140 - Create a Joomla! v 1.5 Blog Sidebar Calendar Component

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:10 pm

Hi im Justo, from spain, and i claimed this task:

GHOP wrote:

Create a Joomla! v 1.5 Blog Sidebar Calendar Component
Describe the task.

* Create a Joomla! v 1.5 Blog Calendar navigational tool to retrieve
articles written on a certain date.
* Create a module which can be used to display the calendar in the
template sidebar.
* Site visitors should be able to scroll backward and forward through
months and years.
* The module should allow the site developer to define which sections
and categories are related to the calendar.
* Hyperlinks on the calendar should only appear when there are
published articles for that date.
* When site visitors click a date, a component should present a list of
articles published on that date in descending order by date.
* The list should be similar to how the search component formats search
results. The URLs should also be determined in the same manner.
* The site visitor can click the article link to view the article.

Resources:

* Nice CSS Calendar resources:

# Veerle's Blog
http://veerle.duoh.com/index.php/blog/c ... _calendar/
# For a tableless implementation with some nice tooltips
http://sandbox.mikepurvis.com/css/calendar/em.php

* To install Joomla! on an XAMPP localhost:

# XAMPP - http://www.apachefriends.org
# Download Joomla! - http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1942/302/
# Install Joomla! on a localhost -
http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1947/306/

* Coding resources:

# The core code! :-)
# Plugins - http://forum.joomla.org/index.php?topic=233628
# Model View Controller -
http://dev.joomla.org/component/option, ... orld_mvc1/
# Modules and Components - http://www.jlleblanc.com/blogcategory/0/
# Internationalization -
http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic ... msg1102267

* IRC #joomlaGHOP on freenode

Skills needed

* Knowledge of PHP
* Knowledge of Joomla! v 1.5 Extension Development
* Creativity and problem solving skills.

Difficulty

Advanced
Work Product

* Installable Joomla! v 1.5 extension(s) with internationalization
support.

Licensing

All code must be created using the GNU General Public License version 2.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-license ... .html#SEC4

Documentation written for this task must be made available under the
Joomla! Electronic Documentation License.
Extra Credit (Optional)

1. Register your project at Joomlacode
2. When you are ready to release, submit your extension to the Joomla!
Extensions Directory.

This task can be done very simply, with limited functionality, or, the
developer can create a fully functional environment of some complexity. The
depth of implementation will be the extra credit opportunity for this task.
Time Limit

4 weeks.

Claimed: Dec 11 Due: Jan 13

Google Task

[me=AmyStephen]Changed subject slightly for sorting all threads to match against Google resource

[/me]

jlleblanc · **Posted:** Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:49 pm

Welcome to the contest! Let us know if you need any direction or code help.

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:02 pm

Hi, and thanks for the welcome.
Where can i find some guidelines or sample code on how to create modules for 1.5?
I already tried here (http://www.jlleblanc.com/joomla/Tutoria ... _Tutorial/) but when im installing the module i get this error:

Quote:

Your Extension appears to be written for an older version of Joomla!. You must enable the System - Legacy Plugin in the Plugin Manager if you wish to complete this task.

Thanks,

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:54 pm

It is best to stick with the core code, I think, and model your work after the core developer's work.

You could copy mod_mostread and use it as the "shell" for your own work.

I am very much looking forward to this module and am pleased you selected it!

Good luck in the contest!
Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:47 am

OK, thanks. I modified mod_mostread, and now the module is almost finished. I used the php calendar class (modified it a bit) to show the calendar.
Tomorrow i will do the component to show the articles by date.

Greetings

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:09 am

justo.derivera wrote:

I modified mod_mostread, and now the module is almost finished.

Can't wait! Thanks!
Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:18 am

OK, so the module is almost finished i think, i just need to clean the code a bit $:-\$ , the component is also ready, i just need to make a install package for it.

I used php calendar class (http://www.cascade.org.uk/software/php/calendar/) to output the calendar.
The links in the day go to the component (wich outputs all the articles in that day), and only appear if ther is at least one article published on that day, that is within the allowed sections and categories and that the current user is allowed to see.
The allowed sections and ids are selected in the module manager, there are also some other variables that can be changed (like month names, day names).

I added the internationalization, but i have a problem: i cant set a default value for a variable in the .XML with the language .ini
(This is to change the default month and week names, and the week start day, depending on the country)

I tried this:
in the xml:

Code:

<param name="dayNames" type="text" default="DAYNAMES VALUE" label="DAYNAMES LBL" description="DAYNAMES DESC" />

in the english ini:

Code:

DAYNAMES VALUE=S,M,T,W,F,S

in the spanish ini:

Code:

DAYNAMES VALUE=L,M,X,J,V,S,D

but it didn't worked: in the module manager, the value for day names was DAYNAMES VALUE instead of what i writted on the ini.

I attach the module package, it worked for me on 1.5 RC3. Please give me some feedback.

Thanks!

PS: i will try to package the component this afternoon and post it, now i have to go to school

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:13 pm

Here is the component and the module. I still have to add some things, but it works. Please tell me what you think or if there are any bugs, thanks!

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:44 pm

justo.derivera wrote:

i have a problem: i cant set a default value for a variable in the .XML with the language .ini
(This is to change the default month and week names, and the week start day, depending on the country)

I tried this:
in the xml:

Code:

<param name="dayNames" type="text" default="DAYNAMES VALUE" label="DAYNAMES LBL" description="DAYNAMES DESC" />

in the english ini:

Code:

DAYNAMES VALUE=S,M,T,W,F,S

in the spanish ini:

Code:

DAYNAMES VALUE=L,M,X,J,V,S,D

but it didn't worked: in the module manager, the value for day names was DAYNAMES VALUE instead of what i writted on the ini.

nevermind about that, instead of setting day names, month names and start day as variables to change in the module manager, I take the values directly from the language ini:

Code:

   $language=& JFactory::getLanguage();
   $language->load( 'mod_content_calendar' );
   
   $cal->dayNames = split(',',$language->_('VALUEDAYNAMES'));
          $cal->monthNames = split(',',$language->_('VALUEMONTHNAMES'));
   $cal->startDay = $language->_('VALUESTARTDAY');

but now i have a problem with the calendar stylesheet, if i write

Code:

a.calendar{
   text-decoration: underline;
   }

and the links are like

Code:

the links in the calendar arent underlined, but if i write in the stylesheet something like:

Code:

a.calendar{
   background-color: #FFFFFF;
   }

it shows the white background in the links.
Anyone knows what is happening?

Thanks!

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:50 pm

I attach the latest version. Added:

Now the links of each day have a title with the number of articles published on that day. (i.e.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Last edited by justo.derivera on Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:34 am

Ok. First, confession time.

For several months, I have been collecting a list of really cool stuff I would LOVE to see turned into Joomla! extensions. When I was able to suggest tasks for this contest, I pulled out my list. Now, it feels like I am getting some pretty amazing holiday gifts!
THIS one has been on my WISH LIST for awhile! So, sincere thanks to you!!! :-*

This is a very, very important missing extension from the Joomla! library. It is amazing what you have accomplished in a short period of time.

+++

You did it perfectly. Hyperlinks on the days with articles. None without. Love the link to the entire month of articles. It's a menu, of sorts.

Suggestion: Change background-color to white (#FFFFFF). That ought to work nice for most people (and, trust me, most will not know what to do if it doesn't look good with their template.)

Error: When you click on the date or the month, it shows the prior date, or the prior month in the heading of the component.

es-ES language also included in en-GB folder.

Wish list (this would give you the "opportunity" to build an administrative component piece)-
- ability to show or hide section/content labels beneath the title;
- ability to show or hide intro text, author name, date published;
- pagination (can you steal from view/search/tmpl/default_results.php?);
- Page title (off, Date only, Date and # of results).

Of course, you'll want to do a bit of cleanup - remove the HelloWorld stuff, etc.

++++

This extension has obviously had some loving care poured into it. You put some effort in this, didn't you? Were you late to school that day (above)? Do you like this? Is it fun? You are very, very good at developing. I hope you get some satisfaction knowing this will be used by many thousands of people all over the world. You are a big part of that, as are the others who contributed code towards this - but you pulled it together for the Joomla! community. As a member of this community who *will* benefit from *your* efforts: thank you!

I look forward to your response.
Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:35 pm

AmyStephen wrote:

Suggestion: Change background-color to white (#FFFFFF). That ought to work nice for most people (and, trust me, most will not know what to do if it doesn't look good with their template.)

Error: When you click on the date or the month, it shows the prior date, or the prior month in the heading of the component.

es-ES language also included in en-GB folder.

the error was a bug on

Code:

$date->toFormat($dateFormat);

if the date is for example 2007/12/02 it will correctly output "December 2007"
but if the day is 01 (2007/12/01) it will output "November 2007"
(i dont really know if this is a bug of the toFormat function or of the format that i set)
to fix that i set the day to 02 instead of 01 to get the month

AmyStephen wrote:

Wish list (this would give you the "opportunity" to build an administrative component piece)-
- ability to show or hide section/content labels beneath the title;
- ability to show or hide intro text, author name, date published;
- pagination (can you steal from view/search/tmpl/default_results.php?);
- Page title (off, Date only, Date and # of results).

Nice idea, i'll work on that.

AmyStephen wrote:

++++

This extension has obviously had some loving care poured into it. You put some effort in this, didn't you? Were you late to school that day (above)? Do you like this? Is it fun? You are very, very good at developing. I hope you get some satisfaction knowing this will be used by many thousands of people all over the world. You are a big part of that, as are the others who contributed code towards this - but you pulled it together for the Joomla! community. As a member of this community who *will* benefit from *your* efforts: thank you!

It is being very fun to develop this (altough it was a bit tough at the begining). And it's great to contribute to the open source community, and make something useful.
Thanks for the the support!

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:56 pm

Hi, I have added a cool functionality to the calendar: now when the user clicks the arrows to change the month it doesn't reloads the page, instead, the calendar is updated via javascript (using XmlHttpRequest). I tested it with opera, firefox and ie 7, and worked fine. Also, if javascript is disabled the arrow links will work like they did before (so the calendar will also work in text browsers and such).

I didn't have time to make the customization changes to the component (had to study an exam

), but i will work on that now.

I attach the new version of the module.

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:27 pm

Like where you are going with that. It's a little slow - at first, I thought it wasn't working and I was clicking it over and over - some of that may be my machine which has been used and abused. But, if there are performance improvements to make, that would be good.

The idea is EXCELLENT - why reload the page if you don't have to.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful extension - I love it! :-*

Thank you for taking this task and digging into it so it's the best blogger calendar around. Love your attention to detail.

Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:14 pm

Well, I added this: when the calendar is changing month, it displays a loading image and the text "Loading...", that way the user will know what is happening. Anyway, I will try to optimize the charge times.

Also, I thought it will be nice to make an admin option to display a list of articles published by month and year (like this for example: http://lacarteleradetwister.blogspot.com/ (scroll down, where it says "Todas las Películas")), instead of the normal calendar. That would make the module much more complete, so if the admin wants to change the type of the calendar, he doesn't have to install another module. I think it wouldn't be very hard to develop, and it could be fun. What do you think?

I have to go to the dentist now ( :s ), Goodbye!

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:24 pm

justo.derivera wrote:

That would make the module much more complete, so if the admin wants to change the type of the calendar, he doesn't have to install another module. I think it wouldn't be very hard to develop, and it could be fun. What do you think?

I think you are a perfect hacker. That's what I think.

You are going well beyond expectation. But, you are not even suggesting this is done. You are finding ways to improve it. Then, when you consider the work involved in completing these new plans, you say it should not be very hard - and "it could be fun."

I think you are a perfect hacker. And, I think many people all around the world will benefit for years to come from the knowledge and skill you are sharing.

This is already an amazing extension. But, yes, I think having different options for a calendar is a great idea.

Thank you for taking a Joomla! task - especially for taking this one.
Amy

Hope your dental appointment went smoothly!

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:46 pm

AmyStephen wrote:

justo.derivera wrote:

That would make the module much more complete, so if the admin wants to change the type of the calendar, he doesn't have to install another module. I think it wouldn't be very hard to develop, and it could be fun. What do you think?

I think you are a perfect hacker. That's what I think.

You are going well beyond expectation. But, you are not even suggesting this is done. You are finding ways to improve it. Then, when you consider the work involved in completing these new plans, you say it should not be very hard - and "it could be fun."

I think you are a perfect hacker. And, I think many people all around the world will benefit for years to come from the knowledge and skill you are sharing.

This is already an amazing extension. But, yes, I think having different options for a calendar is a great idea.

Thank you for taking a Joomla! task - especially for taking this one.
Amy

Hope your dental appointment went smoothly!

I can only say Thanks a lot!!. Also, the dental appointment went great: they took off my dental braces

.

I attach a new version of the component and module. This is what I added:
-Now when you are reading an article (with com_content), the calendar displayed by the content calendar module will have the date of that article, and the day of that article highlighted.
-Improved the "ajax" function of the calendar to load faster.
-I added an admin section for the component that sets the preferences for both the component and the module. In this section there is a "live preview" link done with javascript/ajax that loads the calendar and the component displaying an example result. That way, if you are editing the prefernces you will just have to click "reload preview" to see the effect of the changes.
I think that's all!

Oh, and I have a problem in the admin component: how can I load the defaults stylesheets of the normal webpage? (index.php), i need this for the preview.

Cheers

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Sun Dec 23, 2007 7:20 pm

Justo -

My apologies for the delay. We are really overwhelmed with the amazing response of this contest.

I had success on my localhost - but not on my server - with this latest component/module.

I absolutely love the options in the component and the preview. It's very nice (on the machine it worked on!)

++++

Internet accessible Server (Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) PHP/5.2.4)

When I go to the Content Calendar components page in the backend administrator, I get these three errors:

Quote:

Notice: Undefined variable: year in D:\VirtualWebsites\JoomlaPlace\JoomlaGHOP\administrator\components\com_contentcalendar\views\contentcalendar\view.html.php on line 25

Notice: Undefined variable: month in D:\VirtualWebsites\JoomlaPlace\JoomlaGHOP\administrator\components\com_contentcalendar\views\contentcalendar\view.html.php on line 25

Notice: Undefined variable: day in D:\VirtualWebsites\JoomlaPlace\JoomlaGHOP\administrator\components\com_contentcalendar\views\contentcalendar\view.html.php on line 25

On the frontend, when the module is enabled and shown, I get this error message once for each day of the month:

Quote:

Notice: Undefined index: 20071231 in D:\VirtualWebsites\JoomlaPlace\JoomlaGHOP\modules\mod_content_calendar\helper.php on line 170

++++

Localhost (Apache/2.2.4 (Win32) DAV/2 mod_ssl/2.2.4 OpenSSL/0.9.8e mod_autoindex_color PHP/5.2.3):

Component - Content Calendar did not have these errors

++++

Other:
Preferences is misspelled, but perhaps more importantly, parameters is probably what is meant.

Quote:

Change the preferences in the preferneces button, and click preview to see the result.

++++

Would recommend removing "text-decoration: underline; " from links, instead let the template linking be used. (The component preview does not show underlining, wonder if it's using the same CSS?)

++++

The number of items per pages is working, but the scrolling does not appear to work for the articles when it exceeds the number per page.

I'll look for your next post.

Thanks!
Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:56 pm

Ok, i think i fixed all that errors.

I kept the text-decoration: underline for the links in the calendar (except the ones in the header), because if there is a link in the actual day (wich has the background in blue) and it isn't underlined, it wouldn't be differentiable form the actual day without link.

I have added the article list option, but i have to improve it, adding ajax to load the articles of each month when clicked, instead of loading all the articles at once, to save load times to the server (I didn't had much time these days, so i couldn't add it).

Justo

PS: merry christmas

mcsmom · **Posted:** Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:12 pm

Wow.

Installed great, looks great.

Here are my comments.

1. could the parameters for the module be set in the module so that if we don't have a component menu link we can still have the year and month list display?

2. What does "use globals" mean for the module shows setting for the componet?

3. When clicking on the date, I got the list which had an item i had just created. There was a readmore link displayed but I don't have a read more in the text. When I clicked on the readmore link it took me to the front page.

I agree with Amy that this is awesome.

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:43 pm

mcsmom wrote:

1. could the parameters for the module be set in the module so that if we don't have a component menu link we can still have the year and month list display?

A menu link isn't needed, the parameters are changed in the backend administrator, in components -> content calendar.

mcsmom wrote:

2. What does "use globals" mean for the module shows setting for the componet?

I think I didn't put any setting to "use globals", where does it appear?

mcsmom wrote:

3. When clicking on the date, I got the list which had an item i had just created. There was a readmore link displayed but I don't have a read more in the text. When I clicked on the readmore link it took me to the front page.

The readmore link was displayed because the component displays it in every article by default. I will add an option to only display the readmore link if it's set in the article.

mcsmom wrote:

When I clicked on the readmore link it took me to the front page.

It should work fine... does it happen in every article?

mcsmom wrote:

I agree with Amy that this is awesome.

Thanks

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Tue Dec 25, 2007 9:58 pm

Scrolling works great, except this should not be at the top of the page - only the bottom (and it's at the bottom, correctly.)

Quote:

Page 2 of 4
«StartPrev1234NextEnd»

LOVE the new calendar that lists articles by Year and Date. WOW! For a later release, I would consider adding the option to open or close the article listing when first presented to the end user. But, this is so amazing! You are building something very special.

LOVE the new menu item type where you can drive an article listing from a menu. That is so fabulous and will be very useful to people even if they don't use the module that shows the date. It is a very full functioning menu type all by itself.

Elin is right. (And, I am to blame for this since I suggested this :-[

.) Moving your component configuration options into the module will make this incredibly flexible. Think about this. Since modules can be used any number of times, each with possibly different configurations, this calendar could EASILY be used in a group blog environment. If the configuration is on a module by module basis, each blogger could have their own configuration. I wasn't looking ahead far enough. If you want to do this in a later release, and not for the contest, or not at all, I understand. You have already done so much. But, I do agree with Elin. These configurations are better stored with the module.

The Preview is returning a "500 - View not found [name, type, prefix]: frontpage,html,contentcalendarView" error. But, now that we have talked about the previous, one wonders if this is needed? I don't know. It is nice to see it as a preview, though (it worked last time not certain what changed.)

This one is more powerful than I originally thought. The new menu item type you added, alone, opens the door to many, many, many possibilities. I have given a lot of thought to configuring Joomla! to work like WordPress. This baby makes it possible. I would use this component to create the only menu item of the application that is marked as the "homepage." All articles are in one section / category and they roll across the blog in descending date format. The calendar is used just like a blogger. A second menu to single articles makes possible WordPress's page function.

This component makes a WordPress/Joomla! possible AND if you move the parameters to a module, the blogger can be multi-user functionality.

This is very, very cool. Very cool.
Amy

PS - if you want access to my testing environment to see that preview error, let me know. Thanks for all you are doing.

AmyStephen · **Posted:** Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:55 pm

Justo? How's it going? You are almost done and I love this thing. It shouldn't take much more to finalize it. When you get a chance, please let us know how you are doing.

Thanks!
Amy

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Sun Dec 30, 2007 3:47 am

Hi! I have changed the parameters to the module, so that it can be multi-user.

Also, I have improved the component sql queries so that it just loads the necesary, improved the module css so that it adapts better to any template (still working on this), and fixed some bugs.

I still have to improve the styling of the component.

Sorry for the delay!

Justo

shantanubala · **Joined:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:41 pm **Posts:** 141

Hey! Nice component - Just what I was looking for!

Just to let you know, I'm working on a task which I want to use your component as part of its package. It's a template/kit to make Joomla! kid-friendly

I'll give you credit for the component in a README.txt file inside the project I'm creating.

Just wanted to let you know where your work is going - and to invite you to be part of my effort to make Joomla! easier to use and understand, and hope you keep updating this!

Thanks,
-Shantanu

pmcnamara · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:37 pm

I am trying to install this mod and component and keep getting:

Upload component - Upload Failed
ERROR: Could not find a Joomla! XML setup file in the package.

Upload module - Upload Failed
ERROR: Could not find a Joomla! XML setup file in the package.

When I try to upload the com and mod .zip files ?

justo.derivera · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:08 pm

shantanubala wrote:

Hey! Nice component - Just what I was looking for!

Just to let you know, I'm working on a task which I want to use your component as part of its package. It's a template/kit to make Joomla! kid-friendly

I'll give you credit for the component in a README.txt file inside the project I'm creating.

Just wanted to let you know where your work is going - and to invite you to be part of my effort to make Joomla! easier to use and understand, and hope you keep updating this!

Thanks,
-Shantanu

That's great! If you have any suggestions to improve this, just tell me.
Thanks!

pmcnamara wrote:

I am trying to install this mod and component and keep getting:

Upload component - Upload Failed
ERROR: Could not find a Joomla! XML setup file in the package.

Upload module - Upload Failed
ERROR: Could not find a Joomla! XML setup file in the package.

When I try to upload the com and mod .zip files ?

I don't know what's the problem, I installed fine the module and the component in both 1.5 RC3 and 1.5 RC4.

depresz · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 7:06 pm

shantanubala wrote:

I don't know what's the problem, I installed fine the module and the component in both 1.5 RC3 and 1.5 RC4.

What's wrong? Everything is OK with installation. Both, mod and com are alright!

pmcnamara · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2007 7:07 pm

Ahh.. this is 1.5.. i'm on 1.0.13

Is this backwards compatible ?

shantanubala · **Joined:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:41 pm **Posts:** 141

No. The intention of these tasks is to add to 1.5. That'd probably be the reason why.

I doubt it's backwards compatible especially considering it doesn't install properly for you.

-Shantanu

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140 - Create a Joomla! v 1.5 Blog Sidebar Calendar Component

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