pb_action curiosity

[Troxy]

So, I know there is "home" and "boardindex" for the pb_action, but are there any others? What do they all mean, and where do they apply? Is there a list where I can find these things, or any way I can see what pb_action applies to a page by looking at the source?? I used this in a code before, and it got me really curious as to what else can be done with this magical little thing.

(BTW, I know "boardindex" can be used, but I dont know what it DOES. Any help??)

[Charles Stover]

Check the URL.

support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=programming&action=display&thread=357128

ITT, pb_action = "display";

[SubDevo]

pb_action is a PB variable. It doesn't exactly match the "action=" in the URL.
For example:
support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=programming
pb_action="boardindex" is the above. Your thread listing page.

If you update your header/footer code, the URL on the page will say "action=headersfooters3".
But pb_action will be equal to "admin" (it's the admin panel page)
Using the pb_action is sometimes easier to find out exactly what page you are on.

pb_action="home" will always be "home" if you are on the main page. Even if you logout or do a "mark all boards read". Much more convenient for location checks for some codes.

If you want to play with it, put this in your global header on a test forum and go to different pages of your forum.

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write("<center><b>PB Action = "+pb_action+"</b></center>");
//-->
</script>

Regards,
SubDevo

[Bennett 🚀]

I'm glad Sub showed me the pb_action variable! I hate doing location checks.

[Troxy]

aheehee, I'm gonna have fun with that. I'm a dork yes, but I'm excited. This is gonna let me do stuff I didn't think I could. Thanks for the knowledge SubDevo and iPokemon :]

[Bob]

May 31, 2010 23:37:59 GMT -8 SubDevo said:

pb_action is a PB variable. It doesn't exactly match the "action=" in the URL.
For example:
support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=programming

It actually does. In that particular example the "action=boardindex" is optional and omitted by default. But take a look:

support.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=boardindex&board=programming

Works perfectly.

[Charles Stover]

I'm not iPokemon. >=[

Blast him and his avatar.

[Bennett 🚀]

Tee hee ^.^

[Troxy]

oh, sorry mister Stover!! D: Please accept my most humble of apologies

[Bennett 🚀]

lol, no thanks to me :cry:

[SubDevo]

Jun 1, 2010 10:03:07 GMT -8 Bob said:

May 31, 2010 23:37:59 GMT -8 SubDevo said:

pb_action is a PB variable. It doesn't exactly match the "action=" in the URL.
For example:
support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=programming

It actually does. In that particular example the "action=boardindex" is optional and omitted by default. But take a look:

support.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=boardindex&board=programming

Works perfectly.

I'm not sure if it is actually assumed and removed by default.
I believe the "action=boardindex" is just ignored.
Just like if you add "&type=2" to the end of the URL in your example. It still works. No errors. It is just ignored.
Then again if I change the action to "home", it ignores the "board=" part and does the action.
support.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=home&board=programming
Of course if you put something not understood in for the action it pukes. Click the above! It brings you to the main page, BUT the nav tree still reflects this board! Interesting...

Either way my point was that you don't need to use location.href for everything. It still has it's pros and cons just like ONLY using pb_action. You need to decide which to use based upon the pages your code will be affecting. For some pages, I still prefer to check for the existance of a form name.

The most useful is "home" and "boardindex".
We have all seen this or similar for checking for the main page:
if(location.href.match(/\.com(\/|.+cgi(\?|#.+|\?\w+=home)?)?$/i)){
Now you can just use if(pb_action=="home"){

Regards,
SubDevo

[Charles Stover]

boardindex is assumed. If you try changing it to something else, you either get an error (e.g. action=test) or that page (e.g. action=home).

[Chris]

When did pb_action get added?... and why didn't anyone tell me?!

[Bennett 🚀]

Lol, Proboards is slowly trickling in new features, Chris.

[Michael]

Jun 3, 2010 15:41:46 GMT -8 Bennett 🚀 said:

Lol, Proboards is slowly trickling in new features, Chris.

No. They're testing things!