[SOLVED][Moved]Need help connecting different modules

[jakovbak]

NOTE:
This topic has been moved to
http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/viewtopi ... =7&t=68455
due to decision to go with CGCalendar Module to solve this project.


Hello everyone!
I have tryed with a couple of modules but I'm not that good with coding to make it all by myself. As a matter of fact - I suck on that! But it's also probably far more complex problem than I can even imagine so I'm asking all of you experienced coders out there to help me out - with advice, 'how to', working solution from some previous project, whatever... Because, basically, I don't know where to start.

Here's my problem...

I have to setup something like an Articles/Events page. Entries must be assigned to various number of categories, must be also connected to some calendar module (if visitor wants to search entries by specific upcoming day), editor must be able to assign an entry to the list of recommended Events, and all articles/entries/events must contain a small Google map to show it's location. There is also a couple of other useful details to be included but at this point they are not so important for this discussion.

- Tell me good people, is it possible to achieve something like that in CmsMS? Maybe without an army of coders and developers?
- Did any of you came across something similar?
- Could some of the existing and well known modules be used for this task or it would be easier to write a whole new module?

I'm a designer and something like this is way out of my league, even thou I use CmsMS for a couple of years now... I just can't get into 'coding state of mind'... It requires a specific way of thinking and a certain discipline I obviously don't have. But, creativity comes in many different shapes, right?

If there's someone out there with that kind of creativity and a good will to help, I'll be more than grateful and glad to dive deeper into this.
Looking forward to your suggestions and thank you in advance!
Best regards,
Jakov

[kishman155]

Not that hard as you think of.

how big should this be?

You need some coding because it would be easier to make it with a module.

You need 4 thinks:

a Table to store the events and the location. and other thinks
A table to make categories.
a table to store events to categories.
and a Calender to store the events in. more a design think not a hard develop thing.

For google maps you could use a UDT.

the only problem is that this need to be coded.

[jakovbak]

Hello kishman155!
Thank you for your answer! Just let me see if I got it right...
What you're saying is basically that I need a new module based on four DB tables with addition of one UDT for solving this case. Am I right?
If that's correct, can you tell me what skills are needed to write an entirely new module and UDT? Is it just a php knowledge or the right person for such a task must know all the "deepest secrets" of CmsMS?
Thanks again and have a nice day!
Regards,
Jakov

[velden]

Wouldn't CGCalendar module with some custom fields work for you?

Or else ListitExtended with categories field ('Recommended event' could also be a category).

About the Google Maps: have a look at CGGoogleMaps module. Maybe it can even be integrated within ListitExtended (i.c.m. ListitXDefs module).

[jakovbak]

Hello Velden, my friend!
Long time no see! Your suggestions sure make sense, that's exactly what I've been looking for - a starting point! As you can see from my first post, I need a lots of things combined and among all available modules and plugins, I need to choose one or two of them and make them work together. But I'm not very familiar with all of the modules and plugins so I needed some clearing on this...
Anyway, I'll try with those you've mentioned and I'll get back here with an update on my progress.
BTW, I believe I have never sent you link for my supersized-slideshow page for which you've made such a generous contribution. My mistake, and I apologize for that! Here it is:

http://www.majamakeup.com

The other deal was not forgotten thou... A couple of rounds of beer are still waiting for you in Croatia!
Hope you're doing fine and have my best regards!
Jakov

[velden]

ListitExtended (LI2) is a very, very useful module for a lot of cases. In your case it might have one little 'issue'; it's not optimized for working with dates. Depending on the amount of events that coexist and the number of pageviews it could be a little inefficient.

But maybe there are even better solutions I'm not aware of.

About your previous site: I recognize the models so I probably have seen this nice site before. I will remember the beer offer, you never know...

[jakovbak]

You saw the models while the work was still in progress but I've never told you when it was done completely!
I'll check ListItExtended and CGCalendar to see what can be done. I'll be back with some more questions, that's for sure!
Have a nice day!

[jakovbak]

Hello people!
This is my first update on the progress in this topic since I have decided to follow Velden's advice on which module to use.

I have chosen CGCalendar module to be my starting point to achieve what was described in my first post. So far it seems it could get the job done but it's gonna be a long walk...

Let's take one step at the time and focus on each problem separately. I've been playing with CGCalendar for awhile and on my testpage situation looks like this:
- On my starting page there's a list of events from all categories (in summary mode), sorted by date (starting from today);
- A click on event's title gives me detail text of that event.

And there comes my first problem...

Problem No. 1:
I have modified Sample Detail Template but nothing too serious. Now, I don't know how to make the call for an image uploaded via custom field to be displayed in detail view. I would also like to display that image at the very top of detail view and some extra text at the bottom. But I don't know how to split the default call. This is how it looks in the template:

Code: Select all

{*	Display custom fields
			There are two ways to address custom fields
			1)	{$event.fields.fieldname}
			2)	{foreach from=$event.fields key='fieldnamee' item='fieldvalue'}
					{$fieldname}: {$fieldvalue}
				{/foreach}
			You may want to use the former method with file upload fields.
		*}

		<div class="calendar-fields">
			{foreach from=$event.fields key='fieldname' item='fieldvalue'}
				<!-- {$fieldname}:&nbsp; -->{$fieldvalue}<br/>
			{/foreach}
		</div>

As you can see (you, to whom I envy now on your coding skills ), this call brings all of the custom fields together. My custom fields were named eventimage (file upload field) and extratext (text area field). There is no problem displaying 'extratext' but instead of image, 'eventimage' field gives only the name of uploaded image.

At the end, the Return link of detail event view is not actually a 'link back' but a link to default Calendar page (btw, the purpose of that page is very blurry to me but, it's there and I ain't got nothing against it... )

I believe solutions to both of these issues are something pretty simple, maybe I have even done something similar (all by myself!) before, but I just can't figure out how to do it again!

Problem No. 2:
The calendar itself... It's in the sidebar, nothing fancy, just plain calendar grid 270x270 px with "prev - Month - next" navigation at the top and the date-grid below. I found nothing on this forum nor documentation related to setting up calendar to work as - let's say - alternative navigation/search. If one clicks on a date, it brings the list of events for that day within the calendar area and the calendar-grid in main content area (which means we're back on that mysterious "Default Calendar Page" again...). But I would like to call for that events-list in main content area while the calendar remains in it's grid view in the sidebar.
Well, this sounds like a much bigger problem to me but, hey, what do I know! I'm just a designer!

If you have some ideas, please share them with me! And I promise I'll keep you posted on everything I make on my own. And then I'll have more questions...

Thank you all in advance and have a nice weekend!
Best regards,
Jakov