Multi-column popular threads?
#1 01-06-2014 
Hey all,

With Lee's help, I'm currently using the Gallery plugin, crossed with the 'Trending Topics' plugin found elsewhere, to produce the top commented threads on my forum in a couple of rows of large images at the top of my index page. What I'd also like, running at the same time as that below it, is 4 columns of other popular/commented on threads, each pulling 5-10 threads from different sub-forums. Think of it like a blog site, where you see the thumbnail, title and number of replies. 4 columns of those, obviously with quite small thumbs.

What I'm basically asking is, how can I reproduce the Gallery/Trending area I'm already using 4 more times with different CSS to control the look of the area?

Yes, I know, the moon on a stick springs to mind, but it surely must be possible. Maybe...

Any help greatly appreciated. I would link the forum but it's being designed by myself and isn't live. Instead I've attached a basic image so you can see what I mean. The top 8 boxes represent the Gallery/Trending area I'm already using, and the 4 columns are underneath.

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thredder, proud to be a member of LeeFish since May 2014.

#2 01-06-2014 
It is totally possible, but you need to watch the queries in the page.

You can open up the plugin file and replace certain instances of $fishhattatgal with $fishhattatgal_2 ($fishhattatgal_3, $fishhattatgal_4 .... $fishhattatgal_10) and save the new file as your new fishhattatgal with the number on the end. Eg : fishhattatgal_2. Then you can edit the templates etc etc. Of course, each instance of the plugin is a new db query.

See attached example

Attached File(s)
.zip  fishhattatgal_2.zip (Size: 2.59 KB / Downloads: 545)

#3 01-06-2014 
Cheers Lee,

What's the knock-on effect of queries by the way? I'm not up on all that, so would be good to know.

#4 01-06-2014 
you can see it at the bottom of any page (assuming are logged in as admin and you have it switched on in ACP); if you click on advanced details you can see the time each query takes to run.

#5 01-06-2014 
Uh...I must be thick, I can't see where you mean.

#6 01-06-2014 
do you have it enabled in the ACP (Admin Control Panel?)

Board Settings > Server and Optimization Options > Advanced Stats / Debug information
Shows Server load, parse time, generation time, Gzip compression, etc on the bottom of all pages in the root folder. Please note that only administrators see this information.

If you have changed the footer significantly on your theme then you may need to use the default theme to see the stats. If you have deleted/changed the default theme then whoops - you should keep that theme available for debugging plugins.

#7 01-06-2014 
Ok, got it.

Sooo......what's good? And...you know....bad?

#8 01-06-2014 
take a screenshot of the overview and link it. Will tell you then Big Grin

#9 01-06-2014 
I already know it's bad. I can tell somehow, haha!

If it is, what do I do to drop it down?

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#10 02-06-2014 
That isn't too bad. Is that running all 5 variants of the gallery?

Its not just queries, its also the size of the database. If you have ten posts it will be significantly faster than 10000 posts. Some queries are just expensive. I have a cache on a lot of my queries; so I hit the DB once and then later pageloads pull from the cache instead of querying the db; that can be a hit on memory though. Basically you have to choose the one that works for you.



Sorry, that is a members only option