Calendar

vrijvlinder

I set up a demo page of a calendar plugin I am working on , in the page it explains how to tie it in and enter the events in the files. If you have an idea or think this has promise let me know.

I am working on it as a spare project and thought to test it so I made a plugin to display it using ExtraPage as the vehicle .

What you see is mostly all css and the events are entered in the json file the way this stands.

http://freeplanet3.com/Forum/vcalendar

vrijvlinder

Here is the zip in case you want to check it out. Oh and change the links that say Forum to point to your installation

R_J

It would be great if you can bind your calendar to vanilla as a default input method. I've found this in vanilla/library/core/class.form.php

   /**
    * Returns XHTML for a standard calendar input control.
    *
    * @param string $FieldName The name of the field that is being displayed/posted with this input. It
    * should related directly to a field name in $this->_DataArray.
    * @param array $Attributes An associative array of attributes for the input. ie. onclick, class, etc
    * @return string
    * @todo Create calendar helper
    */
   public function Calendar($FieldName, $Attributes = FALSE) {
      // TODO: CREATE A CALENDAR HELPER CLASS AND LOAD/REFERENCE IT HERE.
      // THE CLASS SHOULD BE DECLARED WITH:
      //  if (!class_exists('Calendar') {
      // AT THE BEGINNING SO OTHERS CAN OVERRIDE THE DEFAULT CALENDAR WITH ONE
      // OF THEIR OWN.
      $Class = ArrayValueI(
         'class', $Attributes, FALSE);
      if ($Class === FALSE) $Attributes['class'] = 'DateBox';

      // IN THE MEANTIME...
      return $this->Input($FieldName, 'text', $Attributes);
   }

Obviously someone already thought about a vanilla-native calendar input field. It would be great to see a small icon beneath input boxes of class "DateBox" that pops up a fancy date picking widget

vrijvlinder

Yes , this calendar however is for events other than discussions , and other than having to do with the forum necessarily .

Community events. There is no point in using a calendar for discussions or comments . What possible events can be eventful ? There are permalinks on the comments and discussions that can be hooked to possibly create a clickable calendar I suppose like for blogs. But to make a calendar of past or future discussions? I don't see the need. Search is faster than going through calendars to find the discussion or comment .

I looked at this particular one because it was pretty easy to set up and use. The point of a calendar is to mark special dates of special events.

Meetings, wedding , field trips, special guest day.....

Not to show every discussion and comment there ever was and will be by way of calendar.

This however can be made to be able to popup and a link to the pop up can be placed easily using other plugins.

peregrine

@vrijvlinder

Community events. There is no point in using a calendar for discussions or comments . What possible events can be eventful ?

for once. we think alike V. exactly my sentiments on events. But thats what i think about twitter and facebook, etc.

vrijvlinder

I have gotten the demo more tight , I think the way it is will work . But I want to be able to write to the json events file via the dashboard to make it easier to fill in the events.

If anyone can give me a pointer as to how to make a form in the dashboard setting for the calendar to be able to write to a json file.

I could do it with $confs but that will eventually make the conf huge, so I rather use the way this plugin is set to work.

DavidColburn

This is way cool!

I've been distracted from Vanilla & was just today looking at lunarliving.org/calendars/event-calendar.html because it's easy to stuff a URL into a date.

Question: If I'm already using ExtraPage for our Visitor page does that exclude using it for the Calendar as you have it set up currently?

vrijvlinder

If you mean , is this Extrapage, no it is made from Extrapage, but it is a stand alone.

You change the info in the events.php file or make your own, but it is easy to see where to enter the data.

You would install this as a new plugin.

DavidColburn

I was wondering if it captured ExtraPage but it doesn't. Cool.

The customizable design is nice. Is a mouse-over pop-up of an Event date practical?
Could such a pop-up include the ability to click on a Forum Discussion or a Conversation thread where greater detail, volunteers, resource-offers, etc. are discussed?
Or does the possibility of multiple events on the same date make that all too complicated?

vrijvlinder

please visit the plugin page to get more info, you can put anything in there as far as I know. You first pick what design you want, human date etc. Then delete the rest of the sample calendars from the plugin . Then you enter the stuff you want just like in the samples.

http://www.vissit.com/jquery-event-calendar-plugin-english-version

DavidColburn

I did a search on "vanilla forum plugin addon" and also looked around the Vanilla Forum & could not find a clear & simple explanation of what is the difference (in Vanilla) between a Plugin and an Addon.

This Plugin does not appear to be native to Vanilla whereas the Addons are - is a Plugin something that runs in the browser and interfaces with Vanilla whereas an Addon is integrated with Vanilla?

We need a Calendar app but I don't want to jump into something that might confuse our users (several, not all of them) who are already struggling to get used to Vanilla vs Yahoogroups.

Shadowdare

@DavidColburn, plugins, themes, and applications are all addons.

hgtonight

@DavidColburn More information on the wiki: http://vanillawiki.homebrewforums.net/index.php/Plugins_vs_Applications_vs_Modules

DavidColburn

OK, thanks. so Addon is a catch-all term.
I get what a Theme is - it has a specific purpose.
What is the difference between a Plugin and an Application, please?

UnderDog

I'll just copy / paste what's on the Vanilla Wiki (thanks for the link, hgtonight):

**What is a Plugin ?**

A plugin in Garden allows you to add small functionality to existing applications. This usually happens by changing the existing behavior of an application. For example, you could show the role of each user by their posts, or you can let users flag content as abusive. Vanilla ships with many plugins, leaving the administrator to choose what functionality he wants. Plugins work by hooking into an application through events and magic methods. The plugin then gets the information it needs and outputs it where it makes sense (for the plugin). Plugins that add panels to the sidebar are overriding or implementing modules. The key to a great plugin is it is simple to use and has easy administration.

**What is an Application?**

An application will contain its own controllers, models, modules, and views. This lets it create virtually any functionality you can imagine.

My advise : Do not start on Applications yet...