This plugin provides a listing of active[1] threads during a specified interval defaulting to the most recent week. In that listing are shown each thread's subject, author, and start date, along with the number of posts to it during the specified interval, and the dates and authors of the earliest and latest posts made to it during the interval. Optionally, user avatars can be displayed in the listing, for the thread starter, and for each member who posted earliest and latest during the interval.
[1] An "active" thread is simply a thread which has had at least one post made to it during the interval in question.
The listing can be sorted by any field in either descending or ascending order. It is paginated at 20 threads per page.
The interval can be specified to a fidelity of minutes up to any given date-time.
Along with the active threads listing page, this plugin adds the following interface features to MyBB:
- A "View Active Threads" link in the forum's header for both anonymous viewers and logged in members to access the listing page.
- The same "View Today's Posts" link for anonymous viewers that logged in members see by default in the forum's header.
Settings
Via the Admin Control Panel (ACP), it is possible to set:
- The maximum allowable interval in minutes, either globally or on a per-usergroup basis. This is because longer intervals can be resource-intensive on the database, and expose your forum to DoS attacks. By default, the maximum interval is set to one week for each usergroup.
- The default interval duration and sort parameters.
- Whether or not to display each avatar type in the listing.
Templates
The plugin's output is based on a set of templates which can be customised.
What is this plugin useful for?
Two use cases are most likely:
Firstly, to see which threads have been most active in terms of number of posts over a given period, typically the most recent N days, where N defaults to 7.
Secondly, to view, in order from most recent to earliest, the latest post to all threads which have been posted to over a certain (configurable) period, defaulting to the most recent 7 days. This can be achieved by sorting in descending order by the final column (date of most recent post to the thread).
Installing
- Download.
Download an archive of the plugin's files.
- Copy files.
Extract the files in that archive to a temporary location, and then copy the files in "root" into the root of your MyBB installation. That is to say that "root/activethreads.php" should be copied to your MyBB root directory, "root/inc/languages/english/activethreads.lang.php" should be copied to your MyBB root's "inc/languages/english/" directory, etc.
- Install via the ACP.
In a web browser, open the "Plugins" module in the ACP of your MyBB installation. You should see "Active Threads" under "Inactive Plugins". Click "Install & Activate" next to it. You should then see the plugin listed under "Active Plugins" on the reloaded page.
- Configure settings.
Navigate in the ACP to Settings -> Plugin Settings -> Active Threads and configure your preferred value for the settings.
That's it. You should now see the "View Active Threads" link in your forum's header. In any case, you should be able to view the plugin's page at
http://your-forum.com/your-forum-root-di...hreads.php
Upgrading
- Deactivate.
In a web browser, open the "Plugins" module in the ACP of your MyBB installation and click "Deactivate" beside the "Active Threads" plugin.
- Download and Copy files.
As in steps one and two for installing above.
- Reactivate.
As for step one but clicking "Activate" rather than "Deactivate".
This will maintain any settings and template changes that you've made, though if you've made template changes, you may after upgrading need to navigate in the ACP to Templates & Style -> Templates -> Find Updated Templates to properly integrate/update this plugin's templates.