Switch WP user to specified Group in phpBB, when Role updated in WordPress and vice versa

WP_w3all phpBB integration 2.6.8> option

Read all the follow before to activate the option

Basic default WP Roles and phpBB groups switches will work as follow by default, if no custom file provided:

When an admin in WordPress update an user Role, or Role change due to user’s subscriptions:

Editor in WP or Woocommerce Shop Manager, will be added into the Global Moderator group as primary group in phpBB, the previous primary user’s group membership will be removed.
Author, Contributor or Subscriber or Woocommerce customer, will be added into the Registered group in phpBB, the previous primary group membership will be removed.
Administrator in WP will be set as Administrator in phpBB (not with all founder’s powers), the previous primary user’s group membership will be removed. The User with No role in WP will be deactivated in phpBB.

When an user change/update group in phpBB:

If belong as default group to the Registered phpBB group, will be updated in WP to Subscriber and the previous primary Role removed.

If belong as default group to the Global Moderators phpBB group, will updated in WP to Editor and the previous primary Role removed.

Administrators in this case are not considered by default. But you can activate the code about, into

the file wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/common/wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php . It contain the code that can be customized as more like to get complex WP Roles and phpBB Groups switches. It already contain basic code example and basic hints. Advanced wp coders will find out that’s quite easy to write owns code snippets and achieve any kind of complex Roles/Groups switches.

How i can customize the file wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php expecting that when the integration plugin will update, modifications done into this file aren’t lost?

Create a folder (if you did not it already, activating the custom /views files option) named wp-w3all-custom inside the folder /wp-content/plugins/ so you’ll have /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-custom/

copy the file /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/common/wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php

and paste it inside the created folder, so you’ll have /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-custom/wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php

Custom files inside this folder, are not overwritten when the plugin will be updated (like all the custom views files).

Note that the option Use custom files to display Last Topics Widgets, Login Widget and Shortcodes do not affect this. If the custom file /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-custom/wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php exist, it will be included, even if the Use custom files to display Last Topics Widgets, Login Widget and Shortcodes option is set to No.

Advanced and common hints

Where the wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php file is included?

About an Admin that update an user role (the update will be synchronous)

Open: /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/class.wp.w3all-phpbb.php

search for:

inside

public static function phpbb_update_profile($user_id, $old_user_data) {

About a current WP logged in user updates (the update will be asynchronous)

an user that changed Group in phpBB side** and that so will be updated to the related WP Role when as logged in will visit WordPress, search for:

into /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/class.wp.w3all-phpbb.php

inside the function verify_phpbb_credentials()

About Memberpress or others external memberships plugins:

Remember: this is a WP plugin, it run ONLY in WP side! So it has been defined synchronous the Role update when done in WP side updating an user profile. In this case the update occur at same time in phpBB. It is asynchronous when the WP role change due to some other reason, for example due to some Role update that fire on the background, after a subscribed membership or something else, but the affected user is not currently logged in into WordPress.

It is also asynchronous if the user change profile’s data in phpBB, because until the same user will not visit the WP side as logged, no code will run to update his Role in WP.

Read more inline hints into the file wpRoles_phpbbGroups.php

Could be all synchronous? Yes, the result can be achieved in several ways, for any configuration or/and plugin/extension installed.

Shortcode: phpBB notifications into WordPress

WP_w3all phpBB WordPress 2.6.6 >

WP_w3all phpBB notifications into WordPress shortcode version 1.0

check all others shortcodes listed under the “common how” to section

The w3all_phpbb_unotifications shortcode display *phpBB notifications like phpBB do. The file that can be styled as more like and that display results is:

/wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/views/wp_w3all_phpbb_unotifications_short.php

Add the attribute class for ul and li elements, using shortcode attributes ul_phpbb_unotifications_class="myclass" and li_phpbb_unotifications_class="myotherclass"

*Note that to get resultsthe phpBB user have to setup/activate into his User Control Panel, under Board preferences Tab -> Edit notification options option, the notifications types he want to see.

Note also that once a phpBB user visit the

Board index -> User Control Panel -> Overview -> Manage notifications

page, the $phpbb_user_session[0]->user_new_privmsg var become 0. So PMs notifications are not retrieved anymore for the user (until there is not a new PM).

The file /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/views/wp_w3all_phpbb_unotifications_short.php can be copied into the folder /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-custom/ and activating the option Use custom files to display Last Topics Widgets, Login Widget and Shortcodes so that custom modifications done into the file aren’t overwritten when the plugin will be updated.

All default phpBB (3.3>) notifications types that can be expected will be retrieved:

Since 2.6.9 > added option:
Only get the total notifications count, of any type, default phpBB and customs types created by extensions

If selected, then just use echo $w3all_phpbb_unotifications; in this case, to display the number of unread notifications, declaring it as global, into any Php template or (maybe) some other plugin.

The (awesome) iframe template integration using shortcode

WordPress phpBB template integration

check all others shortcodes listed under the “common how to” section

NOTE that required settings of this shortcode resides under the WP_w3all Preferences menu

To use the w3allphpbbiframe shortcode it is required to apply into the phpBB template files overall_header.html and overall_footer.html the same javascript code and procedure as it is for the page-forum, the result will be a full template integration that can be applied into any WP theme:

phpBB WordPress template integration iframe

then use like this:

wp_page_name param refer to the page/post name/slug where the shortcode will be added (see hint below about this param if omitted*)

wp_page_iframe_top_gap param refer to (in pixel) the position where the WP parent page will scroll to by default. If omitted value will be 0

url_push (since 2.5.9>) param if omitted is set to YES, that mean when links are clicked into the phpBB iframed, the URL will be pushed into the browser’s address bar. If you want to avoid this behavior, use/add this param like this into the shortcode: url_push="no"

note that the URL push is ever avoided when the shortcode is used into the homepage and should in several more conditions. In short words, in all these situations where, when if the URL is pushed into the parent address bar, it cause/lead to a WordPress page NOT found, in the case there is an intentionally browser’s page reload (because the pushed URL is an URL that WP will not found)

phpbb_default_url (since 2.5.7>) param (that can be omitted) refer to any phpBB URL where the iframe will be opened by default, so the above become something like this, if for example we want to display into a WP post the phpBB, that should open by default into a precise forum topic/post/page:

but it can be any other phpBB link like the ucp page used into another etc

it is possible to use multiple shortcode(s) into different contests/pages/posts

It is mandatory to set WP page-names where the shortcode will be added, into related shortcode option field on plugin admin page, or the shortcode will not fire

security_token (since 2.5.9>) param (that can be omitted) refer to a secret token that can be used to restrict the use of the iframe shortcode only to certain users, when there are more roles allowed to create posts or pages. If this option is set (not empty) the shortcode will be parsed only when the token exist and will match. To add the security secret token into the iframe shortcodes, add it like this:

security_token="MySecretToken"

assuming that into related option field on plugin admin, MySecretToken is the token that had set

scroll_default (since 2.6.0>) param if omitted is set to YES by default. To avoid the page scroll behavior set it to no:

scroll_default="no"

To edit some css/html output or something else if required, relevant files to look into are:

/wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/common/wp_phpbb_iframe_shortcode.php

/wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/views/wp_w3all_phpbb_iframe_short.php

*Note wp_page_name: if using Plain permalinks, for example the page name for a post would be p=45 or if it is a page page_id=12

*Note also that the shortcode param wp_page_namecan be omitted if you created page-forum using the (other way) page-forum available iframe template integration: so that the loaded URL into the browser’s address bar when links clicked into iframe, will be the one set into the overall_header.html and overall_footer.html js added code (that so may point to another post or page where another shortcode has been added, or to the default page-forum if created using related option on plugin admin)

Note important: if the iframe do not display and you get mixed insecure content on console, you have to fix it doing this:

open your WP header.php template file, and may just after others header meta tags add the follow:

That’s all here, follow instructions into the plugin admin page where there is iframe template integration using shortcode related option. Enjoy!

One applied right here on the post (below), but also see another simple example here: https://www.axew3.com/w3/board/

Advanced hint: this shortcode with little modifications could be easily used to display any iframed page, also cross domain.

Here it has been added the iframe using the shortcode with param phpbb_default_url set to open a specified phpBB post and with scroll_default set to no (since 2.6.0>)

[w3allphpbbiframe url_push=”no” phpbb_default_url=”https://www.axew3.com/w3/forums/viewtopic.php?t=774″ wp_page_name=”the-awesome-iframe-template-integration-using-shortcode” scroll_default=”no”]

phpBB WordPress template integration (iframe v4)

v4 version (for cool people)

FROM 2.1.1 USE V5 code: https://www.axew3.com/w3/2020/01/phpbb-wordpress-template-integration-iframe-v5/

OLD CODE: cool people moved to V5

FROM 2.1.1 USE V5 code: https://www.axew3.com/w3/2020/01/phpbb-wordpress-template-integration-iframe-v5/

SINCE 2.1.1 the following code, even if still working with his related page-forum (linked below) into any plugin version, is now obsolete.

PAGE HELP – JS code – UPDATED on 15 Gen 2020
(related addons/page-forum.phpupdated on 14 Gen 2020)

wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/tags/2.1.0/addons/page-forum.php

wp_w3all plugin 1.9.9 until 2.1.0

phpBB SEO mods compatible – (READ ALL this page)

wp_w3all responsive iframe procedure

WordPress phpBB iframe template integration

MEMO: to update to latest v4 code, you’ll need to rebuild page-forum.php (or whatever you named it) via plugin admin, OR manually substitute it into your active WP template folder, with the new one that you find/copy into /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/addons. You’ll need to update also the iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js file you added into phpBB root, with the new one you find into /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/addons/resizer folder. Done this, substitute the phpBB overall_header.html and overall_footer.html code (re-adding needed values) with the new v4 code here below. Do not forget to rebuild phpBB template to make phpBB template modifications take effect.

 Domain/subdomains installations it’s REQUIRED to read this: How to Domain/subdomain iframe template integration

WP_w3all template integration steps

After you built/create the WP forum template page via option
WP_w3all phpBB embedded on WordPress Template
on WP_w3all admin config page, and the blank page on WordPress Admin -> Pages -> Add New, titled the same of created wp_w3all template page, so forum or board  etc (then you’ll have into your active WordPress template folder a file named page-forum.php or page-board.php etc), to complete the procedure and get the responsive iframe height for the embedded/iframed phpBB into WordPress template page you need:

overall_footer.html code

Open with a text editor your phpBB template file overall_footer.html

and just before the closing </body> tag, add this code (do not select rows numbers on copied code):

after you pasted this code into phpBB overall_footer.html
edit following lines:

change localhost to fit your domain name (example axew3.com)
do NOT add http(s):// OR the point in front nor anything else, just add
yourdomain.com or set it as localhost if on localhost test. If phpBB is at subdomain.domain.com, add domain.com as value
(MANDATORY!) or resizer won’t work
now check the other line to change:

change value
https://localhost/wp53/forum
on this line, to point to the URL of the WordPress created/named forum page (do not add final slash and change http or https as needed)
MANDATORY!

Finally, check this line

in the code you added (last line): this should correctly point to the iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js file that you’ll go to add into phpBB root folder. You need to use the absolute URL (use http or https as needed, and adjust the url to fit your needs)
(MANDATORY!) or resizer won’t work

AFTER EDITED, save and load the modified overall_footer.html into your phpBB style folder, overwriting the default one, and so

load through ftp on the phpBB root folder (or copy/paste), the file
iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js
that is contained inside folder
wp/wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/addons/resizer

After this, phpBB require to recompile the template, or modifications to template files not affect (to overall_footer.html in this case). Open phpBB ACP, and so under:

Server Configuration -> Load settings -> Recompile stale style components set to YES and save. Load one time a phpBB full forum page. Leave as is at moment, especially if you follow adding also the code on overall_header.html (more below) to redirect any phpBB direct URL to the iframed WP page: then after tested that all work fine, return to ACP, and reset to NO and save. This step is needed to load the template modifications on phpBB (and any time you edit a phpBB template file to for modifications take effect), but this option should be ever set to NO into an online/production site to save server resources. It is normally set to yes only for testing/devel purpose or to apply modifications on phpBB templates files.

overall_header.html code

The new V4 w3all iframe code do not use anymore htaccess to force redirects, but use pure Javascript (reload) code, that as you may imagine, lead to some different result: you’ll not have to edit phpBB notification links on phpBB notification files as on V1 or V2 code, to force users redirect to iframe when they click (for example) on notification email link or some other forum’s link. But in this case, any user except bots, will be redirected (as code is, but it can be easily changed to assume different behaviors, may excluding admins or moderators etc) to the WP iframed page, if the forum accessed via real phpBB url.

If you want phpBB email notification links or any phpBB direct url to be redirected to the wp iframed forum page follow this step:

Open with a text editor your phpBB template file overall_header.html

and just immediately after this code (or by the way, just before the closing tag </head>)

add the following code:

On added code, change URL on the line where (line 3):

to fit/point to the WordPress iframed forum page: DO NOT ADD final slash and setup as http or https as needed.

All working!?

Reset to No the Recompile phpBB template option, here we go!

NOTE: if you added the code above into phpBB overall_header.html then you’ll never activate (it is not active by default) this part of the code you added into the overall_footer.html:

P.s – whenever you want: to get the iframe responsive for ACP phpBB admin panel, read this post. My (personal) suggestion is to stop here and try to use the integration leaving ACP out of iframe joke. If by the way you want to follow, before to apply then you’ll have to little change the above code for overall_footer.html and overall_header.html in this way:

on code for overall_footer.html remove this part:

on code for overall_header.html remove this part:

change into:

* For domain/subdomain installations
READ THIS HOW TO:
How to Domain/subdomain iframe template integration

Refer to v2 or v1 code for htaccess old solution editing phpBB notifications files.

Shortcode: phpBB PM into WordPress

WP_w3all phpBB WordPress 1.9.9 >

WP_w3all phpBB PM into WordPress shortcode version 1.0

check all others shortcodes listed under the “common how” to section

The [w3allphpbbupm] shortcode just display phpBB Private Messages count into a div, which html output result will be by default like this:

<div id="w3pm_id" class="w3pm_class"><a href="https://localhost/wp51/phpBB3/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox">You have 1 unread forum PM</a></div>

To display this way, you’ll add the shortcode as is: [w3allphpbbupm]

To change attributes class name, id or to get a element link with target _blank or to add inline style to the div element, arguments that are possible to pass are:

'w3pm_class' => 'w3pm_class',
'w3pm_id' => 'w3pm_id',
'w3pm_inline_style' => '',
'w3pm_href_blank' => ''

[w3allphpbbupm w3pm_class="myclass" w3pm_id="myid" w3pm_inline_style="padding:10px;border:1px solid grey;" w3pm_href_blank="1"]

w3pm_class and w3pm_id are setup by default with same name as value for the id and class div’s element attributes if not passed as arguments, others two w3pm_inline_style and w3pm_href_blank simply not affect if not passed.

To get target="_blank" , pass as on example the w3pm_href_blank="1" argument

[w3allfeed] RSS raw examples

How to use w3allfeed shortcode

These examples show raw results (scroll down to see RSS from external resource) of the w3allfeed shortcode used like this, with little style applied to li elements:

that grab last 3 forums news within this same domain forum:

Latest 3 news from axew3.com forums

  • General Installation and Integration Questions

    Hi and first if all, thank you for this work you've done. You must have sunk one heck of a lot of hours into this over the years!

    What I'm trying to do.
    Apologies if this is a long post, but it may help other people.
    My phpBB board has been running now for about 15 years. I want to wrap it in a WP site, so I can add more content and use what WP is good at. I don't want to migrate the phpBB forum to a WP forum, because

    1. I like phpBB.
    2. I don't want to lose 15 years to Search Engine placement and have to start all over again.
    3. Users may have got so used to the forum as is, that I may lose some if I migrate it all somewhere else.
    Setup
    My forum is located in a sub-directory of the main domain: /forum. I was thinking the WP site will be in the root directory and the forum remain where it is. So both will be in the same domain: -
    Currently, I have a redirect, that redirects https://thepompeychimes.net to https://thepompeychimes.net/forum. When I eventually have the WP site up and running, I should in theory just need to remove the redirect.

    I have a few questions though.

    1. Installation
    I've been looking around the various help pages, but am still a little confused. I'm not 100% sure on how this installs. Is it just a phpBB extension, or is there also a WP plugin (I'm assuming there must be)? If both, I'm not clear on what order they are installed (or if in fact it matters). Is there a very simple step-by-step guide to installing this?

    Dev / Live
    Whilst I develop the WP site, I have installed it in a staging sub-domain. If I do the installation, should I do this from a copy of the live phpBB forum, or to the live forum? If I do it to a copy of the forum, what issues could there be when I move the WP site live? What happens to any users that may have registered in the live forum since I copied it to the staging sub-domain? Would it be prudent to copy the phpBB forum to the sub-domain anyway, just so I can test the whole process and then start from scratch again?

    2. phpBB Forum Access
    Once it is all installed and integrated, can the phpBB forum still be run independently, or does it have to always be integrated in the WP site? So, in my example, can the phpBB forum still run directly from https://thepompeychimes.net/forum?

    3. Integration
    Is the phpBB forum always integrated using an iFrame, or does any WP plugin retrieve the information and display it? If (as I'm assuming) it is all in iFrames, does this mean existing Search Engine indexing will remain the same. If so, how do I redirect any traffic form a search engine to a specific forum thread, such that the WP site loads and the requested thread is loaded in the iFrame? I really don't want to screw up the Search Engine indexing that has taken so many years to get to where it is now!

    4. Examples
    Are there any example sites I can see where this is all installed? Is there any "showcase" area listing such sites? I'm assuming after 15 years, this must have been used in a lot of sites. In fact, as phpBB is so much better than the WP forum offerings, I'd assume a lot of people use this from day one on there WP sites.

    Again, apologies for the length of the post, but unless I am singularly stupid useless confused, answers to this could help other people too.

    Many thanks.

    Posted by RubiconCSL — Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:04 pm — Replies 1 — Views 21


  • phpBB WordPress integration extension v2

    The (awesome) w3all phpBB WordPress extension v2

    Should work into any Php 5.6> and phpBB 3.2 or >
    Anyway it has been coded/tested under Php 8.1 and (last release at date of this post) phpBB 3.3.9. Also fix bug on previous (versions) about unwanted redirect to WP, sometime firing when an user's session was renewed, and redirect option was active.

    If the URL setting is not set, the extension only will work to update email/password/Url and (if option active) to check if the email exist in WP, before to add/register an user in phpBB.


    - If already installed a previous version, disable it, delete extension data into ACP, then delete the old phpBB Wordpress extension folder into
    /phpbb/w3all/phpbbwordpressintegration

    Download the new version

    Copy the folder w3all with inside the extension phpbbwordpress
    into the root phpBB ext folder, so you'll have:
    /ext/w3all/phpbbwordpress/

    Go to ACP -> Customise and enable the extension
    Go to ACP -> Extensions phpBB WordPress settings and setup db connection values and options.
    Note that if you set wrong DB connection values, on saving settings you'll get phpBB db error. In case, just return back with your browser and setup correct db connection values.

    What it do?
    When an user email will be updated, the same will happen for the same user with same old user email in WordPress. Both ACP and UCP.
    Same goes for password and profile URL option.
    Also, when an user register(and option active) the user will be added at same time into WordPress, if used in conjunction with the WordPress wp-w3all-phpbb-integration plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-w3all- ... tegration/

    Note that redirects options DO NOT need to be activated if the forum display as iframe into a WP page template integration using the WordPress wp-w3all-phpbb-integration plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-w3all- ... tegration/

    Enjoy!

    Download phpBB extension:


    Donate:
    https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/alessionanni/

    Follow read more below *

    ACP_phpBB WordPress integration.png

    *What it change into my phpBB?
    Nothing, it only update user's data and execute redirects or cURL calls to WordPress (it depend by activated options you'll use) when required.
    *Is it secure?
    Yes!

    *Note: you could choose to not activate the option that will add user's in WP as they have been registered in phpBB. You could just use the redirect after login. A logged in phpBB user that visit WP and that do not exist in WP, will be added "on fly" into WordPress by the (if installed into WP) WP_w3all WP phpBB plugin

    Posted by axew3 — Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:36 pm — Replies 0 — Views 414


  • Coming 2.6.9 phpBB WordPress logs/bugs/requests

    The file
    /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/views/wp_w3all_phpbb_unotifications_short.php
    https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/expo ... _short.php
    at date of this post, has been updated to fix all remaining bugs and to add latest lacking
    type.forum
    type.disapprove_topic
    type.disapprove_post

    cases, that were the last remaining to be added.
    You can download the file by clicking the link above and replace it into the /wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/views/ folder if you do not want to wait until 2.6.9 release.

    All default phpBB notifications types that can be expected to be retrieved:
    type.post_in_queue
    type.approve_post
    type.pm
    type.topic
    type.group_request
    type.approve_topic
    type.quote
    type.bookmark
    type.post
    type.admin_activate_user
    type.group_request_approved
    type.report_pm
    type.report_post_closed
    type.disapprove_post
    type.disapprove_topic
    type.forum


    See phpBB user's notifications shortcode page
    https://www.axew3.com/w3/2022/10/phpbb- ... wordpress/

    Posted by axew3 — Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:49 am — Replies 9 — Views 278

News from engadget.com

Latest 5 news from – engadget.com/rss.xml – target _blank – inline styled, used like this:

  • Blue Origin pins last summer's NS-23 rocket failure on a faulty engine nozzle

    Blue Origin now has an explanation for the booster failure that cut a New Shepard flight short last September. Jeff Bezos' company has determined that a "thermo-structural failure" in the NS-23 rocket's engine nozzle was to blame. Operational temperatures for the nozzle climbed higher than expected following cooling system design changes, creating fatigue that misaligned the thrust and activated the crew capsule's escape system.

    Engineers are already taking "corrective actions" that include redesigning the combustion chamber and operating conditions. Blue Origin has also tweaked the nozzle design to improve its structural integrity. The capsule wasn't damaged and will fly again, Blue Origin says.

    The company says it hopes to resume flights "soon," but hasn't provided an exact date. It intends to restart operations by re-flying the research payload from the aborted mission. The Federal Aviation Administration has to accept the incident findings before Blue Origin can move forward.

    There's plenty of pressure on Blue Origin to address the issues. The company recently obtained a NASA contract to fly a science mission to Mars using its yet-to-launch New Glenn rocket, and has been pushing for a lunar lander agreement. The sooner Blue Origin can prove that its rocketry is trustworthy, the sooner it can secure customers that include governments and space tourists.

    Rivals are facing problems of their own. Relativity Space's first 3D-printed rocket failed to reach orbit earlier this month. SpaceX, meanwhile, has yet to successfully fire all of Starship's engines at the same time. That's not including past problems like Rocket Lab's setbacks. Private spaceflight remains difficult, and Blue Origin is just the latest to illustrate that fact.

    This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blue-origin-pins-last-summers-ns-23-rocket-failure-on-a-faulty-engine-nozzle-195714293.html?src=rss

  • Levi’s will ‘supplement’ human models with AI-generated fakes

    Levi’s is partnering with an AI company on computer-generated fashion models to “supplement human models.” The company frames the move as part of a “digital transformation journey” of diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability. Although that sounds noble on the surface, Levi’s is essentially hiring a robot to generate the appearance of diversity while ridding itself of the burden of paying human beings who represent the qualities it wants to be associated with its brand.

    Levi Strauss is partnering with Amsterdam-based digital model studio Lalaland.ai for the initiative. Founded in 2019, the company’s mission is “to see more representation in the fashion industry” and “create an inclusive, sustainable, and diverse design chain.” It aims to let customers see what various fashion items would look like on a person who looks like them via “hyper-realistic” models “of every body type, age, size and skin tone.”

    Levi’s announcement echoes that branding, saying the partnership is about “increasing the number and diversity of our models for our products in a sustainable way.” The company continues, “We see fashion and technology as both an art and a science, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Lalaland.ai, a company with such high-quality technology that can help us continue on our journey for a more diverse and inclusive customer experience.”

    A screenshot from the Lalaland.ai website, showing an AI-generated fashion model wearing customized clothing.
    Lalaland.ai

    Levi’s claims, “AI will likely never fully replace human models for us” (note the qualifying “likely”). But I can’t help but see this as the first step in a dystopian slow walk toward automating the industry. As AI-generated “photography,” art and writing grow ever more convincing, we would be naive to take corporations at face value when they insist moves like this are about PR-friendly principles like celebrating diversity and looking out for the environment. At the very least, it’s awfully convenient that those high-minded motives also let them mass-produce something that previously required hiring people.

    Levi Strauss reportedly began a 12-to-19-month process of cutting around 800 jobs — almost 20 percent of its corporate workforce — last year. It was part of a restructuring plan to save about $75 million to $100 million annually.

    This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/levis-will-supplement-human-models-with-ai-generated-fakes-190011557.html?src=rss

  • France bans TikTok (and Candy Crush) from government phones

    It's no shock to see another country banning TikTok from government phones, but France is taking the restrictions a step further. Le Mondereports the French government is banning "recreational" apps like TikTok, Twitter, Netflix and even Candy Crush from public servants' devices. The apps represent cybersecurity risks that could jeopardize data for both the employees and the administration, according to the office of public service minister Stanislas Guerini.

    The government hasn't provided an exact list of banned apps. However, Guerini said certain there could be some exceptions for the sake of necessary communication. This won't prevent a social media team from posting content, in other words. The ban takes effect immediately, but the penalties for defying the rule can be decided at the "managerial level," Guerini's office says. The approach doesn't affect personal devices.

    The clampdown comes after the US federal government, dozens of states, Canada, the European Commission and the UK have banned TikTok on their workers' devices. In those cases, the rationale has been similar: officials are worried the Chinese government could collect data about important individuals, spread propaganda and compel ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) to hand over sensitive information.

    TikTok has repeatedly denied collaborating with the Chinese government. In testimony before a House committee yesterday, CEO Shou Chew said ByteDance was "not an agent of China" and that American user data wouldn't be accessible to staff in other countries by the time a migration project wraps up later this year.

    The French policy, however, isn't aimed at any one country or app category. Instead, it represents a general concern that entertainment apps may put government data at unnecessary risk. That's not so hot for employees hoping to watch Netflix during lunch, but it may reassure politicians worried employees might inadvertently expose info through their social media accounts.

    This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/france-bans-tiktok-and-candy-crush-from-government-phones-170434409.html?src=rss

  • OpenAI says a bug leaked sensitive ChatGPT user data

    OpenAI was forced to take its wildly-popular ChatGPT bot offline for emergency maintenance on Tuesday after a user was able to exploit a bug in the system to recall the titles from other users' chat histories. On Friday the company announced its initial findings from the incident.

    In Tuesday's incident, users posted screenshots on Reddit that their ChatGPT sidebars featured previous chat histories from other users. Only the title of the conversation, not the text itself, were visible. OpenAI, in response, took the bot offline for nearly 10 hours to investigate. The results of that investigation revealed a deeper security issue: the chat history bug may have also potentially revealed personal data from 1.2 percent of ChatGPT Plus subscribers (a $20/month enhanced access package). 

    "In the hours before we took ChatGPT offline on Monday, it was possible for some users to see another active user’s first and last name, email address, payment address, the last four digits (only) of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date. Full credit card numbers were not exposed at any time," the OpenAI team wrote Friday. The issue has since been patched for the faulty library which OpenAI identified as the Redis client open-source library, redis-py.

    The company has downplayed the likelihood of such a breach occurring, arguing that either of the following criteria would have to be met to place a user at risk:

    - Open a subscription confirmation email sent on Monday, March 20, between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. Pacific time. Due to the bug, some subscription confirmation emails generated during that window were sent to the wrong users. These emails contained the last four digits of another user’s credit card number, but full credit card numbers did not appear. It’s possible that a small number of subscription confirmation emails might have been incorrectly addressed prior to March 20, although we have not confirmed any instances of this.

    - In ChatGPT, click on “My account,” then “Manage my subscription” between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. Pacific time on Monday, March 20. During this window, another active ChatGPT Plus user’s first and last name, email address, payment address, the last four digits (only) of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date might have been visible. It’s possible that this also could have occurred prior to March 20, although we have not confirmed any instances of this. 

    The company has taken additional steps to prevent this from happening again in the future including adding redundant checks to library calls, "programatically examined our logs to make sure that all messages are only available to the correct user," and "improved logging to identify when this is happening and fully confirm it has stopped." The company says that it has also reached out to alert affected users of the issue.

    This news follows a costly public faux pas committed by Google's rival Bard AI in February when it incorrectly assured Twitter that the JWST was the first telescope to image an exoplanet, as well as revelations that CNET had surreptitiously used generative AI to write financial explainer posts (a week before laying off a sizable chunk of its editorial department). Whether OpenAI will suffer the same market-based repercussions as its competitors remains to be seen. 

    This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-says-a-bug-leaked-sensitive-chatgpt-user-data-165439848.html?src=rss

  • The next game from the makers of ‘Genshin Impact’ arrives in April

    The next game from the makers of Genshin Impact has a release date. Honkai: Star Rail — a turn-based, space-fantasy, tactical RPG — arrives on April 26th. In addition to previously announced PC and mobile availability, developer HoYoverse announced today that a PlayStation (PS5 / PS4) version is coming “later.”

    Although much is unknown about Honkai: Star Rail, we do know it trades in Genshin Impact’s Breath of the Wild type of open-world action for turn-based combat. Based on its trailers, it looks like a visual spectacle with an anime-esque art style and a cast of memorable characters. 

    The story, set in the same universe as Honkai Impact 3rd, follows a protagonist with an implanted Stellaron (mysterious life forms that respond to the world’s desire to advance) on a quest to discover the truth about the “Cancer of All Worlds.” It begins at a tutorial level on Herta Space Station before moving on to snow-covered Jarilo-VI and other diverse worlds.

    The free-to-play game will use gacha (item and character-based loot boxes) for monetization. It’s rated T for Teen and will be available for PC (standalone installation or the Epic Games Store), iOS and Android. That PS5 / PS4 version will arrive at an unknown later date.

    This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-game-from-the-makers-of-genshin-impact-arrives-in-april-165030309.html?src=rss

Shorcode: RSS feeds into WordPress

WP_w3all phpBB WordPress 1.9.7 >

WP_w3all feed version 1.0

check all others shortcodes listed under the “common how” to section

Note that substantially this shortcode can substitute with easy all others old phpBB last topics shortcodes. It can retrieve any kind of posts/topics list and display as more like using style/classes or inline style. Follow read more below …

Note: this shortcode work ok also if a valid path to a phpBB config.php file has not been setup and the plugin result as not activated (RED text) on plugin admin page

Note also that this shortcode as it is coded, like the related WP hook, caches results for 12 hours by default

Look two raw examples

As basic default the shortcode feeds, that can point to a phpBB generated feed OR to any other valid feed resource, need to be used like this:

The example of feed to retrieve is here for phpBB, but it’s possible to use any valid feed URL to display feeds from any resource. Check some feed example to grab here http://simplepie.org/demo/ or any other you want and use into the shortcode like this:

here as example the w3feed_items_num attribute limit to 10 items to retrieve and display from the RSS source:

To display phpBB posts feeds styled, there are some more attribute that is possible to use except the default 2 above explained:

using all together, look this example, that not contain the w3feed_text_words attribute, in which, one possible value to use, is may reserved (may not) to phpBB news/last post RSS, and explained separately more below:

the attribute w3feed_ul_class=”myexampleClassXUL” will assign class name myexampleClassXUL to the wrapper element ul. w3feed_li_class do the same for nested li assigning myexampleClassXLI to all li elements of this feed.

adding w3feed_href_blank=”1″ will cause that links elements <a> that point to topics or links to authors will include/output with the html attribute target=”_blank”

w3feed_inline_style attribute can be used to inject inline style into each li element. Note that by the way it has been tested without using special chars on it, so that special characters may need to be properly escaped to be used in this case.

It’s possible to assign different classes and display each shortcode feeds output, ul and li elements, styled as it need to be or/and as more like.

Here you can see examples for phpBB to retrieve feeds: forums news, all forums, single forum, single topic and more, plus advanced features:

https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.1/kb/article/faq-phpbb-atom-feeds/

The w3feed_text_words=”numOfWords” attribute is may reserved to be used only for phpBB posts feeds, while the 0 (zero) and content values are ok to be used on any other feed, not only phpBB:

0 | num of words | content

if omitted w3feed_text_words=”content” is the default behavior/result, that will return all the content of the post or feed item, changing nothing on output.

while adding an integer value, as example 30, so, w3feed_text_words=”30″ will cause that firsts 30 post’s words will display, and the default Statistics: phpBB text on output removed, while will be maintained all the rest, and the result will be something like:

Post Title
Post Content
Posted by axew3 — Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:04 am

w3feed_text_words=”numOfWords” int value can may also be used for any feed and not only for phpBB posts, but check before that the result is what you expect to be.

Using 0 (zero), so w3feed_text_words=”0″ , will cause that only topic’s titles links will display.

Except the mandatory w3feed_url attribute, any of the attributes can be mixed, applied or not applied, on each shortcode feed.

WordPress phpBB
mChat integration

This procedure assume you installed the wp_w3all WordPress phpBB integration plugin (in linked or not linked users mode) into WordPress, and phpBB mChat into your phpBB. At date of this post, the code as is can be applied by anyone, but this is a raw procedure may easy to be changed by advanced users. Work fine, but to optimize at best for your site, you may have to change something on the little javascript code you’ll add as explained on install steps. You can see the concept and code to apply available here:

WordPress phpBB mChat w3all procedure

See live raw working examples here:

WordPress phpBB mChat integration example

Just a good point to start from, that can be easily improved under any aspect and to fit any needs. Will be upgraded along the time.

phpBB WordPress template integration (iframe v3)

v3 version (for cool people) old v2 version is here

NOTE THAT THIS CODE IS SUITABLE UNTIL 1.9.8 or <

Cool people are actually using version 4:

phpBB WordPress template integration (iframe v4)

THIS IS OLD CODE! REFER TO V4 IFRAME CODE FOR WP_W3ALL 1.9.9 OR >

phpBB WordPress template integration (iframe v4)

PAGE HELP – JS code – UPDATED on 24 Feb 2019
(related views/page-forum.phpupdated on 3 Gen 2019)

/trunk/addons/page-forum.php

phpBB SEO mods compatible

wp_w3all plugin 1.9.4 >

(READ ALL this page)

wp_w3all responsive iframe procedure v3

After you built/create the WP forum template page via option
WP_w3all phpBB embedded on WordPress Template
on WP_w3all admin config page, and the blank page on WordPress Admin -> Pages -> Add New, titled the same of created wp_w3all template page, so forum or board  etc (then you’ll have into your active WordPress template folder a file named page-forum.php or page-board.php etc), to complete the procedure and get the responsive iframe height for the embedded/iframed phpBB into WordPress template page you need:

Open with a text editor your phpBB template file overall_footer.html

and just before the closing </body> tag, add this code (do not select rows numbers on copied code):

after you pasted this code into phpBB overall_footer.html
edit following lines:

change axew3.com to fit your domain name (example axew3.com)
do NOT add http(s):// OR the point in front nor anything else, just add
yourdomain.com or set it as localhost if on localhost test. If phpBB is at subdomain.domain.com, add domain.com as value
(MANDATORY!) or resizer won’t work
now check the other line to change:

change value
https://www.axew3.com/w3/forum
on this line, to point to the URL of the WordPress created/named forum page (do not add final slash and change http or https as needed)
MANDATORY!

Finally, check this line

in the code you added (last line): this should correctly point to the iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js file that you’ll go to add into phpBB root folder. You need to use the absolute URL (use http or https as needed, and adjust the url to fit your needs)
(MANDATORY!) or resizer won’t work

AFTER EDITED, save and load the modified overall_footer.html into your phpBB style folder, overwriting the default one, and so

load through ftp on the phpBB root folder (or copy/paste), the file
iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js
that is contained inside folder
wp/wp-content/plugins/wp-w3all-phpbb-integration/addons/resizer

After this, phpBB require to recompile the template, or modifications to template files not affect (to overall_footer.html in this case). Open phpBB ACP, and so under:

Server Configuration -> Load settings -> Recompile stale style components set to YES and save. Load one time a phpBB full forum page. Leave as is at moment, especially if you follow adding also the code on overall_header.html (more below) to redirect any phpBB direct URL to the iframed WP page: then after tested that all work fine, may return to ACP, and reset to NO and save. This step is needed to load the template modifications on phpBB (and any time you edit a phpBB template file to for modifications take effect), but this option should be ever set to NO into an online/production site to save server resources. It is normally set to yes only for testing/devel purpose or to apply modifications on phpBB templates files.

Notification email links to point to iframe: follow read more below for the pure Javascript solution. Refer to v2 or v1 code for htaccess or js solution editing phpBB notifications files.

The new V3 w3all iframe code do not use anymore htaccess to force redirect as on V1 code, and substantially not rewrite URLs forcing redirect to iframe, but use pure Javascript (reload) code, that as you may imagine, lead to some different result: you’ll not have to edit phpBB notification links on phpBB notification files as on V1 or V2 code, to force users redirect to iframe when they click on notification email link. But in this case, any user except bots, will be redirected (as code is, but it can be easily changed to assume different behaviors, may excluding admins or moderators etc) to the WP iframed page, if the forum accessed via real phpBB url.

To apply same smooth scroll effect as it is on this online example, after finished with this procedure, follow with this steps:

Smooth scroll for phpBB WordPress template integration (iframe v3)



If you want phpBB email notification links or any phpBB direct url to be redirected to wp iframed forum page using pure javascript, follow this step:

Open with a text editor your phpBB template file overall_header.html

and just immediately after this code (or by the way, before the closing tag </head>)

add the following code:

On added code, change URL on the line where (line 3):

to fit/point to the WordPress iframed forum page: DO NOT ADD final slash and setup as http or https as needed.

NOTE: if you added the code above into phpBB overall_header.html then you’ll need to remove or comment out this part by the code you added into the overall_footer.html:

Recompile phpBB template and reset to no the option when changes applied

whenever you want: to get the iframe responsive for ACP phpBB admin panel, read this post. My (personal) suggestion is to stop here and try to use the integration leaving ACP out of iframe joke. If by the way you want to follow, before to apply then you’ll have to little change the above code for overall_footer.html and overall_header.html in this way:

on code for overall_footer.html remove this part:

on code for overall_header.html remove this part:

change into: