Difference between revisions of "News Block"
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| − | + | = Introduction = | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | The '''Headline News''' block is a Geeklog phpblock for displaying links to featured news stories made available from ANY RDF/RSS compatible content feed. Included in the source code is a list of many popular RDF/RSS feeds. These feeds are available for public use on Moreover: | |
| − | + | http://w.moreover.com/categories/category_list_xml.html. | |
| − | ; | + | |
| − | ;[[ | + | |
| + | = Features = | ||
| + | |||
| + | Headline News block features are as follows: | ||
| + | |||
| + | * Displays links to stories for RDF/RSS compatible news feeds. The block utilizes the same code base as the standard Geeklog Portal block. | ||
| + | * Consists of four views: default view, detailed view, category view, and administration view: | ||
| + | ** Default view is the main phpblock view (home page block). Registered users can customize the news provider. Anonymous users will receive the default provider set by the news administrator. | ||
| + | ** Detailed view is a secondary view where users can view specific feeds before setting their default provider. | ||
| + | ** Category view is a secondary view where users can view specific feeds sorted by category. | ||
| + | ** Administration view is where a user configures his/her default news feed and where the site news admin sets the default news feed. The news admin can also add, update, or delete RDF/RSS feeds. | ||
| + | * Has built in MySQL caching. | ||
| + | * Has a built in block timer for measuring the execution time of the block. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | = List of files with descriptions = | ||
| + | |||
| + | {| border=1 cellspacing=0 | ||
| + | !FILE: | ||
| + | !DESCRIPTION: | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/display_news.php | ||
| + | | Core phpblock. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/news_details.php | ||
| + | | View specific feeds before setting default provider. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/top_news.php | ||
| + | | Top news feeds. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/admin.php | ||
| + | | News administration page. | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | = Instructions - New install = | ||
| + | |||
| + | # Extract the code to /public_html.<br>A new directory named "news" will be created for you. | ||
| + | # Run the SQL script: news-sql.sql<br>The script will create one new table named gl_newsblock and make updates to gl_userprefs and gl_groups tables. | ||
| + | # Add the following to the /path/to/geeklog/system/lib-database.php<br>--- CODE BEGINS ---<br>$_TABLES['newsblock'] = $_DB_table_prefix . 'newsblock';<br>--- CODE ENDS --- | ||
| + | # Add the phpblock: news.phpblock | ||
| + | ## The first step is to add the contents of news.phpblock to lib-custom.php. | ||
| + | ## The second step is to simply create the phpblock and reference the phpblock_getnews function. | ||
| + | # Set the default news provider for anonymous or guest users: | ||
| + | ## First add your admin user to the "News Admin" group. Do this via the Geeklog user administration. | ||
| + | ## Second, login as the admin user and click the "Edit" link on the news block. You will be presented with options for setting the global default news provider. | ||
| + | ## Select the appropriate links to set the defaults. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | = Notes = | ||
| + | |||
| + | * If the block display looks off (bad alignment, incorrect content, ect). Delete the news_cache and set news_cache_expire = 1 for the suspect user (uid 1 = anonymous) in gl_userprefs. This will re-paint the block with updated content. | ||
| + | * The block also has a built in timer. To enable the timer, uncomment the following lines in lib-custom.php: | ||
| + | |||
| + | <pre> | ||
| + | //$_NEWS_TIMER = new timerobject(); | ||
| + | //$_NEWS_TIMER->startTimer(); | ||
| + | </pre> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ;AND uncomment the lines in display_news.php | ||
| + | |||
| + | <pre> | ||
| + | //$boxtitle.= "<small><br>Created this block in <b>"; | ||
| + | //$boxtitle.= $_NEWS_TIMER->stopTimer(); | ||
| + | //$boxtitle.= "</b> seconds.</small>"; | ||
| + | </pre> | ||
| + | |||
| + | * You can adjust the cache values by editing the display_news.php file. By default, cache is stored for 30 minutes. To change the value, edit the following lines of code and replace 30 with your preference: | ||
| + | |||
| + | <pre>if ($age_minutes > 30) // if cache is more than 30 minutes old</pre> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <pre>if ($user_age > 30) // if cache is more than 30 minutes old</pre> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ;You will need to do this in two places in the display_news.php page, once for logged in users and once for anonymous users. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * You can turn on a message that displays the last update time of the cache. By default this message is turned off. To enable the message uncomment the following lines of code in display_news.php (lines below shown without comments): | ||
| + | |||
| + | <pre> | ||
| + | // ADD cache age message is more than 1 minute old -- off by default | ||
| + | if ($user_age > 2) { | ||
| + | $boxtitle.= "<font size=\"-2\"><br>Last updated $user_age minutes ago</font>."; | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | |||
| + | // ADD cache age message is more than 1 minute old -- off by default | ||
| + | if ($age_minutes > 2) { | ||
| + | $boxtitle.= "<font size=\"-2\"><br>Last updated $age_minutes minutes ago</font>."; | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | </pre> | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | = Changes = | ||
| + | |||
| + | * Fixed hard coded tables and added 'gl_' prefix to all code - 7/22/02 | ||
| + | * Created a MySQL based cache and removed the existing file cache - 6/1/2002 | ||
| + | * Changed the "expiree" events logic - 6/1/2002 | ||
| + | * Fixed backslashes with the stripslashes() - thanks Dirk! | ||
| + | * Now uses RDF/RSS feeds...no more parsing ABCNews.com! | ||
| + | * Fixed caching bug | ||
| + | |||
| + | ;Version 1.4 (July 23, 2002) | ||
| + | Fourth public production release | ||
| + | |||
| + | ;Danny Ledger | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | [[Category:Blocks]] | ||
Latest revision as of 18:13, 12 May 2009
Contents
Introduction
The Headline News block is a Geeklog phpblock for displaying links to featured news stories made available from ANY RDF/RSS compatible content feed. Included in the source code is a list of many popular RDF/RSS feeds. These feeds are available for public use on Moreover: http://w.moreover.com/categories/category_list_xml.html.
Features
Headline News block features are as follows:
- Displays links to stories for RDF/RSS compatible news feeds. The block utilizes the same code base as the standard Geeklog Portal block.
- Consists of four views: default view, detailed view, category view, and administration view:
- Default view is the main phpblock view (home page block). Registered users can customize the news provider. Anonymous users will receive the default provider set by the news administrator.
- Detailed view is a secondary view where users can view specific feeds before setting their default provider.
- Category view is a secondary view where users can view specific feeds sorted by category.
- Administration view is where a user configures his/her default news feed and where the site news admin sets the default news feed. The news admin can also add, update, or delete RDF/RSS feeds.
- Has built in MySQL caching.
- Has a built in block timer for measuring the execution time of the block.
List of files with descriptions
| FILE: | DESCRIPTION: |
|---|---|
| /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/display_news.php | Core phpblock. |
| /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/news_details.php | View specific feeds before setting default provider. |
| /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/top_news.php | Top news feeds. |
| /path/to/geeklog/public_html/news/admin.php | News administration page. |
Instructions - New install
- Extract the code to /public_html.
A new directory named "news" will be created for you. - Run the SQL script: news-sql.sql
The script will create one new table named gl_newsblock and make updates to gl_userprefs and gl_groups tables. - Add the following to the /path/to/geeklog/system/lib-database.php
--- CODE BEGINS ---
$_TABLES['newsblock'] = $_DB_table_prefix . 'newsblock';
--- CODE ENDS --- - Add the phpblock: news.phpblock
- The first step is to add the contents of news.phpblock to lib-custom.php.
- The second step is to simply create the phpblock and reference the phpblock_getnews function.
- Set the default news provider for anonymous or guest users:
- First add your admin user to the "News Admin" group. Do this via the Geeklog user administration.
- Second, login as the admin user and click the "Edit" link on the news block. You will be presented with options for setting the global default news provider.
- Select the appropriate links to set the defaults.
Notes
- If the block display looks off (bad alignment, incorrect content, ect). Delete the news_cache and set news_cache_expire = 1 for the suspect user (uid 1 = anonymous) in gl_userprefs. This will re-paint the block with updated content.
- The block also has a built in timer. To enable the timer, uncomment the following lines in lib-custom.php:
//$_NEWS_TIMER = new timerobject(); //$_NEWS_TIMER->startTimer();
- AND uncomment the lines in display_news.php
//$boxtitle.= "<small><br>Created this block in <b>"; //$boxtitle.= $_NEWS_TIMER->stopTimer(); //$boxtitle.= "</b> seconds.</small>";
- You can adjust the cache values by editing the display_news.php file. By default, cache is stored for 30 minutes. To change the value, edit the following lines of code and replace 30 with your preference:
if ($age_minutes > 30) // if cache is more than 30 minutes old
if ($user_age > 30) // if cache is more than 30 minutes old
- You will need to do this in two places in the display_news.php page, once for logged in users and once for anonymous users.
- You can turn on a message that displays the last update time of the cache. By default this message is turned off. To enable the message uncomment the following lines of code in display_news.php (lines below shown without comments):
// ADD cache age message is more than 1 minute old -- off by default
if ($user_age > 2) {
$boxtitle.= "<font size=\"-2\"><br>Last updated $user_age minutes ago</font>.";
}
// ADD cache age message is more than 1 minute old -- off by default
if ($age_minutes > 2) {
$boxtitle.= "<font size=\"-2\"><br>Last updated $age_minutes minutes ago</font>.";
}
Changes
- Fixed hard coded tables and added 'gl_' prefix to all code - 7/22/02
- Created a MySQL based cache and removed the existing file cache - 6/1/2002
- Changed the "expiree" events logic - 6/1/2002
- Fixed backslashes with the stripslashes() - thanks Dirk!
- Now uses RDF/RSS feeds...no more parsing ABCNews.com!
- Fixed caching bug
- Version 1.4 (July 23, 2002)
Fourth public production release
- Danny Ledger
