Editor Monitor : Plug-in for Links SQL

Plug-In Version: <%version%>

This plug-in is aimed at enhancing the external editor/editing functionality in Links SQL.

For current release and feature information including changes since last version, see our support forum.

Create Your Profile Template

You will need to create your own editor profile template. This requires a little knowledge of HTML. Basically create an html file and insert the following tags into this file to suit your desired layout: 

 

<%EM_Editor%>                                   Editor Name

<%EM_Status%>                                  Editor Status

<%EM_Since%>                                   Editor Since

<%EM_Image%>                                   Editor's Image Source Location (URL)

<%EM_Since_Day%>                            Optional Replacement for Editor Since

<%EM_Since_Month%>                        Optional Replacement for Editor Since

<%EM_Since_Year%>                        Optional Replacement for Editor Since

<%EM_Sites%>                                    Editor’s Web Sites

<%EM_Address%>                               Editor’s Address

<%EM_Email%>                                   Editor’s Email Address

<%EM_Bio%>                                       Editor’s Biography

<%EM_Categories%>                            Editor’s Categories             <<<CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE FOR DYNAMIC DIRECTORIES

 

Tags Explained: 
 

·                      Editor Name – Automatically generated from the editor names contained in your Links table “Editors”.

·                      Editor Status – You set these values for each of your editors. For example you could have 6 levels of status: None, Editor, Category Editor, Senior Editor, Staff, and Suspended.

·                      Editor Since – This is the date your editor became an editor. You set this value.

·                      Editor Sites – This is a list of the editor’s own websites you want to display on their profile pages. You set this value.

·                      Editor Address – This is where you can store the editor’s home location such as State and Country.

·                      Editor Email – This is the editor’s email address. You set this value.

·                      Editor Bio – This is where you can store a short biography or information or other details about your editor.

·                      Editor Categories – Automatically generated. Contains a list of all the categories the editor has been assigned to in your links directory.  

 

MUST DO:

 You can create your template in any of your favourite HTML authoring programs then copy it into the template editor in Links Admin (Build>User Templates). Make sure you have your current template selected (Yahoo, AV etc). Once you have pasted your code into the editor window, just type in the name “editor_profile.html” and click save.

 

Install the Plug-in and Repair the Table

You now need to install the plug-in. Once you have done this, you will notice new menu options under the plug-ins menu in your Links Admin. Select “Repair Table”. This will create and repair the “Editor Details” table which is required before you will be able to perform any other function. 

Lastly, select “Statistics” from the plug-in menu. You will see a list of all your editors as well as information on them. Selecting statistics will re-fresh and build all of your Editor’s profile pages. It will also generate a file which will show information on all of your editors on one page: “editors/profiles/alleditors.html” 

Create Links to Your Profile Pages

You now need to replace the <%editors%> tag in your category template (category.html) with <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorLinks($ID)%>. Once you have done this re-build all of your category pages to reflect the change. Remember to replace this tag with the old <%editors%> tag if you want to uninstall this plug-in.

 

Dynamic Directory Additional Steps

If you are running your Links SQL in the dynamic directory mode, you will need to follow these additional steps. Users of the Static setup can ignore this step.

1. Set the RootURL setting in the EMSettings table to your root url, eg: http://www.yoursite.com (no trailing slash). You can edit the EMSetting table by selecting 'Table Editor' from your plug-in menu. Then select EMSettings, Modify and 1, and click go. Find the column marked RootURL, and click 'Modify Record' once you have editing the information.
2. Set the Root_HTML_Path setting in the EMSettings table to the path to your html root directory. Be sure your path does not contain a trailing slash. Example /s/mysite.com/htmldocs

Add a Link to Your Editor's Browser

Your editors can modify some of the information in their profile by going to a profile update form. This form can be accessed by your editor from their editor browser. You need to add this tag <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::emfprofile_path%> to browser_info.html. When the editor clicks on this link they will be taken to the profile update form.

 

Place into browser_info.html: <a href="<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::emfprofile_path%>">Modify Profile</a>

 

The template for the update form can be modified to suit your sites style, as well as show only those field you want your editor to be able to modify. Be sure to read the tag information at the top of the template file to see what tags are available, and what form input fields must be left in place.

 

Editor Sign Up

The editor sign up form is displayed to registered users in your directory when they wish to apply to become an editor. You can create a link to the editor sign up for by placing a link in each of your categories as well as anywhere else you might want to place it:

 

Example: <a href="http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/em_signup.cgi?do=signup">Become and Editor</a>

 

You can also edit various templates to suite the style of your site:

 

em-editorapp_admin.txt        This is the email which is sent to you when an editor submits an application

em-editorapp_user.txt          This is the email which is sent to the applicant when they submit an application

em_signupform.html            This is the sign up form. You may want to add your own site styling to this, or include the whole file in another one of your Links pages. You can also omit some of the fields that you don't want to use if necessary. Be sure to read any notes inside this template before removing any form fields or tags.

 

em_validate.txt                    This is the email which is sent to the successful applicant, when you validate their application.

em_reject.txt                        This is the email which is sent to the unsuccessful applicant, when you reject their application.

 

You may also set the location of the url where the applicant is directed upon successful submission of the application form. You can do this by setting the SU_SuccessURL in the EMSettings table.

 

When an editor incorrectly submits the form, they are returned to the form, with an error message appearing in the <%EMS_Error%> tag. Basic form checking is performed. You can add JavaScript checking if you wish to add more restrictions and checking to the form submission. Current in-built checking includes:

• No blank fields permitted on Real Name, Email and Category Preference A

• Basic email validity checking

A successful submission will:

• Send the administrator (you) an email

• The applicant an email

• Add the details to the EditorPending table with the application status 'Pending'

When you validate an application:

• An email is sent to the applicant (see em_validate.txt template, included)

• The application is kept in the pending table for future reference

• The status of the application is changed from 'Pending' to 'Validated'.

When you reject an application:

• An email is sent to the applicant (see em_reject.txt template, included)

• The applicant will need to resubmit if they wish to apply again.

• The status of the application is changed from 'Pending' to 'Rejected'.

 

Whoson Filter

You have the ability to filter our regular users from the 'whoson' by setting the Whoson_Filter = 1 (default is 0) in the EMSettings table. This will cause the 'whoson' function to only show you Editors online.

Custom tags are different to the editor profile tags listed above. Custom tags allow you to place information gathered by the Editor Monitor into your templates. This allows you to enhance your editor browser (what your editor sees when they are editing) as well as your other Links templates.

At present the following tags are available:

Last Login Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorLastLogin('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the date and time that editor last logged in. Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorLastLogin($Username)%> Example Output: 2002-06-03 00:33:40

Second Last Login Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorSecondLogin('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the date and time of the second last time the editor last logged in. Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorSecondLogin($Username)%> Example Output: 2002-05-03 03:33:40

Total Logins Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorLogins('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the total number of logins on record for a particular editor. Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorLogins($Username)%> Example Output: 327

Activity Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorActivity('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the Activity for a particular editor (Sum of all validations, additions, modifications and deletions for Links and Categories). Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorActivity($Username)%> Example Output: 2381

Activity This Month Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorActivityThisMonth('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the Activity for the current month, for a particular editor (Sum of all validations, additions, modifications and deletions for Links and Categories). Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorActivity($Username)%> Example Output: 2381

Editor Rewards Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorRewards('Username')%> Replace Username with the exact name of the editor and the tag will return the total rewards for a particular editor's account. Or you can automatically insert the username, like in your editor browser template by using: <%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorRewards($Username)%> Example Output: 120

Top Editors by Activity Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::TopXEditorActivity('NumberToShow')%> Replace NumberToShow with the number of editors you want to display in your "Top" list. If you put in a higher number than the actual amount of editors you have, the function will automatically correct this and show all of your editors. If your database does not have any editors this tag will not return any output. If two or more editors have exactly the same number of activity, including zero, then these editors will be sorted by their number of logins. You can edit the fonts for the title and the numbers separately by specifying their font values in the EMSettings table. See FontTopXTitle and FontTopXNumber. The output automatically generates links to the editor's profile page.

Example Output:

TOP 5 Editors
1   Jackson
2   Tyler
3   Maggie
4   Dug
5   Jerry

Last Build Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::LastBuild%> This tag is designed for use with a STATIC directory setup. It displays the date and time you last performed a build. You could use the tag in your editor browser templates, to show your editors this information. The time returned will be your local time as determined by your Links setup. Example Output: 2002-Jun-06 07:51:18.

Announcements Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::Announcements%> Use this tag to display an editor wide announcement. You set the announcement information in the EMSettings table under Announcements. You could use the tag in your editor browser templates, to show all of your editors this information. Example Output: The editing area will be unavailable between 0900-1200 UTC for maintenance.

Editor Notes Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorNotes%> Use this tag to display the editor notes column from your Editor Details table. This is a custom column for whatever use you might want. The column can hold up to 255 characters. The tag will simply output exactly what you place into this tag. It could contain html for example, to show a hyperlink, some notes, or a message to an individual editor. Use your imagination!

Editor Statistics Tag

<%Plugins::EditorMonitor::EditorStats($Username)%> Use this tag to produce statistic about a particular editor. Can be used in the the editor's browser (browser_info.html), for your own purposes, or anywhere on your web site. The graph is capped at 250, meaning any bar graph which exceeds 250 pixels in length will be automatically resized together with its partner graph to half its size. This maintains correct proportion between the two lines for comparative purposes.

Example Output:

Link Additions This Month

You

126

Editor Avg

18

The editor profile pages and alleditors.html are built by the Editor Monitor Plug-In, and not the Links SQL page builder. This means each time you run "Statistics" from the plug-in menu, your pages will be automatically created and/or refreshed. If you make changes to any of the pages, or details on an editor, just run the statistics.

You can now also direct your users to a dynamically created profile page with up to the minute/real time information. While this method will cost you in some performance time for each page load of the profile page, it will free up some of your time as you will no longer have to click on statistics each time an editor modifies their details. To use this system, you need Editor Monitor to create a different set of editor profile links for your category pages. To do this, set Dynamic_Profiles to 'Yes'.

NOTE: You will still need to run 'repair table' each time you add or remove an editor from your system.

Any tags placed into your other template files (not editor_profiles.html), will be affected by the normal Links SQL page building functions.

Limiting the Number of Editor's Links on Profile Pages

You can limit the number of links displayed on an editor's profile page by setting the Profile_LinkLimit column in EMSettings to the maximum number of links you wish to display. This value is set to 5 by default.

To change plug-in options such as the menu items which are displayed, emailing options and more go to your Plug-in menu in the Links Admin. Select Plug-In Manager from the menu, and you will see a list of your installed plug-ins. You can enter the setting area for each plug-in by click on "edit" under action next to the plug-in.

Installed Plugins
Name	Version	Author	Action
EditorMonitor	<%version%>	Ian McGregor	Edit | Uninstall

Removing Editor Monitor from your system is simple. Be careful when selecting YES or NO to removing your tables. You will loose all your tracking data should you choose YES. You must also remove any EM tags, including custom tags, you placed into your templates. Failure to do this may result in errors in your pages when the plug-in is uninstalled.

Support is for the current version of Links SQL only. I cannot guarantee that the software will be upgraded to support future versions of Links, as I am not privy to the future design elements and compatibility of Links SQL and the nature of this plug-in. Support will only be given to those who have a payment on record (you should not be using this script if you have not paid).

Having said this, you can get support by emailing support@iuni.com or by visiting our support forum at http://www.iuni.com/forum (You will need to register before you can access the support area).

Your suggestions for improvements or features are welcome.

Payments can be made through Paypal. Our Paypal account is: payments@iuni.com. Refunds will not be given after 3 days for any reason (See Terms of Use). For questions about making the payment, or alternate methods of payment, send us an email at support@iuni.com .

If the battery graphic was missing on the installation page, you may have an illegal copy of this software.
 

Disclaimer: While we (Ian McGregor and/or iUNI Technologies Corp.) make every effort to deliver high quality products, we do not guarantee that our products are free from defects. Our software is provided "as is" and you use the software at your own risk. We make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied.  No oral or written communication from or information provided by Ian McGregor and/or iUNI Technologies Corp. shall create a warranty. Under no circumstances shall Ian McGregor and/or iUNI Technologies Corp. be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if Ian McGregor and/or iUNI Technologies Corp. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 

License and Terms of Use: This plug-in may not be reproduced, re-sold or distributed without express permission of the author. By installing this plug-in you agree to any license agreement, disclaimers and terms of use set out either in this document or elsewhere. Refunds either in whole or part, will not be given after 3 days since download or payment, whichever comes first.

Copyright © 2002, iUNI Technologies Corp and Ian McGregor