Loading...
 
Features / Usability

Features / Usability


Message ordering & display - Posted Date vs. Topic

posts: 28 United States

Default forum message display is to list topics, user selects a topic to view to read messages in that topic.

With Tiki 15.7 (or any newer version), is there a way using Tiki configuration settings to have the default message display chronologically? That is, showing latest message received, next latest message received (descending order), etc. regardless of the 'topic', without writing custom php code?

Example:


-

Msg from Bob (10 min ago) Subject (# 14)
- - -
Gary, I think that would be a great idea...


-

Msg from Sally (12 min ago) Subject (# 2)
- - -
Yes, we found the cat, it was stuck in the hide-a-bed in the den...


-

Msg from Mort (20 min ago) Subject (# 22)
- - -
Heads-up everyone coming over the pass to the party, 22 ft of snow fell last night..


-

Msg from....


-

etc..

The forum default currently displays a list of latest messages as a 'sidebar' - ideally that would be the main message display ordering , with the actual message displayed (and not merely a clickable link to view the message in the thread).

A link in a displayed message could be clicked to open the topic/subject(?) thread if the user wished to view the message thread itself (with is the current default after selecting a topic to view).

After several hours searching the docs and controls I've not yet discovered how to do this in the Admin configuration options (or I'm not yet familiar enough with the particular Tiki terms used for the setting controls to recognize them).

I've got - for one forum to 'import', about 8000 messages linked that way, and - for another forum to import and 'archive', more than 90,000 messages linked that way - thousands, or tens of thousands of 'topics'.
Displaying a list of 'topics' to select to read within would be a user's nightmare, or trying to group the messages and threads by a smaller number of topic categories and nested subjects within those topics to display, for import would be my nightmare.)

Much easier for a user to scroll down through the displayed list of messages, ordered by latest received, to follow the various conversations, and then open the subject thread if desired to see the whole 'conversation' subject or topic involving that displayed message.

Can Tiki be configured to do this using existing admin controls?

posts: 3665 United States

Maybe not exact.... but you could:

  1. Enable the RSS for your forum.
  2. Use the RSS plugin to display the forum messages (in chronological order) for all forums.
    Something like this, perhaps:
    Copy to clipboard
    {rss id="XXXX" date="1" desc="1" author="1" showtitle="0" desclen="50"}


I did a quick sample on the Tiki demo site here.

You should be able to update it, to format as you want.

HTH,

- Rick | My Tiki Blog | My Tiki UserPage

Why be a dummy? Get smarty! TikiForSmarties.com
Tiki for Smarties, your source for the best (and only) Tiki books, guides, and tutorials.
posts: 28 United States
Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Maybe not exact.... but you could:

  1. Enable the RSS for your forum.
  2. Use the RSS plugin to display the forum messages (in chronological order) for all forums.

{snip}


Thanks for that tip! I was looking at a couple other approaches, but stumbling over displaying truncated messages in the list. At the vary least, including a link on the default forum 'main page' a user could click to display that listing gives them that option, and may well be a better approach. (I may not be bright, but I'm trainable..)
Back "under the hood" I go.. smile

posts: 28 United States

Hello again, Rick..

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Maybe not exact.... but you could:

  1. Enable the RSS for your forum.


Done: And individual forum is selected (although there's only one currently.. another may be created later as an archive, but first, I need to create and configure the feed that has been enabled).
Continued below...

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
  1. Use the RSS plugin to display the forum messages (in chronological order) for all forums.
    Something like this, perhaps:
    Copy to clipboard
    {rss id="XXXX" date="1" desc="1" author="1" showtitle="0" desclen="50"}


I did a quick sample on the Tiki demo site here.

You should be able to update it, to format as you want.


Since this is my first foray into RSS (never mind TIKI), I think I need a bit of hand-holding.

First, it appears you took down your sample, although I suspect beyond showing the end result it would not help me set up a replica.

Specifically, I haven't found where or how I configure the (internal?) feed that is now displayed in the drop-down menu of the forum.
In the instructions/help (https://doc.tiki.org/Feeds) is: Keep in mind that 'outgoing' feeds of your own Tiki blogs, calendar, image and file galleries and articles can also be displayed within your own Tiki!(See Below for instructions.)

Alas... there's an awful lot that isn't below about doing it.. If it's in the create external feed page, then I'm (first) hung up on the URL field contents ..

Can you clarify?

posts: 3665 United States

The demo site gets refreshed regularly, so you may have missed it. No matter...

1. Enable the RSS for your forum:
Rssforum1
2. Find the RSS feed for your forum. It will be something like this:

Copy to clipboard
https://YOUR_TIKI_SITE/tiki-forums_rss.php

Click the VIEW button to get your actual URL. Copy it down, you'll need it in a moment.
3. Create a new External Feed (Settings > External Feed).
Rssforum2
Use the URL that you copied (from step 2).
4. After saving your new, external feed, record the ID number. You'll need it in a moment.
Rssforum3
5. Create a new wiki page on your site. Or, if you want the list of forum posts to be on your home page, you can use that page.
6. Edit the page and add the following:

Copy to clipboard
{rss id="XXXX" date="1" desc="1" author="1" showtitle="0" desclen="50"}

Where XXXX is the ID number you copied (from Step 4).

You can modify the RSS plugin (see the docs) to get the formatting as you wish.

Good luck!

HTH,

- Rick | My Tiki Blog | My Tiki UserPage

Why be a dummy? Get smarty! TikiForSmarties.com
Tiki for Smarties, your source for the best (and only) Tiki books, guides, and tutorials.
posts: 28 United States
Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

The demo site gets refreshed regularly, so you may have missed it. No matter...

1. Enable the RSS for your forum:
Rssforum1
2. Find the RSS feed for your forum. It will be something like this:

Copy to clipboard
https://YOUR_TIKI_SITE/tiki-forums_rss.php

Click the VIEW button to get your actual URL. Copy it down, you'll need it in a moment.
3. Create a new External Feed (Settings External Feed).
Rssforum2
Use the URL that you copied (from step 2).
4. After saving your new, external feed, record the ID number. You'll need it in a moment.
Rssforum3


OK, I'm using Create External Feed, that is done...

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
5. Create a new wiki page on your site. Or, if you want the list of forum posts to be on your home page, you can use that page.


The page I want the "link" on is generated by:
https://mywebsite/forum/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=1

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
6. Edit the page.....


And that is the rub.. not sure what it is that I have to edit to add the link... if it were html, no sweat, but since page this is dynamically generated...

For example - https://mywebsite/forum/tiki-editpage.php?page=HomePage has an EDIT button that permits me to modify the text generated for that page, and I added a clickable link to that page to go to the Forum page I mentioned above.

But I want the RSS Link on the Forum page that displays the topics in the forum and the last 5 posts in the forum.
I can configure the Forum page if I click on the Edit Forum link- which brings up

....tiki-admin_forums.php?forumId=1&cookietab=2#content_admin_forums1-2

..but I can't add anything to the page that is generated from those settings using the interface provided.

I suspect I must edit a php code file and that opens a host of questions regarding later upgrades perhaps - I'm using version 15.7 at present.
I can deal with that if that is the route I need to go, but first, if editing a .php file is my only option, the question then becomes "which .php file?".

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

6. Edit the page and add the following:

Copy to clipboard
{rss id="XXXX" date="1" desc="1" author="1" showtitle="0" desclen="50"}

Where XXXX is the ID number you copied (from Step 4).

You can modify the RSS plugin (see the docs) to get the formatting as you wish.


I would happily perform those steps, if I knew what I had to edit.

Thoughts?
{besides 'this dude is nuts' - I have medical paperwork that says I'm not anymore razz ]

posts: 28 United States

Hi Rick,

Dan Nelson wrote:
I would happily perform those steps, if I knew what I had to edit.


I think I have the answer, or at least an approach?

It looks like tiki-view_forum.php calls tiki-view_forum.tpl

If I edit tiki-view_forum.php conditioned on the forum_id = 1 argument to call tiki-view_forum_1.tpl ..

..and if I make a copy of tiki-view_forum.tpl as tiki-view_forum_1.tpl, and edit that to include the RSS link, I "think" that will work - assuming no other .php file calls tiki-view_forum.tpl. Otherwise I'll need to condition those files on forum_ID=1 also, I believe.
Am I re-inventing the wheel here - that is.. is there a TIKI admin interface that will do this already?
Or do I NOT want to go down this path at all?

{I will be eventually bringing in at least one additional forum that will be just an archive - no longer active, just history - so I think it is a good idea to be able to separately configure each "forum"]

posts: 3665 United States

I was actually suggesting that you use a custom Wiki page (on which you can control the layout) instead of the default tiki-view_forum page. If you want to modify the TPL files, you should create your own custom theme (to facilitate maintenance and upgrades).

If all you want is to show the RSS on the same page as the default forum page, you can simply add the RSS in a module, then put the module on the Forums pages.

HTH,

- Rick | My Tiki Blog | My Tiki UserPage

Why be a dummy? Get smarty! TikiForSmarties.com
Tiki for Smarties, your source for the best (and only) Tiki books, guides, and tutorials.
posts: 28 United States
Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
If all you want is to show the RSS on the same page as the default forum page, you can simply add the RSS in a module, then put the module on the Forums pages.


Indeed that's all I want to do.
I wasn't familiar with Tiki modules, and that makes a lot more sense than the approach I was thinking. Thanks for your patience as I come up to speed with Tiki's capabilities. I suspect you're going to see my IP address all over your site logs for a bit.

posts: 28 United States
Dan Nelson wrote:

Indeed that's all I want to do.
Thanks for your patience as I come up to speed with Tiki's capabilities. I suspect you're going to see my IP address all over your site logs for a bit.


Better yet, perhaps...(call me "old school"), you just sold a couple more books, Rick...

posts: 28 United States
Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
I was actually suggesting that you use a custom Wiki page (on which you can control the layout) instead of the default tiki-view_forum page.




Hi Rick, Books in hand (finally - vendor lost the first set in shipment..) here's what I have done (attempting to display latest Forum messages in a Wiki Page)

  • Enabled RSS for Individual Forums (Only 1 forum at present)

  • Created RSS External Feed


Feed:

Copy to clipboard
https:// myurl/forum/tiki-forums_rss.php

  • Created Custom Module: Latest Forum Posts
Copy to clipboard
{rss id=0001 max=15 date=1 desc=1 author=1 showtitle=0 desclen=50}

(with or without quotes on the arguments - no difference)

"Weirdly, when I previewed this reply with that RSS code without the CODE /CODE formatting here, I actually get a list of (Old) posts from this site!"

  • Created Wiki Page
Copy to clipboard
http://myurl/forum/tiki-index.php?page=Forum+Posts


When I go to that page, I get a page display (see attachment)

--------
FORUM

Latest Forum Posts

N/A

------

There are currently 9 test posts in the forum (two titles, 7 replies in one title.

If I hover the cursor over the 'N/A' I see:

Copy to clipboard
https://:myurl/forum/tiki-index.php?page=Forum+Posts#


What am I missing/doing wrong?

posts: 28 United States

It doesn't seem to matter how many times I preview a post, there's always something I missed that I don't see until I post.. /sigh/)

Let's try again:

Hi Rick, Books in hand (finally - vendor lost the first set in shipment..) here's what I have done (attempting to display latest Forum messages in a Wiki Page)

  • Enabled RSS for Individual Forums (Only 1 forum at present)

  • Created RSS External Feed


Feed:

Copy to clipboard
https://myurl/forum/tiki-forums_rss.php

  • Created Custom Module: Latest Forum Posts
Copy to clipboard
{rss id=0001 max=15 date=1 desc=1 author=1 showtitle=0 desclen=50}

(with or without quotes on the arguments - no difference)

"Weirdly, when I previewed this reply with that RSS code without the CODE /CODE formatting here, I actually get a list of (Old) posts from this site!"

  • Created Wiki Page
Copy to clipboard
http://myurl/forum/tiki-index.php?page=Forum+Posts

..and added the module

Copy to clipboard
{module module="Latest Forum Posts"}


When I go to that page, I get a page display (see attachment)

--------
FORUM

Latest Forum Posts

N/A

------
Just for giggles, I even tried putting the RSS code directly into the wiki page instead of using the module with no success

There are currently 9 test posts in the forum (two titles, 7 replies in one title).

If I hover the cursor over the 'N/A' I see:

Copy to clipboard
https://:myurl/forum/tiki-index.php?page=Forum+Posts#


What am I missing/doing wrong?

posts: 3665 United States

Hm... I'm not sure what the issue may be. I just created a sample on the demo site:

Here's the external feed (using Tiki's feed as an example):
https://demo.tiki.org/20x/tiki-admin_rssmodules.php
Capture1


Here's the wiki page with the RSS feed:
https://demo.tiki.org/20x/tiki-index.php?page=myNewPage
Capture3


Here's the custom module:
Capture2

Assigned to appear only in the forums section:
Capture5


But Luci's idea of using the List plugin may be a cleaner solution

HTH,

- Rick | My Tiki Blog | My Tiki UserPage

Why be a dummy? Get smarty! TikiForSmarties.com
Tiki for Smarties, your source for the best (and only) Tiki books, guides, and tutorials.
posts: 28 United States

OK Rick, now you've got me confused..

First, just a note: I'm using v. 15.7 so the menus look different for one thing , hopefully that's all that is different..

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
Hm... I'm not sure what the issue may be. I just created a sample on the demo site:


Alas, I get prompted for a log-in, and it's not (apparently) the one I use here, so I'll skip that for the moment, assume with confidence it's working fine, and continue..

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Here's the external feed (using Tiki's feed as an example):
https://demo.tiki.org/20x/tiki-admin_rssmodules.php
{img fileId="2082" thumb="box" width="450px"


What's the significance (if any) using tiki-admin_rssmodules.php vs. tiki-forums_rss.php? Not having admin access prompting a log-in perhaps? wink
(continuing)

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Here's the wiki page with the RSS feed:
https://demo.tiki.org/20x/tiki-index.php?page=myNewPage
Capture3


First observation: you put the RSS code in the wiki page?
Second Observation: The code is different: RSS(id etc)RSS vs. just RSS ID etc..
I get the syntax but I'm not sure my version of Tiki does..
(I'll come back to this in a second. Continuing..)

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Here's the custom module:
Capture2

Assigned to appear only in the forums section:
Capture5


Rhetorical question perhaps: If I'm putting the RSS code directly in the wiki page, what do I need the module for?

Other 'anomalies':
My external feed shows 'ID 1', 'Name', and under the name, 'Site': says N/A, 'Feed': says mysite/forum/tiki-forums_rss.php.
Your 'Site' says Tiki RSS Feed for Forums.
Is this because my external feed is 'internal', or because the URL isn't recognized/accessible?
(And if the latter, is it possible that having installed Tiki in my public_html/forum/ subfolder, and that /forum subfolder is username/pw authenticated a cause of at least some of my issues? Everything else is functioning OK, but the RSS URL looks not to be relational. If that's the issue, how do I resolve that (without opening up a 'security hole' by having source displayed in the results that includes the authentication)? Due to the nature and structure of the server, I only want certain people with access to that part of the server to be able to even access the forum, otherwise I have to approve their Tiki registration also)

Back to the RSS code in the Wiki page - if I put the code in the wiki page in the format you use, and preview, I get an editing error saying 'ID is missing'. It doesn't tell me what ID it is referring to.. should I assume that it's looking for the module ID, not the RSS ID (as the RSS id is included)?

In other words, it looks like putting the RSS code in the wiki page isn't correct for one issue, and the second is that the 'N/A' I was getting in the page display is related to the N/A in the RSS Site shown in my RSS external feed. Is that what I'm dealing with?

Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:
But Luci's idea of using the List plugin may be a cleaner solution


Perhaps true, if indeed the 'external' RSS is being blocked by the folder authentication and an RSS relational link to the .php file isn't possible. But if that's my main issue, and we also resolve my confusion surrounding RSS code in a WiKi vs. a module nesting the RSS code in the Wiki instead, I'm there, I think.

To quote ol' Ross Perot.. 'I'm all ears, here'.

-Dan

posts: 28 United States
Dan Nelson wrote:

My external feed shows 'ID 1', 'Name', and under the name, 'Site': says N/A, 'Feed': says mysite/forum/tiki-forums_rss.php.
Your 'Site' says Tiki RSS Feed for Forums.
Is this because my external feed is 'internal', or because the URL isn't recognized/accessible?


And that is indeed the N/A issue.
RSS can't access the authenticated directory. And there doesn't appear to be a way to put a relational URL (the menu requires a 'valid url' - 'http://something.ext'). It's an external feed and insists on being external.
I tried creating an RSS user and passed the username/password to the site via the URL in the RSS url , which sorta worked, at least got me past the folder encryption, and that changed the 'Site': -> N/A to 'Site': -> Tiki Error: You don't have access to these pages, (something like that).
That error message also shows on the Wiki page.

Adding the RSS 'user' to the Forum as a registered user got me nowhere.

(I suspect the RSS URL would have to have the viewers Tiki username/password or I have to allow anonymous viewing - and anonymous folder access - if it's to work at all. The user/pw URL thing may actually be fighting with security protocols and this idea is a dead-end no matter what I attempt.)

So, the one hanging question (academic now, perhaps) before I attempt to follow Luci's advice is whether the RSS code is theoretically proper in the Wiki page directly, or whether the RSS code should actually be in a module and the module in the wiki page.

If nothing else comes from this it's been a fun (?) learning experience.

posts: 28 United States
Rick Sapir / Tiki for Smarties wrote:

Maybe not exact.... but you could:

  1. Enable the RSS for your forum.
  2. Use the RSS plugin to display the forum messages (in chronological order) for all forums.
    Something like this, perhaps:
    Copy to clipboard
    {rss id="XXXX" date="1" desc="1" author="1" showtitle="0" desclen="50"}


I did a quick sample on the Tiki demo site here.

You should be able to update it, to format as you want.

HTH,


After exploring the suggested options and running into difficulties pursuing them to success on my site (due to tiki version - 15.7 - and server structure), I'd like try a different tactic...

Attached is a screenshot of the critical part my current forum page.. what I would like to do is expand the display of the Last 20 Posts in this forum listings to include, at a minimum, author and a truncated display of message content.

Is this possible, and if so, how?


posts: 28 United States
luciash d' being 🧙 wrote:

Hi Dan,
I wouldn't complicate things with RSS. Maybe try with the LIST wiki-plugin instead?
See https://doc.tiki.org/PluginList

And also see the video screencast image at the https://doc.tiki.org/LIST---Graphical-User-Interface#Overview to see how to compose the plugin control blocks using the ListGUI helper.

There you can see actually an example of composing a Forum listing using the PluginList ListGUI.

luci


Hi Luci,

Thanks for that tip -

Am I correct to assume that ListGUI will generate a permanent page on my site that will provide the listing (and a truncated content display) of latest posts whenever a user loads that page (such that if a list item is selected will take the user to that thread)?

If so I'll explore that approach if I'm unable to get the results with the RSS feed (which Rick's example did exactly what I was looking for earlier -> if I can get it working, that is).

-Dan


Upcoming Events

1)  18 Apr 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
2)  16 May 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
3)  20 Jun 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
4)  18 Jul 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
5)  15 Aug 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
6)  19 Sep 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
7) 
Tiki birthday
8)  17 Oct 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
9)  21 Nov 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
10)  19 Dec 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting