Invision Power Services: IP.Content 2.0 Dev Update: More Database Improvements - Invision Power Services

While we work to wrap up some of the IP.Content 2.0 changes we'll be discussing in upcoming blog entries, I wanted to take a moment to give everyone a quick update on some of the smaller changes and tweaks we've already implemented in IP.Content 2.0. These small, but useful, tweaks and feature enhancements are sure to allow you to take IP.Content databases in new directions.


Add and edit hookpoints

Based on requests from users integrating IP.Content into their website, we have added two new hook points to the database handler: postSave() and postSaveEdit(). These are called immediately upon saving the record to the database (for add and edit requests, respectively), and can be utilized to take action on a record after it has been saved. This could be used, for instance, if a file is uploaded or linked, and you need to take action on this file, but don't want to until the record itself has been accepted.


Format numerically

We have added a new field formatting option that will allow you to automatically format fields numerically, based on your selected locale. This option will automatically apply thousands and decimal separators to the value supplied in the field.


"Bump" records with comments

There is a new per-database configuration option that will allow you to tell IP.Content that when a new comment is made on a record, that record should be "bumped" to the beginning of the list. For this to work, you must be sorting your database by "last update". When this option is enabled and a new comment is made on the record, the last update timestamp for the record will also be updated, moving that record to the top of the list.


Other contributors

If you have a database configured that allows wiki-style editing, and you have revisions enabled for this database, a new line will be displayed below the "Submitted by:" field showing all members who have contributed to the record. This is useful in a true collaborative environment to allow you to see all users that have modified the record. You can still utilize the revision manager in the ACP for details of each revision, as well.





Random database feeds

You will now be able to order database record and comment feeds randomly, making these feeds more consistent with the other feeds you can create using the block manager. You can use this ability to show a block with 10 random records, for instance, helping your users to discover the content in your databases easier.


Database category feeds

You will now be able to create feeds of the categories within a database. The feed template has some slight modifications made to it in order to display the categories in a more natural display than you would use for records. Hierarchy is preserved with the feed.





More consistent linking

In IP.Content 1.2 and below, many of the links to the databases require using a "redirecter" link to get there. By that, I mean that instead of linking directly to a category or record on the page it is actually located on, we link to "app=ccs&module=pages&do=redirect&database=1&record=1" (for example). This is effective and efficient, however it is not the most desirable setup naturally. In IP.Content 2, the actual link to the resource is correctly used instead. Primarily, you will notice the changes in feeds.


Canonical tags

And while we're on the subject of SEO and consistent linking, the next feature we'd like to announce for IP.Content 2.0 is that of canonical tags. Canonical tags will be automatically determined and added to pages and databases (including category and record display pages in databases). This will help to ensure that any additional links that may load a page or database record will pass it's link value through to the correct canonical URL.


New field type: uploads

The attachments field shipped with IP.Content 1 works well, and is very consistent with IP.Board posting. Your users will find it familiar, and indeed in most cases this may be the best field to use for your specific needs. However, many users have requested the ability to upload single files, often because they would like to be able to manipulate these files from the listing template (for example), or because they want more control over how the files are embedded into the actual record.


IP.Content 2.0 introduces a new single file upload field which you can use to upload single files. You can add more than one of this field type to a database (there is no hardcoded limit), and the value that will be seen by IP.Content is simply the URL to the file you've uploaded. There is no image resizing or other functions executed with this particular field type - it is a simple field to allow you to upload a file easily. You can use this field type for any file type as well (you can define which file types are allowed with the field when configuring the field in the ACP). When editing records, a note will be displayed below the upload field to let you know if a file is already present and will be overwritten by uploading a new file. A checkbox will also be available to allow you to easily remove the file without uploading a new one.


Resize image template plugin

When implementing the single file upload field, we begin experimenting with ways to embed the content within the record, and found that it would be useful to be able to dynamically resize images that were uploaded, even if we didn't resize the file itself. Even just specifying width and height parameters to the image would allow us to manipulate the display for our specific purposes.


To this end, we've added a new template plugin that accomplishes just that. Note that template plugins can be used all over IPB and are not restricted to IP.Content specifically. You use the template plugin by embedding the following:

{parse resize_image="url or path to image" maxwidth="100" maxheight="100"}

The plugin will determine the proportionately resized width and height values that fit within your constraints, and return the string "width='x' and height='x'" to suit your request. Note that maxwidth and maxheight are both optional parameters (you could restrict based on width only, for instance), however at least one must be supplied.


Multipage records

We have added a new custom bbcode that can be used within IP.Content to create multi-page records. The bbcode is very easy to use. Below you will find an example:

This is the text for page 1

[page]

This is the text for page 2

[page]

This is the text for page 3

Effectively, you just insert "