Gossamer Forum: Products: Gossamer Links: Development, Plugins and Globals: [ New Plugin ] Expire

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 20, 2003, 2:54 PM

Post #1 of 32

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[ New Plugin ] Expire_Links

Someone just asked for a method to expire links after x numbers of days. I've seen this requested quite a few times before, so I thought I would come up with a plugin.

NAME: Expire_Links
PRICE: $20
BUY: HERE
VERSION: 1
OS REQUIRED: UNIX (due to Cron)
DETAILS: HERE

The idea of this plugin is to restrict the number of days a link remains active for. The days active option is user configurable...

The install file creates a Cron entry, which runs a script daily at midnight, and updates the links according to this. If the link has used its days up, then isValidated will be turned to 'No', therefore making the link inactive, whilst still leaving it in your SQL database. Thats about it. Simple plugin, but very useful Smile

Anyway...if you have any questions, please let me know (via PM, or this thread).

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Last edited by:

Andy: Feb 20, 2003, 2:56 PM

Feb 20, 2003, 4:21 PM

Jonze

User (184 posts)

Feb 20, 2003, 4:21 PM

Post #2 of 32

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Re: [Andy] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Cool new plug Andy!

I've actually inquired to GT about one of their plugins because I wanted to use it's link expiring features.

Could your plugin turn other ENUM Link columns to 'No'/'Yes', or is it just for use with isValidated??? For Example, I'm offering featured listings so I'm looking for some way to have those expire. Expiring links manually is too much work Tongue

Thanks andy.

Feb 20, 2003, 4:46 PM

6foot4

User (79 posts)

Feb 20, 2003, 4:46 PM

Post #3 of 32

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Re: [Jonze] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Hey Andy,

Can your plugin send the link owner an email also stating that it has expired? And give them the option to renew it for a set amount of time.. or delete it??

Feb 21, 2003, 12:44 AM

Enthusiast (671 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 12:44 AM

Post #4 of 32

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Re: [Andy] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Hi Andy,

Nice plugin - I needed something like this - but I need a small tweak to it:

Instead of x days - I would like to just enter a date when the link should expire - possible?

Klaus

Feb 21, 2003, 2:12 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 2:12 AM

Post #5 of 32

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Re: [Jonze] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

In Reply To:

Could your plugin turn other ENUM Link columns to 'No'/'Yes', or is it just for use with isValidated??? For Example, I'm offering featured listings so I'm looking for some way to have those expire. Expiring links manually is too much work Tongue

Sure could. If you would like this done, please PM me, and I'll give you a quote to make the mod (won't be much).

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 21, 2003, 2:15 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 2:15 AM

Post #6 of 32

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Re: [6foot4] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

In Reply To:

Hey Andy,

Can your plugin send the link owner an email also stating that it has expired? And give them the option to renew it for a set amount of time.. or delete it??

The email part sounds like a great idea. When you say 'renew' how would you want them to do that?

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 21, 2003, 2:17 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 2:17 AM

Post #7 of 32

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Re: [klauslovgreen] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Quote:

Instead of x days - I would like to just enter a date when the link should expire - possible?

Mmmm...I suppose this is possible. I would need to play with it on my site a bit first, before giving a definate yes or no.

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 21, 2003, 6:47 AM

Enthusiast (671 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 6:47 AM

Post #8 of 32

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Re: [Andy] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Hi Andy,

I have a field named End_Date (same format as Add_Date) and that's what I'd like to use. So perhaps allow both? If an End_Date is entered then use that or if a number of days is entered then use that - if nothing entered then do nothing (not sure how your plugin woks at the moment)

Cheers
Klaus

Feb 21, 2003, 7:04 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 7:04 AM

Post #9 of 32

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Re: [klauslovgreen] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

It would require a modification to the whole plugin really; because my plugin uses a 'countdown' type of system. A new field is added, called Days_Left...holding the value of how many days they have still active. Every time update_days.cgi is run via Cron (setup automatically via the plugin)....it will remove one day from the Days_Left field...until it gets to 0 days left, and then it sets isValidated to 'No' (or 0).

Thats just to give you an idea of how the plugin works, so you can see it will be possible, but not easy to incorporate your idea Tongue

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 21, 2003, 7:29 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 7:29 AM

Post #10 of 32

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Re: [6foot4] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Oh...forogt to mention. I've added the mailing function now. If set to on, in admin, it will send out an alert to the Contact_Email address stored for that link....

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 21, 2003, 9:19 PM

Enthusiast (671 posts)

Feb 21, 2003, 9:19 PM

Post #11 of 32

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Re: [Andy] [ New Plugin ] Expire_Links In reply to

Hi Andy,

OK, let me know if you intend to do it - I'l buy it for sure if it has this functionality too..

Klaus

Feb 22, 2003, 4:08 AM

DogTags

Veteran (1345 posts)

Feb 22, 2003, 4:08 AM

Post #12 of 32

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Email Notice In reply to

Hi Andy

Could your expire plugin send out a warning email X days before the link expires and then a expiration email notice after the link is officially dead?

What I'd like to do is give the link owner a week or more to renew before the link dies.

Thanks.

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Feb 22, 2003, 4:14 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 22, 2003, 4:14 AM

Post #13 of 32

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Re: [DogTags] Email Notice In reply to

Don't see why not...I'll work on adding it this afternoon Smile

I need my lunch break first though :p

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 22, 2003, 6:13 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 22, 2003, 6:13 AM

Post #14 of 32

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Re: [DogTags] Email Notice In reply to

The email warning feature has now been added...

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 22, 2003, 11:29 AM

DogTags

Veteran (1345 posts)

Feb 22, 2003, 11:29 AM

Post #15 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Thanks, Andy! A nice expire routine has been needed for a long time Smile

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Feb 23, 2003, 8:27 PM

Evoir

Enthusiast (520 posts)

Feb 23, 2003, 8:27 PM

Post #16 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Hey Andy,

Nice plugin!

I am currently using GT classifieds plugin, which is turning out to be very similar to yours (but more expensive). Anyway, one of the drawbacks of both systems is that you have to put in how many days a link stays active. It can be cumbersome.

I think the easiest way for an end-user to use an expire feature is to give a date by which it expires. No counting or anything. It could just be in a certain format, like 2003-12-04 or even better if they are dropdown menus.

To Flag or make Inactive?
What about having the ability to "flag" expired links, instead of making them inactive? I have a site that uses LSQL for workshop listings, and currently we flag expired links manually. Would be awsome to have it become automated. Maybe a switch in the plugin admin?

ExpireAction: _ Flag Link _Make Link Inactive

and then you (the administrator) can put the flags in the templates as they like. <%if ExpireAction eq 'flag'%> blah blah

I will check your plugin out for future sites I do. The price and features sure are appealing!

Last edited by:

Evoir: Feb 23, 2003, 8:35 PM

Feb 24, 2003, 1:09 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 1:09 AM

Post #17 of 32

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Re: [Evoir] Email Notice In reply to

Wow...I dind't realise GT had a classified/link expiring plugin too Unsure

>>>I think the easiest way for an end-user to use an expire feature is to give a date by which it expires. No counting or anything. It could just be in a certain format, like 2003-12-04 or even better if they are dropdown menus. <<<

True...its just how the notification side of things will be done, and the working out of the dates. i.e....if its the 29th of Feb 2003, it needs to know the number of days in the Feb month, and then work out the 30 day, for example, timeout. This is why I decided to use a counter Wink

I'm always considering more features for this plugin. Current ideas are;

+ Admin too, so you can view expired links, automatically.
+ In the admin area, you can decide if a link gets just put on hold, or deleted when the time runs out.

What do you guys think?

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 24, 2003, 7:01 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 7:01 AM

Post #18 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Ok...when doing the date field mod (rather than having a countdown), I decided I would completly re-written the plugin, as it required most of the code to be changed to fit the new features in. Its still on the same basis. Features include;

+ Option to send prior warning about a link getting ready to expire...
+ Option to set number of days for above...
+ Option to send out email once a link has expired..
+ Field you want to use for checking (mainly would recommend Add_Date or Mod_Date)...but if you have similar fields, then you could use them.
+ Automatic creation of cronjob when plugin installs....
+ More comprehensive Readme compared to the old one.

I think thats it....lemme know what you think Smile

BTW: Price is still the same, although I was tempted to put it up :p

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 24, 2003, 10:36 AM

Enthusiast (671 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 10:36 AM

Post #19 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Sounds good - when do you plan on releasing it?

Klaus

Feb 24, 2003, 10:39 AM

Evoir

Enthusiast (520 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 10:39 AM

Post #20 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Wow. That sounds GREAT! IS there a way to make it so administrator can decide if they want it to Flag or Delete Expired links?

Feb 24, 2003, 11:47 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 11:47 AM

Post #21 of 32

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Re: [klauslovgreen] Email Notice In reply to

In Reply To:

Sounds good - when do you plan on releasing it?

See top thread for links Wink

(the main bit on the top...in bold...saying HERE).

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 24, 2003, 11:51 AM

Veteran / Moderator (18441 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 11:51 AM

Post #22 of 32

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Re: [Evoir] Email Notice In reply to

I'm looking at adding an extra feature tomorrow, which will add an hasExpired field into the pref_Links table, and that will be set to 'yes' when the link expires. Then in the plugin section, have an admin GUI, that will let you see which links have expired, with 'quick links' to them, so you can delete or modify/renew them.

Hows that sound?

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

Feb 24, 2003, 12:05 PM

Evoir

Enthusiast (520 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 12:05 PM

Post #23 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Well, not sure if that addresses what I am looking for. I'll try to explain again. (and not sure you have to address exactly what I want, it's your plugin, afterall!)

I am hoping to have a setting in the plugin admin, that asks what to do when links expire: remove them, or flag them. A global setting.

So, when my client (who only ever uses the add/modify link form, sets a link to expire, it effects the behavoir of all expiring links. I don't want to go in and look at each one in the plugin GUI. I'd rather the system just do whatever task I ask it to do. Smile

To add one more thing: The option to delete the link (from another thread) could so easily be just shifted to this plugin. Expire the link and it can be deleted. Wink

Or maybe, instead of putting the Delete vs Flag in the admin, when the user sets an expire date in add/modify they can choose (admin setting, of course) if they want it to be deleted or flagged.

I tend to use LSQL as a closed system, where my client is the only one using add/modify and I use the admin to support them. This setup would be sooo ideal for me. Not sure if it would help other people.

Last edited by:

Evoir: Feb 24, 2003, 12:18 PM

Feb 24, 2003, 12:13 PM

Enthusiast (671 posts)

Feb 24, 2003, 12:13 PM

Post #24 of 32

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Re: [Andy] Email Notice In reply to

Hi Andy,

I mean - with the End_Date functionality :-)

Klaus

Feb 25, 2003, 12:41 AM