Have read an older topic about links, Alex talks about the file-uploading-feature and so i think about the things i miss at links:

1. A tool to build new Fields (in links2 no prob im still searching for the way in SQl)

2. A real great search-function with:
-- search with a form in all or certain fields (choosen from admin)
-- search with a range; eg. all entrees with postalcode 5 to 7 means 50000 to 79999 (german format)
-- search < x; > x
-- search a field with 5* for 5xxxx but not 123!5!
-- search exact for 55 only find 55 not 555

3. A Field for different time to stay inside the db; i have implement a field with paydate in future; so i must search every week for that entrees that should expire or pay again, writing manually mails. So think about a feature that sends email 2 weeks before expiring automatically.

4. In germany there is a service named x-check, the same as adultcheck in the us. Cause of the german laws and to save our children there could be a way to use such a service writing a hard-cookie at the server, jump to the adultcheck, beeing linked back to our script, reading the hardcookie (sessionvar?) and send the user to the adress he wants. (Very cool way to save AND to get money) EG. www.sexhits.de

5. Combining an creditcard-service with links; let the people pay to enter entrees or for reading some. Different prices ....

6. As rajani said, this script is wonderful and like him, who wants to help by protecting links with a copyright, we could help to sell it in germany (specially with a shopfunction - cause most of scripts are too light (eg. no sql behind) or they would cost to many for a normal user. With the template-function its so easy to design it and sell it to a price a normal human could and would pay.

(7. whats about an function to show all cats on every page eg. in a left sided area)

The next project would be a big shop for adult-videos, using links, using an adultprotecting service and a shopscript (the order for our second linkssql comes if its ready for launching, Alex :-) Hope to get a reseller price then :-)

I try to build with a normal links2 thought for a link directory just some other applications:
-- a dir for adresses, with logos
-- a Shop by combining links with a script from elitehost with affiliate-programm
-- a newspaper build from users; (with an large description field and link to ultimate-board for discussion about
-- a classified script; the best i got has cost 999 $ and its poor against the things i think as possible with links and some modifications or combining with other scripts.
-- Access to files, pics or information by combining accountmanager from elitehost with links.

I think to do this and maybe more there are a lot of smaller and bigger things alex could implement; this real cool script could really do more!

Cause of managing a webagency in germany i work 7 days a week and have only a small part of time to work on my ideas with links (and my perl-knowlegde as my english are poor :-(
so nothing from the mentioned above is ready for the industrial use; but some parts are running at test-status if someone is interessted.

By the way; if there are any links- and web-interested people around Köln/Cologne, Germany i would be happy to meet and talk about the things we could dream and do together with this wonderful script. (BTW we are searching for new employments, not externals, for HTML, Grafix, Perl, ASP and a for our marketing too)

Hope to start a positive discussion with that.

Robert

Ok,

Some of what you are asking is already here.

1) create new fields -- easier than links 2.0. Just go to the Table Editor area, select the links table, and follow the instructions for adding fields. It adds them updates the def file, etc. Don't need to worry about going back and adding fields to old records.

2. A real great search-function with:
The searches are being worked on. With links 2.0 you were searching a flat-file from begining to end EVERY time. With LinkSQL you are searching indexes, and can create additional indexes if you need them (for frequent searches). SQL allows extremely complex arguments. The problem is incorporating a front-end into Links that will handle all the options. It's being worked on, and there are plenty of SQL tutorials out there and even some query-builder programs that will build the querires for you you can insert into your HTML.

Search exact is the _default_ behaviour, I believe. You have to add the w=1 or w=0 parameter to the search query (search.html) form, or you can make it a toggle button.

You need to explore these things since the documentation is still sketchy. Check out the resource area in the DBSQL.pm faq.


This is a custom modification -- for a pay site. This is like the expiration mod for links 2.0


Again, this is a custom modification, and you'd need to find someone to do it for you. Cookies/sessions/ etc are being built in for the users/editors feature, and it's a sipmle extention of the use of CGI.pm to allow access to the cookies for other purposes.


Again, this is a custom mod that goes to being a pay site. It's not what links was intended for, and it's a real extension of the use of it (even more than I've done with my sites). It's not hard to integrate a 3rd party payment system to any site -- ibill and others offer the services, and there are several companies that offer ibill software for $200-$500 (yep.... it's not cheap to make money).


Nothing is stopping you from providing a link back to Gossamer-Threads.com, or to their listing on cgi-resources.


You are looking at the problem from the side, not from head on.

All those features you want are custom additions. Yes, they'd be very nice, but they would bloat the average links site to unusable complexity.

The NICE thing about SQL, is that adding anything you want to your core program is a matter of defining tables, and providing a link between the data.

To set up your credit card processing and almost any other function y ou want, seek out a good commercial service that offers the remote hosting services or that is SQL backed. If it's SQL backed, all you need to do is pass data from it to the links program, or vice-versa.

It's actually a lot simpler to find working programs and integrate them, than trying to write one big program.

As you'll notice, _most_ programs are getting more modular, with UltraScripts Ultraboard BBS being about the most modular I've seen -- almost EVERY function call is a separate file!! <G> That's way beyond necessary, but it shows that if a kernal (like DBSQL.pm) is written correctly, all you need to do to expand on it, or use it, is to write a new function or modify a function.

I've been working on integrating MiniVend into my site, but I really think I might give up on it -- not because I can't -- but because it's such a monster of a program, and my needs (for once) are really much simpler than this program is targeted for. MiniVend is SQL backed, and integrates just fine -- all you do is pass the variables from one function to another, or with a bit of work, using session/state/cookies to hold the data.

What I'm trying to say is that it's no mystery or problem to add to this program. Think in terms of a function or module, with it's own or shared tables, and all of a sudden things become much clearer and much easier to visualize and implement.

Thank you for advice, i have found the adding of fields for cat and links (Always look then ask! :-()

For the mods i think i will do it with a lot of time for try and error.

For your needs with mini-vend: Look at http://www.elitehost.com/cgi/; maybe there is a free light version of the cartsystem; without any perl-knowledge i have impement it inside links; only with some extra fields.
Problem thereis when you need many different prices, but i think it should be easy for you to do this, cause in "thought programming" its only a few orders to open, get or save, and close a datafile.