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https://forum.snitz.com/forumTopic/Posts/63497?pagenum=1
05 November 2025, 06:50
Topic
CalloftheHauntedMaster
An auto-post merge mod for double posts???
07 December 2006, 17:17
This is not for split topics or for merging different threads together.
This is to auto-merge a double/triple post...
For example, I'm the last poster in a thread. I post again and now I have two posts in a row (double posts). Instead of that, this mod would immediately edit my first post and add the content of my second post to it, thereby preventing a double post.
It seems pretty easy to make since the only thing necessary is a check to see if you're the last poster in the thread. If so, your posts are merged together. If not, the post proceeds as normal.
Obviously, your post count would not increase as a result of these auto-merged posts.
Anyhow, a search for this type of feature came out dry, and my knowledge of coding is just as dry. Does anyone have a mod they've designed for this or can someone design it?
Again, it seems simple provided you're familiar with snitz...<
Replies ...
TonyB7
07 December 2006, 22:23
You would also have to check the elapsed time between posts. If I thought of something else an hour later I wouldn't want you squashing it at the bottom of my previous post as it might be a different angle entirely.
You're really not saving memory or anything with this, and it falls under any general anti-spam rule so if someone does it unnecessarily all the time just call them on it. I haven't seen any big abuse of double-posting on our forum.
<
Shaggy
08 December 2006, 04:32
Not a bad idea, actually. Easiest way to do it would be to check the if the posting member posted the last reply (within a certain timeframe, as Tony suggested) in post.asp and change the method to "edit". Don't have time right now to provide you with any code but, hopefully, I've pointed you in the right direction.
<edit>Although, rethinking it, doing it that way may only serve to confuse people; they might think they hit the wrong button.</edit>
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CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 10:19
Well, I'm not familiar with Snitz enough to write any code. I'm just throwing out the idea for someone who can write it.
Way I see it though, there's never a reason for a double post. Even if a person wants to add another angle, they could simply edit their post.
Remember, this mod would only be applicable if you were the last poster in then thread. Kinda like this:
Topic starter (Call) First poster (HuwR) Second poster (Shaggy) Third poster (Call) Fourth poster (Call)
Instead, the mod would merge the fourth poster with the third poster since it was the same author. However, had someone else been the fourth poster entirely, then this wouldn't even be an issue since no double post would have occurred.
Not sure why you'd need to check the the time frame at all. As I said before, thinking of something new could still go under your last post provided you were the last poster. If there were new posts since then, you'd just post as normal.<
HuwR
08 December 2006, 10:50
editing posts can often be confusing because it appears as a new post in active.asp and the lastpost date, but is not allways obvious that someone edited their post, especially if it is an admin and the post is not marked as edited. coming along two hours later and making another post is IMHO perfectly valid and I see no valid reason for it to be merged with another post (also shorter posts are better for searching than long ones by the way)<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 11:16
Alright, let's take it a step further then.
However, let me explain why I need this feature, at least on my forums. Members tend to do two things that get extremely annoying. They don't edit previous posts and they bump their topics. The former is just plain foolishness because they generally have two or three sequential posts within five minutes of each other as they forgot to say something before. As for bumping, we're all familiar with this. However, my forums aren't that insanely active that we get 10 new posts in a thread per minute (most times, anyways). They just want their threads to be very visible.
I added a min character limit and it's still easy to bypass by saying 'bump' several times. Frankly, these are trivial issues. They do not constitute huge offenses. However, if my staff constantly lets it slide, more members start doing it. And I'm not going to start banning people for this because it's not the end of the world.
However, the auto-merge system seems effective for this. Worst case scenario, it could always be uninstalled. I would just like someone to create it so it would be out there for everyone to use. If it ends up causing problems as some believe, it can be removed. However, I believe it needs to be attempted.
Actually, I got this idea from another forum I occassionally frequent, and it seems quite effective.
Remember, this mod would only activate if a double post were to occur. Look at it this way. A member can always bump a thread simply by editing their reply to it. However, they choose to try and double post instead. The system punishes them by combining the two posts together, the post is not seen as new, no post count increase, and the thread isn't bumped. Instead, they could've just edited their previous reply and not double-posted and the bump would've occurred.
Furthermore, instead of the normal "This topic has been edited by ____ on ____", the auto-merge mod would say "This topic has been edited on ______ due to an auto-merged double post".
That'd eliminate confusion.<
HuwR
08 December 2006, 11:24
1) doing what you propose will not prevent bumping, since editing a post has the same effect on bumping as posting a new reply does, and what is wrong with bumping ?? sometimes posts get missed and bumping them is a necesity to get them noticed again..
2) if your users do this to increas their post count, A)warn them to stop, and if they persist, decrease their post count by 50 that will soon stop them from multiposting to bump their post counts 3) who cares how many posts a bloody user has anyway.
You should educate your members into good posting habbits rather than aditing the forum code to accomodate their bad habbits, it is far more effective.<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 11:55
1) HuwR, I think you missed my point although you mentioned it yourself. Why bump when you can just edit a post and that'll bump it automatically without double-posting? I've never really understood double-posting, particularly on Snitz software. Any non-admin can simply edit a post they've made in a thread and it'll be bumped because the software views it as a new contribution. So, why ever need to double post?
2) It's not a matter of post count increases, generally. It tends to be more of a way to get things noticed. However, it's really a lame method because most people read threads anyways. If they have nothing to say, why would they suddenly have a comment after an entire post that says "Bump"?
3) This has nothing to do with post counts. It's good forum practices, like you said. I can try and educate people and hand out punishments, but Snitz just isn't designed to faciliate punishing members. In the base code, all I can do is ban accounts and edit post counts. Those are two opposite extremes. I've added IP bans, but they can be bypassed, as can temp bans. It's hard to educate a user about good habits when the most you can threaten them with is banning for double posting (hardly the same as flaming or spamming), or post count lowering (not that they care anyways).
This provides a medium and makes the forums look cleaner.
Besides,
doing what you propose will not prevent bumping, since editing a post has the same effect on bumping as posting a new reply does,
That's just as good. It'll allow bumping but prevent double posting. Remember, I'm against double posting. And most people double post to bump. This'll let them bump but prevent the double post.
Personally, I don't like bumping all that much, but you're right, there's nothing truly wrong with it. It's the double posting that needs to cease, and I'm hoping that if this mod gets created, double posting will be eliminated as the posts are auto-merged and the bump happens automatically.<
HuwR
08 December 2006, 12:37
I don't really see what your big hang up is with double posting either unless the double post is the same question in multiple forums, but then that is not what you are taliknig about, I see nothing wrong with me making this post and coming back 5 minutes later to make another one<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 12:40
Fair enough, however, wouldn't a thread look less cluttered if your double post was merged into one post and the bump was achieved anyways. Same goal accomplished but without multiple posts.
Eh, I guess it's just a personal preference type thing. Anyhow, anyone have beta code for this? <
HuwR
08 December 2006, 12:48
no I' don't think it would, yes maybe if you have a whole heap of crappy mods like avatars etc installed it would, but that is why we don't have things like avatars and the main reason I have viewing of signaturs turned off, since I think that clutters up the forums more than a double post would<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 12:55
Way I see it, forums should be comfortably designed for convenience. Stuff like Private Messages, polls, avatars, etc improve that convenience a lot. Double posting removes some of the clutter.
It's also the main reason I'm an advocate of adding more mods into the base code.
But, that's nothing to do with anything. How would I go about making this mod?<
HuwR
08 December 2006, 13:09
how do avatars improve convenience, they serve no useful purpose whatsoever other than to clutter up a forum and increase it's bandwidth.
The MOD you want should be fairly simple to accomplish, working along the lines of Shaggy's initial suggestion, but rather than presenting a user with the edit post you would do the check after they hit the post button, then if theirs is still the last post, change the flag to do an edit instead of a new post. I will take a look at the code later and post something for you, but am about to go out so don't have the time right now<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 13:16
Well, avatars don't really improve convenience, true. They're just popular as a method of personalization. Pretty much every forum uses them. They've just become popular.
As for the code, I'll greatly appreciate any code you can write since I don't know enough about snitz to edit or write my own code.<
MaD2ko0l
08 December 2006, 14:16
doesnt the "flood control" do more or less what u are asking for???
basically it wont let people multi post within a specifyed time limit. is this not what you are looking for?<
AnonJr
08 December 2006, 14:22
Not quite the same. Can you imagine having to wait 5 min. to post in another, unrelated, thread?<
MaD2ko0l
08 December 2006, 14:27
well yeah but to me a double post is somthing that u do within the minute after a post, anything after that and it is more than likly a new reply/topic. if peopel are waiting until after that minute just to post a word or to add a sentence is just stupid. that is somthign i would expect from a silly 12 year old kid. and if thats the case then its down to moderation of the posts by the admins/mods<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 14:37
Nah, it's when people make a post. Have another idea and come back a few minutes later. This prevents that. Again, can someone write sample code for this?<
JJenson
08 December 2006, 14:41
Call didn't HuwR already say he would but it would be a little later?<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
08 December 2006, 14:57
Yes, he did. But is there anything wrong with different versions of a mod? After all, how many programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Truth be told, no one knows. Here's my take on it. Five programmers. One to screw in the light bulb. One to make sure the coding on the bulb is correct. One to check the coding of the bulb. Another to make sure the bulb is properly screwed in. And a fifth to double check the other four.
<
MaD2ko0l
08 December 2006, 18:38
Patience Is A Virtue<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
09 December 2006, 10:46
Sure is. Now we wait.<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 08:53
Ok, I haven't test this at all, so make sure you take a backup of post_info.asp before proceeding. It is a fairly basic attempt and may not do exactly what you wanted, but it is only a start and was just a quick attempt. it ONLY UPDATES REPLIES, so if someone posts a reply immediately after posting a topic it will NOT merge them, that would basically require rewriting most of post_info.asp to accomplish.
Once you have backed up your post_info.asp, you need to look for the section that starts with
in a clean post_info.asp it will be around line 1005, you need to replace the whole section in between the '## Forum_SQL and the my_Conn.Execute (strSql),,adCmdText + adExecuteNoRecords line (about line 1050)
with the following code
Code:
'## Mod to merge double post replies boolDoPost = true ' Did this user make the last post strSqlCheck = "SELECT T_LAST_POST_REPLY_ID FROM " & strActivePrefix & "TOPICS " strSqlCheck = strSqlCheck + "WHERE T_REPLIES > 0 AND T_LAST_POST_AUTHOR = " & rs("MEMBER_ID") set rsDCheck = my_Conn.Execute (strSqlCheck) if rsDCheck.EOF or rsDCheck.BOF then 'didn't double post so let's carry on normally set rsDCheck = nothing '## Mod to merge double post replies strSql = "INSERT INTO " & strTablePrefix & "REPLY " strSql = strSql & "(TOPIC_ID" strSql = strSql & ", FORUM_ID" strSql = strSql & ", CAT_ID" strSql = strSql & ", R_AUTHOR" strSql = strSql & ", R_DATE " if strIPLogging <> "0" then strSql = strSql & ", R_IP" end if strSql = strSql & ", R_STATUS" strSql = strSql & ", R_SIG" strSql = strSql & ", R_MESSAGE" strSql = strSql & ") VALUES (" strSql = strSql & Topic_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & Forum_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & Cat_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & rs("MEMBER_ID") strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & DateToStr(strForumTimeAdjust) & "'" if strIPLogging <> "0" then strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & UserIPAddress & "'" end if ' DEM --> Added R_STATUS to allow for moderation of posts ' Used R_STATUS = 1 to match the topic status code.
if Moderation = "Yes" then strSql = strSql & ", 2" else strSql = strSql & ", 1" end if ' DEM --> End of Code added if Request.Form("sig") = "yes" and strDSignatures = "1" then strSql = strSql & ", 1 " else strSql = strSql & ", 0 " end if strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & txtMessage & "'" strSql = strSql & ")" '## Mod to merge double post replies else boolDoPost = false ' they double posted, lets update the last reply strSql = "UPDATE " & strActivePrefix & "REPLY " strSql = strSql & "SET R_MESSAGE = R_MESSAGE + '" & txtMessage & "' " ' DEM --> Added R_STATUS to allow for moderation of posts ' Used R_STATUS = 1 to match the topic status code.
if Moderation = "Yes" then strSql = strSql & ",R_STATUS = 2 " else strSql = strSql & ",R_STATUS = 1 " end if strSql = strSql & "WHERE REPLY_ID=" & rsDCheck("T_LAST_POST_REPLY_ID") set rsDCheck = nothing 'do the update end if '## Mod to merge double post replies
a couple of lines after the my_Conn.Execute (strSql),,adCmdText + adExecuteNoRecords , replace
if Moderation = "No" then with if Moderation = "No" and boolDoPost then
Now scroll down a bit further till you find this code
'## Forum_SQL - Update Unmoderated post count strSql = "UPDATE " & strActivePrefix & "TOPICS " strSql = strSql & " SET T_UREPLIES = T_UREPLIES + 1 " strSql = strSql & " WHERE TOPIC_ID = " & Topic_ID if boolDoPost then 'added for double post merge my_Conn.Execute (strSql),,adCmdText + adExecuteNoRecords end if 'added for double post merge
I offer NO guarantees as to whether this will work or not as I do not have an asp forum running at the moment I can test it on
<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 10:12
Well, I added it and got this error when trying to post:
Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01a8'
Object required: 'rsTCheck'
/bbs/post_info.asp, line 1856
Here's a text file of the post_info.asp without this code:
http://www.schoolofduel.com/bbs/post_info.txt<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 11:51
this line is wrong if rsDCheck.EOF or rsTCheck.BOF then 'didn't double post so let's carry on normally
should be if rsDCheck.EOF or rsDCheck.BOF then 'didn't double post so let's carry on normally<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 13:03
Hm. Now I'm getting this error whenever I try to post:
ADODB.Recordset error '800a0bb9'
Arguments are of the wrong type, are out of acceptable range, or are in conflict with one another.
/bbs/topic.asp, line 463
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HuwR
10 December 2006, 13:11
I offer NO guarantees as to whether this will work or not as I do not have an asp forum running at the moment I can test it on
<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 13:17
just ran a quick test site up, and the code I posted works fine, so it is either something you have done wrong or something different in your post.asp, nothing I posted has anything to do with line 463 or any of the code near that line, so I would suggest you re-examine the code you changed.<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 13:43
Fixed an error I made. Now I get this:
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e14'
Invalid operator for data type. Operator equals add, type equals ntext.
/bbs/post_info.asp, line 1914
What does this mean?<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 13:59
What does this mean?
I have no idea.
As I said above, I have tested this code on a virgin standard Snitz install and everything works without error, if you are getting errors it is either because you have inserted the code incorrectly or something else in your post_info.asp that is not standard, either way I can't help.<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 14:44
Here is a text file of the post_info.asp as it looks like with your code (ignore the edited file name):
Can you please check to make sure I didn't make a mistake in adding this code? I've looked over it twice and can't find anything wrong.
It is rather modded though.
Anyhow, your changes start at line 1851.<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 14:55
will take a look later, but don't have access to my editing stuff at the moment, am currently sat watching BBC Sports personality of the year<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 15:03
That's fine HuwR. Just let me know what I messed up with so I can get this working.
Thanks<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 15:39
from the error it would appear that your REPLY tables R_MESSAGE field is of type nText rather than Text as is standard for Snitz, which is why the code I posted is failing, it will need rewriting to work with an nText field<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 15:52
Is this something you could please do? Again, if I was familiar with snitz, I'd do this myself. But, I'm not and that's the main reason I come to these forums for help.<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 16:16
try replacing the main block of code I posted previously with the one below.
Code:
'## Mod to merge double post replies boolDoPost = true ' Did this user make the last post strSqlCheck = "SELECT T_LAST_POST_REPLY_ID FROM " & strActivePrefix & "TOPICS " strSqlCheck = strSqlCheck + "WHERE T_REPLIES > 0 AND T_LAST_POST_AUTHOR = " & rs("MEMBER_ID") set rsDCheck = my_Conn.Execute (strSqlCheck) if rsDCheck.EOF or rsDCheck.BOF then 'didn't double post so let's carry on normally set rsDCheck = nothing '## Mod to merge double post replies strSql = "INSERT INTO " & strTablePrefix & "REPLY " strSql = strSql & "(TOPIC_ID" strSql = strSql & ", FORUM_ID" strSql = strSql & ", CAT_ID" strSql = strSql & ", R_AUTHOR" strSql = strSql & ", R_DATE " if strIPLogging <> "0" then strSql = strSql & ", R_IP" end if strSql = strSql & ", R_STATUS" strSql = strSql & ", R_SIG" strSql = strSql & ", R_MESSAGE" strSql = strSql & ") VALUES (" strSql = strSql & Topic_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & Forum_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & Cat_ID strSql = strSql & ", " & rs("MEMBER_ID") strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & DateToStr(strForumTimeAdjust) & "'" if strIPLogging <> "0" then strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & UserIPAddress & "'" end if ' DEM --> Added R_STATUS to allow for moderation of posts ' Used R_STATUS = 1 to match the topic status code.
if Moderation = "Yes" then strSql = strSql & ", 2" else strSql = strSql & ", 1" end if ' DEM --> End of Code added if Request.Form("sig") = "yes" and strDSignatures = "1" then strSql = strSql & ", 1 " else strSql = strSql & ", 0 " end if strSql = strSql & ", " & "'" & txtMessage & "'" strSql = strSql & ")" '## Mod to merge double post replies else boolDoPost = false ' they double posted, lets update the last reply set rsRupdate = my_Conn.Execute ("SELECT REPLY_ID,R_MESSAGE FROM " & strActivePrefix & "REPLY WHERE REPLY_ID=" & rsDCheck("T_LAST_POST_REPLY_ID")) set rsDCheck = nothing strSql = "UPDATE " & strActivePrefix & "REPLY " strSql = strSql & "SET R_MESSAGE = '" & rsRupdate("REPLY_ID") & "<hr>" & txtMessage & "' " ' DEM --> Added R_STATUS to allow for moderation of posts ' Used R_STATUS = 1 to match the topic status code.
if Moderation = "Yes" then strSql = strSql & ",R_STATUS = 2 " else strSql = strSql & ",R_STATUS = 1 " end if strSql = strSql & "WHERE REPLY_ID=" & rsRupdate("REPLY_ID") set rsRupdate = nothing 'do the update end if '## Mod to merge double post replies
Once again, can't guarentee it at all, I don't even have any Snitz code on this laptop, so am just taking a gues One thing I did realise is that the code will still update the users post count, will post some code to fix that later when I am back on my main machine.<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 16:41
Well, no error messages this time. However, after I make a post, all posts in the topic disappear and the "Topic" bar appears twice.
Let me know what I can do to correct this. <
HuwR
10 December 2006, 17:15
I have absolutely no idea, all the code does that I posted is to update the last reply with the current posted text, it should have no other affect whatsoever. I'm sorry but I can not offer any further help, your code is not standard code and your database is not a standard database, I therefore have no way whatsoever of working out what your code is doing or why it would behave the way it does, sorry but you are on your own<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
10 December 2006, 17:18
Hm. Is this line correct: strSql = strSql & "(TOPIC_ID"
The database is a regular MS SQL. The code does seem to have been strangely modified before I became server admin.<
HuwR
10 December 2006, 17:29
your database is not a regular Snitz database if it was the R_MESSAGE field would be a TEXT not nTEXT field, as for 'Is this line correct: strSql = strSql & "(TOPIC_ID" ' I have no idea, since I don't know what line you are referring to, as I said, sorry but I can't help any further.<
CalloftheHauntedMaster
14 December 2006, 18:24
*sigh* thanks for the efforts.
Anyone familiar with the oddly modified code I have who is willing to try and help out? <
kyodai
29 May 2009, 18:17
SOrry to reply to such an old thread but this is the only one related to what i wanted to do. I like the idea of merging double posts, as it became quite common on my forums, on one site by spammers who just wanted to up their post count, then by newbies who simply didnt care to read rules or think about the edit button and then by people who want to "bump" their post up to top of the list.
Well to make it short - the posted solution here simply didnt work for me. No idea, but it's probably because i already got so many mods installed??? I really dont know much about asp so i tried to uderstand what the error was, but simply didnt get it. I fixed some mods that didn't work out-of-the-box yet, but here i really didnt get what was wrong.
So i made my own version from scratch, as good as i understand asp and after some trial and error it finally worked! No more double posts in my forums...
My Table is called FORUM_TOPICS, if you have another prefix you might want to change it. This is a very basic mod, but i think beside the table name it is very compatible with all other mods and addons.
All it does is checking whether the last post in the topic was by the current user and if yes and he tries to reply he will get an error message to rather use the edit button. I hope this helps some people.
Code:
Kyodai Anti Double Post Mod 1.0
Last Updated 05/29/2009
Description: This mod simply disallows double posting, which means a member can't reply twice to a thread. If a member posts a
reply and then tries to post a second reply an error message appears that says "Sorry, double posting is not
allowed. Please use the edit button if you want to add information to your previous post."
Features:
Disallows double posting Disables members to reply to their own topic if noone else has posted yet Obviously also disables the typical "bumps" members do to get their Topic on top
Possible Features for future releases:
Maybe change this so instead of displaying the message it automatically merges the reply with the previous one.
Installation difficulty: 2 (1=Easy - 10=Hard)
############### ## INSTALLATION
############### There are no files supplied with this mod as it is intended to edit your current file Be sure to backup your file first!
#################################################################### ##Post_info.asp
#################################################################### around line 1000 - find this: if MethodType = "Reply" or MethodType = "ReplyQuote" or MethodType = "TopicQuote" then
'## Forum_SQL
below this add:
' Kyodai anti-double post
strSQL = "SELECT T_LAST_POST_AUTHOR FROM FORUM_TOPICS WHERE TOPIC_ID = " & Topic_ID set rs = my_Conn.Execute (strSql) if rs.BOF or rs.EOF then '## no result rs.close set rs = nothing ' "No Result" else myPostAuthor = rs("T_LAST_POST_AUTHOR") rs.close set rs = nothing ' Saved last Post Author name end if
' end Kyodai Anti-double post
A few lines below that - find this:
err_Msg = "Invalid Password or User Name" Go_Result(err_Msg), 0 Response.End else
add this directly below:
'kyodai anti double post
MyMemberName = rs("MEMBER_ID")
'end kyodai anti-double post
Another few lines below find this: if txtMessage = " " then Go_Result "You must post a message!", 0 Response.End end ifadd this directly below: 'kyodai anti double post
if myPostAuthor = myMemberName then rs.close set rs = nothing err_Msg = "Sorry, double posting is not allowed. Please use the edit button if you want to add
information to your previous post." Go_Result(err_Msg), 0 Response.End end if
'end kyodai anti-double post
kyodai
30 June 2009, 16:23
On a side note: Afterwards i added an "if mLev < 3 then" to allow staff members to double post, because for staff sometimes it does make sense. AT least my staff complained about it, i added it and now users may not double post but staff does. Awwww I'm just the man for solutions... ^__^
unless the double post is the same question in multiple forums, but then that is not what you are taliknig about, I see nothing wrong with me making this post and coming back 5 minutes later to make another one<
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