[TRICK] displaying the "unknown action" in the who's online list

[Kindred]

so, you have a bunch of mods installed and 90% of them - while they add functionality to your forum - don't add themselves into the list of valid actions in the Who's Online list.

This little trick won't fix ALL of the problems (it's a quick trick, it doesn't drill down into special actions or sub-actions) but it will, at least, display where the user actually IS in your system.

Code (find in Sources/Who.php) Select Expand


function determineActions($urls, $preferred_prefix = false)
{
  global $txt, $user_info, $modSettings, $smcFunc, $context;


Code (add after) Select Expand


global $scripturl;


Code (find in Sources/who.php) Select Expand


// Unlisted or unknown action.
else
$data[$k] = $txt['who_unknown'];


Code (replace) Select Expand


// Unlisted or unknown action.
else
$data[$k] = $txt['who_thisaction'] . '<a href="' . $scripturl . '?action=' . $actions['action'] . '">' . $actions['action'] . '</a>';


then add the following text string to modifications.YOURLANGUAGE.txt

Code Select Expand


$txt['who_thisaction'] = 'Viewing the ';


[Kindred]

note: I have been playing with the following, but it doesn't quite work....

Code Select Expand


// Unlisted or unknown action.
else {
if (isset($actions['sa'])) {
$extraaction['sa']['text'] = ' - ' . $actions['sa'];
$extraaction['sa']['url'] = ';sa=' . $actions['sa'];
} else {
$extraaction['sa']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['sa']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['area'])) {
$extraaction['area']['text'] = ' - ' . $actions['area'];
$extraaction['area']['url'] = ';area=' . $actions['area'];
} else {
$extraaction['area']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['area']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['u'])) {
$extraaction['u']['text'] = ' for User ID' . $actions['u'];
$extraaction['u']['url'] = ';u=' . $actions['u'];
} else {
$extraaction['u']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['u']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['cat'])) {
$extraaction['cat']['text'] = ' in Category' . $actions['cat'];
$extraaction['cat']['url'] = ';cat=' . $actions['cat'];
} else {
$extraaction['cat']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['cat']['url'] = '';
}

$data[$k] =  'Viewing the <a href="' . $scripturl . '?action=' . $actions['action'] . $extraaction['sa']['url'] . $extraaction['area']['url'] . $extraaction['u']['url'] . $extraaction['cat']['url'] .'">' . $actions['action'] . $extraaction['sa']['text'] . $extraaction['area']['text'] . $extraaction['u']['text'] . $extraaction['cat']['text'] . '</a>';
}



[Matthew K.]

Very neat, Kindred...it'd be cool if eventually SMF had this implemented into the core so modifications didn't HAVE to.

[nza2k]

Thank you Kindred,

Is there any way, without killing the sever, to display real time stats instead of a list of names.

For instance :
- 5 members and 1 moderator are watching post 1
- 7 members are watching post 2
- 3 members are connecting
- 1 member is posting a new message
...

?

[Kindred]

that would require a whole bunch more recoding...   my trick is just to replace the frustrating "unknown action"

[nza2k]

No problem, I understand. Thank you for your reply

[Kindred]

note:  I just discovered that you also should add $scripturl to the global variables at the start of the function.

[geek_andy]

Very neat, Kindred...it'd be cool if eventually SMF had this implemented into the core so modifications didn't HAVE to.

I completely agree.

Works great Kindred! Thanks!

[Chalky]

Thank you lots for this 

[lets4410]

just the info I needed, thanks

[TattooLeashed]

It doesn't work for me

[NanoSector]

It doesn't work for me

You just posted it did

[TattooLeashed]

Only the word 'Portal' is seen now by the members. Guests show the proper things. Strange...

[Kindred]

which code snippet did you use?   And did you make exactly the edit that I showed?

[NanoSector]

Nah I added a $txt stuff for him.

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=473174.msg3307750#msg3307750

[Kindred]

ah yes...   I didn't even think to $txt the english string (naughty me!)

Sorry, my dutch is non existent, so I can't comment directly. lol....

[NanoSector]

ah yes...   I didn't even think to $txt the english string (naughty me!)

Sorry, my dutch is non existent, so I can't comment directly. lol....

First code's what needs to be added in Modifications.{language}.php, second and third code is Find > Replace.

[Antechinus]

Nifty. I like it. Should be default IMO.

What I would also like is a change in that silly "Nothing, or nothing you can see" message. It would make more sense to say "Ant is messing around in admin" or something like that, if it is the case, rather than getting all spooky about it.

[TattooLeashed]

I did all that Yoshi but it still doesn't work


This is how it looks like in who.php:

Code Select Expand

// Unlisted or unknown action.
else {
if (isset($actions['sa'])) {
$extraaction['sa']['text'] = ' - ' . $actions['sa'];
$extraaction['sa']['url'] = ';sa=' . $actions['sa'];
} else {
$extraaction['sa']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['sa']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['area'])) {
$extraaction['area']['text'] = ' - ' . $actions['area'];
$extraaction['area']['url'] = ';area=' . $actions['area'];
} else {
$extraaction['area']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['area']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['u'])) {
$extraaction['u']['text'] = ' for User ID' . $actions['u'];
$extraaction['u']['url'] = ';u=' . $actions['u'];
} else {
$extraaction['u']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['u']['url'] = '';
}
if (isset($actions['cat'])) {
$extraaction['cat']['text'] = ' in Category' . $actions['cat'];
$extraaction['cat']['url'] = ';cat=' . $actions['cat'];
} else {
$extraaction['cat']['text'] = '';
$extraaction['cat']['url'] = '';
}

$data[$k] = $txt['unknown_action_viewing'] . ' <a href="' . $scripturl . '?action=' . $actions['action'] . '">' . $actions['action'] . '</a>';
}[s][/s] 

And I put the txt line in my modifications.dutch.php file. What am i doing wrong? Starts to bug me

[NanoSector]

That's the code that doesn't work

Just use the code I provided, it's in the first post of this topic.

[TattooLeashed]

That one doesn't work for me. I only see my own status, the other statusses remain portal only.

Dan    18:15:13    Bekijkt Wie is er online.
Online Lisje 18:15:10    Bekijkt portal
Online Mylvan     18:15:09    Bekijkt portal
Online Mair 18:15:08    Bekijkt portal
Online Siin 18:15:07    Bekijkt portal
Online Luppie    18:15:06    Bekijkt portal
Online Chefke 18:15:05    Bekijkt portal
Online TVT    18:15:04    Bekijkt portal
Gast     18:14:43    Bekijkt topic Paintedflesh werken.
Gast    18:14:31    Bekijkt de forumindexpagina van .

[NanoSector]

Guess the portal is taking over then. Sorry, I dunno what to do with annoying portals taking over the world

[TattooLeashed]

I thank you anyway for all the good help!

[Kindred]

the only thing that my trick does is to replace the "doing something unknown" statement with the actual action that the user is doing.
If there is any other action defined (like "portal") it never gets to my little but of code.
I'd say it's a poorly coded action for whatever portal you are using.

[TattooLeashed]

I'm using Simple Portal. Recently updated to 2.3.5. Never had any problems with it.

[mr.Curiosity]

Nice Work...

[Deezel]

Thanks Kindred... worked like a charm on my site!!
running
SMF 2.0.2
and
SimplePortal 2.3.5

[Chalky]

What I would also like is a change in that silly "Nothing, or nothing you can see" message. It would make more sense to say "Ant is messing around in admin" or something like that, if it is the case, rather than getting all spooky about it.

Did anyone find a way of doing this yet?

[Kindred]

Did you even read the original post?

[NanoSector]

* Yoshi2889 mumbles something about "...first post.......same problem.......fixed......."

[Chalky]

Yes, I did!  I made the edit some time ago and I love it!  However, my regular members complain that they still see the "nothing or nothing you can see" message while I'm doing Admin stuff, which is why I quoted Antechinus' post in particular.

I would also like my members to see something a little more friendly when I'm admin'ing, however, if this was indeed fixed in the first post along with all the other actions that this edit has revealed for me so wonderfully, then I have clearly missed something, but I suspect you misunderstood me 

[Antechinus]

Yup, that's different to the OP. The OP only deals with the "unknown action" message, not with the other one.

[Kindred]

Oops, sorry, sabrinova, I misread your question (that's the problem, reading from a phone).

I'd say you have to check the list for the admin and other actions and remove the permissions check

[Chalky]

Thanks

Is there no way of just changing the text?

[Kindred]

you can change the text "nothing, or nothing you can see", but that would change every use of it, not just the admin instance.

[OzzyMozzy]

This might be a silly question but what file do I download to make this change? I haven't done a Manual mod before, I thought this might be a good one to start off with.

[Kindred]

lol....   actually, not that silly a question.
I started to write back for you to read the OP and realized that I had forgotten to indicate the filename in the OP. 'DOH!

fixed in the OP...  but the file is Sources/Who.php

[OzzyMozzy]

thanks i found it and made the change but i dont understand this bit, where do i find and put it?

'then add the following text string to modifications.YOURLANGUAGE.txt'

[OzzyMozzy]

OMG i did it and it works, well it says 'portal' now instead. Is that right or did i miss something?

[Kindred]

Some portals may interfere with the action list.... they assume that you are always in the portal unless you are doing something specific.

[OzzyMozzy]

That's ok at least it's not saying Unknown action anymore. thanks heaps

[Chalky]

Hi, me again!  As I've said earlier in this topic, this trick is working great for me.  However, I decided to sort out my error logs, so I deleted all errors, went about my business and checked back.  Within a few minutes of leaving my computer on the auto-refreshing Who's Online, I had 30 instances of this error:

http://******.com/index.php?action=who
8: Undefined variable: scripturl
File: /home/content/**/*******/html/******/Sources/Who.php
Line: 451

Line 451 is this:

Code Select Expand

// Unlisted or unknown action.
else
$data[$k] = $txt['who_thisaction'] . '<a href="' . $scripturl . '?action=' . $actions['action'] . '">' . $actions['action'] . '</a>';


Please can you help me stop this error from occurring, or is everyone else getting it and it's just something I have to accept?  As I said, there are no problems with the trick itself, it does exactly what it should.

Thank you 

[Kindred]

Hmmmmm... Really? Wonder why it does not trigger that for me.

Anyway, simple fix. Add
global $scripturl;
Up above... At the start of the function, where the other global declarations are

[Chalky]

Thanks Kindred, I think I've put it in the right place 

Just emptied my error log again so I'll see what appears now.  Thanks for the fast response 

[Kindred]

now that I can get to my code from an actual computer:

Code (find in Sources/Who.php) Select Expand


function determineActions($urls, $preferred_prefix = false)
{
  global $txt, $user_info, $modSettings, $smcFunc, $context;


Code (add after) Select Expand


global $scripturl;


edit- after looking through the code, I wonder why this error was not noticed before...   because, in the core, unedited code, it looks like $scripturl is not actually defined in the determineActions function. It must have been added by another mod to my code and I missed it for the trick.   Original code in the first post has been edited.

[Chalky]

Woohoo!  I had put it in the right place and that seems to have sorted it!  I have left it on the WO for ages and no more errors have appeared in the log.  Brilliant, thanks Kindred 

[Cutter65]

Installed this tip today and it works great!

Thanks Kindred!

[[UGP]Jeffry]

Hello, first of all sorry for bumping this topic, but this seems to be useful and might be worth to discuss about.
So I have added the code of the first post, and now it shows

Viewing the portal

anywhere, where before Unknown Action was taking place.
Whats up to this portal thing? Can it be removed from the actions, because even if it shows that somebody is viewing the portal, they DO NOT view it. :/

Any ideas?

[Shambles]

Just change the text to read

Not viewing the portal

Doddle


Joking aside, do you actually have a portal installed?

[Kindred]

right... so, if you have a portal installed, then it sounds like the default "action" is "portal" which comes across as "viewing the portal"

(as I just realized that we have already discussed, if you read back a  few messages)

Some portals may interfere with the action list.... they assume that you are always in the portal unless you are doing something specific.

[babsbatgirlfan]

Is there anyone here who could do this coding for me on my site? I cant ever figure out where anything is lol and i think it would be easier if I set up an admin account for someone lol. I hate the 'unknown action' and would like to know what everyone is doing.

my site is: http://www.dcnurpg.com

thank you so much.

[Kindred]

THe instructions in the first post are pretty straight forward...

But, either way, an admin account would not work. You can not edit those files from admin.

[babsbatgirlfan]

Well I own the site so would it need to be done with my account then? I cannot find the areas, at all where to do these changes I have never been good at this stuff at all. Maybe if I PM you my info could you get it so the unknown action is gone and it showsd what everyone is doing? I just cannot find the right area to go into lol.

[Chalky]

How do I use FTP? / What is FTP?

You need to download two free programs from the Internet. An FTP client such as FileZilla and a text editor such as Notepad ++. Then you grab the specified files from your server using FTP, keep a copy of them as backup, make the edits using the text editor (Word. Notepad, etc will not do, be sure to download one designed for the purpose), then upload your edited file using FTP, overwriting the existing one and you're done!  If you get a parse error replace with the copy of the file you saved as backup and try again 

[NekoJonez]

This is actually working great for me. I think SimplePortal messes up a lot.

[Biology Forums]

Thanks for the trick, Kindred, I just noticed it!

However, I took a slightly different path. Instead of showing the vague action, I said why not skip it

Here's how I did it:

Find:

Code Select Expand

$data[$k] = $txt['who_unknown'];

Replace:

Code Select Expand

else
//$data[$k] = $txt['who_unknown'];
continue;

Hope this helps

[Arantor]

The reason you generally pull the extra data is so you can figure out what is missing, rather than just making it go away.

[Biology Forums]

The reason you generally pull the extra data is so you can figure out what is missing, rather than just making it go away.

I agree. Do you have another suggestion how I could do it better?

[Arantor]

The reason you generally pull the extra data is so you can figure out what is missing, rather than just making it go away.

I agree. Do you have another suggestion how I could do it better?

Not really - you take the information about unknown actions and create the matching $txt entries so they're no longer unknown actions...