Blog 1.1

[siforek]

Changes from v1.0

• Added "Edit Comment" admin page
  
• Added commenter IP logging
  
• Added admin link to client's account from comment (if is a client)
  
• Added custom date/time format setting
  
• Added "posts per page" setting & multiple page support
  
• Enabled setting "Number of posts to include" to 0 to include all posts
  
• Added Captcha Form Protection
  
• Added valid commenter email address detection
  
• Added sidebar to show/link post categories
  

 

$25 (includes all future upgrades and added features)

Order It! | See it in action

 

###############################################################################
#                                                                             #
#                    WHMCS Blog v1.1      By TJ Phippen                       #
#                                                                             #
###############################################################################




INSTALL -----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Unzip all files.

2. Upload all files to their appropriate locations:
 - "blog.php" > yoursite.com/whmcs/blog.php
 - "includeblog.php" > yoursite.com/whmcs/includeblog.php
 - "modules/admin/blog/blog.php" > yoursite.com/whmcs/modules/admin/blog/blog.php
 - "templates/portal/blog.tpl" > yoursite.com/templates/yourtemplate/blog.tpl
 - "templates/portal/blog-category.tpl" > yoursite.com/templates/yourtemplate/blog-category.tpl
 - "templates/portal/blog-post.tpl" > yoursite.com/templates/yourtemplate/blog-post.tpl

3. Add the following to your language file:

$_LANG["blogtitle"] = "Blog";
$_LANG["latestposts"] = "Latest Posts";
$_LANG["latestblogposts"] = "Latest Blog Posts";

4. Login to your WHMCs administrative area and navigate to Utilities > Addon Modules > Blog

5. Click "Install Blog"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Sidebar -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Add the following to your footer.tpl after the last "Quick Navigation link:

     <li><a href="blog.php" title="{$LANG.blogtitle}"><img src="templates/{$template}/images/icons/blog.gif" alt="{$LANG.blogtitle}" width="16" height="16" border="0" class="absmiddle" /></a> <a href="blog.php" title="{$LANG.blogtitle}">{$LANG.blogtitle}</a>
{if $sidecategories}
       <ul style="margin-left:18px;">
{foreach from=$sidecategories item=sidecat}
         <li>- <a href="{if $seofriendly}blog/{$sidecat.id}/{$sidecat.seo}{else}blog.php?category={$sidecat.id}{/if}">{$sidecat.name}</a></li>
{/foreach}
       </ul>
{/if}
     </li>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Include Blog ------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Navigate to Utilities > Addon Modules > Blog > Settings

2. Select "Enable Include Blog", set "Number of posts to include" & Save.

3. Add the following to your homepage, or anywhere within WHMCS you wish:

<h2>{$LANG.latestblogposts}</h2>
{php}include("includeblog.php");{/php}
{foreach from=$posts item=post name=post}
<p><a href="{if $seofriendly}blog/{$post.id}/{$post.seourl}{else}blog.php?postid={$post.id}{/if}">{$post.title}</a> - {$post.date}<br />{$post.content|strip_tags|truncate:300:"..."}</p>
{if !$smarty.foreach.post.last}
<hr />
{/if}
{/foreach}

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------




SEO Friendly URLs -------------------------------------------------------------

1. Navigate to Utilities > Addon Modules > Blog > Settings

2. Select "Use SEO Friendly URLs" & Save

3. Add the following to your .htaccess (you may have to rename it from htaccess.txt)

# Blog
RewriteRule ^blog/([0-9]+)/[a-z0-9_-]+\.html$ ./blog.php?postid=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^blog/([0-9]+)/([^/]*)$ ./blog.php?category=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^blog/page-([0-9]+)$ ./blog.php?page=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^blog/(.*)/([^/]*)/page-(.*)$ ./blog.php?category=$1&page=$3 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^blog$ ./blog.php [L,NC]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That's it! You now have the full functionality of version 1.1
Please direct any questions, comments, suggestions or bugs to http://www.tjphippen.com

Enjoy!

 

Because v1.0 was beta there is no upgrade script. All future releases will include full upgrade support.

 

Version 1.2 Planned Features

• Enable IP blocking
  
• WordPress Import
  
• Trackbacks
  
• Social network sharing eg. Digg/Facebook/Twitter
  
• Post & Comments RSS
  
• Archives
  
• And anything else you want
  

[mcraedesigns]

Bought and Installed, quick and easy, works so far.

[siforek]

If anyone absolutely needs a upgrade script from v1.0 to v1.1 then let me know and I'll get it out to you tonight All future versions will deploy with upgrade scripts

[siforek]

It kind of annoying to have to go to the admin module to see if you have any comments to approve, so if there's enough demand for it I thought in the next release I'd also add "Comment(s) Awaiting Approval" to the Admin Summary page..

[sparky]

It kind of annoying to have to go to the admin module to see if you have any comments to approve, so if there's enough demand for it I thought in the next release I'd also add "Comment(s) Awaiting Approval" to the Admin Summary page..

I can give you some code to send an admin email.

PM me if you want it.

[mcraedesigns]

I just realized what's missing... Social Bookmarking! Preferably light weight one, if you do use java or something, still lightweight.

 

My favorites are stumble, delicious, slashdot and tweet. We really don't need 50, maybe a handful of 5-10.

 

http://www.wolf-howl.com/tools/social-bookmark-script-widget/

 

Example here: http://iamhumanruin.com/ click on "Bookmark It" (granted there is a boatload more than necessary here, to keep things simple I vote for most popular. Or the ability in the admin area to enable/disable the ones you like. That would be spiffy!

 

Here's hoping ;-)

[siforek]

I just realized what's missing... Social Bookmarking! Preferably light weight one, if you do use java or something, still lightweight.

 

My favorites are stumble, delicious, slashdot and tweet. We really don't need 50, maybe a handful of 5-10.

 

http://www.wolf-howl.com/tools/social-bookmark-script-widget/

 

Example here: http://iamhumanruin.com/ click on "Bookmark It" (granted there is a boatload more than necessary here, to keep things simple I vote for most popular. Or the ability in the admin area to enable/disable the ones you like. That would be spiffy!

 

Here's hoping ;-)

 

Thanks, that's kind of what I'd meant by "Social network sharing eg. Digg/Facebook/Twitter" in the planned features

[UNIXIELHOST]

Why would you need blog? WHMCS already have announcement feature?

[mcraedesigns]

Thanks, that's kind of what I'd meant by "Social network sharing eg. Digg/Facebook/Twitter" in the planned features

 

My bad

[mcraedesigns]

Why would you need blog? WHMCS already have announcement feature?

 

Because I can?

Because announcements and general blog posts are generally a different category of information?

Personal Preference?

Countless other reasons?

 

[Zorro67]

Why would you need blog? WHMCS already have announcement feature?

 

I want my PM info to be customer specific, whereas announcements,KB and Blog can be generic, but I would like people to be able to comment on blog articles (but not announcements).

 

Different vehicles for different purposes.

 

Just because I have a car, doesn't mean my bike (read "super-cruiser") isn't more fun.

 

Seriously: Blog, announcements, forum, WIKI, Knowledgebase, tutorials, network issues, project management, are all different purpose vehicles for information. They are all just information blocks

[UNIXIELHOST]

I want my PM info to be customer specific, whereas announcements,KB and Blog can be generic, but I would like people to be able to comment on blog articles (but not announcements).

 

Different vehicles for different purposes.

 

Just because I have a car, doesn't mean my bike (read "super-cruiser") isn't more fun.

 

Seriously: Blog, announcements, forum, WIKI, Knowledgebase, tutorials, network issues, project management, are all different purpose vehicles for information. They are all just information blocks

 

Do you actually think customers would care? Announcement and Blog is really same idea but why waste more money on a blog? Simple install your own wordpress blog like http://blog.domain.com then customize then bam, you got a blog and its more advanced than this one.

 

Just my opinion.

[siforek]

I want my PM info to be customer specific, whereas announcements,KB and Blog can be generic, but I would like people to be able to comment on blog articles (but not announcements).

 

Different vehicles for different purposes.

 

Just because I have a car, doesn't mean my bike (read "super-cruiser") isn't more fun.

 

Seriously: Blog, announcements, forum, WIKI, Knowledgebase, tutorials, network issues, project management, are all different purpose vehicles for information. They are all just information blocks

 

Well said

There's many things you can use a blog for.. Honestly I'm considering making some minor changes and incorporating page functions, similar to wordpress. I also think that a widgets function would be useful as well.

[Zorro67]

Do you actually think customers would care? Announcement and Blog is really same idea but why waste more money on a blog? Simple install your own wordpress blog like http://blog.domain.com then customize then bam, you got a blog and its more advanced than this one.

 

Just my opinion.

 

You have a point, if you consider the blog & announcements to be similar (which they currently are). However, I expect the blog functionality to improve over the next period. And yes perhaps for this interface, I don't think customer really care (yet).

 

Also, i could care less if a customer comments on my announcements, which are targeted as developments about what's happening on my site.

 

However my blog has a different purpose; its about I can help them with their business, so their comments will be appreciated. And is probably relevant to them.

 

My objective is to provide clients with functionality within the one interface, rather than spending my time customising different platforms to look like the same platform (tried that -takes too long)

 

From a more philosophical point of view, IMO, I think that by supporting developers here with their add-ons, I encourage others within the community to press forward with their own add-ons.

 

Perhaps put another way; if the current developer add-ons don't get market acceptance, then future add-ons may well be limited. I think that's proven by the growth in new add-ons over the last 3 months. For example, who knows how much growth and additional functionality might come from this (or another) developer's next add-on (which is funded by this one)? But that's just my view.

 

My observations are in no way meant to belitte the previous poster; he brings up some valid points.

Edited June 21, 2009 by Zorro67
clarifications

[UNIXIELHOST]

You have a point, if you consider the blog & announcements to be similar (which they currently are). However, I expect the blog functionality to improve over the next period. And yes perhaps for this interface, I don't think customer really care (yet).

 

Also, i could care less if a customer comments on my announcements, which are targeted as developments about what's happening on my site.

 

However my blog has a different purpose; its about I can help them with their business, so their comments will be appreciated. And is probably relevant to them.

 

My objective is to provide clients with functionality within the one interface, rather than spending my time customising different platforms to look like the same platform (tried that -takes too long)

 

From a more philosophical point of view, IMO, I think that by supporting developers here with their add-ons, I encourage others within the community to press forward with their own add-ons.

 

Perhaps put another way; if the current developer add-ons don't get market acceptance, then future add-ons may well be limited. I think that's proven by the growth in new add-ons over the last 3 months. For example, who knows how much growth and additional functionality might come from this (or another) developer's next add-on (which is funded by this one)? But that's just my view.

 

My observations are in no way meant to belitte the previous poster; he brings up some valid points.

 

I agree, I have my own blog and it works pretty well and when my company grows in the next few months, I will enable comment feature so the customers can communicate with us and help us to expand and meet the customer's needs. I always put customer first than my company becuase they are important to me. Customers are always right

[siforek]

I expect the blog functionality to improve over the next period.

 

And it will.

At this point if someone suggests something and it makes sense I'll add it.

[mcraedesigns]

The blog post title goes away when you click into that particular post. :-( it would be nice if it stayed. I post as a continuation of the title's info to keep things shorter.

[siforek]

The blog post title goes away when you click into that particular post. :-( it would be nice if it stayed. I post as a continuation of the title's info to keep things shorter.

 

Add <h2>{$post.title}</h2> to the top of "blog-post.tpl".

 

I removed it from my template because it already shows up with the title. Anyways, just remember that this is still WHMCS and that you can always edit the templates to fit your needs. Think I should post some documentation and make a list of all variables and their purpose?

[mcraedesigns]

Add <h2>{$post.title}</h2> to the top of "blog-post.tpl".

 

I removed it from my template because it already shows up with the title. Anyways, just remember that this is still WHMCS and that you can always edit the templates to fit your needs. Think I should post some documentation and make a list of all variables and their purpose?

 

That would be nice I'd like to not get too custom in the event of an upgrade. My site is already WHMCS customized a bunch.

[siforek]

That would be nice I'd like to not get too custom in the event of an upgrade. My site is already WHMCS customized a bunch.

 

Off the top of my head I can't think of any variables that aren't currently used in the templates, so just reference those until I write up a doc. As far as customization, feel free to make it your own Future upgrades will not only include the updated templates files, but will specify the template changes so you can just copy and paste the new source where appropriate.

[mcraedesigns]

Off the top of my head I can't think of any variables that aren't currently used in the templates, so just reference those until I write up a doc. As far as customization, feel free to make it your own Future upgrades will not only include the updated templates files, but will specify the template changes so you can just copy and paste the new source where appropriate.

 

Fantabulous! and the h2 thing works perfect What other variables can I play with?

Edited June 23, 2009 by mcraedesigns

[siforek]

Fantabulous! and the h2 thing works perfect What other variables can I play with?

 

What do you want to do?

Every variable available is currently used in the templates.

[annomander]

Hi siforek

 

Not had a chance to play with it yet, but I was wondering, I'm thinking of doing a area on my site to place up scripts I've written or intend to write, so it'd have a about the script, tutorial bit and then probs a link to the whmcs downloads, plus an area people could comment on.

 

very much like a blog I thought, what do you think could your script be used this way?

 

cheers

[siforek]

Hi siforek

 

Not had a chance to play with it yet, but I was wondering, I'm thinking of doing a area on my site to place up scripts I've written or intend to write, so it'd have a about the script, tutorial bit and then probs a link to the whmcs downloads, plus an area people could comment on.

 

very much like a blog I thought, what do you think could your script be used this way?

 

cheers

 

I see no reason you couldn't use the blog to do this.. It it were me personally I'd probably rename it from blog though.. So for example, if you wanted to rename it to "myscripts" you'd change blog.php to "myscripts.php" in the templates, language file(s), and htaccess(for seo)..

 

I've seriously thought about adding a "pages" feature to this, much like WordPress has. All I'd have to do is edit the breadcrumb, htaccess, add an additional page to the admin module, and a foreach statement to list all the pages in the sidebar/navigation..

 

That would basically make it a full CMS and make it extremely easy for anyone to add additional pages to WHMCS If I get enough interest I'll add it. And I'm sure I could add a feature so you can put smarty variables in each post/page.. Something like: "<($clientsdetails.firstname)>"

[mcraedesigns]

How can we get the browser title to say Blog? or something on the main blog page.