DynaBar
A userbar is a small image (350×19) typically used in the ’signatures’ of forum (the phpBB, vBulletin, etc type) users, to show their support for software, hardware, food, pretty much anything.
DynaBar adds another dimension to userbars, as it generates them dynamically from plugins (a small PHP script which determines the text displayed on the userbar).
This allows users to show all kinds of real-time information in their userbar signature images, such as game statistics, weather, their currently playing song, random texts, etc, etc.
Features
- Userbar content is completely dynamic, and can be generated from information available in real-time.
- All content is provided via a simple plugin system, plugins are easy to create and can return any information, and gather that information from any source.
- Complete interactive userbar designer, allowing users to create their own userbars quickly and easily, using any available plugins, and a host of visual options. As you work, a preview is updated so you see the results of your changes instantly. Cross-browser compatible.
- Once generated, userbars are cached (each plugin can define it’s own cache timeout), saving bandwidth and server resources.
- Userbar browser, showig all userbars created with DynaBar, and presenting simple HTML and Forum cut-and-paste code.
- Ability for users to create animated/rotating userbar “groups”. String multiple userbars into a single animated one, still maintaining it’s dynamic DynaBar content.
- No database or other advanced back-ends required.
- Simple setup - dump the scripts onto your server, set some directory permissions, and you’re ready to go. No direct server access or administrative interaction required.
- PHP 4 and PHP 5 compatible. (individual plugins may have more specific requirements).
- Suitable for installations on community websites, as an extra ’service’ for users. Plugins are simple enough to enable webmasters to create custom content for their community/site quickly and easily.
Default plugins
These plugins are part of the default DynaBar 2 installation. If you’ve created a plugin and would like linkage, please leave a comment.
- Battlefield 2
Fetches various player stats directly from the Battlefield 2 stats servers. - Fortune
When running on a Linux or BSD server with the fortune application installed, can generate random furtunes. - Hamachi
Displays the status of a Hamachi user (http://hamachi.cc/) - QStat
When running on a Linux server with the Quakestat application installed, can show various live game-server stats, including current map, player load, server name and IP. - Quotes
Randomly chooses from 10 user-defined plain-text quotes/messages. - RSS
Display the latest headline from a valid RSS feed. PHP5 only. - LastFM (Scrobbler)
Show the most recently played music track of a LastFM user. (http://last.fm/) - LastFM Artist Sloganizer
Choose from a LastFM user’s top 10 artists and Sloganize it. - Sloganizer
Uses the Sloganizer service/website to randomly generate a custom slogan (http://www.sloganizer.net/en/) - User Spy (Spy)
Displays various information about the user viewing the userbar. Will tell a person their IP, browser and operating system. - Text
Show a plain-text user-defined string. - TrackMania
Can show the global or national rank, and score of a TrackMania player. (http://www.trackmanianations.com/) - Uptime
When run on a Linux/BSD/Unix server, will show the server’s uptime. - XFire
Get information from an XFire user’s profile. Uses code from http://customsigs.free.fr/ to collect the profile data. (http://www.xfire.com/)
Demo
Check out the demo. Browser and group creator.
Please only use this demo installation as a test for creating userbars and exploring DynaBar features and functionality. Don’t link to images created here from forum signatures or similar. Thanks.
Download
See the included README in the “docs” directory for additional installation and usage information.
Extraordinary project. Really blows my mind, I just love it. Thanks!!!
Kenneth, you rule!!
I´m still on vacation and surfing a little bit around for some new ideas and plans for my small private GFX-webiste after coming back home. With just stepping on your site, i find your DynaBar2 thingy very interesting :)!! But i am not a coder, so what´s up with security regarding your php-script? One reads that webspace of ppl get “hacked” by script-kiddies exploiting “unsecure scripts”. What do you think about that issue?
- thx and have a good time!!
I hope you´ll keep up your interesting work
From the island - Alena
Hi BlackCats
Glad you find it interesting.
I have kept security in mind while developing Dynabar, and there are many safety checks and validations throughout the code, to ensure only what we want to happen, is indeed happening :).
I cannot guarantee Dynabar is 100% secure, however it is secured to the best of my abilities - and I’m confident enough in it to run the demo system on my own server ;).
Hi Kenneth
- big kiss for your detailed answer!! I´ve set up a new sub-domain bf2142.free-gfx.com and i´m giving your rocking dynabar-script a try :). You are doing very interesting stuff here with your coding, what a pitty that i´m a typical girl with not much knowledge till now with php. Maybe i´ll be able to learn a lil bit *g*. Hehehe *big smile* your youtube-script looks very promising, too! I would like to put a cool banner from shrimpworks on my site - as a backlink to you here. Do you have one? (typical banner sizes…)
Kiss Alena
P.S.: It´s fuc..ing cold here in Germany today and i think i am coming down with a cold…
Hello Kenneth
- i have php4 running and in userbars.php $stats = array_combine(explode… does not work, of course. Do you have a fix for php4-user?
And - does teh $data = file(”http://bf2web.gamespy.com/ASP/getleaderboard.aspx?pid=”.$pid.”&info=”.$info);
thingy still deliver data or is it out of service? In the dynamic bar i get no kill numbers etc., just the text but no numbers.
bf2s.com has a new sig-generator e.g. and it works so far
http://bf2s.com/player/47348972/sig/
Would be nice if you can drop me an email
Kiss BlackCats
Got it
- a friend of mine fixed it and it works 
- THX
Warning: include(smarty/libs/Smarty.class.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/yenimuhe/public_html/dynabar/designer/index.php on line 13
Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening ’smarty/libs/Smarty.class.php’ for inclusion (include_path=’.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php’) in /home/yenimuhe/public_html/dynabar/designer/index.php on line 13
Fatal error: Class ‘Smarty’ not found in /home/yenimuhe/public_html/dynabar/designer/index.php on line 64
i am geting this error can anyone help me?
As menitioned in the “Requirements” part of the README, you’ll need to install the Smarty template system seperately. Grab it at: http://smarty.php.net/
Once done and placed somewhere on your web server, you need to edit a couple of the files in the “designer/” and “designer/actions/” directories to point to where you’ve installed Smarty.
Hey Shrimp :), nice to ´read´ that you are alive and around
(Nov.06 - Apr.07)
:( ! - these Lamerz haven´t opened up official stat-feeds for the community. And yes, the BF2142-Editor seems to never come…
Do you plan to extend DynaBar for BF2142? I think, that´s it still difficult to get stats for BF2142, because EA really sucks
Anyway some guys seem to get their stats more or less via other feeds, but don´t know, that´s too techi-stuff ;).
Would be nice to hear your opinion about BF2142-Stats and DynaBar
Kisses BlackCats
Hello! Help solve the problem.
Very often try to enter the forum, but says that the password is not correct.
Regrettably use of remembering. Give like to be?
Thank you!
Hey great little script you have made here.
Ive only got 1 problem with it that maybe you could help me with.
I can’t get the preview to work….. Ive tried lots of different things but nothing seems to help. Ive got everything installed and it does create an image on the server in the cache folder but its not being displayed.
Thanks for any help you can give me.