[MODDB] Smartfeed for phpBB 3

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:51 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into changing that aspect of the user interface.

Also good news. I finally puzzled through what is likely to be my most puzzling challenge: getting a list of forums a user is allowed to read without using the authentication system. I cannot use the authentication system for reasons I detailed earlier.

I also keep finding little ripples. For example, phpBB allows authentication via database, LDAP or Apache .htaccess. I suspect 99% of installations will do authentication via database, but how do validate LDAP or Apache authentication? If database authentication, you get a md5 hash of the password. I am not sure that it true of LDAP or Apache. For now I am ignoring the problem by triggering a critical error if these authentication mechanisms are used.

As for a French translation, Sylvain Bourdon provided my last translation so he gets first dibs on the translation for this next version. I also have Spanish, Dutch, German and Turkish translations. I hope I can get translations for this version in these languages too at the appropriate time.

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:59 pm

-=ET=- wrote:- IMO, most of the selection options are designed to follow un-viewed topics for a forum user. But if you want to provide a news feed to be displayed on other websites you need to provide a limited number of news. So in "Fetch posts meeting the following criteria:", IMO values like "The 10 last", The 15 last" are missing.

Actually, this feature already exists, but it is obscure. You have to select "Sort by: Post Date/Time". When you do an extra input field suddenly appears and you can use that to limit the number of posts in the feed.

Why did I not do this for the other options, such as User Order? The reason has to do with relational logic. In any other order by selecting the first 10 or 15 items, I won't have a guarantee of what will be returned. So one user could do it and get a different newsfeed than someone else, even if they have identical forum read permissions. Sometimes SQL for all its expressiveness gets in the way.

scott_thewspot · Post by **scott_thewspot** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:15 am

MarkDHamill wrote:I also keep finding little ripples. For example, phpBB allows authentication via database, LDAP ...

Although I will most likely keep database authentication, I had planned to play around with LDAP on my test system, so I may be able to do some testing if/when wanted to look at adding support for it also.

-=ET=- · Post by **-=ET=-** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 3:19 am

MarkDHamill wrote:Actually, this feature already exists, but it is obscure. You have to select "Sort by: Post Date/Time". When you do an extra input field suddenly appears and you can use that to limit the number of posts in the feed.

Ooops, my apologize!

Indeed, you already provide what I suggested so you can cancel my request.
Thanks!

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 3:36 am

No problem, as I said it is pretty obscure!

And actually I was incorrect. It only shows when sorting by post date in descending sequence.

Pabbels · Post by **Pabbels** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:33 am

Hello,
When one can count on a beta version?
I would test the "German" version of the Mod gladly.

Thanks for a reference Pabbels

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:07 pm

Here's the latest status. I'd guess I am 70% to the point where I can release an Alpha version of Smartfeed. The biggest hurdle (getting forum permissions) is behind me. The rest should be reasonably straightforward and I plug away at it in my spare time. I am ignoring the private messaging feature for now. I am also ignoring the bookmarking feature for now, concentrating on basic functionality. Where I am at at the moment is trying to integrate the posts into newsfeeds. I thought it would be easier to maintain if I passed the data to a function that handles that aspect, but it is throwing a few technical challenges at me.

My guess is I am 3-4 weeks away from an Alpha release, but it all depends on what spare time I have, which is not that much. The day job and my other duties suck up most of my time.

I will welcome a German translation at the appropriate time. I have one for the phpBB 2 version. The mod is very popular so I've had a lot of translations.

randulo · Post by **randulo** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:11 pm

MarkDHamill wrote:concentrating on basic functionality.

Thanks so much for the update. I'd be pleased with the basics. Many thousands of us are out here supporting you, and looking forward to seeing a version, I'm sure. Is there a donation button somewhere? Or a favorite charity? I'd be happy to contribute for you. Your mod is the most missed feature on v3 for us!

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:33 pm

randulo, thanks for the kind words.

I monitor traffic on my phpBB services page and typically 40% of my page hits area for my Smartfeed page. I also know that most people probably download directly from phpBB.com or phpBBhacks.com. I am sure Smartfeed has been installed hundreds of time. It could likely be a thousand or more. Although only two years old, in many ways it is more successful (and certainly easier to install) than my Digests mod.

Frankly, I was surprised this functionality wasn't built into phpBB 3. It should have been a no brainer.

It is quite a challenge though since so much has changed. Last night I got the basic functionality (retrieving messages and putting them in a newsfeed) working. This weekend I will be cleaning up that logic, working through validator errors (the feedcreator class has also gone through an upgrade) etc. When that is done the next step is to work through adding bbcode and signature lines. I am hoping there is a function I can use this time around. Since you can add your own bbcode, it is more complex. Then it is on to showing bookmarked topics only, then perhaps integrating private messaging. That may wait for a later release. Ad integration will likely be supported in a future version.

I've never received any Pay Pal donations, but anyone so inclined can send them to mhamill@computer.org. I do make some money in phpBB consulting, and installing my Digest mod has proven quite profitable. I've probably earned at least $1000 doing that for clients. Smartfeed though is simple and kind of runs itself.

Check it out here:

http://potomactavern.org/phpBB3/smartfeed_url.php

If you want log in as "Smartfeed Tester" password "smartfeed". You might need to post something to get a feed, although if you select last 7 days you will see a couple items.

jimwillsher · Post by **jimwillsher** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:06 pm

Mark, please count me in too as one of your supporters!

I miss RSS from PHPBB2. In fact I upgraded to phpbb3 and THEN went looking for it, as I felt 100% certain that an RSS feed would be included by default. I was absolutely amazed to find that it wasn't, given the abundance of RSS feeds and readers these days.

If I can assist in any way then please let me know. I've only a little experience with phpbb code, but I've lots of PHP experience (I developed phpfreenews, if you google for it). Anyway, just an offer of assistance should you need an extra pair of hands.

Jim

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:42 pm

Thanks for the offer, Jim. This is the kind of mod though that is complex enough where by the time you explain it you could have done it yourself.

If you are clever enough to know how to do an admin interface, perhaps you could work on adding the current phpBB 2 version advertising interface to it, to be incorporated into a later release.

Mukke · Post by **Mukke** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:30 pm

I'd love to see this mod working,
i kinda wrote me something myself for now retreived from other mods made for phpbb3 but noone where what i was looking for, atm i just get post from a news forum to put them on my website, but i need a alot more then that; i'll be helping you out once ou post an aplha so there is something to help with

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:23 am

I'm plugging away at it. I think I have solved replicating the "how do I get fancy text into the newsfeed" problem, now that I've found the generate_text_for_display function. It's just a matter of time.

MarkDHamill · Post by **MarkDHamill** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:02 am

I have completed initial unit testing for all features except private messages and global announcements. I have disabled these controls and will implement them sometime later, perhaps after I get feedback from an Alpha test. You can check it out here:

http://potomactavern.org/phpBB3/smartfeed_url.php

If you want to log in log in as "Smartfeed Tester" password "smartfeed". Post what you want, but if you go back 7 days you should see some messages.

Unfortunately I just can't pack it up for Alpha testing quite yet. I need to go through it again carefully and once I am satisfied with that then I need to figure out the new packaging features. With luck I'll have an Alpha to show sometime this weekend, if not probably sometime the following week.

Mukke · Post by **Mukke** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:12 am

too bad, ah well i'll login later today and see if i can get any errors or bugs

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