SIB Change Log

This document contains SIB revision histories beginning from version 2.6.  Also included are hints/tips/advice to aid site administrators in using new features.  [ complete change log - text only ]

New Features (Version 2.7):

  • Optimization -- store the results of several of the queries in session variables so we don't hit the database as much

Bug Fixes (Version 2.7):

New Features (Version 2.6.1):

  • Added check for a double-click on all content add forms [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Allow changing of reunion poster [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Made admin menu 'sticky' so that it returns you to where you last were in the admin section [See SIB-DEV List Discussion]
  • Make language selection default to English values if the selected language value does not exist
  • Default custom text to English if there is no value for the selected language

Bug Fixes (Version 2.6.1):

  • Fixed priority setting on mass mailer... it was always getting set to low

New Features (Version 2.6):

Skip down to Bugs Fixed

Chat Module

You can enable the chat module by checking the chat option found in Admin --> Site Settings --> Preferences --> Modules, and then clicking Save.  Once the module is enabled, a Chat link will be visible in your main menu menu. 

The look and feel of your site's chat is controlled by the Chat Style Sheet.  You can download and edit this file from Admin --> Customize Site --> Site Template --> Chat Style Sheet in the same manner you would edit the main style sheet file (Click on the Help next to Chat Style Sheet for details on the styles to customize).

Only registered users of your website can join the site chat room.  Once you have joined the chat from the Chat page, you will be viewing a new window with three panes.  The top left pane contains the content of your chat.  The top right pane contains a list of current users in the chat (click on a user's name to view his/her profile on the site).  The bottom pane is for typing in messages to the chat.

As a site admin, you can customize your Body/Layout File (Admin --> Customize Site --> Site Template --> Body/Layout File) to include a custom link to the chat displayed only while a chat is in session (this link is created for you and placed in the center top bar of the new theme).  Add the following to your body file in the location you would like the link to appear:

<?php echo chat_link(); ?>

Have fun chatting...

Weather Module

You can enable the weather module by checking the weather option found in Admin --> Site Settings --> Preferences --> Modules, and then clicking Save.  Once the module is enabled, a Weather link will be visible in your main menu.

The look and feel of your weather module is set in the Admin --> Site Settings -->Settings --> Weather Settings section (it's at the bottom of the page).  You can customize the width, and various colors of the weather module, as well as the location you would like to report the weather for.

Here are the steps to locate the Zip/Country Code:

  • Click on HelpZip/Country Code from the Admin --> Site Settings -->Settings --> Weather Settings section.  A help window will popup.
  • In the field Enter City or U.S. Zip at the top of the page type in the name of a major city in your mission (city only).
  • Click GO - a new webpage should appear from www.weather.com .
  • If a list of cities shows up on the page - click on the one you are looking for.
  • If the page displays the current weather of the city you are looking for, then skip the next step..
  • If the message "We did not find a match to your search in our database." is displayed on the www.weather.com site, follow the instructions on the site to locate your city.
  • Once you have located the city of interest, look at the URL of the page - it should look something like:

    http://www.weather.com/weather/local/85233 -- This is for U.S. zip codes (where 85233 is the zip code in this example)

    http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/local/TWXX0021 -- This is for International Codes (where TWXX0021 would be the country code we are interested in)

    Copy the zip code, or country code from the URL - this is the text after the final forward slash "/".

  • That's it - this is your zip/country code!  Enter it back onto the Zip/Country Code field at your site in the  Admin --> Site Settings -->Settings --> Weather Settings section.

Auto-Login

When you login to SIB, there is a new option available - Remember Me.  Click on the Help next to Remember Me for more details.

Delegate Administration of a custom page to an Alumni Member

Custom pages can be created from the Admin --> Customize Site --> Custom Pages section (as before).  The option to assign a password to allow others to edit/maintain the page is still available, but you may now give permission to other alumni members of your site to edit/maintain these custom pages using their own username/login (sorry - only alumni members are supported at this time, current missionary/friend/president profiles will all be supported in a future release). 

If you are creating a new custom page, follow these steps:

  • Click Add Custom Pages from the Admin --> Customize Site --> Custom Pages section.
  • Assign a Page Id (for your bookkeeping use only), set Active to yes if you'd like it to show up in your main menu, and then leave the Password blank  By leaving the password blank you make the custom page only editable by yourself, and those alumni you directly give permission to edit it (you can assign a password to the page as well if you'd like - which you'll may have to do if a non-alumni is going to maintain the custom page).
  • Click Add.
  • Give your new custom page its Title, select the Language (you can always add other languages for this page later), and Body.  All of these items can be modified later.
  • Click Add.
  • You have now created a new custom page - skip directly to the third step below to setup page administration privileges.

If you would like to add alumni members as page administrators for an existing page, follow these steps:

  • Click on the page id for the custom page you wish to edit from the Admin --> Customize Site --> Custom Pages section.
  • If you have not yet added a page administrator - you'll see the message There are currently no page administrators below the Page Id, Active, and Password fields.  If you have added one more page administrators - you'll see them listed here.
  • Click on New Page Admin.
  • Search for the alumni member you wish to have administer the page.  Hint - search on either their last, or first name only (not both).  Click Search.
  • A drop-down list will be displayed with all of the alumni members that matched your search.  Select the one you want, and then click Add.
  • You've now added a page administrator.  Repeat all but the first step above for each administrator you wish to add for this page.
  • Remove the Password (i.e. delete the *****  in the field if any) for the page if you only plan on editing the page yourself, or having alumni members edit the page.  Click Save.

Once an alumni member is setup to edit a custom page, they can login to the site using their username/password, browse to the custom page, and then click Page Admin (top right corner of the page).  Only custom pages with passwords set, or custom pages that the currently logged in alumni(or site admin) has permission to edit will display this link.  Enjoy :)

Spam prevention

  • Log IP address of all postings

    IP addresses of all postings are now logged.  To view the IP address of a specific item (profile, message, picture, etc...), simply view that item while you are logged in as the site administrator.  The IP address will be listed near the bottom of the record.

     

  • Disallow non-registered users to send multiple emails with similar content

    Each time a non-registered user sends an email through your site, the text of the message is stored.  If they then attempt to send a similar message to another member of your site, the email will be flagged as being possible SPAM, and will not be sent.  If the user feels that the message they are sending is not SPAM, then they can click a button which will submit an email to sib-error@mission.net notifying us of their situation.

    The following message template could be helpful in giving you ideas on how to communicate with users who have inadvertently been "caught" by this SPAM prevention measure:

    Please realize that the above email is only an example, and each email you send out to users of your site should be written with their specific situation in mind.

Added new default theme

Yes, SIB has changed it's default theme.  The new theme will be automatically applied to all new mission websites.  If you wish to use the new theme on your site, take the following steps:

  • Login as the site administrator.
  • Goto the Admin --> Customize Site --> Site Template section.
  • Click on Revert to Default Template at the top of the settings display.
  • Review the warning message, and then click YES to proceed installing the template.
  • BAAM!  You now have the latest and greatest look on your SIB alumni website!

Go ahead and use the new theme as a starting point to customize your site to how you would like.

Split different parts (new calls, reunions, what's new) of the content text on the index page to allow better customization

The position of the Just Called!, Reunions, and What's New? sections on your site's front page used to be pre-determined by SIB.  You could turn them on or off, but had no control over where they would be displayed on your homepage.  This same functionality still exists for backwards compatibility.  You can turn these items on in the  Admin --> Site Settings --> Settings --> Front Page Settings.  By doing so - you'll be having SIB control where they appear on your homepage.  If you turn them off - you can then place them wherever you would like (or use the new theme's placement).

For Advanced Users (Or for not so advanced users who want to learn something new...):

**Read This Before Moving On!  If you break your own Body/Layout File, you break your entire site!!! Be careful, and test it out on the sandbox first (username: sandbox, password: play4any)  http://sandbox.acucore.com.  If you break the sandbox - you can always reset it to the default look by visting this url: http://sandbox.acucore.com/fix_body.php.  You can reset your own site in a similar fashion (just incase you happen to make a mistake...) by visiting the url https://www.mission.net/yourmissionnamehere/fix_body.php.  Always save a backup copy of your Style Sheet, Body/Layout File, and Chat Style Sheet before making any changes to your Body/Layout File.  With that said... we can move onto the fun stuff:

If you want to put the Just Called!, Reunions, and What's New? sections in different orders, locations, etc... well... you can!  In fact, the new default theme uses this new functionality (check out the new.body.inc.php of the new theme).  If you want to control the placement of these items in your Body/Layout File then the first thing you'll need to do is turn off the SIB controlled display of these three items (Admin-->Site Settings -->Settings -->Front Page Settings).  Next, you'll need to download and edit your Body/Layout File from the Admin-->Customize Site --> Site Template section.

The following three new variables have been provided for use in your Body/Layout File:

	$strNewMiss	// Text for the "Just Called" section
 $strReunion	// Text for the "Reunion Notice" section
 $strUpdates	// Text for the "What's New" section

If you want each section displayed on the front page, you could place the following lines of code in your Body/Layout File at your desired locations:

	<?php if ($page == "index") { echo $strNewMiss; } ?>
 <?php if ($page == "index") { echo $strReunion; } ?>
 <?php if ($page == "index") { echo $strUpdates; } ?>

Look at the new.body.inc.php file for a complete example using this new feature.

Added preference to display record totals in menu next to each item

You can now display the record totals for each type of record directly next to the menu item itself.  To turn on this functionality, goto the Admin --> Site Settings -->Settings -->General Settings section, and select YES for the Display Counts in Menu item.  For more information on this feature, click the Help next to Display Counts in Menu.

Added language links drop-down capability

If you are using multiple languages on your website, you can now display a drop-down language selection list anywhere on your site.  By default, the new site theme places this list in the top right corner of the site.  If you don't plan on using the new site theme, but would still like to take advantage of this feature, read on.  (Please read the warning above first)

Edit your Body/Layout File (Admin --> Customize Site --> Site Template) and place the following line into the layout file where you would like the drop-down to be displayed:

	<?php include("inc/lang_links.inc.php"); ?>

That's it!  Enjoy...

Notices of profile changes will only be emailed out if the last update was more than 7 days previous.

In order to reduce the number of updated profile email messages sent, messages will not be generated for updates that take place within 7 days of a previous update.

Groundwork for the help system... now that it's in place, we can start adding a lot of documentation.

You may begin to notice more Help icons creeping into SIB.  The system to update the help documents is now in place.  All that has to be done now is create the content.  Hopefully the next release will contain a comprehensive help system for both administration, and non-administration sections of the site.  If any of you have some work done in this area that you don't mind sharing (e.g. some nice FAQs that pertains to SIB as a whole), please let us know by emailing the documentation team at sib-docs@mission.net.  Thanks!

Bug Fixes (Version 2.6):

  • Fixed send notices in reunion posting (Was sent even when you uncheck "send notices" in reunion posting)  [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Fixed Clicking 'No' on a password request returns an error
  • Polls Custom Text Header is now displaying  [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Fixed remove emails... it's now more verbose and no longer updates already empty emails [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Search on location wasn't being passed in the paging links [SIB List Discussion]
  • Alternating colors in manage postings lists in admin [See SIB List Discussion]
  • User profile is only viewable by user or admin when not live
  • Better message after user changes profile on sites using manual approval
  • Stripped HTML after send email.[See SIB List Discussion]
  • Better handling of HTML in news postings and not allowing of javascript [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Fixed the links to search by first letter... maiden names weren't getting counted [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Allow international characters in the name of an email
  • Extensive length validation on all data entered on forms before entered in database (a Fatal Database Error)
  • Fixed the bug that displayed person online in menu, but didn't display when clicking on link [See SIB List Discussion]
  • Fixed bug that didn't alternate the colors of the custom text list
  • Altered mass mailer to run faster opening only one connection to the server
  • Added code to strip odd characters from requested ID fields for alumni/current/friends/pres - helps minimize database errors due to malformed urls

Return to Features Added

Page Author: Todd Giles - Send Feedback
Last Updated: Thu Sep 5 11:18:00 2002