jundolor

Saturday, June 27, 2009

User posting on other users profile in Drupal

I had installed the Facebook Style Statues module in my clients Drupal-run website, http://www.occiseminars.com. This module allows users to post their status ala Facebook and Twitter style.

Problem was that I could not get users to post their status message on other users profile. I've checked the Facebook-Style Statuses on permissions and made sure that Authenticated and other user groups permissions were set to allow posting on all profiles. This was to have made sure that users can post status on other user's profile.

However, I overlooked the users module in permissions, which was not set to accessing all users profile. I decided to set the user module permission, and after a test run, my logged user account can now post on other user's profile.

Hopefully, this module will allow members with user accounts in the client website to interact with one another

Labels: ,

Farewell Jacko

I'm taking time out from my usual Web-development posts in this blog to express my sadness over Michael Jackson's passing away. I grew up in the 70's and 80's listening to MJ's songs and watching his music videos.

Among my favorite MJ's hits were Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, Billie Jean and I'm Bad.

MJ's passing away came as a shock to me. MJ was so full of life and energy.

MJ visited the Philippines twice, the first time with the Jackson 5 back in '74, and the second, as a solo artist in '96. I never got the chance to see him live but from the interviews conducted with him, he seemed like a sincere and nice person.

I remember one reported asking MJ if he had any message to the Filipino people. His answer was simple, "heal the world". I just hope that us Pinoy fans will take his message at heart.

Thank you Michael for the memories you gave to us. We will all miss you.

Labels:

Friday, May 29, 2009

Fixing CSS font and background image Drupal Theme problem in Safari

The custom theme I created for a Drupal driven website I created contained a style.css file, which I copied from an existing theme. The CSS file contains all formats that controlled the appearance of the website.

I did some modification on the file to format the appearance according to the design approved by the client. The test run I made on Firefox and Internet Explorer displayed the custom appearance as I intended.

However, I encountered a couple of problems on Apple Safari. I saw that the font displayed was not the one I set on the CSS, and the background image I also set did not appear.

Upon checking the CSS code, I noticed the first line that read:
/* $Id: style.css,v 1.38.2.2 2009/04/27 14:20:53 goba Exp $ */

Since I was unsure of the code, I erased it, which fixed the problems encountered in Apple Safari. The website now displays consistently on Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, and of course, Apple Safari.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

To Drupal or not to Drupal, that is the question...

I met up with a client, OCCI to discuss specifications for the web-project they would want me to handle. Their current website is located at http://www.occiseminars.com/.

They had wanted me to come up with a redesign and implement user-interactivity/ social-networking features. They also preferred to be able to add/ update contents on their own.

Obviously, a CMS is needed. I was faced with the question of what CMS to use. I had considered myself adept with an existing popular CMS. However, discussion with the client revealed that the structure of information will be quite complex.

Two of the things that came to my mind were taxonomy and CCK (Content Construction Kit), both associated with Drupal. My concern was that I had not used Drupal lately and may be rusty for not using it for more than a year.

After much deliberation and brushing up, I decided to take the Drupal "plunge". No regrets here, as I have found working with Drupal to be a "rediscovering" and quite an "enjoying" experience.

The prototye can be found on the URL http://www.jundconsultancy.com/occi02/. Once completed, I will upload to the main site of the client.

Labels: ,

Using Google AJAX slide show on a Drupal Theme

I'm currently working on a web-project that I've constructed using Drupal CMS. The prototype can be viewed on my personal website via the URL, http://www.jundconsultancy.com/occi02/.

The prototype is still a work in progress. Once finished, the client will evaluate and if OK, prototype will be uploaded to its intended website, http://www.occiseminars.com/.

The prototype website has a running photo-gallery prominently displayed on the home-page. Those following the entries on this blog will recognize the photo-gallery to be that of Google AJAX slide show.

So how did I apply the Google AJAX slide show on Drupal? The first thing I did was to prepare the photos for the slide show and then write the RSS feed.

This was followd by preparing the set of files for the custom Drupal theme. (Those familiar with Drupal will know that layouts of web-pages are done with theme files).

The theme file for the home page is page-front.tpl.php. The layout was done using CSS- no tables included ^---^. I referred to Google to get the source code of their AJAX slide show. The source code was copied into the page-front.tpl.php theme file. I replaced the RSS that came with the code with the RSS I wrote.

After checking the codes carefully, I uploaded the theme files to the prototype and set the default theme to the one I uploaded. And there I got what I wanted, the home page of my Drupal project running the AJAX slide show with the photos I prepared.

This is not really the best way to implement Google AJAX slide show. I think I'd like to refine the implementation by checking out what Google AJAX module I can use or maybe writing the module myself.

Labels: , ,

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Creating the Smiley Ice Cream Joomla! 1.5 Website Materials

I've posted here links for the "Building the Smiley Ice Cream Joomla! 1.5 Website" training resource files.

The template files:

The step-by-step tutorial:
The top-banner:





The top-menu background:




The left-menu background:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Google Slide Show/ RSS Feed template

I am currently working on a blog post on how to write an RSS feed for web-based slide shows from Google. The steps, though uncomplicated are quite lengthy and may take time for me to finish.

In the meantime I have uploaded guide-files to my website: a sample HTML that uses the Google slide show and the corresponding RSS feed.

The links to the uploaded guide-files files are as follows:
The codes for both files are simple and easy enough to follow. Just view the source code and follow the pattern in creating your own web-based slide show.

In the meantime, I'll try to finish my RSS feed blog post

Labels: ,

Saturday, April 18, 2009

The 7 steps of embedding youtube videos in Joomla!

One of my favorite movie titles from way back was "The 7 Steps of Shaolin". I didn't get to see the movie, but I sure was amused by the title. I suppose the plot would have been a novice undergoing 7 intense steps to become a Shaolin Kung-Fu master.

I was playing around with Joomla! 1.5 when I chanced upon an online tutorial on how to embed youtube video in Joomla! However, the tutorial is only applicable for the previous Joomla! version (1.x).

After much tinkering around, I finally discovered how to place youtube videos in Joomla! 1.5 articles. I've summarized them in 7 easy steps to show you on how to do this:

Step 1: Browse the youtube website for the video you want to embed.



Step 2: Look for the Embed field box, and highlight the entire text

Step 3: Copy the Embed text:


Step 4: Login to the administration of your Joomla! website, and view the article list (Pull down the Content menu and select Article Manager). Click to edit the article where the youtube video will play.


Step 5: The editor for the article is displayed. Click the "Edit HTML Source". (Note: I've set the Display on Front Page to "yes").

Step 6: The HTML Source Editor for the article is displayed. Now paste the copied Embed text from youtube, and click the Update button, found at the bottom of the editor.
Step 7: We are now back at the article editor. The final step, click "Save" button.

That completes the 7 steps! We are now ready to view the video on the Joomla! website. As we browse the website, we see the youtube video, ready to play. Enjoy watching ^------^

Labels:

Friday, April 10, 2009

Using the AJAX Slide Show

The AJAX slide show from Google is quite a useful utility in creating a running photo gallery for web pages. Its all a matter of incorporating the AJAX code into HTML pages. Google provided a "Hello World" sample code to assist novices like me get started with it.

I had intended to use the slide show for the website I am doing for my friend. The slide show is a good idea to showcase the products his business is marketing. A sample page on the website was first created.

The "Hello World" code was copied/pasted into the sample web-page. The code the be found on this link: http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/slideshow/reference.html#hello-world.

The nest step I took was to create a Media RSS for the products of my friend is marketing. The link to the Media RSS I created is http://www.liaredle.com/prodset10.rss.

The RSS will be used by the slide show as reference to the the pictures to display on the slide show. With the RSS in place, I referred to the part of the code that read,

<script type="text/javascript">
function load() {
var samples = "http://dlc0421.googlepages.com/gfss.rss";
var options = {
displayTime: 2000,
transistionTime: 600,
linkTarget : google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_BLANK
};
new GFslideShow(samples, "slideshow", options);
}
google.load("feeds", "1");
google.setOnLoadCallback(load);</script>


After evaluating the code, I replaced the code-line that read 'var samples = "http://dlc0421.googlepages.com/gfss.rss";' with the code-line that refers to the RSS 'var samples = "http://www.liaredle.com/prodset10.rss";'.

The code snippet is now updated to:
<script type="text/javascript">
function load() {
var samples = "http://www.liaredle.com/prodset10.rss";
var options =
displayTime: 2000,
transistionTime: 600,
linkTarget : google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_BLANK
};
new GFslideShow(samples, "slideshow", options);
}
google.load("feeds", "1");
google.setOnLoadCallback(load);
</script>

With the final code completed, I uploaded the page to the website, which can viewed at this link, http://www.liaredle.com/ver2/

And that's how simple it is. In about less than an hour, I have created an impressive AJAX-based slide show, thanks to Google.

Hopefully, the slide show will mean more profits for my friend ^_____^

Labels: ,