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[iUNI] User Monitor v1.0-1.1

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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi Ian,

Yes I did upgrade to 1.1.0. I like the monthly stats.

I've had a look at the cgi file and to be able to use all the tags on the profile page, I think that you just need the line

$tags = $ut->select( { Username => $user } )->fetchrow_hashref;

at the beginning of the file. I think this also removes the need for a lot of the other code in this file. I assume that it is something similar for the modify file so I'll have a look at that next.

Laura.
The UK High Street
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Re: [afinlr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi Laura,

Yes that looks right...

I will make the changes (sorry I have not had the time to properly look at it).

Thanks,

Ian


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi Ian,

Sorry I kept asking for changes - it was because I hadn't had a good look at the files and just assumed that if I changed things myself they would get lost in the updates to the plugin. Now I have renamed the cgi files so I think that I can do everything I need without worrying about losing anything. A bit slow I know!

After all my efforts trying to get the login redirect to work I discovered that I can't get the modify button to appear on the form the way that I was doing it so I'm using a meta refresh now which isn't as nice. I still have a bit to sort out to get the links owned displayed in a list and to put all the modified info in the email and other things - but it is live now. You can see a profile at http://www.theukhighstreet.com/...ofile.pl?user=afinlr

Thanks,

Laura.
The UK High Street
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Re: [afinlr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Excellent work Laura!

Thanks for letting have a look also (and others).

I hope to add picture upload and auto re-sizing capabilities to UM and EM for those who want this type of thing... I guess it could be a mugshot, or perhaps a company logo.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to

ADDING YOUR OWN TABLES TO THE TABLE EDITOR - ITS EASY



I just thought it may be interesting to let users of EM or UM know that you can use the Table Editor included (which is modeled after Links SQL's one) to add any of your existing or new tables in, and edit, modify, search or whatever in the same way you would with Links version.

This way you don't have to modify the core Links code, you don't have to understand coding or SQL.

How do you do it... VERY EASY.
  1. Go into either EditorMonitor.pm or UserMonitor.pm with a text editor (preferably one which can search).
  2. Search for "<option>UMSettings</option>" for UM or "<option>EMSettings</option>" for EM.
  3. Add your own table directly beneath this code, example:


<option>MyTable</option>

Pretty simple eh?Wink



http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
I have received an interesting suggestion for the rewards system in User Monitor today, but I will leave it for the person who suggested to post their idea themselves (they mentioned they might).

It will be interesting to see how many others would actually use it themselves.

Depending on how much work is involved I will consider adding it, at least in part if there is enough interest.

On another note... I have not abondoned user monitor, I intend on doing another upgrade for it shortly.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins

Last edited by:

Ian: Jul 31, 2002, 4:29 PM
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
User Monitor has been placed back into the Links SQL download area. Current users can download the plug-in in the normal old-fashioned way. If you are having troubles downloading it (paid users), then please send me a private message.

New users can buy the plug-in by clicking download then clicking on the 'Buy Now' button. Again, if you have any problems, just send me a private message.

Thanks!


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
That's a bit tantalising. I'm eager to know what the suggestion was!
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Re: [afinlr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Well, I don't keep secrets very well (just kidding) when it comes to plug-in improvement (I don't think he will mind).

His idea asked for automatic reward incrementing depending on the user's action. So the rewards are added in real time when a user logs in, writes a review etc. That sounds simple enough, it is just not that everyone would want it so there would have to be if statements everywhere and a new setting to turn this on or off. Also, one would have to consider is one action worth more than the other?

He also suggested that there be capping on the number of times someone would be rewarded for any one action in any one day... this is where it gets trickier (for me) to code, so this could be a stage two of the whole thing I guess - anything is possible if you put enough time into it.

There may have been more to his idea, I just posted what I remembered this morning (before my cup of coffee).

Comments?


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Oh yes, I think this is a very good idea. Smile

I think it would eventually need a menu that allowed you to choose what you would reward and how much for. I assume most people would want to reward reviews written (and maybe helpfulness?).

I'm not sure about limiting the rewards in a day as that would become difficult to justify to users (especially if you were converting rewards into money) - maybe you could just flag up users with a very high activity level.

Having just reread your message, I see that the thought was to reward logins so I suppose this might cause problems if people just kept logging in and out - maybe you would need to limit this to once a day if you decided to reward it?

Laura.
The UK High Street
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Re: [afinlr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Yes... I am wondering why you would even reward someone for logging in though, now that I think about it. You want them to actually do something (which implies a log-in anyways).... is it worth all the extra coding for daily login capping etc, when you could just reward on 'useful' events?

Just a comment, please feel free to disagree.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
I agree.
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Re: [afinlr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hey Ian, you beat me to it! Wink I just wanted to get my ideas together, so not to lead the discussion in the wrong direction.

As Ian stated, I contacted him yesterday with questions and ideas about his UM plugin. Besides having awesome user monitoring tools the thing that really got my attention was the Rewards features. Ian informed me that UM doesn't currently doesn't do automated rewards for user activities. I'm actually so interested and excited about having a automated user rewards system working with my Links SQL directory I inquired to Ian about having this custom work done. He was kind enough to take a look at adding these features as an upgrade to UM for existing users and new.

Let me explain the ideas I presented to Ian with the hopes that other Links users will find these Rewards features of great value in their directories...

In my travels around the net I've seen several extremely successful directory/portals using automated reward systems to attract and keep users. One example that I showed Ian was the system being used at http://www.vegaslobby.com/highrollers.asp . You'll see that they've branded their points system as V-Lira's. Even thought this is slightly different than the system I'm proposing it's show how Rewards incentives can give users that extra push to register and participate in the directory. Let's face it, most surfers want to uses the resource for what it's worth, not participate, and many may never return. Traffic is a valuable thing and we need to make the most of it! Giving surfers the incentives of gaining rewards points for creating that account, adding some useful reviews, and coming back another day is a powerful thing. People are willing to do a lot more when they feel their getting something out of it. However small or large that may be. Alright let me lay some ideas down....

First let me say I think the UM handles manual points rewards great. Being able to give users of different status is exactly what an automated system would need as well. The Reward All feature is great as well...

What I'd like to see in a automated style rewards system is the ability to Reward users for signup, daily logins, reviews (Validated Only), voting (Registered Users Only) and maybe even Validated Link additions/updates. With all of these the Admin should have control of turning these features on and off. Let me explain briefly why and how I think these should work....

Signup Reward Points - Why not? A surfer could look at that and say, "I like this directory/portal/resource and I'll get a few points towards something right away and all I need to do is register with my e-mail addy." Then they may want to make a quick return to get some more points.

Daily Login Points - I see there are some questions as to why this would be useful so let me try to explain. As much as possible we want our users to come back again. Realizing their getting points for coming back daily will bring certain users back time and time again. The reason I say 'daily' points is to eliminate cheaters... without capping this people would keep logging in and out to rack up more points. A daily cap would be perfect. There's no reason I can think of to make the time cap any different than login points daily. That's what we want right, daily visitors and returns? I noticed the UM is already keeping track of login times and such so hopefully this wouldn't be to difficult.

Validated Review Points - Since user reviews are so important to surfers when making decisions I think review points would be awesome. Not everyone wants to take the time to right a review so why not give them some points for writing good ones. They would have to be validated so people don't go posting a bunch of one word useless reviews. I've seen other directory sites that use non-validated review systems get into some problems. People posting things like "Hello" , "kdkjdlkajdsflkj", and other useless things instead of a helpful review. I'd probably give a much higher point value to helpful reviews that I can validate.

Voting Points - Not to sure if this one would work. It would not be able to be controlled unless there was a limit to the number of votes someone could place. Maybe a daily cap as well?

All points features should have the ability to be turned on or off.

I would also like to see some function to give different point amounts to users of different status....In my case I'd like to give users of 'Webmaster' status a way to earn point towards advertising, priority listings, keywords, ect...

Oh yeah I'd also like to suggest giving points to users ( In my case, with Webmaster status ) that add links that become validated. This may give webmasters an incentive to keep their listing fresh knowing they can trade those points for additional advertising.

Validated Link Points - Get a link validated into the directory (new or updated), you get some points. More revenue opportunities to promote to webmasters.

Please add some suggestions, questions, or comments! Hopefully if others think a Rewards System like this would be valuable to them, Ian can try to find the time to implement some or all of these features. I think it would be a killer addition to Links SQL!



Hope to here what you all think! Sly Boy, does that look ridiculously long.

Ryan Jonze
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Re: [Jonze] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi Ryan,

Thanks for posting! That is quite the post you have there I must sayWink

Very good ideas, and points... i'd be interested in reading what others think about this before giving my todo list a workout.

I like to start from the very simple and build to the more complex. UM already has the foundation for much of what you have suggested, and some parts could fairly easily be implemented (these would be the first items I would look at). Daily capping etc would be another step.

User monitor already has a settings table where new columns could be added to, to cover the switiching on and off of certaining automation.

Once again, i'd like to hear from other UM users before I add anything in particular to the todo list... for example, are all rewards worth the same (a review, a link addition, a login etc)?

Perhaps rather than turning a reward task on or off, you could be allowed to set its value, and if you want it off, just set a 0 value:

Example:

UMSetttings Table
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Login Depost: 1
Daily Login Deposit Limit: 3
Validated Review Deposit: 5
Validated Link Deposit: 5
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins

Last edited by:

Ian: Aug 1, 2002, 5:06 PM
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
My $.02 :

you should split the user monitor into two different plugins, so that people who want a user monitor can have their user monitor, and people who want an automated reward system can have that two. Otherwise it's bloatware. Share code by all means, but stay focused.

Last edited by:

giovanni: Aug 1, 2002, 5:07 PM
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Re: [giovanni] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi, interesting point. I am not familiar with the term 'bloatware'.

One thing to keep in mind is there is one of me (who amoungst running a business and several websites) I have to support 5 off-the shelf plugins and over 20 or so custom ones. So each new plug-in costs me in time (not that I am against the idea), It may not be practical from my point of view.

Edit: I also think the rewards system ties in rather nicely with the user monitor code (as it in fact does with editor monitor). People who wanted both would be duplicating a fair amount of common code needlessly. Performace can be an issue (I understand) when you have many plug-ins installed (one of my sites has 10 or so plug-ins already). I would rather see 2 or 3 large ones from a webmasters point of view, as it may be easier to maintain and upgrade my site. Thats my 2 cents.

Thanks for the comments!


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins

Last edited by:

Ian: Aug 1, 2002, 5:26 PM
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Example:

UMSetttings Table
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Login Depost: 1
Daily Login Deposit Limit: 3
Validated Review Deposit: 5
Validated Link Deposit: 5
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


That's exactly what I was hoping for!!! Even better! Guess I didn't state info about the values too clearly. Crazy

Thanks for taking all this into consideration Ian.

Ryan
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Re: [giovanni] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
bloatware n.

[common] Software that provides minimal functionality while requiring a disproportionate amount of diskspace and memory. Especially used for application and OS upgrades. This term is very common in the Windows/NT world. So is its cause.



In other words Giovanni you are stating that Ians' plugin in its cuurent state is Bloatware?

I am sorry, do you own this plugin and have personal experience with this plugin to make that kind of judgement?Crazy
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Re: [giovanni] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
bloatware Last modified: Tuesday, March 12, 2002

A sarcastic term that refers to software that has lots of features and requires considerable disk space and RAM. As the cost of RAM and disk storage has decreased, there has been a growing trend among software developers to disregard the size of applications.



That is a little unfair and unfounded I think, as you don't own or have never used User Monitor.

In fact I think that I would be bettering a system's performace by reducing duplication of similar sub functions and the amount of duplicated and time consuming code within a hook (or several hooks in this case) by NOT splitting the plug-in.

EDIT: Jonze, great. I am must be on the right track with your suggestion then. No promises yet.

Last edited by:

Ian: Aug 1, 2002, 5:42 PM
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi Ian,
What I understood by bloatware was "a piece of software with superfluous functionality that as a corollary consumes extra resources". It wasn't meant as an affront on your plugin, and I apologise if you felt that it was. I was quite interested in the plugin to monitor users but not the entire reward thing - and I thought that it would make sense to split it into its two logical constituents to increase sales. But if saying causes you to be offended, then I won't try to help in the future.

Teambldr: I am trying to make a constructive suggestion, and am not just slagging off ian's plugins.
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Re: [giovanni] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Thanks for clarifying your comment.

And I _do_ appreciate commentsWink

At least I now have three definitions of 'bloatware' under my belt.

Quote:


I was quite interested in the plugin to monitor users but not the entire reward thing


An interesting point. I would still maintain that in this case it may not be benefitial, nor practical.

Thanks!

Last edited by:

Ian: Aug 1, 2002, 6:01 PM
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Re: [giovanni] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
What might be a good way to go is to say " Hey Ian, can I get the UM without the rewards section? I have concerns about my resources."

Then a derogatory term such as Bloatware would not have a reason to even be used! Smile
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Re: [Ian] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
It looks like the next upgrade will be a seperate:
  • Initial install version - this will be for new users and available throught the Links SQL download area
  • Upgrade version - this will be place in the iUNI download area


More when I have it ready.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
Quote Reply
Re: [Jonze] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
Hi,

Just to update, I thought I would take a look at part of this, this evening.

I have already added the automatic rewarding for logins (no capping at this stage), and it seems to be working fine.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Teambldr] [PLUG-IN] USER MONITOR v1.0.0 In reply to
In Reply To:
What might be a good way to go is to say " Hey Ian, can I get the UM without the rewards section? I have concerns about my resources."

Then a derogatory term such as Bloatware would not have a reason to even be used! Smile
Just to clarify, I didn't consider bloatware a derogatory term. I considered it a descriptor.
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