feedback questions, terms and conditions, etc).

Main goal for all ZoneX developers is to create forum that will create strong communities. Moreover, we want to make sure that every single forum visitor is heard. Posting mode module is developed to serve that goal. We noticed that when forum permissions are such that only registered users can post their posts, vast majority of non-registered users that have something to say simply do not leave their posts. New post mode should make sure that doesn't happen any more.

Posting mode module enables you too choose one of two possible posting modes. You can easily choose desired posting mode using Configuration page, as shown on the picture below - simply choose desired value for the Post mode field. First available mode is the "standard" one. In this mode users will be able to post their posts according to forum permissions. If permissions are such that only registered users can post their posts, then users will have to log in before posting their posts. In ZoneX forums, this posting mode is called First log in then post - second option on the following picture.

Second mode, called First post then log in, is new one - first option on the picture above. In this posting mode, all users will be able to post their posts, regardless of the forum permissions. Nevertheless, all submitted posts will be published on forum depending on forum permissions. This means that if forum permissions are such that only registered users can post their posts, submitted post will be published on that forum only after user logs in. If user who submitted his post is not registered forum user, his post will not be published until he registers.
If forum permissions are such that log in is necessary, after posting his post, user will be taken to log in page on which special notice will be displayed - see the following picture. Using this page, registered user can simply log in, while unregistered user can easily perform short registration process. Submitted post will be published on forum immediately after log in or registration.

If, for some reason, user does not immediately log in (or register) his post will not be lost. It will be placed in temporary posts table. Post will remain in this table until his poster logs in (or registers) or until forum moderator performs some action on it.

As mentioned, all posts that are still not published on forum, will be visible to forum moderator(s). Moderator can easily see all temporary posts by using See temporary posts for this forum or See temporary posts for all forums link located on moderator control panel (see picture below).

See temporary posts for this forum link will open page on which all temporary posts for that forum will be listed - see picture below. All important data regarding temporary posts are displayed:

See temporary posts for all forums link will open page on which all temporary posts from all forums on which you are a moderator will be listed - see picture below. Content of the page is same as for the previous link (explained above) with just one exception - on this page you can see which forum this post have been submitted to. Name of the forum is displayed above the topic title (see the picture below).

Finally, when First post then log in post mode is active, you can enable even forum guests or even users on some external (non forum) pages to post on your forums. In such cases on Configuration page simply choose forum where you wish external posts to go to (field: Externally posted posts forum) and copy generated link to desired page (field: External guest posting link). Please note that if you choose different externally posted posts forum you need to save all changes before copying external guest posting link. There are several pages on which you could use this link: your newsletter issues, search results page...

We felt that one important feature for all site owners is site advertising possibility. From version 1.0.3 ZoneX forums come with advertising module which enables you too create and manage advertising on your forum. Moreover, large number of options will ensure that every single advertisement you create reaches only the audience you desire.

General advertising module settings can be easily adjusted using Configuration page, as shown on the picture below.

Note: Security code and script url are erased from the picture for security reasons.

As you can see, there are several configuration settings you can change.
To enable / disable advertising on your forums, for Enable advertising simply choose Enabled or Disabled.

Context Match & Priority Search [the slowest] - This method ensures full context and priority advertisement display. This means that each advertisement that is allowed to be displayed on specific page will first be checked for context. Then, from top 10 ranking advertisements (advertisements that have the best context matching results - best matching keywords comparing to the texts of posts on that page) advertising engine will chose one advertisement to display, depending on advertisement priority.

Priority Search & Keyword Match [intermediate] - This method also ensures context and priority advertisement display, but in this case, stress is on priority. Actually, this method is inverted Context Match & Priority Search method. This means that the advertising engine will first choose one advertisement based on it's priority and just then perform context matching. If engine determines that advertisement contains keywords that are also present in posts texts, advertisement will be displayed. If that is not the case, engine will pick another advertisement and then perform context matching on it and so on, until it finds appropriate advertisement to display.

Priority Search Only [the fastest] - This method is the fastest but, at the same time, the most limited advertisement search method. Engine will not check advertisement context at all - it will simply choose advertisement based on it's priority.

Of course, speed of each method depends on various factors (number of advertisements, number of posts on the page, number of words on page, server load, etc..). Estimated speed ranks are calculated for large number od advertisements and posts on topic page. If the number of running advertisements is relatively small it is possible that the fastest method will consume more time than the slowest and vice versa.

You can choose method for each advertising slot separately (as explained below, in slots section). But, if you wish, you can easily set same search method for all slots - simply select desired Search method and enable slots search methods override - choose Yes for Override slots search methods (see the picture above). This means that if Override slots search methods is set to Yes, advertising engine will use search method set on this page for every single slot, and if the value is set to No advertising engine will for each slot use search method you've chosen for that slot.

Beside search method itself, you can also adjust context matching strength. By changing Keyword matching tolerance you can easily change the strength of all keyword (context) matching methods. You can enter value from 6 to 10 - the higher the number the more strict tolerance will be applied in keyword (context) matching. Our recommendation is value 8 - in this case keyword search engine will count keyword match if comparison word matches at least 80% with the comparing keyword .

ZoneX advertising module also has a possibility to cache advertisements. This feature can be used to ensure even faster advertisement display. You can easily enable / disable advertisements caching by simply choose Enabled or Disabled for Enable ads caching field (see the picture above). Moreover, you can easily set period (in seconds) after which advertisements data will be recached. In field Cache time period simply enter the desired time period (in seconds).
Important note: When advertisements caching is enabled, advertising engine will NOT cache forum pages but only the list of the advertisements that are allowed to be displayed on each page. Moreover, to save both time and space, caching will occur just when page view is requested and/or cache period has passed. This means that when first user opens one page advertising engine will cache all advertisements that are allowed to be displayed on that page and display one of them. Next time, advertising engine will simply use cached file for this page to find list of advertisements and display one from the list, based on advertisements priority. Please note that when caching is enabled, engine will use cached advertisements and, therefore, will not check weather the advertisements on the list are still active or not. This means that in some cases advertising module may display advertisement that in the meantime has finished or even has been deleted from the database. To prevent such scenarios, simply use shorter cache time period.

We are aware that large number of advertisements on your pages as well as frequent repetition of advertisements can be annoying to users. Therefore, ZoneX advertising module gives you a possibility to set the time during which advertising module will not display advertisements to same user on the same page (topic). In the field User ads-free period simply enter the desired time (in seconds).
For example, if you enter value 60, this means that if user revisits same topic within one minute, advertisements for that topic will not be displayed to him.

Finally, it is possible to automatically send e-mails with statistics data to all advertisers you have. Simply copy - paste Send stats script url to your servers' cron job and that's all. To disable possible spaming, each time script is called, it re-checks security code of your forum (field Stats security code). Each time you change this code, be sure to change url in cron job - simply copy - paste new url. Note that Stats security code should not be left empty.

Before explaining how to create advertisers, advertisements, advertisements categories, etc we believe that it is very important that we first explain where your advertisements will be displayed. Advertisements that will be displayed by this advertising engine are set to be displayed only on viewtopic pages. Each viewtopic page contains at least one post. Maximum number of posts that can be displayed on one page you can set on General configuration page (field Posts Per Page). Of course, the actual number of posts displayed on actual page depends only on your forum users and the number of posts they post :) .

Advertising engine uses posts displayed on each page to display your advertisements. To be more exact, we created one advertising slot below each post displayed on viewtopic page. All advertisements will be displayed in one (or more) slots that are available on particular page. So, for example, if topic contains only one post, advertising engine will have only one available slot (under the first post), if it has 2 posts than advertising engine will have two available slots (one below the first and second below the second post) and so on, up to the maximum number of posts per one page. You can separately configure each slot using Slots management page.

To open Slots management page simply use Slots link, as shown on the picture below.

When you open Slots management page (shown on picture below) advertising engine will immediately check the maximum number of posts that can be displayed on your forum pages and adjust advertising slots accordingly. If you increased the number of posts per page, advertising engine will create all additional advertising slots. On the other hand, if you decreased number of posts per page, advertising engine will figure that out too and notify you that some advertising slots are not available (such message is displayed on the picture below). Please note that these actions only occur when you open slots management page. So, if you change some general configuration settings for your forum that may have an impact on advertising engine and advertising slots, be sure to open Slots management page to adjust advertising slots if necessary.

As number of slots is determined by the maximum number of posts per page, you cannot manually add or delete advertising slots. However, you can adjust every advertising slot to meet your desire. Firstly, you can enter a short description for each slot - simply enter desired description in Short description field for that slot. Also, you can choose advertising search method for each slot - simply chose desired Search method for desired slot. Please note that chosen search methods will be used ONLY if you DID NOT ENABLE Override slots search methods on General configuration page (explained above). If you enabled slots search methods override, than method set on General configuration page will be used for all slots. If this is the case, appropriate message will be displayed at the top of the Slots management page (shown on the picture below).

As mentioned above, you cannot delete any of the slots. But, if you do not wish to use one ore more slots, you can easily disable them. Only those slots that have checked Display field will be used by advertising engine. On the picture above, only slots 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 will be used by advertising engine and advertisements will be displayed only in these slots. Also, you may have more defined than available slots. For example, if you first set your forum (using General configuration page) to display 10 posts per page, and than reduce that number to 7, advertising engine will have 10 defined advertising slots (created when your forum was set to display 10 posts per page), but only first 7 will be available since forum will never display more than 7 posts on one page. In this case, all non-available slots will be displayed in red letters (on the picture above slots 8, 9 and 10) and appropriate message will be displayed at the top of the page (also visible on the picture above). If you have some advertisements that are set to be displayed in non-available slots, you still can force advertising engine to display them in last available slot by simply checking Force field for that slot. On the picture above, slots 1,2,3,5,6 and 7 are set to be forced and advertisements set to be displayed in these slots will always be displayed. Please note that from topic to topic you will have different number of available slots. As we already mentioned above, number of available slots on each page is equal to the number of posts that are displayed on that page. So, if you want to be sure that advertisements from specific slot will be displayed, make sure that you check Force field for that slot.

Finally, please note that if you make any changes to slots on Slots management page, you have to click on Submit button to confirm all changes.

To increase the advertising module speed we set it to conduct context matching search only with words longer than 3 letters. However, we are aware that there are many 3-letter words that can be very significant to you and that they could be used as a search keywords. That is why we created good words list in which you can enter all 3-letter words that you wish to be included in context matching search. Please note that all 3-letter keywords and stopwords must be included in this good words list. Otherwise, such keywords / stopwords will have no meaning.

To add / edit / delete god words open Good Words administration page using Words link, as shown on the picture below.

To enter new word simply type it in Word field and click on the SUBMIT button - see the picture below (Note that even if you enter longer word, only the first 3 letters will be read). As you can see, list of all words is located just below the word entry field. If you wish to delete word, simply use Delete link next to it. If you wish to change word, use Edit link next to it - after you make desired changes simply click on SUBMIT button to confirm them.

It is possible that you will wish to organize advertisements on your site so that you can find them more easily. ZoneX advertising module enables you to create as many advertisement categories as you wish. Please note that you must create at least one category for your site.

To view / add / edit / delete category open Advertisement Categories administration page using Categories link, as shown on the picture below

To view category, simply choose desired category from the list (Go to category field) and click on Go button (see the picture below). All category data will be displayed.

To edit current category data simply make desired changes and click on SUBMIT button.

To delete current category simply use Delete this category link at the top of the page. Please note that in order to successfully delete category, desired category must not contain advertisements assigned to it.

To go to Advertisers list page simply use Go to advertisers list link at the top of the page.

To create new category simply use Create new category link at the top of the page. After the page is reloaded, in field Name enter name for the new category and in the field Description enter short category description. Once you've entered those data, simply click on SUBMIT button.

The list of all advertisements that belong to this category is shown below Category data fields. Each advertisement contains all relevant data (name od the advertisement, name of the advertiser, start date, end date, number of ordered impressions, etc...). Moreover, advertisement title and advertiser name are the links. If used, they will open advertisement / advertiser page respectively. Finally, the color of the advertisement title and the advertiser also has a meaning. Meaning of each color is explained in colors legend that is displayed below the advertisements list.

To open the list of all registered advertisers use Advertisers link as shown on the picture below.

Using registered advertisers list page you can easily view / add / edit advertisers. As you can see on the picture below,

To immediately send an e-mail with advertisements statistics to advertiser simply use Send link in Receive stats column for the desired advertiser.

To change Active status of the advertiser simply use Yes / No link in Active column for the desired advertiser.

To delete advertiser simply use Delete link for the desired advertiser. Confirmation window will open soon after. Confirm your decision by clicking on Yes link, or abort action by clicking on No link. Please note that when you delete advertiser, you will delete all his advertisements as well.

To open page with advertiser data (just to view it or to edit advertiser data) use Edit link or the advertiser name for the desired advertiser. Advertiser name color also has a meaning. Meaning of each color is explained in colors legend that is displayed below the advertisers list (see the picture below).

To add new advertiser simply use Add new advertiser link that is at the top of both Registered advertisers list page (picture above) and Advertiser details page (picture below). In both cases, Advertiser page, ready for new advertiser entry, will open. Enter Advertiser name, Advertiser description, e-mail address and set Send statistics data via e-mail and Advertiser active options. Please note that Advertiser name, Advertiser e-mail and mentioned options are obligatory (must not be left empty). After you have entered all data simply click on SUBMIT button to confirm your entry.

If you wish to edit advertiser data, simply use Edit link for that advertiser on Registered advertisers list page(picture above) or type correct advertiser name in Find advertiser field on the Advertiser page (picture below) followed by click on SEARCH button. Either way, Advertiser page, with all advertisers' details will open. Make all changes you want and click on SUBMIT button to confirm changes.

If you wish to go back to Registered advertisers list page, simply use Back to advertisers list link.

Beside all advertiser details, Advertiser page contains the list of all advertisements for selected user (see the picture below). As you can see, all important details for each advertisement are included - Title of the advertisement, start and end date, advertisement priority, number of ordered impressions / clicks, etc... Moreover, the color of the advertisement title also has a meaning. The meaning of each color is explained in colors legend that is displayed below the advertisements list.

If you wish to delete advertisement, simply click on Delete image for that advertisement (see the picture below).

If you wish activate / deactivate advertisement, simply click on Activate / Deactivate image for that advertisement.

If you wish to duplicate advertisement, simply click on Duplicate image for that advertisement. This action is needed if you wish to extend current advertisement, as explained in Advertisement section.

If you wish to create new advertisement for current advertiser, use Create new advertisement link (see the picture above). This will open Advertisement page ready for new entry. On the other hand, if you wish to edit advertisement, simply click on it's title - this will open Advertisement page ready for advertisement editing.

Using Advertisement page, shown on the picture below, you can easily enter / edit / view all advertisement data. If you open this page by using Create new advertisement link on Advertiser page, this page will be empty and you will use it to create new advertisement. Simply enter data you wish and click on SUBMIT button to confirm your entry.

If you open this page using advertisement title link on Advertiser or on Categories page, this page will contain all advertisement data which you can view or easily edit. If you wish to edit advertisement data, simply make all desired changes and click on SUBMIT button to confirm them.

As you can see on the picture below, from this page you can easily go to Advertiser, Advertisers list and Category pages using appropriate link at the top of the page (Go to advertiser, Go to advertisers list, Go to category).

Advertisement preview section enables you to see your advertisement - advertisement will be displayed exactly as it will appear on view topic pages of your forums.

In Advertisement data section, located below Advertisement preview section, you should enter your advertisement data.

As mentioned in Advertisement Categories section each advertisement you create must belong to one category. Therefore, before you start creating your advertisements please make sure that you do have at least one created advertisement category. To assign your advertisement to a category, simply choose desired category from the Category list (see the picture above).

Advertiser field will be filled automatically and you can't change it's value. It contains the name of the advertisements' advertiser.

In field Content enter complete HTML content of your advertisement. This HTML code will be used to display advertisement on view topic pages of your forums. Moreover, once you've entered advertisement content (and eventually clicked on SUBMIT button to save the advertisement) you will be able to see your advertisement in Advertisement preview section placed at the top of the page. If you don't like the look of your advertisement, simply edit advertisement content. Of course, you can enter any other desired code as a content of your advertisement like Java Script code, but please note that advertising engine can track number of clicks only if you use HTML links ( <a href> ). If you decide to use Java Script code or similar, you will not be able to get clicks statistics data for that advertisement.

In field Keywords you should enter all words relevant for your advertisement. These words will be used to choose the most appropriate page on which this advertisement will be displayed - of course, if appropriate search method is selected. This means that, if search method that has context search is active, your advertisement will be displayed only on pages that contain words matching advertisements' keywords. When entering keywords, you should separate them by a comma. You can also use * wildcard at the beginning of the keyword to include all possible prefixes for that keyword. There is no need to use wildcard "inside" or at the end of the keyword because keyword search engine will do that by itself. Finally, you can use key phrases as well - multiple words separated by a coma are considered as a phrases and will be used in search engine as such. Wild cards should not be used with key phrases because they will have no significance and may even cause the search engine not to recognize keyword in the text. Please note that the strength of keyword search engine can be adjusted on General Configuration page, as already explained. Please note that if you wish to use 3-letter keywords, you must include them in good words list as well.

In field Stopwords you should enter all relevant words for which you wish not to display your advertisement. This means that your advertisement WILL NOT BE DISPLAYED on the pages that contain words matching advertisements' stopwords. Advertising engine differently treats keywords and stopwords - therefore, you will enter list of stopwords for your advertisement slightly different from the keywords. Same as keywords and keyphrases entering, you should separate stopwords and stop-phrases by a comma. But, unlike the keywords, when entering stopwords you can use * wildcard both at the beginning or/and at the end of the stopword. In this case * wildcard replaces 0 or more letters. Advertising engine will consider a stopword as a match only if it finds word in page text completely matching stopword (considering use of * wildcard(s)). Engine treats stop-phrases same as keyphrases and all notes for keyphrases are valid for stop-phrases as well. Please note that if you wish to use 3-letter stopwords, you must include them in good words list as well.

Using Display to field, you can choose to which users you wish to display your advertisement to. There are 3 possible options you can choose from - Guests, Logged users and All users.

In order to be displayed, your advertisement needs to be active. However, sometimes you will wish to disable your advertisement. You can easily change advertisement activity status using Active field options. This status can also be changed on Advertiser page, as explained above.

Each advertisement must have Priority. This value determines the frequency by which each advertisement will be displayed. Of course, priority value will have effect only when advertising engine determines that more than one advertisement met all display conditions and can be displayed on the same page. No matter which search method you use, whenever more than one advertisement can be displayed on one page, advertising engine will use priority values from all those advertisements to determine which one to display. It is quite important for you to learn how advertising engine uses priorities so that you can use them correctly.
Advertising engine will set advertisement display frequency to meet priority ratios of all advertisements that can be displayed on single page.
We will explain this in the following example.

Using field Advertisement position (slot) you can easily set below which post (in which slot) you wish to have your advertisement displayed. Number of posts on the list (number of available slots) directly depends on general configuration settings and the chosen number of posts per page. Advertising engine will, after choosing your advertisement to be displayed, figure out how many posts that page contains. If advertising slot you've chosen for your advertisement is available and set to be displayed advertising engine will display your advertisement in desired slot. On the other hand, if desired slot is not available or not set to be displayed than advertisement will not be displayed (more information about slots and how to configure them you can read in slots section). If, for example, you set your advertisement to be displayed below 10th post (in 10th advertising slot) and there are only 6 posts displayed on the page, 10th slot will not be available and advertisement will not be displayed. However, it is possible to configure desired slot (in this example the 10th slot) to be displayed at all times - simply set that slot to be visible (Display field for that slot must be checked) and to be forced (Force field for that slot must be checked) and advertisement engine will display your advertisement in the last available slot (in this example, the 6th slot). If advertising engine is also displaying advertisement for the 6th slot, than advertisement from the 10th slot will be displayed in the same, 6th slot, but below the advertisement from the 6th slot.

Using Start date and End date fields you can set the time frame in which you wish your advertisement to be displayed. You can use one or both dates. If you want to use date, simply check the Use this date checkbox for that date. If you decide to use only one date, than you need to enter at least one more parameter - Number of impressions and/or Number of clicks. If you decide to use both dates, no additional parameters are needed. Please note that if, beside time frame, you still set other display parameters as well (Number of impressions and/or Number of clicks) your advertisement may expire before the end date is reached, as explained below.
Please also note that this is the only display parameter that you can use for default advertisements.

Using the field Number of impressions you can set the maximum number of impressions for your advertisement (number of advertisement displays). If only this display parameter is set, then advertisement engine will stop displaying advertisement when number of displays reaches entered number of impressions. Please note that if, beside Number of impressions, you set one or more display parameters, your advertisement may expire before the number of impressions is reached, as explained below.
Please also note that this display parameter cannot be used for default advertisements. Even if you set this parameter for default advertisement, it will not be used by advertising engine.

Using the field Number of clicks you can set the maximum number of clicks for your advertisement. If only this display parameter is set, then advertisement engine will stop displaying advertisement when number of clicks on this advertisement reaches entered number of clicks. Please note that if, beside Number of clicks, you set one or more display parameters, your advertisement may expire before the number of clicks is reached, as explained below. Moreover, note that only HTML links used in advertisement content can be tracked. If advertisement does not contain only HTML links but Java Script or similar instead, number of clicks can't be tracked and this parameter MUST NOT BE USED (you must leave it empty or set it to 0).
Please also note that this display parameter cannot be used for default advertisements. Even if you set this parameter for default advertisement, it will not be used by advertising engine.

Forums publishing data is the last section of the Advertisement page. Using this section you can easily choose on which forums you wish to have your advertisement published and on which not. In the forums list, simply check those forums on which you wish publish your advertisement while leaving all other forums unchecked. You can publish your advertisement on as many forums as you wish.

Where will advertisement be displayed?
As mentioned in text above, each advertisement has a large number of parameters that will be used to determine where to display advertisement you created.
Non-default advertisements
Firstly, advertisement you create will be allowed to be displayed only on checked forums (Forums publishing data) and to selected type of users (guests / logged / all). However, this does not mean that advertisement will be displayed on every page of all checked forum(s). On which pages (topics) advertisement will be displayed depends on advertisement's stopwords, selected search method, advertisement's keywords (if such search method is selected) and chosen slot for each of the advertisements. Advertisement WILL NOT be displayed on pages whose posts texts contain one or more matching stopwords for your advertisement (regardless the selected search method). Therefore, your advertisement may be displayed on remaining pages. If you selected Priority Only search method (or for slot in which you placed your advertisement or generaly, for all slots (with slots search methods override turned on)), then entered keywords will not be considered and advertisement will be displayed on all remaining pages (number and frequency of displays depends on priority only). On the other hand, if you have chosen Priority Search & Keyword Match search method, advertisement will be displayed only on those remaining pages that contain at least one matching keyword in posts texts (number and frequency of displays depends on priority only). Finally, if you have chosen Context Match & Priority Search search method, advertisement will be displayed only on those remaining pages that contain the highest number of matching keywords in posts texts (number and frequency of displays depends on priority and other advertisements keywords matching). Of course, in order to display your advertisement, advertising slot in which you placed your advertisement must be set to be displayed and available (or forced, if not available).
Default advertisements
Default advertisements will be displayed on all pages of all checked forums, regardless the chosen search method, stopwords or keywords but only if advertising engine does not find non-default advertisement to display and if slot in which the ad is placed is set to be displayed and available (or forced, if not available).

When will advertisement expire?
Every single advertisement is considered as expired if it's advertiser or advertisement itself is NOT ACTIVE. If they are both active, then expiration of the advertisement is determined as explained below.
Each non-default advertisement you create must have at least ONE parameter that advertisement engine can use to determine if advertisement has expired or not. Those parameters are start / end date, number of impressions and number of clicks. If you set more than one parameter, advertisement will expire when one of those parameter expires. For example, you can choose to use start and end date while leaving number of impressions / clicks empty (or set them to 0). In this case, advertising engine will start displaying your advertisement at the desired start date and will not stop displaying it until the end date. If, for example, you set just the number of impressions, then advertisement engine will be displaying your advertisement until it displays it the set number of times. Similarly, if you set both the end date and the number of impressions, than advertising engine will be displaying your advertisement until it "spends" the set number of impressions or until the end date is reached.
Please note that if advertising caching is turned ON, depending on Cache time period, some advertisements may spend higher number of impressions and/or clicks before they expire because advertising engine will check if advertisement has expired only during re-caching.
Default advertisements, on the other hand, can expire only if the End date is used and reached. Even if you enter all parameters, only date parameters (both the Start date and theEnd date) will be used.

ZoneX advertising engine recognizes two types of advertisements - default advertisements and non-default advertisements. When user requests page from your server (wishes to see topic) advertising engine will first check all non-default, active and running advertisements that are set to be displayed on that forum. Then, from that list of advertisements, it will try to find one to display as explained above. If engine finds such advertisement than it will display it. But, if engine does not find such advertisement then it will try to find default advertisements for that forum to display. This means that, if you set your advertisement to be default (if you check Default advertisement field) that advertisement will be displayed only if there is no non-default advertisement to be displayed instead. Default advertisements will not be checked for stopwords or keywords and will be chosen for display only according to forums publishing data and priority (if there is more that one default advertisement for one forum). Moreover, number of ordered impressions / clicks also do not have a meaning for default advertisements. Al mentioned means that only 4 parameters will be used to decide which default advertisement to display - advertisement activity (both advertisement and it's advertiser must be active), start / end date (if any or both are checked, they will be considered) and the forum (default advertisement will be displayed only on checked forums).

Finally, there are just two more things we need to discuss. As mentioned in the text above, it is possible to set each advertisement to be displayed to specific user type (Guests, Logged, All). However, you need not to display your advertisements to spiders, robots, crawlers and similar. Firstly, spiders, robots and crawlers are not "real users" - they are simply scripts usually used by search engines to index your site. Therefore, there is no need to display advertisement since nobody will actually see it! By displaying advertisement to such scripts, you will only waste your server processing power as well as bandwidth. Secondly, each advertisement display will be counted and by displaying advertisements to robots and similar scripts and not users, you will end up with unusable advertisement statistics data. That is why ZoneX advertising module enables you to enter all User-Agents signatures that you wish NOT to display advertisements to. Also, maybe you will wish to exclude some IP addresses as well. For example, you may not want to display advertisements to your forum moderators and administrators. ZoneX advertising module enables you to enter all IP addresses signatures that you wish NOT to display advertisements to as well.

To open the page on which you can add / edit / delete / view User-Agents simply use User-Agents link as shown on the picture below.
To open the page on which you can add / edit / delete / view banned IP addresses simply use Banned IP link as shown on the picture below.

To enter new User-Agent simply enter desired User-Agent string into the User-Agent string field, description in User-Agent description field, check Ban checkbox and then click on SUBMIT button to confirm your entry (see the picture below).

If you wish to edit User-Agent entry, simply use Edit link for that User-Agent. All User-Agent data will appear in User-Agent entry fields. Make all necessary changes and click on SUBMIT button to confirm them.

Please note that only those User-Agents that have checked Ban field will be excluded from advertisements display (advertisements will not be displayed to such User-Agents). However, if for some reason you wish to start displaying advertisements to specific User-Agent, you don't need to immediately delete it - you can simply uncheck Ban field for that User-Agent and advertising engine will start displaying advertisements to it. This way, in case you change your mind and wish to exclude it from the advertising system again, you don't have to enter it all over again - simply check Ban field again.

By using Check All and Uncheck All buttons you can easily check / uncheck all User-Agents. If you wish to change Ban status for one or more User-Agents (but not all of them), simply check / uncheck desired User-Agents Ban fields and click on Update button to confirm changes.

To enter new IP address simply enter desired IP address into the Banned IP address field, description in IP address description field, check Ban checkbox and then click on SUBMIT button to confirm your entry (see the picture below). Please note that you MUST enter complete IP address and not only a part of it (IP addresses range: from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255)

If you wish to edit IP address entry, simply use Edit link for that IP address. All IP address data will appear in IP address entry fields. Make all necessary changes and click on SUBMIT button to confirm them.

Please note that only those IP addresses that have checked Ban field will be excluded from advertisements display (advertisements will not be displayed to such IP addresses). However, if for some reason you wish to start displaying advertisements to specific IP address, you don't need to immediately delete it - you can simply uncheck Ban field for that IP address and advertising engine will start displaying advertisements to it. This way, in case you change your mind and wish to exclude it from the advertising system again, you don't have to enter it all over again - simply check Ban field again.

By using Check All and Uncheck All buttons you can easily check / uncheck all IP addresses. If you wish to change Ban status for one or more IP addresses (but not all of them), simply check / uncheck desired IP address Ban fields and click on Update button to confirm changes.

As a team of developers devoted to create the user oriented multifunctional forum, the next logical step forward surely was articles module. This new module, available from ZoneX 1.0.5. version, enables you to offer something more to your users. Not only that now you can easily publish important and relevant articles without having to burry them in loads od posts, but you can include your users in that process as well.

General articles module settings can be easily adjusted using Configuration page, as shown on the picture below.

Note: Send e-mail notification script as well as some parts of codes for articles advertising are erased from the picture for security reasons.

As you can see, there are quite a few configuration settings you can change.
To completely enable / disable articles module, (Enable articles field) simply choose Enabled or Disabled option, according to your desire. If you don't wish to completely disable articles but only to exclude them from forums pages while leaving articles archive, simply chose Yes or No option Display articles teasers on forum pages accordingly.

As already mentioned, you can easily engage users to write articles. You can easily set the number of posts user has to post on your forums in order to get permission to write articles - simply enter desired number in field Posts for article writing. Each user that reaches this number of posts will automatically receive article write permissions. However, user with those permissions can only write articles but can't publish them. In order to be able to publish articles he/she wrote, user needs to have article publish permissions as well. You can easily set the number of posts user need to post to receive this permission by writing desired number in Posts for article publishing field. Of course, if you wish, you can explicitly give both write and write & publish permissions to any user regardless the number of posts he/she posted, as explained below.

Each article can be reached from the articles archive pages and the forums pages. On these pages users can see the list of all available articles with some basic article information: publish date, article title, article author and part of the article text. You can easily set the amount of the text you wish to be displayed by setting the number of characters, counting from the beginning of the article, that will be used to form article "teaser". to do this, simply enter desired number of articles in Teaser length in characters field. Similarly, you can set the number of characters that will be used to create various syndicate feeds (RSS, Atom) - simply enter desired number of characters in Syndicate feed length in characters field.

Also, you can easily set the number of articles teasers to be displayed both on forum and articles archive pages. Desired number of articles teasers to be displayed on forum pages enter in Article teasers on forum page field, and desired number of articles teasers to be displayed on articles archive pages enter in Article teasers on articles archive page field.
You can also set the number of articles user will be able to see on one page on it's articles panel - simply enter desired number of articles in User articles per page field.

On each article page, user will see the list (links) of articles from the same author (10 latest articles) and a number of related articles (written by other authors). The number of related articles links that will be displayed to the users can easily be set by entering desired number in Related articles links field.

Articles authors can insert images in their articles, not only the text. However, in order to reduce bandwidth spent and, at the same time, to speed up articles pages loading, articles engine will not allow users to upload images larger than 1 MB. Moreover, you can set the maximum allowed image size (enter desired values in Thumbnail image size field). In this case, if user inserts larger image, articles engine will automatically create reduced copy of that image (thumbnail) by shrinking the original image to maximum allowed size and will use thumbnail image in article instead of the original one. Nevertheless, the original picture will not be deleted or unreachable - by clicking on thumbnail image (when viewing article), the original image will open in new window and in original size. Similarly, you can set articles teaser image size as well - simply enter desired size in Article teaser image size field.

As all other modules developed by Zonemetrics development team, articles module is developed to motivate people to participate in discussions and to share their knowledge with other community members. One way users can share their knowledge is by writing articles, while another one is by commenting one. If you whish to enable users to write their comments simply set the Enable article comments option to Yes.
Similarly, you can enable users to vote for all published articles - simply set the Enable article rating to Yes.

If you wish to add some advertisements on articles pages, you can use Code for article ad 1 and Code for article ad 2 fields for that matter. For example, in these fields you can enter the source code for google ads which and this code will be included just before and after the article content (ad 1 before and ad 2 after).

Finally, using this configuration page, you can set the time when articles membership expiry e-mail notification will be send to a user (in days, prior to expiry date) - simply enter the desired number in Expiry e-mail notification field. Of course, if you wish all these e-mail notifications to be sent, you need to put the script conducting this work in chron job of your server. Please use the url supplied in Send e-mail notifications url field as, for security reasons, script will only work if correct code is supplied. Articles module uses same code used by advertisement engine (Stats security code field) and should you change this code, make sure that you change chron job calls (for both advertising and articles) as well.

To open the Memberships page advertisers use Memberships link as shown on the picture below.

Using Articles administration panel (Memberships page) you can easily enter, view or update membership categories as well as view or set users articles permissions.

Prior to describing how to manage membership categories, we felt necessary to answer one question first - what are memberships categories? Well, you may wish to create and publish different types of articles on your site. For example, you may wish to make some articles visible only to the logged users. This is one way to attract more people to register. Membership categories are made for that particular reason only. Each article you write belongs to one category and only members that have that category membership (or higher) will be able to see that article. To be more exact, each category you create has a rank - the higher the rank, the higher the category. Which articles user can see is determined by article category rank - each user will be allowed to read only those articles whose category rank is equal or lower that the rank of the category user has membership for.

To enter new articles membership category, simply enter all required data, as shown on the picture below and click on Submit button to confirm your entry. In Category rank enter desired category rank, in Category name enter the name you wish to give this category to, in Category length enter the category membership period (how many days after subscription user will have to renew his membership) and in Category price enter the membership fee. Please note that two categories will be automatically created for you - Default and Registered. Default category is the basic one and articles belonging to this category will be visible to all users. On the other hand, articles belonging to the "Registered" category will be visible to logged users only (not to guests). All registered users automatically gain "Registered" category membership and it cannot expire. You can easily create new categories, as described above, but please note that all categories must have different rank.

The list of all available categories, along with basic data regarding those categories such as it's name and number of users that have membership for it, is displayed at the bottom of the page, as shown on the picture above. If you use Edit link all category data will be shown to you ready for edit. If you wish to change some data, change it according to your desire and then click on Submit button to confirm. Should you wish to delete category, simply use Delete