Format Errors and vB Integration

[tgc45]

I am testing the Classifieds integration with vB 4.1.4 installed in a password protected directory using a duplicate of my forum database. Classifieds data is in a separate database. vB is using the default style with doc_width and doc_maxwidth set for auto

The attached screenshots show some of my observations. Some may be intentional, some may be bugs, and some may be future feature requests. One screen is of a normal category view, the second shows the same two items resulting from a search, the last is a showcat view with the sidebar shown.

In the normal view:
1) The description text on the yellow highlighted item is shifted slightly to the left from a non-highlighted item. What is cause and solution?
2) The city/state field is wider than the allotted cell width. To shorten the text, I have replaced the “state” field with the “statecode” in the showproduct script but have not found the code to do it in all the other places. Where is the code to replace the other “state” fields to shorten the display in all cases?

In the search results view:
3) The distance field is not shown. This may be a feature request, see my Additional Questions below.
4) Only the photo of each item and the seller’s user name are hyperlinked to the item product page. The item title is NOT hyperlinked. Can this be corrected?
5) The highlight and bold (paid) features do not appear. Paid features are important. Can this be improved in the search view?

In the showcat view:
6) The sidebar causes the Classifieds to extend outside the vB frame on this view only. All other views including search, cat display, subscriptions, etc display correctly with the sidebar. What is causing this in the showcat view only?


Additional Questions:
a) Is there any way to add the distance to search results like that on viperalley.com/classifieds? For my user’s, distance is one of the most important issues. A really good solution, but I realize that it may be too server intensive, would be to sort and display ads in order of distance from the user. Zip code sort, as used on a site with many ads like enginads.com/classifieds, is pretty useless because it does not sort by distance from the user but by Zip code number.
b) Is It possible to make some fields, like zipcode, and title, required fields on uploadproduct form?
c) Is it possible to make all user “profile” links utilize the user profiles in vB rather than the Classifieds? Since other user data is pulled from vB, it seems like it would not be too difficult. Seems redundant to have two profiles for each user.
d) What is required to “bold” the item titles on “recent ads” displayed at the bottom of the index page?
e) I realize that it is probably involves a vB mod, but do you have a post describing how to modify the vB menu below the tabs and Classifieds menubar like on reeftalk.com?

FYI: A search on reeftalk results in: Warning: trim() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/classifieds/pp-inc.php on line 40

I know this is a long post but I would appreciate any help.

[Chuck S]

1. There is no difference that I see looking at your example the only difference between a highlighted item and normal is the color.

2. The data for state is in the actual zipData table in the database

3 4 and 5 I would say are by design and could feature requests in the future

6. Look at your page width versus the amount of data being written per row. Your classifieds is too wide to fit there. Maybe a combination of data and zipcode info. I can not say kust looking at a image versus the true page source.

a-e are really mod questions or ideas for future versions as there is no way to do that in the code directly.

If you are asking where the vb mod is to show classifieds stuff on vb4 this should help

http://www.photopost.com/forum/class...-4-series.html

[tgc45]

Originally Posted by Chuck S

1. There is no difference that I see looking at your example the only difference between a highlighted item and normal is the color.

2. The data for state is in the actual zipData table in the database

1)I have attached two more screen shots to show the problem with the highlight. One shows the category view with only one item highlighted. The other screen shows the same items with highlight added to the third item down. I have lightened the highlight and added gird lines to make the alignment issue more noticeable. The result is the same with or without the gird lines. Notice that the forth item down has bold added and its alignment is fine.

2)I am aware that the zip data comes from the zipData table. I guess my question was not clear. What I wanted to know was the location of all the $state so I can replace them with $statecode. I have now found what I was looking for. If you look at the Distance column in the screen shot, you will see why I want the shorter state code. I will also be looking for all the places to shorten the date, but I can probably find them all in due time.

[Chuck S]

You are free to modify your code as you choose although support does not assist with code modifications. If you want to swap state for statecode in a query for zipcode stuff I would assume around line 607 of showcat.php you want to alter this query.

Content visible to verified customers only.

As far as your highlight issue probally a result of your integration maybe style. as the regular row uses blockrow since it is vb4 yet all we do is load a different class which is found in pp-inc.php this line. You can alter that to add any padding necessary. Maybe add something like this in bold.

Content visible to verified customers only.

[tgc45]

Thanks for your replies. The padding (8px) helped the alignment issue on highlighted ads.


With regard to b) in my original post.

I have little php code experience. My ability pretty much extends to only copy/paste/delete.

However, on investigation, it seems that there is code around line 49 in uploadproduct.tmpl to check for an empty zip code but it does not appear to work. An ad can be uploaded without the zip. When later editing the same or any other ad, similar checkForm code in editproduct.tmpl will not allow a submission without a zipcode.

A)Will you please check this operation on you site, and provide corrected code if there is a bug?

B)Also, how is the feedback and comment moderation system turned on so that feedback must be reviewed by moderator before it is visible?

[Chuck S]

Hello

well you can try making sure the java that checks the form is changed maybe like this see if this helps. Lets strip it down to the basics maybe there is a limit on the number of fields it can check.

Content visible to verified customers only.

[tgc45]

Originally Posted by tgc45

B)Also, how is the feedback and comment moderation system turned on so that feedback must be reviewed by moderator before it is visible?

Originally Posted by Chuck S

well you can try making sure the java that checks the form is changed maybe like this see if this helps. Lets strip it down to the basics maybe there is a limit on the number of fields it can check.

Moving the zip check above all the extra field checks makes the zip check work.

Do you have an answer to B) above? I cannot find any switch.

[Chuck S]

You turn on moderation in usergroup options for which groups of users you wish to moderate content on the site.

[tgc45]

Originally Posted by Chuck S

You turn on moderation in usergroup options for which groups of users you wish to moderate content on the site.

Really? That would require that all ads be moderated too. That might be fine for photo albums but not for sales ads. If that is the way it works, I guess this is a future feature request.

There is a big difference in placing your own ad, or photo album, and posting a comment or feedback that could ruin someone's reputation in sales. In the Classifieds, there should be a separate option for moderation of only feedback/comments. I know that feedback/comments can be removed after the fact, but by then the damage has been done.

Thanks for your help. I am slowly learning my way around the php and tmpl files.

[Chuck S]

Yes if your talking about moderating being separate for ads comments and feedback meaning three separate moderation switches then yes you would need to make suggestions on that in the suggestions forum.

[tgc45]

1)I saw several references in the files that the performance is better with the Classified tables integrated into the vB database. I currently have the databases separate. How much performance can be gained by the integration? Is it noticeable for small sites or just large ones?

2)Would it speed up searches any if I stripped out from the zipData table all the zipcodes that I never expect to encounter?

3)On the showmembers view, all the users have an associated thumbnail. However, all the thumbnails are linked the same to .../showcat.php/cat/500. Clicking any thumbnail results in "This category does not contain any ads." How is it intended to work, or if this is an error, can it be corrected?

[Chuck S]

1. there is no difference on smaller sites. larger sites separating databases might help speed things up I can not give you numbers as servers are all different.

2. You can do whatever you wish I can not say that would matter

3. Line 974 of pp-inc.php should read $thisuserid not $memrec['userid']

Content visible to verified customers only.

[tgc45]

I just ran across the Invites or Invitation system located in the user Profile. It does not appear on your reeftalk site. I see nothing in the admin panel about it. I have found one reference to this feature at .../forum/show-off-your-photopost-site/129173-shutteralley-com-different-kind-photopost-site.html#post1182622

The Invite system is apparently intended to allow a user to send a limited number of automated email invitations to encourage non-users to register on the site. The email includes a link to the site registration page with a referral code tacked on the end. This appears to be a feature that we could really use on our site. But it seems to have some problems.

A)When the link in the sent email is clicked the resulting message in the browser is "Sorry, but that is not a valid invitation code."

B)Any email that is sent contains the text from the first (or perhaps the last) user to send an invite, not the text entered by the current user.

C)If A) and B) can be corrected, can the limit on the number of invites be increased? We would want it very high, preferably unlimited.

On an old question:
Referencing my post #5 item B) and your answer in post #10... In the General frame of the admin panel there are separate links to Appove, Moderate Comments, and Moderate Feedback. Also on the feedback input page it says that "Feedback is moderated and will not be visible immediately". That would seem to indicate that the intention of the program was to have feedback moderated. Would you please investigate this further?

Thanks again for you attention.

[Chuck S]

I do not know much about it as I have never used it

Now I went to my site clicked my profile link and sent an invite to a secondary email I use.

The email I recieved was most definately the one I sent but I think the problem is the invite system is only for a standalone system hense it goes to the registration script for classifieds whereas this is a forum integration.

Therefore the invite option should be removed from the profile template I would think and I will probally work on a release for that.

There are options to view moderated stuff in admin sure. However as I have already stated the moderation permission is not separate it is a global usergroup permission.

[tgc45]

Been doing more testing. Found a dirty way to make feedback moderated without moderation of ads. Satisfied with that until I can modify the admin cp. Found some more things in the last couple of days.

Email issues:
1) In the showproduct view, the drop down menu includes a choice to “Receive Email Updates”. I know this option sends emails when comments are posted, but is it intended to send notifications on changes to the ad itself? I have tried having testuser1 select this option on an ad uploaded by testuser2. Then I have has testuser2 make any number of modifications, one at a time or in combination, but testuse1 never gets an email notice. I have tried setting the switch in admin cp for “Use email to notify users?” for both yes and no. I have comments turned off.

Can email updates be made to work with comments turned off, and if not, where in the code is the showproduct "Product Options" drop down menu defined so I can comment out the “Receive Email Updates” option?

2) If testuser1 subscribes to a category, the email notifications of additions to the category are sent. However, clicking the unsubscribe link in the email results in the following browser response:

“Script call malformed. Some actions require you to be logged in. Please verify you are logged in and try the link again…”

Is there a fix for this, or is the only solution to leave it alone and perhaps edit the error phrase to delete the first sentence? Is the phrase used elsewhere that deleting the first sentence would cause additional user confusion?

Ad upload prerequisite:
3) Is there any way to require a user to agree to a TOS/Rules as a prerequisite for posting an ad? Or if not, is there any provision for generating an additional text page (that looks like the PPC format) that I could link to from the “Place an Ad” menu item? Perhaps something like another help file or empty table?

Files:
4) Found your old list from 2004 “Which Templates for What--FAQ? “. Is there a similar updated list for Classifieds?

Bulk admin uploads:
5) Is it possible for the admin to add additional photos, which are already located in another directory on the server, to an existing ad? And/or, is there a way to upload/process multiple photos from the admin’s directory making them all attach to the same new ad rather than each creating a separate ad?

Search:
6) Search by date results in the following in the title bar. “xx result(s) to your search. - Wed December 31, 1969”. This is obviously not 1969 and all other dates on the display are correct. Searches on price range, distance, keywords, or username results in the correct title bar with “xx result(s) to your search. - All Ads.” Any thoughts?

7) What controls the sort order of the search results and can it be changed? It appears that the default is oldest ads first.

8) Back on a previous topic, how much effort would be required to make search use the same formatting and results columns as showcat? For example, in my opinion, the results from …classifieds/showcat.php?cat=last14 is exactly the results that should be obtained from a search on all ads for the last 2 weeks.

Again, your help is appreciated.

[Chuck S]

1. No you can turn off notifications if you wish.

2. what is the email content as I do not see any issues when I test this

3. No you would have to add such a feature

4. that list existed before classifieds but the template structure should be close. script names would be product not photo etc

5. You as admin can edit and add any photos you wish to an ad.

6. what is the exact link your hitting? when not using full direct links it is hard to answer.

7. There is no sort per say it is in order the ads are found so yes oldest to newest. You would have to modify your search script queries.

8. I can not say how long or what it would be required to modify code that is not why we are here in product support. However your search link looks a bit off. If I look at our default code the timeframe links on the indexhead template the last14 is this

yoursite.com/classifieds/search.php?when=2&whenterm=w&cat=0

[tgc45]

Ok, let’s try again. I guess I wasn’t clear on some of the issues.

1) I am aware that you can turn off email notifications, which is the first switch in Admin Options, but I don’t believe that is related to my question. In the user’s showproduct view, the "Product Options" drop down menu includes a choice to “Receive Email Updates”. I know from testing that this option only sends emails when “Allow user comments” is turned ON and comments are then posted to an ad. However, with comments turned off, as I have it, the “Receive Email Updates” option does nothing. If selected, it tells the user that he will be notified of updates, implying that he will be notified of changes to the ad. However, no notices are sent because the option only applies to comments. It appears that this is a minor bug in the program and what I am asking is a work around, not a mod. Since the option does nothing, but fools the user into thinking that it does, I want to remove the “Receive Email Updates” as a choice. Where in the code is the showproduct "Product Options" drop down menu defined so I can comment out the “Receive Email Updates” option?

2) I have discovered that there are actually two issues with the category subscriber emails that are sent. If user who receives the email is not logged into the forum/classifieds, clicking the unsubscribe link in the email results in the following browser response:

“Script call malformed. Some actions require you to be logged in. Please verify you are logged in and try the link again…”

If there no fix for this, I will just edit the errorscript phrase to delete the “Script call malformed” so as not to confuse the user.

The second issue is illustrated by the attached screen of a sample email. Notice that there are three links. The top one is the link to the category. It works but the html link includes the line of text below it. Same for the middle link. It includes the Team text below it. The bottom link to the site is correct. If I can find the code, I can probably fix this but if may affect every other PPC owners as well.

3) and 4) OK, understood.

5) My question is not whether an admin can add photos to an existing ad. The question is can an admin add to an existing ad photos that are already stored in another directory on the server rather than uploading them all again from the PC?

While playing with the bulk upload I ran into something else. If I check the top box in bulk upload area to “Skip upload and process the files” which I have already placed in the directory specified, the second attached screen shot is the result. Hitting the Process Files button flashes “Processing Image List” on a blank screen and returns directly to the screen in the attachment. No thumbnails, and no links are on the page shown.

6) Try doing a search on reeftalk by date. Put in any number of days, weeks, etc and you will get the same result I do on my site. Screen shot attached.

Also the instructions at the top of the search box should read “Fill in ONE OF the fields below to execute a search.” Entering info more than one field does not work. It either finds nothing, or uses only one of the entries.

7) Don’t like it but understand.

8) What I meant is that in my opinion all search results SHOULD be in the same format returned if you type w w w.mysite.c o m/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=last14 in the browser address bar. The current search results are an odd format. Among other things, the product description is formatted differently, the distance field is dropped, the results are not sortable, and even the page numbering at the bottom is different from any other listing in the program. I realize this is a feature request.

[Chuck S]

1. you would have to look in showproduct.php file

2. yes some links would require users to be logged in

6. I will try that out

8 all searches are handled in the search script. You are referencing an old style link in an older classifieds.

[tgc45]

How about 5) in post 17? I still have the question but please read the second paragraph of that part. After the screen in the center attachment appeared during several different attempts to upload with approval, the bulk upload does not process any photos at all. It just submits one ad with no photo when there are several in the directory indicated on the uploadproduct page.


Is there a resolution for the sort issue raised in post #1286775 on April 22nd, 2011, 05:36 PM? The site referenced in the post still has the problem and so do I with files downloaded on 7-16-2011.

[Chuck S]

The post your referring to the user never posted back and was most likely dealing with old files. Can not say if someone does not respond back.

As far as number 5 I answered that but if your referring to editing an existing ad no you can only add an image through an http prompt.

Processing images from a server path is only available on upload script.