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A few more simple ???'s

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A few more simple ???'s
- Can I have a 1-M relationship between a link and it's respective category(s)? For ex, if I have a link for Microsoft.com, i would like to have it appear in the "OS" and "Productivity SW" categories w/o having to enter 2 records for Microsoft.com.

- I noticed that Links 2 doesn't delete the old HTMl files before it generates the new batch. This could result in obsolete HTML files remaining on the server. Does SQL LINKS work the same way?
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Re: [vicos2] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
1. Yes. A link can be in many categories.

2. Links SQL does not delete old HTML files, you have to do that manually.

Ivan
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Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
I just looked at the admin demo. Things are not as I would have assumed.

To add a category to a link you have to type the whole name of the category, e.g. /i/cant/belive/this. Why don't have a drop down menu that lists the available categories. Why all the typing? What if you make a data entry error? Is there a separate table for categories? Do the categories join to the link based on a unique key? Can someone provide a schema for the database?

Also, why is the design for the categories flat? I would think the best way to go is to use a design like:

unique_id int

cat_name char

subcategory_of int (pointer to unique_id of record who is the parent for this category)

So, to have /microsoft/software/ and /microsoft/mice/ you would have 3 records:

1 microsoft NULL

2 software 1

3 mice 1
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Re: [vicos2] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
Whether or not you have a dropdown menu of all the categories depends on your setup, i.e. you can choose to have a dropdown menu or not (if you have a very large directory, it will take a while to load the dropdown menu). This is mainly for your users: if you do not have a dropdown menu, the users have to visit the category where they want to add a link, click on add, and the category will automatically be inserted. If you have a dropdown menu, the user can add the link to any category from anywhere. The setup is flexible and depends what you want....

I assume you wanted to add your link using the "Database" menu in the admin area. A better place to add your link would be the "Browse" menu. You can easily navigate your categories and links, and when you add a link to a category, the category id will automatically be inserted.

The category table is set up exactly as you wish, i.e. not flat at all. There are fields for ID, Name, and FatherID.

Have a look again. Smile

Ivan
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Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
well, that is good news.

two more questions for now:

1. Can I add fields to the user table like city, state and zip? and will these magically appear on the user registration page?

2. Ditto for the links table?

When I say "can I", I mean via some utility or config file. I know I can do it by changing the code. Wink
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Re: [vicos2] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
1. you can easily add those fields to the user table. They will not magically appear on the registration page, but you can put them there by hand, and the things people enter there will be magically saved to the database.

2. ditto

Ivan
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Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] A few more simple ???'s In reply to
sweet. ok, i'll buy it - tomorrow...