Seasonal Effects Hub 22.1.0 – User-Selectable Modes
This release introduces a long-requested feature: user-selectable seasonal effects, implemented in a way that is fully compatible with XenForo 2.3.x and safe for live boards.
New: User Seasonal Effects Settings
Users can now choose how seasonal visuals behave on their own account:
Holiday effects (ACP-controlled active holiday)
Weather overlay
Off (disable all seasonal visuals)
The setting is:
Stored per user
Persistent across sessions
Exportable with the add-on
Independent of custom profile fields
A new front-end settings page is available and linked directly from the Account Preferences sidebar.
Admin Control & Overrides
Admins retain full control:
The existing Automatic holiday selection master switch continues to act as a global override.
When automatic holiday selection is enabled, it may override user preferences (by design).
When disabled, user preferences apply cleanly.
This behavior is documented to avoid confusion.
🛠 Technical Notes
Uses a dedicated column on xf_user_option (no profile fields)
No edits to _output or PAGE_CONTAINER
No entity listeners
Fully compatible with XenForo 2.3.7
Template logic is cleanly gated to prevent effect “stickiness” when switching modes
Safe for live upgrades
Upgrade Notes
This is a drop-in update.
Existing installations will continue to behave exactly as before unless admins enable user choice.
No data loss, no schema conflicts.
