Joomla! Documentation - User contributions [en]

Joomla 1.6 UI Development

2010-06-07T13:36:57Z

Snellcode:

I'm posting here a list of the things I'm working on for the administrator interface. If you want to take something on, just put your name next tot he task. You can post patches on the tracker if it's a bug or just email them to me at ron.severdia@joomla.org.

'''Global Items:'''

Visual indicator on table filters to show not default is active

Add grey border to calendar icon/remove 1px CSS border

Check styling of error messages throughout

Make icon for saving order consistent with Save icons elsewhere

Confirm dropdown (not radio buttons) is used for all 3+ options

Add nowrap to required asterisk style

Vertically center lock for checked out items

Add CSS for disabling toolbar icons in areas where they don't apply

More testing on wrapping labels (long words for translations)

'''Control Panel:'''

Reorder status modules

Remove Language Manager & Config icons

'''Components Menu:'''

Reorder Redirect component above Search component

'''All Modal Popups:'''

Language cleanup

Width sizing
(please see http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomla/tracker/?action=TrackerItemEdit&tracker_item_id=20868)

Title/description cleanup

Permission styles (spacing, depth indicators, etc.)

'''Global Configuration:'''

Save & Save/Close icons

Global check-in icon: square checkmark, adjust gradient

'''Toolbars:'''

Redo icons for

Save/Apply

Save & Close

Save & New

Save as Copy

'''User Manager:'''

Add new user, save, save & close, save & new, save as copy

Check in

Extension Manager toolbar icons

Module Manager- duplicate icon

Fix missing colons on top filters

Fix gradient strength in Access Levels header icon

Add depth indicator (mootools accordion nesting?)

Fix Delete icon (right edge of red circle cut off)

Fix level indicator for Access Levels

'''Usability:'''

Resolve menu items submenu

'''Article Permissions Panel:'''

Changing dropdown should use AJAX/JS to calculate Current state image

Edit groups & Reset to Inherit buttons not working

'''Global Configuration/Permissions:'''

Fix description

Add depth indicator (mootools accordion nesting?)

'''Massmail:'''

Fix title

Subject field same length as message field (both wider)

Replace jagged Send E-mail button

Remove Options toolbar button from Massmail?

'''Menu Manager'''

Remove bullets from Modules column, replace with 16x16 module icons

Batch Box- Add boxes around each type of process, make side by side?

Clean up Edit Menu Item Module Assignments modal

Synchronize Select buttons

Hide Basic Options panel for menu items with no basic options

Verify all menu item types have correct panel groupings (correct items in right accordion panels)

'''Category Manager:'''

Missing batch process

Missing Move & Copy icons in toolbar

Remove "Articles" from header

'''Edit Category:'''

Move Language & Note fields to Basic Options panel

'''Article Manager:'''

Remove crud from editor-xtd buttons

Move Language field to Article Options panel

Missing batch process

Missing Move & Copy icons in toolbar

Fix spacing between pagination buttons, consistent size of active/inactive

Align center pagination in IE

'''Media Manager:'''

Center images in boxes (thumbnail view)

Update delete buttons (detail view)

'''Banners:'''

Sticky icon

'''Edit Banner:'''

Move URL above description field and extend width

'''Edit Client:'''

Change to 60/40 layout

'''Edit Contact:'''

Change to 60/40 layout

Fix Contact Form accordion panel

'''Contact Category:'''

New icon

'''Private Message:'''

New Message: Reduce drop shadow on header icon

Change the Change User button to Select User

New button for Send, mark as read, mark as unread

'''Newsfeed Manager:'''

Edit Newsfeed: change header to Edit Newsfeed

Publishing Options: change the Change User button to Select User

Edit Category: Move language dropdown to Basic Options panel

'''Search Manager:'''

Create CSS button for Show Search Results

Style "Gathering Statistics" indicator

'''Weblinks:'''

Weblinks & Weblinks category: fix drop shadow in icon header

Edit Category: Move language dropdown to Basic Options panel

'''Edit Weblink:'''

Change the Change User button to Select User

Change Options panel to Basic Options

Change Metadata panel to Metadata Options

'''Extension Manager:'''

Install: Increase vertical space between forms

Manage: Fix position of filter checkbox, change "folder" column to "Plug-in Type"

Update/Warnings: Increase spacing above so notice is centered

Discover: Consistent style with others, make "discover" an active link

Update/Discover: New toolbar icons for Install,

Change Purge Cache to Clear Cache in toolbars

'''Module Manager:'''

New Duplicate Icon

'''Template Manager:'''

New icon for Assigned

Update icon & screenshot for BlueStork

'''Language Manager:'''

Change Filter Type to Filter Location

Reduce width of Search box, change to Filter

'''Plug-in Manager:'''

Fix layout of OpenID Basic options panel

TinyMCE- Clean up Basic Options panel, remove HR tags

System - Debug- Fix Language Options panel

User-Contact Creator: Fix Basic Options panel

'''IE Fixes:'''

Fix left edge of header lines

Global Config/System Info not showing tab on load (error on JS)

Fix white pace outside of fieldset at top

Adjust width of ordering fields in Access Levels, Article Manager, etc.

Edit Menu Item: Change Secure in Metadata Options to dropdown

Admin login page: left align dropdown with other fields

Remove outlines on clicking

Media Manager: remove scrollbars (adjust cell widths)

Joomla 1.6 UI Development

2010-06-07T13:36:25Z

Snellcode:

I'm posting here a list of the things I'm working on for the administrator interface. If you want to take something on, just put your name next tot he task. You can post patches on the tracker if it's a bug or just email them to me at ron.severdia@joomla.org.

'''Global Items:'''

Visual indicator on table filters to show not default is active

Add grey border to calendar icon/remove 1px CSS border

Check styling of error messages throughout

Make icon for saving order consistent with Save icons elsewhere

Confirm dropdown (not radio buttons) is used for all 3+ options

Add nowrap to required asterisk style

Vertically center lock for checked out items

Add CSS for disabling toolbar icons in areas where they don't apply

More testing on wrapping labels (long words for translations)

'''Control Panel:'''

Reorder status modules

Remove Language Manager & Config icons

'''Components Menu:'''

Reorder Redirect component above Search component

'''All Modal Popups:'''

Language cleanup

Width sizing
please see http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomla/tracker/?action=TrackerItemEdit&tracker_item_id=20868

Title/description cleanup

Permission styles (spacing, depth indicators, etc.)

'''Global Configuration:'''

Save & Save/Close icons

Global check-in icon: square checkmark, adjust gradient

'''Toolbars:'''

Redo icons for

Save/Apply

Save & Close

Save & New

Save as Copy

'''User Manager:'''

Add new user, save, save & close, save & new, save as copy

Check in

Extension Manager toolbar icons

Module Manager- duplicate icon

Fix missing colons on top filters

Fix gradient strength in Access Levels header icon

Add depth indicator (mootools accordion nesting?)

Fix Delete icon (right edge of red circle cut off)

Fix level indicator for Access Levels

'''Usability:'''

Resolve menu items submenu

'''Article Permissions Panel:'''

Changing dropdown should use AJAX/JS to calculate Current state image

Edit groups & Reset to Inherit buttons not working

'''Global Configuration/Permissions:'''

Fix description

Add depth indicator (mootools accordion nesting?)

'''Massmail:'''

Fix title

Subject field same length as message field (both wider)

Replace jagged Send E-mail button

Remove Options toolbar button from Massmail?

'''Menu Manager'''

Remove bullets from Modules column, replace with 16x16 module icons

Batch Box- Add boxes around each type of process, make side by side?

Clean up Edit Menu Item Module Assignments modal

Synchronize Select buttons

Hide Basic Options panel for menu items with no basic options

Verify all menu item types have correct panel groupings (correct items in right accordion panels)

'''Category Manager:'''

Missing batch process

Missing Move & Copy icons in toolbar

Remove "Articles" from header

'''Edit Category:'''

Move Language & Note fields to Basic Options panel

'''Article Manager:'''

Remove crud from editor-xtd buttons

Move Language field to Article Options panel

Missing batch process

Missing Move & Copy icons in toolbar

Fix spacing between pagination buttons, consistent size of active/inactive

Align center pagination in IE

'''Media Manager:'''

Center images in boxes (thumbnail view)

Update delete buttons (detail view)

'''Banners:'''

Sticky icon

'''Edit Banner:'''

Move URL above description field and extend width

'''Edit Client:'''

Change to 60/40 layout

'''Edit Contact:'''

Change to 60/40 layout

Fix Contact Form accordion panel

'''Contact Category:'''

New icon

'''Private Message:'''

New Message: Reduce drop shadow on header icon

Change the Change User button to Select User

New button for Send, mark as read, mark as unread

'''Newsfeed Manager:'''

Edit Newsfeed: change header to Edit Newsfeed

Publishing Options: change the Change User button to Select User

Edit Category: Move language dropdown to Basic Options panel

'''Search Manager:'''

Create CSS button for Show Search Results

Style "Gathering Statistics" indicator

'''Weblinks:'''

Weblinks & Weblinks category: fix drop shadow in icon header

Edit Category: Move language dropdown to Basic Options panel

'''Edit Weblink:'''

Change the Change User button to Select User

Change Options panel to Basic Options

Change Metadata panel to Metadata Options

'''Extension Manager:'''

Install: Increase vertical space between forms

Manage: Fix position of filter checkbox, change "folder" column to "Plug-in Type"

Update/Warnings: Increase spacing above so notice is centered

Discover: Consistent style with others, make "discover" an active link

Update/Discover: New toolbar icons for Install,

Change Purge Cache to Clear Cache in toolbars

'''Module Manager:'''

New Duplicate Icon

'''Template Manager:'''

New icon for Assigned

Update icon & screenshot for BlueStork

'''Language Manager:'''

Change Filter Type to Filter Location

Reduce width of Search box, change to Filter

'''Plug-in Manager:'''

Fix layout of OpenID Basic options panel

TinyMCE- Clean up Basic Options panel, remove HR tags

System - Debug- Fix Language Options panel

User-Contact Creator: Fix Basic Options panel

'''IE Fixes:'''

Fix left edge of header lines

Global Config/System Info not showing tab on load (error on JS)

Fix white pace outside of fieldset at top

Adjust width of ordering fields in Access Levels, Article Manager, etc.

Edit Menu Item: Change Secure in Metadata Options to dropdown

Admin login page: left align dropdown with other fields

Remove outlines on clicking

Media Manager: remove scrollbars (adjust cell widths)

Bug Squad Tracker Team

2010-05-29T21:30:06Z

Snellcode: /* Confirmed and Pending */

Suggestions about how to work in the tracker.

The purpose of the tracker team is mainly to help move new "Open" issues into other statuses.

It is also to keep the tracker well organized and useful for everyone.

You can help make this happen with just 15 minutes of work.

===Open Issues===

The easiest thing to do is to filter the tracker for open items. Sort by open date either ascending (to see the oldest items) or descending to see the newest items).

Just pick an issue and see if you can move it into one of the other statuses. If you don't understand the issue or aren't sure you do, ask in the IRC or on the mailing list.

===Information Required===

It's important to follow up on issues with the status of information required. If you sort by modified date descending you will find the information required issues that have changed. Read the information and decide what status to make them or if more information is needed. If there is no response to an information request for more than two weeks, you may close the issue making a note of this.

===Confirmed and Pending===

Although these are not the main focus of the tracker team sometimes you may want to look at older confirmed and pending issues to see if the issue still exists in the trunk. You can also ask the poster something like "does this issue still exist?" if you are not sure how to check it.

J1.5:Creating a search plugin

2009-06-09T20:25:17Z

Snellcode: /* PHP file */

{{review}}
[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plugins]]
==Description==
This document is about how to create a Search Plugin. You can use a Search Plugin to search through the database of your Joomla! site. To create a plugin, you will at least need two files; an XML file and a PHP file. For internationalization it is good to create an INI file as well.

==XML file==
The XML file is named the same as the PHP file, and is one of the two required files.
Always start off with the XML tag and define that it is written in a UTF-8 format.
<source lang="xml"><?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC
"-//Joomla! 1.5//DTD plugin 1.0//EN" "http://dev.joomla.org/xml/1.5/plugin-install.dtd"></source>
To define that the plugin has to be a search plugin, add this line:
<source lang="xml"><install version="1.5" type="plugin" group="search"></source>
The type will define it is a plugin, the group defines the Plugin is in the group of search plugins.

After that, add some information about yourself and the plugin, like this:
<source lang="xml">
<name>Name of your search plugin</name>
<creationDate>Creation date</creationDate>
<author>Your name</author>
<authorEmail>Your e-mail address</authorEmail>
<authorUrl>Your website</authorUrl>
<copyright>Copyright information</copyright>
<license>License, for example GNU/GPL</license>
<version>Version of the plugin</version>
<description>Description of the plugin; showed during installation and when editing
the plugin in the Plugin Manager</description></source>
And now, include your PHP file to the Search Plugin. The name of this file should be the same as the name of this XML file. Put this name also behind the plugin="" part.

You could also add more files for your plugin, for example an image. Just add another row between <files> and </file>, and then place the file between <filename> tags.
<source lang="xml">
<files>
<filename plugin="nameofplugin">nameofplugin.php</filename>
</files></source>

For the internationalization, we will use language files. This is not required, but people from other countries will love it they can easily translate your plugin to their own language.
The language tags can be found here: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes] (use the ISO 639-1 column) and here: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2#Officially_assigned_code_elements]
<source lang="xml">
<languages>
<language tag="en-GB">language/en-GB/en-GB.plg_search_nameofplugin.ini</language>
</languages></source>
Optionally, you could add some parameters to the plugin. These will look like this:
<source lang="xml">
<params>
<param name="paramname" type="typeofparameter" default="defaultsetting" label="title" description="description"/>
</params></source>
*'''Param name:''' The name of the parameter. You will need this when creating the PHP file.
*'''Param type:''' You could choose between several types of parameters. Look at this document to learn something about the different types: [http://docs.joomla.org/Using_the_core_parameter_types]
*'''Param default:''' The default setting for this parameter.
*'''Param label:''' The name of this parameter displayed in the edit screen of this plugin in the Plugin Manager.
*'''Param description:''' The text which appears as a tool tip for this parameter.

And do not forget to end your XML file with the following tag:
<source lang="xml"></install></source>

==PHP file==
The PHP file of your plugin is probably the most important file of the plugin. This is an example PHP file of a search plugin. The comments are included.
<source lang="PHP"><?php
//First start with information about the Plugin and yourself. For example:
/**
* @version $Id: nameofplugin.php versionnumber date author
* @copyright Copyright
* @license License, for example GNU/GPL
* All other information you would like to add
*/

//To prevent accessing the document directly, enter this code:
// no direct access
defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );

//Now define the registerEvent and the language file. Replace 'nameofplugin' with the name of your plugin.
$mainframe->registerEvent( 'onSearch', 'plgSearchnameofplugin' );
$mainframe->registerEvent( 'onSearchAreas', 'plgSearchnameofpluginAreas' );

JPlugin::loadLanguage( 'plg_search_nameofplugin' );

//Then define a function to return an array of search areas. Replace 'nameofplugin' with the name of your plugin.
function &plgSearchnameofpluginAreas()
{
static $areas = array(
'nameofplugin' => 'Nameofplugin'
);
return $areas;
}

//Then the real function has to be created. The database connection should be made.
//The function will be closed with an } at the end of the file.
function plgSearchnameofplugin( $text, $phrase='', $ordering='', $areas=null )
{
$db =& JFactory::getDBO();
$user =& JFactory::getUser();

//If the array is not correct, return it:
if (is_array( $areas )) {
if (!array_intersect( $areas, array_keys( plgSearchnameofpluginAreas() ) )) {
return array();
}
}

//It is time to define the parameters! First get the right plugin; 'search' (the group), 'nameofplugin'.
$plugin =& JPluginHelper::getPlugin('search', 'nameofplugin');

//Then load the parameters of the plugin..
$pluginParams = new JParameter( $plugin->params );

//And define the parameters. For example like this..
$limit = $pluginParams->def( 'nameofparameter', defaultsetting );

//Use the function trim to delete spaces in front of or at the back of the searching terms
$text = trim( $text );

//Return Array when nothing was filled in
if ($text == '') {
return array();
}

//After this, you have to add the database part. This will be the most difficult part, because this changes per situation.
//In the coding examples later on you will find some of the examples used by Joomla! 1.5 core Search Plugins.
//It will look something like this.
$wheres = array();
switch ($phrase) {

//search exact
case 'exact':
$text = $db->Quote( '%'.$db->getEscaped( $text, true ).'%', false );
$wheres2 = array();
$wheres2[] = 'LOWER(a.name) LIKE '.$text;
$where = '(' . implode( ') OR (', $wheres2 ) . ')';
break;

//search all or any
case 'all':
case 'any':

//set default
default:
$words = explode( ' ', $text );
$wheres = array();
foreach ($words as $word)
{
$word = $db->Quote( '%'.$db->getEscaped( $word, true ).'%', false );
$wheres2 = array();
$wheres2[] = 'LOWER(a.name) LIKE '.$word;
$wheres[] = implode( ' OR ', $wheres2 );
}
$where = '(' . implode( ($phrase == 'all' ? ') AND (' : ') OR ('), $wheres ) . ')';
break;
}

//ordering of the results
switch ( $ordering ) {

//alphabetic, ascending
case 'alpha':
$order = 'a.name ASC';
break;

//oldest first
case 'oldest':

//popular first
case 'popular':

//newest first
case 'newest':

//default setting: alphabetic, ascending
default:
$order = 'a.name ASC';
}

//replace nameofplugin
$searchnameofplugin = JText::_( 'Nameofplugin' );

//the database query; differs per situation! It will look something like this:
$query = 'SELECT a.name AS title,'
. ' CONCAT_WS( " / ", '. $db->Quote($searchNameofplugin) .', b.title )AS section,'
. ' "1" AS browsernav'
. ' FROM #__nameofplugin AS a'
. ' INNER JOIN #__categories AS b ON b.id = a.catid'
. ' WHERE ( '. $where .' )'
. ' AND a.published = 1'
. ' AND b.access <= '. (int) $user->get( 'aid' )
. ' ORDER BY '. $order
;

//Set query
$db->setQuery( $query, 0, $limit );
$rows = $db->loadObjectList();

//The 'output' of the displayed link
foreach($rows as $key => $row) {
$rows[$key]->href = 'index.php?option=com_newsfeeds&view=newsfeed&catid='.$row->catslug.'&id='.$row->slug;
}

//Return the search results in an array
return $rows;
}</source>

==INI file(s)==
For internationalization it is good to use the INI files. You can add everything to the language file that outputs text to the user, in this order:
*XML description tag
*XML label and description attributes from parameters
*JText::_( 'string' ) used by the plugin

Start your INI file with something like this:
<source lang="INI"># $Id: en-GB.plg_search_nameofplugin.ini
# Joomla! Project
# Copyright (C) 2005 - 2007 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved.
# License http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html GNU/GPL, see LICENSE.php
# Note : All ini files need to be saved as UTF-8 - No BOM</source>
Of course, you could also add other information, like the author.

For example, this parameter:
<source lang="XML"><param name="search_limit" type="text" size="5" default="50" label="Search Limit"
description="Number of Search items to return"/></source>
Will cause the following output in the INI file:
<source lang="INI">
SEARCH LIMIT=Search Limit
NUMBER OF SEARCH ITEMS TO RETURN=Number of Search items to return</source>
The file looks repetitive, but will be very useful for translaters.

When you want to make your search plugin available in more languages, first add them to the <languages> tag in the XML file. Then create the same INI file, and change the part after the =, for example the dutch version would be:
<source lang="INI">
SEARCH LIMIT=Zoek limiet
NUMBER OF SEARCH ITEMS TO RETURN=Aantal weer te geven zoekresultaten</source>

==Coding examples==
There are six Joomla! Core Search Plugins. If you look at them you can learn a lot, especially about the query part.
You can see them 'working' when you go to the back-end of your Joomla! 1.5 installation, then go to the menu 'Extensions' and select the 'Plugin Manager'. Click on the name of the plugin to edit it; and see it working.
*Plugin Search - Categories
**\plugins\search\categories.XML
**\plugins\search\categories.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_categories.INI
*Plugin Search - Contacts
**\plugins\search\contacts.XML
**\plugins\search\contacts.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_contacts.INI
*Plugin Search - Content
**\plugins\search\content.XML
**\plugins\search\content.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_content.INI
*Plugin Search - Newsfeeds
**\plugins\search\newsfeeds.XML
**\plugins\search\newsfeeds.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_newsfeeds.INI
*Plugin Search - Sections
**\plugins\search\sections.XML
**\plugins\search\sections.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_sections.INI
*Plugin Search - Weblinks
**\plugins\search\weblinks.XML
**\plugins\search\weblinks.PHP
**\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_weblinks.INI

==Quick tips==
*In the PHP file, people often forget to place an semicolon (;) at the end of a row. This causes errors. Check this before you test your plugin.
*Make sure the parameters in the XML file are closed correctly. When you add options, for example, you need to close it with </param>.
*It is easy to test on a localhost when you are still busy with editing your plugin.
*When making a zip-file to test it, do not forget to make the directories for the language files. A typical zip will contain the following:
**nameofplugin.XML
**nameofplugin.PHP
**language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_search_nameofplugin.INI

J1.5 talk:Component parameters

2009-02-13T19:01:11Z

Snellcode: /* Component level params must be saved before they show up */ new section

I find the terms "frontend" and "backend" confusing when applied in this context.

also, links to the standard parameter types would be extremely useful.
http://docs.joomla.org/Standard_parameter_types

Overall, I found the article extremely useful.

Commercemeister, thanks for your comments. Could you please explain what you find confusing about frontend and backend? They are commonly used to refer to the main site and the administration parts of a Joomla! website, respectively. It would be helpful to know how you think they should be clarified (or you could even just do it yourself - that's the beauty of a wiki!). Thanks too for the note about parameter types - the article did originally link to a page with this information, but then that page was changed. I will update it.

One final point - please sign your comments using the four tildes at the end (<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>). Thanks, [[User:Mike dowler|Mike]] 16:18, 3 September 2008 (EDT)

I'm confused about the differences between the types of parameters.
So you've got Parameters (Basic), (Advanced), (Component) and (System).

Now what kind of parameters would you put in (basic) and what in (component) if both can be overriden in the menu you create for the component ?
I just don't see the distinction between the two...
[[User:Alfred|Alfred]] 14:12, 25 September 2008 (EDT)

Alfred, 'Basic' and 'Advanced' parameters are just 'article-specific' parameters - the only difference between 'basic' and 'advanced' is in how they are displayed in the back end. 'Article-specific' parameters are those that are only ever going to apply to that article, whereas 'Component' parameters are set for the component as a whole. As you point out, both types can be overridden for a particular menu link; administrators using your component will thank you if such overrides are the exception rather than the rule!

So, in the screenshot shown, there is the basic parameter 'Description text' field which (IIRC) provides a description of the article. It would make no sense to have this as a component parameter, since you would need to override it almost every time you use it. Note that there is no 'right' or 'wrong' here, just common sense. If a parameter is likely to be the same across the site (e.g. choosing whether or not to display the name of the author, which is likely to be fixed to maintain a consistent feel to a site), then put it in the component params. If it's likely to change in each case, make it an article param. If both would be useful, then use both. (Just make sure that you give the article param a 'Use global' (i.e. empty string) option as default, so that the component parameter works as expected.) [[User:Mike dowler|Mike]] 18:23, 28 October 2008 (EDT)

== Component level params must be saved before they show up ==

I've seen this effect in several extensions, and it was very confusing and not obvious at first. Perhaps a note can be added. The issue is that the default params for the component, usually accessed by "Preferences" may not have been actually entered into the database.

It would be nice to just have a note, especially in the overrides section, that you need to make sure the component params are actually saved. It would also be nice if 3rd party components that use these config params either place a notice to the user that params must be saved, or make sure that the default params are entered into the database during the installation process, if these params do not yet exist.

Hope this makes some sense. I'm not really sure the best solution to this problem, but more documentation about this potential pitfall I'm sure would be helpful.