General support topic for Aeva Media (Latest release: July 28, 2010)

[Nao 尚]

Before I start running through the backlog of posts...

Here's a new huge revision for enthusiasts to test
Feedback welcome! The main idea here was to have better support for string cutting (most notably, open HTML tags will now be properly closed, which pretty much saves the day when someone uses the TABLE bbcode in a long item/album description... Believe me, it breaks a forum layout hard!), and I also made a few minor cosmetic changes. Finally, I optimized page loading on many pages that load a list of albums internally. They would always load the album icons and descriptions, even when not needed. Since cutting an album description is pretty expensive, this will now be much faster to do than before.

SVN rev 206

* Make sure album names are properly formatted if they have words of 20 characters or more (which would tend to disrupt the album list layouts). (Aeva-Admin.php)
+ Optimized aeva_getAlbums function, which is typically slow, by only loading and parsing descriptions when they're needed. (Aeva-Gallery.php, Aeva-Gallery2.php, Aeva-Subs-Vital.php, Aeva-Subs.php)
! aeva_utf2entities function wouldn't cut long words if the string size limit wasn't reached. This is totally unrelated so needed a fix. (Aeva-Subs-Vital.php)
+ Added an aeva_closeTags function to properly close open tags or strip them (depending on the situation), to be used in the cutString function. (Aeva-Subs-Vital.php)
! Don't show "..." if an album description is empty. That's weird. (Aeva-Subs.php)
+ Added support for Vholdr (sponsored by Mack450) (Subs-Aeva-Sites.php)
+ When editing an album, show its current icon in the icon upload area. (Aeva-Gallery2.php)
- Removed icon size and dimensions in the My Albums page. It took space for nothing, really, as you can right-click an icon to know that... (Aeva.template.php, language files)
* Harmonized page links to use the pagelinks class, like in SMF. (Aeva.template.php)
* Modified Viewer/Sorting box in homepage and album pages to use a title style and bigger fonts. I don't know if it's any better, but I like it. (Aeva.template.php, am.css)

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

A little something I thought of when I just tested the latest version on the mod site yesterday.... Could you think of adding simple on / off switches for the gallery features (admin menu's, the Media tab, etc.) , and the old Aeva features separately?

I really was kind of freaked out to see all the (from my point of view) unnecessary stuff the mod has added in addition to the old Aeva interface, and didn't see a simple way to make sure the gallery is not actually in use... I know it's all necessary for someone who uses the gallery, but I am probably not the only one who feels they want the mod for the auto embed...

( I did go out and remove the media tab from sight by editing subs.php etc, since I didn't need it there for even me to see... But would be easier if I didn't have to do that even )

[Nao 尚]

@lc62003> Well, I've had a look at your site and it works just fine in Opera and Chrome. You must have a problem on your computer. However, the links *do* disappear when... I hover over them. The a:hover class is set to show the link in white, which on a dark theme like yours, is logical, but not here. I could enforce an !important parameter on it, but I don't really see the point. Why do you have the problem when NOT hovering over the link?

@Brack1> Media > Admin > Settings. Path is there.

@tfs> The fix was provided by [Unknown] (SMF's historical developer) last month.

Code Select Expand

Index: Sources/Subs-Package.php
===================================================================
--- Sources/Subs-Package.php (revision 9508)
+++ Sources/Subs-Package.php (working copy)
@@ -302,6 +302,9 @@
$header = substr($data, $offset << 9, 512);
$current = unpack('a100filename/a8mode/a8uid/a8gid/a12size/a12mtime/a8checksum/a1type/a100linkname/a6magic/a2version/a32uname/a32gname/a8devmajor/a8devminor/a155path', $header);

+ if ($current['type'] == 5 && substr($current['filename'], -1) != '/')
+ $current['filename'] .= '/';
+
foreach ($current as $k => $v)
{
if (in_array($k, $octdec))


I hope you know how to read a diff patch? If not-- just look for the stuff above and below the "+" lines. This is where you need to enter the "+" lines (without the "+" signs of course.)
Tell me if it solves your problem!

Re: svg, yes I could add support. I like svg. But it's only 100% supported by Opera (<georgeclooney>what else?</georgeclooney>). Other browsers have basic support (Chrome, Safari, Firefox...) and of course, IE doesn't support it at all and requires Flash players (see Google's svg helper). I looked into it a few weeks ago, and then decided it was still too complicated. Hopefully MS adds support in IE9, which is currently not planned... (grrrr!)

Re: fields, can you elaborate? I don't know much about them, as I didn't implement that feature myself. I only fixed a few things in there long ago and forgot all about them.

@chep> Thanks! I'm not advertising Donations places much (you can also donate through the membergroup subscriptions at noisen.com, which is how you can also purchase the Foxy! add-on), because I'm not doing this for the money. (And every time I mention people can donate, I feel like an angel is passing by )

@rgecy> Ahhhhh, again someone who doesn't read changelogs... Until I start seriously working on the FAQ, the changelog is the only area for documenting small features. And yes, it is documented. (Hint: Beta 3.)

@LexArma> Currently, the auto-embedder is 99.9% the same as in Aeva 7.0.x, so there is no need to upgrade if you don't want the gallery features. Sitelist updates are planned to work on all versions of Aeva, including older ones, don't worry. As for disabling the gallery, it's already disabled by default. You need to set permissions for membergroups to be able to view them. Of course, as an admin you'll see the gallery links. Eh. Well, what can I say.

[Nao 尚]

I don't know what Proboards is, I don't know how it works.
I guess you should ask the SMF team about this, because the flash code you provided certainly wouldn't work. (I think?? Apparently you're saying it works?)

Aeva and Aeva Media will both turn your YT links into proper videos. If they're all surrounded by tags however, you will need to make sure the 'Embed videos in sentences' setting is enabled. The 'flash' bbcode will probably still show up, though.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

@LexArma> Currently, the auto-embedder is 99.9% the same as in Aeva 7.0.x, so there is no need to upgrade if you don't want the gallery features. Sitelist updates are planned to work on all versions of Aeva, including older ones, don't worry. As for disabling the gallery, it's already disabled by default. You need to set permissions for membergroups to be able to view them. Of course, as an admin you'll see the gallery links. Eh. Well, what can I say.

Ok, was just a thought, and may very well keep on using the old Aeva then

[Arantor]

Why not add the gallery as a button in the Core Features menu, and physically hide it in the menu too? For users who don't want the gallery it's probably not a lot of code, and you can create a master is-enabled soft setting in $modSettings for it to prevent loading.

(I don't know, I have no idea how AM is constructed for bootstrapping purposes, just a thought though, and something we did with SimpleDesk)

[Arantor]

Before I left the team, there was a big discussion about having a virtual (or real) board for larger mods, which I was keen to use this as an example - I personally feel it is actually clearer on what's going on and topic solving than having one big ol' topic.

But the argument was that for smaller mods, they will just keep the one topic, and for larger mods, they'll have their own support site.

To be blunt, what we plan to do with SimpleDesk is to actually get the mod approved sometime after 1.0, get the thread created, then simply lock it with 'If you want support, come see us on simpledesk.net'. But I always liked the idea of multiple threads per mod as it's easier to manage.

[lc62003]

I don't know what could be wrong....this machine is 3 weeks old, and the other is in a separate location.   Oh well, I'll try it on a third machine.     Thanks for looking Nao!  Awesome mod, and awesome support!   

[lc62003]

Update:  it is a theme issue.  If I switch back to the default it works fine.  I'll have to try to track it down.  Thanks again Nao!   

[MultiformeIngegno]

@tfs> The fix was provided by [Unknown] (SMF's historical developer) last month.

I've tried with rev206 after applying that fix but I receive anyway the error..
The only solution is rezipping the archive.. maybe smf supports only tar.gz extension and not tgz?

Re: svg, yes I could add support. I like svg. But it's only 100% supported by Opera (<georgeclooney>what else?</georgeclooney>). Other browsers have basic support (Chrome, Safari, Firefox...) and of course, IE doesn't support it at all and requires Flash players (see Google's svg helper). I looked into it a few weeks ago, and then decided it was still too complicated. Hopefully MS adds support in IE9, which is currently not planned... (grrrr!)

Firefox with the new release (3.6) extends his support for SVG!

Re: fields, can you elaborate? I don't know much about them, as I didn't implement that feature myself. I only fixed a few things in there long ago and forgot all about them.

First of all excuse the italian language...
I've attached here 2 screenshots, the first is when I'm uploading the pic, watch the "Licenza" custom field, I choose "Creative Commons License". Then, when I "edit" the newly uploaded pic you can see it "forgets" the choice!

Anyway I've tested the new rev and it's all ok!!

[Arantor]

.tar.gz and .tgz are the same actual thing. SMF doesn't differentiate.

It's down to how the extension is building the file; it's using a different method for compression.

[Nao 尚]

Before I left the team, there was a big discussion about having a virtual (or real) board for larger mods,

I also suggested SleePy that he could turn the Aeva Media board into a more general board for big mods. But now with 3 pages worth of topics, I'm thinking it might be best to give each big mod its own child board or something.

which I was keen to use this as an example - I personally feel it is actually clearer on what's going on and topic solving than having one big ol' topic.

Sure is.

But the argument was that for smaller mods, they will just keep the one topic, and for larger mods, they'll have their own support site.

In the case of Aeva Media, I'm pretty much lost. There's the Aeva support site at noisen which is now the Aeva Media support site (with its own regular contributors), the SMG support site at smf-media which is now another Aeva Media support site (same thing: its own regular contributors), and then the simplemachines.org child board which was forced on me at first, but which I grew into appreciating in the long run (if only because all of noisen's and smf-media's contributors are also on sm.org). It's hard for me to say, "let's make it clearer and close one of these!"... They all have their uses. (Well, maybe smf-media's doesn't... I don't go there a lot these days.) Any suggestions? lol.

To be blunt, what we plan to do with SimpleDesk is to actually get the mod approved sometime after 1.0, get the thread created, then simply lock it with 'If you want support, come see us on simpledesk.net'.

Sure, that's an idea. And I sure would have done that long ago if I knew it was an accepted situation. But not a solution right now either. (Not a perfect one, at least. Most people would think they're forced into registering to another site. In noisen's case though, even simple guests can post new topics so it's not a problem when they realize it.)

[tfs]

@tfs> The fix was provided by [Unknown] (SMF's historical developer) last month.

I'm not sure what fix that was referring to.  Was that the problem with large photo attachments not working in SMF?

[TheListener]

Found this error in my forums error log.

May be the reason why I am unable to add any photos.



Apply Filter: Only show the errors with the same message
8: Undefined index: image
Apply Filter: Only show the errors from this file
File: /public_html/Themes/default/GenericControls.template.php
Line: 114


108:
// Is there a "before" part for this bbc button? If not, it can't be a button!!
109:    
if (isset($tag['before']))
110:    
echo '
111:    
{
112:
sType: \'button\',
113:    
bEnabled: ', empty($context['disabled_tags'][$tag['code']]) ? 'true' : 'false', ',
==>114:    
sImage: ', JavaScriptEscape($settings['images_url'] . '/bbc/' . $tag['image'] . '.gif'), ',
115:    
sCode: ', JavaScriptEscape($tag['code']), ',
116:    
sBefore: ', JavaScriptEscape($tag['before']), ',
117:    
sAfter: ', isset($tag['after']) ? JavaScriptEscape($tag['after']) : 'null', ',
118:    
sDescription: ', JavaScriptEscape($tag['description']), '
119:    
}', empty($tag['isLast']) ? ',' : '';

[Shortie]

@lc62003> Well, I've had a look at your site and it works just fine in Opera and Chrome. You must have a problem on your computer. However, the links *do* disappear when... I hover over them. The a:hover class is set to show the link in white, which on a dark theme like yours, is logical, but not here. I could enforce an !important parameter on it, but I don't really see the point. Why do you have the problem when NOT hovering over the link?

You can force the hover colour by

find the file hs.css

and add this element

Code Select Expand


.highslide-caption a:hover {
color: black;
}


Hope this helps

Shortie

[RustyBarnacle]

I have a request.  No idea if its possible or not.

Would it be possible to make it iphone compatible for uploading?  I would love to be able to take pics with the iphone and upload them to the gallery without hitting the computer in between.

[Nao 尚]

Sure, Rusty... Just send me a complimentary iPhone so I can develop on it and I'll do it

@Brack1> I don't see the connection with AM (it doesn't have any BBCode, you have to install Foxy! for that), but all errors should be fixed for sure.

@Shortie> Yes, that would be it indeed.

@tfs> Nothing to do with attachments... Only with package installation.

@Lorenzo> Firefox 3.6 is still non-public.
Re: extensions, why don't you try renaming the file to tar.gz then? (Although I'm certain it won't help...)
I'm wondering whether it's really worth it to change the SVN action's behavior to generate zip files rather than tgz...
Re: fields, I'll have a look then.

@Arantor> I myself never go to the Core Features area... So I would hardly put something there Rather simply in the Aeva Media menu itself. In Settings. Something like the auto-embedder's Master check.

@LexArma> Happy to help.

[RustyBarnacle]

Haha, I figured the odds were long but thought I'd ask anyway. 

[MultiformeIngegno]

@Lorenzo> Firefox 3.6 is still non-public.

http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/3.6/releasenotes/

Re: fields, I'll have a look then.

Good!!

[Aisling]

Does anyone know why I get large core files *magically* appear on my forum root whenever I install this mod?