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

[pmcnamara]

That's too bad seeing as how no one ever made one of these which worked for Joomla 1.0.x

[AmyStephen]

pmcnamara -

I have an idea! 

Why don't you use this cool video one of our GHOP contestants created that demonstratoes how to install XAMPP and Joomla! v 1.5. Then, take this VERY, VERY uber cool extension and install it and check out how very sweet this new release is.

These contestants are building cool new extensions for this brand new release. Jump in, the waters warm!

Then, if you check it out, please provide some feedback. We absolutely want broad community feedback and encouragement for these amazing contributions. Providing that feedback is the purpose of this forum area.

Thanks! Happy New Year!
Amy

[AmyStephen]

I so love this module and component - it is really great.

Bad news - Justo - when I click the menu item for the component, I get a  404 - An error has occurred - Component Not Found error. Core components and another 3rd party component do work fine - just this one.

My test environment is at 9784.

Is anyone having this trouble, too? Shantanu? depresz? Justo?

It sure seems almost done. The module updates look GREAT!

Sorry!  :P

Amy

[depresz]

Yeah I have this same error. (Karibu)

I probably know why it appears but I am not sure. Don't you think that entire com_contentcalendar dir should exist inside: joomla_root/administrator/components/, not in joomla_root/components/?

Look on address:
http://192.168.1.112/RC4/administrator/index.php?option=com_contentcalendar

When I moved directory to admin, 404 message became unvisible. Instead this, now I can see another message:

Fatal error: Class 'JSite' not found in /var/www/RC4/administrator/components/com_contentcalendar/views/contentcalendar/view.html.php on line 44

In back-end is unavailable to require JSite function?: http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-d ... 1fb0aa9569

As I said, I don't know that I am on right way, but my intuition say me that if something works even with error, is better than something what doesn't work.

EDIT: Ooo: when I removed directory views from com_contentcalendar (in back-end) I noticed following message:

500 - An error has occurred
View not found [name, type, prefix]: contentcalendar,html,contentcalendarView

So everything have to be into back-en (administrator)

Cheers,
depresz

[justo.derivera]

Hi! Happy new year to everyone

I fixed that error, now the admin component displays a text saying how to set the parameters in the module etc.
Also, I made the component compatible with the content plugins. I tested it with a comments plugin (yvcomments) and it worked great!.

Now I will add more options to the parameters and maybe adding an edit button and email/pdf/print buttons (just like the content component).

I changed the name to Blog Calendar, to express better it's function, and registered it to joomlacode.org: http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/blog_calendar/

[AmyStephen]

Yea! So glad you tested it with yvcomments since that was next on my list!

Love your ideas on making it more like com content, too, with the pdf and edit buttons, etc.

+++

The Title for the Menu Item doesn't seem to work.

The Title for the Module prints the date twice - once as a title, and once beneath.

+++

I would make the title dates (ex. Thursday 03 January 2008 and Thursday 20 December 2007) an H3 heading.

+++

Scrolling works great.

+++

You are very close. It's awesome. REALLY awesome!

Amy

[justo.derivera]

Hello,
I'm sorry for the delay, i took a short break these days

Anyway, I have been coding today and I have added this:
-Edit, mail, pdf, print buttons.
-More parameters.
-Changed the display style, now it looks more like the content component.
-Fixed this:

+++

The Title for the Menu Item doesn't seem to work.

The Title for the Module prints the date twice - once as a title, and once beneath.

+++

I would make the title dates (ex. Thursday 03 January 2008 and Thursday 20 December 2007) an H3 heading.

+++

To do:
-Fix the hour offset bug in the component.
-Add an option in each parameter to use globals (use the values of the content component).
-Fix the styling of the year/month list, because it gets displaced with certain templates.
-Write a document explaining how to install and use this package.

Justo

[AmyStephen]

Glad to see you back, Justo. Wonderful work you are doing.

Amy

[justo.derivera]

OK, i fixed the offsite bug, added the use globals options, and fixed a style problem of the calendar.

[justo.derivera]

Hello, I think I have the final version. I added:
-Option to show modified date
-Option to show full text
-Options to customize the drop-down list. Now you can select what sublevels it will have (years, months, article titles).
  Here are some examples of this:
 
  Years, months, and article titles


  Months and article titles


  Only months


  Only years


Also, I fixed the style of the list to work right on any template.

Could this be the final version? Is there something I should add/change ?

Justo

EDIT: I have cleaned the code and added a few more comments
EDIT: Fixed an error in the calendar links and fixed the component not displaying 'No articles published on' when there were no articles.

[mcsmom]

I have error reporting on maximum. Here are somethings I see with the module:


In hte module, when I just install it and enable it, I get this on the front page:


Notice: Undefined variable: calendar in /home/xxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/tmpl/default.php on line 23


When I enter arbitrary numbers for section and category it goes a little crazy.

With real numbers I get the calendar but also:
Notice: Undefined variable: catCondition in /home/xxxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 173

And sometimes i get this:

otice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/xxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 88

Notice: Undefined variable: catCondition in /home/xxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 173

Notice: Undefined variable: counter in /home/xxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 58

Notice: Undefined index: 20061009 in /home/xxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 58

Notice: Undefined index: 20061012 in /home/xxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 58

Notice: Undefined index: 20061001 in /home/rxxxx/public_html/testpackage/modules/mod_blog_calendar/helper.php on line 232


With lower error tolerance all looks great however. Still, you might want to check these out.



Very cool and nice looking.

[justo.derivera]

Thanks for the info, i fixed all those errors, and an error in all the foreach bucles that affected to the article listing (the introtext not displaying, read more links not working...) in some PHP versions.

-I improved the loading effect, using mootools. Now the "Loading..." text and the image appears in the middle of the calendar, and the calendar fades away and then fades in when loaded.

-Added a few more options to the module (selecting first day of the week, length of the abreviation of the days, and show or hide icons).

-Added a file editor in the admin component so that editing the style of the calendar is much easier. And I wrote a css example based on the calendar of the Veerle's Blog (http://veerle.duoh.com/index.php/blog/c ... _calendar/)

Here is the result:


I'm working on more templates for the calendar, and will post them in the wiki of the project (http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/blog_calendar/wiki/), where i'm writing al the documentation and install guides.

Oh, I have a question: How can I host images at joomlacode? I need them for the documentation.

Thanks!

[AmyStephen]

Yes, yes, yes, very pretty! I love that one!

I've been testing with this for a few days. I plan to use it A LOT (thank you very much!)

A couple of things I noticed:

1. When I click the previous for month, it doesn't always navigate to the previous month.

2. When it goes to the previous month, it doesn't always start with the first day of activity.

I am now going to load it on my local host to get a better handle on what I am seeing.

This is a great effort and will certainly be a big hit for Joomla!.

Talk soon,
Amy

[justo.derivera]

1. When I click the previous for month, it doesn't always navigate to the previous month.

2. When it goes to the previous month, it doesn't always start with the first day of activity.

Could you please provide some more information? What conditions causes the previous month arrow of the calendar not to work? (It happens in the home page, when viewing an article listing...?).
I can't get to reproduce this error, but I'm looking at the code to see if I can find the problem.

Thanks

[AmyStephen]

Love the CSS editor you added - that is fabulous. And, the link out to the wiki for help - NICE.

++

Thanks for adding the CSS for Veerle's calendar. I think it might be easier if you included the image in the module image file and went ahead and updated the CSS for that location modules/mod_blog_calendar/img/bg_calendar.gif -- might save you tons of questions later. (Yes, it should be easy to do - but, I don't know where you'd store the image anyway - and if you include it in the package, might as well get the CSS ready). (just my opinion.)

+++

Every time I see this, it just gets richer and richer and richer. More and MORE options.

+++

On the calendar issue -

When I press the < for the previous month, the calendar changes, but the month of blog entries does not change until I click the name of the month. 

I just realized, though, that it is showing the month correctly. I was expecting the first day of the month, then the 2nd, etc., but it's organizing in descending order. So, that part is working perfectly.

As is the menu item - the module - all of the various options (and there is a TON) - the dates are linked correctly. Clicking on them brings back the right articles.

This is so very nice, I love spending time with it and clicking on it and using it. I LOVE IT.

Go http://joomlaplace.org/blog . Then, click on the < arrow by January to go to December. The month doesn't change.

This is certainly ready for use. I recommend that one fix/change - where the < changes months. I'd also recommend including the image for the 2nd CSS file - and including the path in the CSS.

Other than that, I absolutely accept this as complete. And nicely, nicely, nicely done all the way around - documentation - code - interface - this is well considered.

Amy

[justo.derivera]

Love the CSS editor you added - that is fabulous. And, the link out to the wiki for help - NICE.

++

Thanks for adding the CSS for Veerle's calendar. I think it might be easier if you included the image in the module image file and went ahead and updated the CSS for that location modules/mod_blog_calendar/img/bg_calendar.gif -- might save you tons of questions later. (Yes, it should be easy to do - but, I don't know where you'd store the image anyway - and if you include it in the package, might as well get the CSS ready). (just my opinion.)

+++

Good idea, I'll do it

When I press the < for the previous month, the calendar changes, but the month of blog entries does not change until I click the name of the month.

This is because the page doesn't reload, just the calendar (using javascript/ajax). That way the user can navigate through the calendar quick and click the month or day he wants. Maybe I should add an "Older entries" or "Previous month" link in the article listing.

And what do you think about displaying "Articles published on"? Do you think it would be better to display "Blog entries on" or something like that? And maybe letting the admin to change it in the module preferences.

Thanks for the feedback

[AmyStephen]

I've just been looking through your code and admiring your work.

I see what you are saying on the calendar -- being able to quickly locate the date without reloading the page, first. I had to think on that for awhile. For those of us accustomed to this type of navigation because of WordPress, that is a foreign concept. But, I do remember being frustrated when I had to go a few months back - and wait for each page to reload. It will be interesting to see what type of feedback you get from your end user community. Will they see this as an error? Or, the well considered feature that it is?

Regarding captions - I am a complete minimalistic when it comes to titles. I don't want any - nothing that says "January" or a specific date or anything. Just roll the blogs for me. I imagine others will feel differently.

Given the way that you have adapted to the Joomla! architecture, I am planning to use template overrides and will hack a bit to get the look I want. Given what the J! developers and you have given me, it will be a real pleasure doing so.

Justo - whenever you want this signed off, post a link on your Google page to your JoomlaCode location. We don't have more space to upload on Google at this point - but - they did indicate links will be fine.

The community will benefit from your work. One characteristic that you have that will serve you well is focused excellence. You have demonstrated ability to zone in on one task and make it as complete and functional and flexible as possible. This was a task where you had to create both a component and module that shared data.

Your extension drives a website with links, a challenging area of development. You brought in advanced technology with Ajax and did so correctly. You also provided an attractive result - sometimes developers are not able to easily consider appearance, in addition to logic. Also, you provided documentation to help your end users. Every aspect of what you had to accomplish - the big picture - was taken care of in your work.

You are thorough and dedicated and intelligent and we are going to very much enjoy and use your calendar! I hope you continue developing with Joomla! and even, following the contest, consider staying involved with us.

Thank you very much for this. That is a personal thank you, in addition to thanks on behalf of the community. This has been on my wish list for awhile and I love it so much!

Amy

[MiCCAS]

I get an error:

JInstaller::install: The language file 'es-ES/es-ES.com_blog_calendar.ini' could not be installed because the Administrator language package for 'es-ES' has not been installed or does not exist.

Not sure if that helps, I'm looking into the component further.. looks promising!

[MiCCAS]

A suggestion,

What about having an option to only show items from particular sections/categories?

[AmyStephen]

Michael -

That first message is an informational message. It's letting us know that the extension has a language - Spanish - that we could use - except - we don't have the Spanish Language Administrator pack installed. So, that's not an error, just a warning. It is a bit confusing and we could continue to improve the usability of that message. As the language issues all start coming together, I look for that to become more clear.

And actually, your second question helps to highlight how well considered this extension is. Amongst the MANY options he allows, one is specifying which sections and categories are desired. That is true both for his module (the calendar and the list) but also for the menu item type - component that he provided, as well.

Some very serious thought went into this. Every piece was well designed, carefully constructed and tested completely. This is *excellent* work. Way more than I hoped for!

Amy

[MiCCAS]

Michael -

That first message is an informational message. It's letting us know that the extension has a language - Spanish - that we could use - except - we don't have the Spanish Language Administrator pack installed. So, that's not an error, just a warning. It is a bit confusing and we could continue to improve the usability of that message. As the language issues all start coming together, I look for that to become more clear.

And actually, your second question helps to highlight how well considered this extension is. Amongst the MANY options he allows, one is specifying which sections and categories are desired. That is true both for his module (the calendar and the list) but also for the menu item type - component that he provided, as well.

Some very serious thought went into this. Every piece was well designed, carefully constructed and tested completely. This is *excellent* work. Way more than I hoped for!

Amy

Really? Where abouts if I might ask.

I must say, you've done an awesome job thought.. it looks amazing

[AmyStephen]

If you edit the module manager, on the right side are an extensive list of parameters, one of which is the section - and also one for the categories - you want included.



The same is also true for menu items.

Hope that helps!
Amy

[MiCCAS]

If you edit the module manager, on the right side are an extensive list of parameters, one of which is the section - and also one for the categories - you want included.



The same is also true for menu items.

Hope that helps!
Amy

OHH I'm officially blind!

You might want to mention that in the components admin page, just a suggestion.. although most people won't be as dumb as me and forget to look in the Modules area :P

Well done, looks brilliant!

[AmyStephen]

Well, it isn't in the components admin page for a reason.

He doesn't want to restrict the component to certain categories and sections - only the use of the component and module.

So - every time you use it - THEN - you say if you want to restrict it. If you use the component as a menu item, that is where you tell it to restrict to certain sections/categories. To see that, create a new menu item, then select his new Blog Calendar menu type. When you return to the menu editor, you will see these same options that the module offers.

He offers the Administrative Component to update your CSS (the pretty llsts and calendar) or to access his help site. Other than that, the Administrative component has little to do with the calendar itself.

This *is* a complex extension. It's one of the more complicated, that is for certain. But, really easy to use.

[MiCCAS]

Well, it isn't in the components admin page for a reason.

He doesn't want to restrict the component to certain categories and sections - only the use of the component and module.

So - every time you use it - THEN - you say if you want to restrict it. If you use the component as a menu item, that is where you tell it to restrict to certain sections/categories. To see that, create a new menu item, then select his new Blog Calendar menu type. When you return to the menu editor, you will see these same options that the module offers.

He offers the Administrative Component to update your CSS (the pretty llsts and calendar) or to access his help site. Other than that, the Administrative component has little to do with the calendar itself.

This *is* a complex extension. It's one of the more complicated, that is for certain. But, really easy to use.

Now THAT is a smart idea!

His help site keeps saying Permission Denied for me though

Good work though mate.. wow

[AmyStephen]

Justo -

Do you have a JoomlaCode link? Just post that link on your Google task, then, I'll close it, then, claim the next one.

I'll watch EAGERLY for your posts at Google.

Amy

[justo.derivera]

I posted the joomlacode links, it's great to have a new task to work on
Of course, I'm going to continue developing and improving the blog calendar, and writing the documentation. When I have a newbie-proof documentation I will upload the project to the joomla extensions directory.

Thanks so much for the feedback and support!

[eltonjohns]

Are we only talkinf about suff that works on 1.5 or will this apply to later versions as well

[justo.derivera]

Are we only talkinf about suff that works on 1.5 or will this apply to later versions as well

This package will work for any version of Joomla 1.5

[MiCCAS]

Are we only talkinf about suff that works on 1.5 or will this apply to later versions as well

This package will work for any version of Joomla 1.5

This is weird.. I installed this component, but I have found a weird bug...

I click on 27th (which is linked) and it says No articles published on Sunday, 27 January 2008

Yet, I can edit it to say 26 in the url, and it'll say this: Articles published on Saturday, 26 January 2008

Sunday 27 January 2008