This tutorial will allow you to add a widget which displays the currently active staff members on your Forumotion forum. The widget should function for all forum versions, so long as the steps below are followed.


Permissions

To ensure the widget functions properly some permissions should be modified. Go to Administration Panel > Users and Groups > Special rights and locate the Users status display. If you are planning to display this widget for guests, ensure that the viewing permission is set to Guests. Otherwise, choose an option you prefer.


Installing

To install this widget go to Administration Panel > Modules > Forum widgets management and create a new widget.

Widget name(both) : Your choice
Use a table type : Yes
Paste the code below and save :

Code:


<script type="text/javascript">
myStaff = ['Ange Tuteur', 'Ange'];
staff_cache_time = 4*60*1000; // mm*ss*ms;
</script>

<div id="theStaff"></div>
<div id="theContent" style="display:none"></div>
<noscript><div style="color:red;font-size:9px">Functionality of this widget is not possible, as JavaScript is disabled or unsupported.</div></noscript>

<script type="text/javascript">
if (localStorage.staffOn && localStorage.staffEx > +new Date - staff_cache_time) jQuery('#theStaff').html(localStorage.staffOn);
else loadStaff();
function loadStaff() {
  jQuery('#theContent').load('/viewonline #main-content a, a.gen', function() {
    for (i=0; i<myStaff.length; i++) jQuery('#theContent a').filter(function() { return jQuery(this).text() === myStaff[i] }).appendTo('#theStaff').wrap('<div class="myStaff">');
    if (!jQuery('#theStaff .myStaff').length) jQuery('#theStaff').html('No staff online');
    if (window.localStorage) {
      localStorage.staffOn = jQuery('#theStaff').html();
      localStorage.staffEx = +new Date;
    }
  })
}
</script>


Modifications

At the top of the widget are some variables that you should modify.

myStaff = ['Ange Tuteur', 'Ange']; : This is the list of members that you want the widget to display when they're online. Each member must be written exactly as their username, and should be between single or double quotes. Multiple members should be separated by commas, for example : ['Member 1', 'Member 2', 'Member 3', 'Member 4'] and so on...

staff_cache_time = 4*60*1000; : This is used to cache the results to prevent continuous requests when changing pages. The default cache time is 5 minutes, this can be changed if you wish.

.myStaff : This is a class name added to each staff member in the widget. You can use this to modify the names to your liking.


Save your modifications,  drag the widget onto your forum, and you're done !

Questions

questions can be left below if you're having trouble.