Signature Tool (not functional at the moment)

[TimothyEllis]

Al Stevens has been building us a slick new Signature Tool.

It is very different from the one at KB. As you will see if you look at it.

Alpha testers needed, who will feedback here so Al can fine tune.

This is a test version, so do your best to break it, but also if you get something you can use, please post it in your signature so we can see it live. Maybe add "Signature Tool alpha test" to your sig as you build it (there is 2 places to put this) so we can see if someone is using it.

All feedback welcome.

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill

[Al Stevens]

There's a minor bug in the program. When you select a book in the signature by clicking its cover, it takes on a red border to tell you it's selected. When you shift the cover right or left, the red border accompanies the book in the move. But sometimes the program forgets that the selected book is selected, and a subsequent shift does nothing. You have to deselect the cover by clicking it and re-select it by clicking it again.

[EllieL]

This was very easy to use. Thanks Al!

[Bill Hiatt]

It looks great. I'll do a formal test as soon as I get time.

[Lysmata Debelius]

When I do the initial search step, it finds some of my books but not others.

I put "Masha du Toit" in the author field. The books that it doesn't find are "The Story Trap" and "The Real"  It found my other books.

ETA the above only happens if I check "Title". If I check "author" then all the books show up.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Also, is it possible to have some kind of visual difference (even if it's just grouping them together) between the buttons used for paging through search results, and the buttons used for adding to the sig? And make the add book button look just a bit different? It took me an embarrassingly long time to notice that button.

e.g.

[first page][prev page][next page][lastpage]        [add book]      [Amazon]

[Lysmata Debelius]

...and the image resizes when I click on it. 

[Al Stevens]

When I do the initial search step, it finds some of my books but not others.

I put "Masha du Toit" in the author field. The books that it doesn't find are "The Story Trap" and "The Real"  It found my other books.

ETA the above only happens if I check "Title". If I check "author" then all the books show up.

Amazon's search engine isn't finding some of your titles. They do a key word search when you type a title into their own search box.  I did a key word search with their engine and with our Signature Tool on "A Story Trap," and it showed up as the 9th book in their response.

[Al Stevens]

...and the image resizes when I click on it.

Yeah, that's a bug in the SMF software. The same thing happens at KBoards.

[Al Stevens]

e.g.

[first page][prev page][next page][lastpage]        [add book]      [Amazon]

I put spaces in. See if that helps.

[thekathyc]

I'm testing to see if my signature test has a positive test result

[thekathyc]

I'm testing to see if my signature test has a positive test result

Somehow it lost the text. I will try again

All fixed! Totally operator error Didn't see the "ok" box.

[Lysmata Debelius]

e.g.

[first page][prev page][next page][lastpage]        [add book]      [Amazon]

I put spaces in. See if that helps.

That's better, thanks!

[Lysmata Debelius]

...and the image resizes when I click on it.

Yeah, that's a bug in the SMF software. The same thing happens at KBoards.

I don't know if this helps, but if you specify height with
._SL125 _before the file extension in the image address instead of with

Code: [Select]

[height =x] then the resizing doesn't happen.

[Al Stevens]

I don't know if this helps, but if you specify height with
._SL125 _before the file extension in the image address instead of with

Code: [Select]

[height =x] then the resizing doesn't happen.

It still does the resizing. I just plugged 125 into the url filenames and the <img> tags, and the forum still displays each cover smaller than that and resizes it when I click on it. There is an admin setting for maximum image height in a signature. I changed that too in my test forum, and it had no effect.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Really? I must be wrong, then. I used to use that myself and I swear I tested it to check it doesn't resize!  must have been some kind of digital placebo effect.

[Al Stevens]

Really? I must be wrong, then. I used to use that myself and I swear I tested it to check it doesn't resize!  must have been some kind of digital placebo effect.

As I recall, if the host, in this case Writer Sanctum, calls for an image he same or larger than the one you provide, it won't get larger when you click on it. It's just when you provide a bigger image than they support.

[Lysmata Debelius]

I don't know if this helps, but if you specify height with
._SL125 _before the file extension in the image address instead of with

Code: [Select]

[height =x] then the resizing doesn't happen.

It still does the resizing. I just plugged 125 into the url filenames and the <img> tags, and the forum still displays each cover smaller than that and resizes it when I click on it. There is an admin setting for maximum image height in a signature. I changed that too in my test forum, and it had no effect.

OK I had a proper look at the code, and saw that there were two different tags for image height, referring to different height amounts. There was a  (height = 150) and there was also a ._lS160_. in the image address.  When I make them the same, the image resizing no longer happens, as far as I can see.

[Al Stevens]

There's a minor bug in the program. When you select a book in the signature by clicking its cover, it takes on a red border to tell you it's selected. When you shift the cover right or left, the red border accompanies the book in the move. But sometimes the program forgets that the selected book is selected, and a subsequent shift does nothing. You have to deselect the cover by clicking it and re-select it by clicking it again.

I think I got that one fixed.

[Al Stevens]

OK I had a proper look at the code, and saw that there were two different tags for image height, referring to different height amounts. There was a  (height = 150) and there was also a ._lS160_. in the image address.  When I make them the same, the image resizing no longer happens, as far as I can see.

Good catch. I just fixed the software to make them the same. I had to delete the books in my signature and rebuild it, though, because the stored signature with the 160 kept taking precedence. Thanks for the help on that. It's been bugging me for a while.

ETA: Except it didn't fix it here. It did on my test forum. It must have something to do with the Admin signature settings for image size. Oh, well.

Oops. It does work here. Now I can die happy.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Yay! Glad to be able to help. Thanks for all your work.

[Al Stevens]

You bet. I took on this project to get up to speed on some website building technologies that had passed me by since I retired. It's been a real eye-opener just coming to understand the differences between Javascript and PHP. Next on my list is AJAX. There'd be a lot less flicker in the page flipping if I'd know why AJAX and maybe JQuery are a better way to go. Trouble is, it's kept me up at night. 

[Al Stevens]

I've begun a small user's manual for the Signature Tool. There's a circle-I icon in the upper right corner of the window. Click that icon to view the manual. It's in its infancy, and as time permits, I'll add to it. If anyone wants to take a shot at it, let me know. I'll post the source document.

http://www.alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link

[Mark Gardner]

I couldn't get it to work at all.

[A. N. Onymous]

I couldn't get it to work at all.

Am I ever glad you wrote that!!! I thought I was being an absolute twit, newb, dunderhead, idiot...you get the picture?

[Mark Gardner]

I couldn't get it to work at all.

Am I ever glad you wrote that!!! I thought I was being an absolute twit, newb, dunderhead, idiot...you get the picture?

Yeah, I put my name in and hit search, and it looks like the get action happened, but nothing showed up in the retrieved books section.

I guess we should tell Al what computer, operating system and browser we're running...

Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1614)
2 x 2.93 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
32 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
Samsung SM951
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2048 MB
Safari 12.0 (12606.2.11)

[Al Stevens]

I put in "Mark Lee Gardner" and got three books. M.L. Gardner (no space between the initials, one space ahead of Gardner) returned several pages of books. I also see M.E. Garner and M.A. Gardner in there somewhere. You have to spell it the way Amazon has it listed, otherwise you don't get the hits you want. If you use several spellings on different books or pen names, do a search with each name, adding the books to your signature as you go along.

When I can't find something, I put the name in as key words. That's how amazon does all their searches on titles and authors.

[Al Stevens]

I couldn't get it to work at all.

Am I ever glad you wrote that!!! I thought I was being an absolute twit, newb, dunderhead, idiot...you get the picture?

It would be helpful if you could tell us what you tried and what the results were. Thanks.

[Mark Gardner]

I put in "Mark Lee Gardner" and got three books. M.L. Gardner (no space between the initials, one space ahead of Gardner) returned several pages of books. I also see M.E. Garner in there somewhere. You have to spell it the way Amazon has it listed, otherwise you don't get the hits you want. If you use several spellings on different books or pen names, do a search with each name, adding the books to your signature as you go along.

When I can't find something, I put the name in as key words. That's how amazon does all their searches on titles and authors.

When I enter "Mark Gardner" I don't get anything. I do when I do "Mark Lee Gardner." I get nothing when I do "M. A. Gardner."

[A. N. Onymous]

Yeah, I put my name in and hit search, and it looks like the get action happened, but nothing showed up in the retrieved books section.

I got a little further than that. Reached my books okay, or at least the pictures only, not linked to Amazon books. When I tried to move them to the other section and copied code, all that ended up in my signature was code.


{Fixed Quote. t.}

[Al Stevens]

I got a little further than that. Reached my books okay, or at least the pictures only, not linked to Amazon books. When I tried to move them to the other section and copied code, all that ended up in my signature was code.

In the retrieved panel, you see the covers for the books that Amazon found. You have to move them one by one into the Signature.

1.Click on a book in the Retrieved panel. Its border turns red to show that it is selected.
2. To deselect a book, click on it again.
2. Click the Add Book button to move the selected book into the signature. The cover should now appear in the Signature panel between the text fields.
Repeat those two steps for each book you want in your signature.
3. When your signature is done, click the Copy BBCode code.
4. Go to the Forum Profiles here and paste the new code into the Signature box. If there's already code there, delete it first.

Does that help? This is why I'm writing a user's guide. Until then, just ask questions.

[Al Stevens]

I can't get Safari to run the program or even go to my website. It says it can't make a secure connection with my server. It didn't do that before I upgraded, and none of the other browsers do it. I looked for a security option that would bypass that but didn't find one.

This is on Windows. There are many fixes out there for this problem with Mac users. The solutions don't apply to the Windows version.

[A. N. Onymous]

I got a little further than that. Reached my books okay, or at least the pictures only, not linked to Amazon books. When I tried to move them to the other section and copied code, all that ended up in my signature was code.

In the retrieved panel, you see the covers for the books that Amazon found. You have to move them one by one into the Signature.

1.Click on a book in the Retrieved panel. Its border turns red to show that it is selected.
2. To deselect a book, click on it again.
2. Click the Add Book button to move the selected book into the signature. The cover should now appear in the Signature panel between the text fields.
Repeat those two steps for each book you want in your signature.
3. When your signature is done, click the Copy BBCode code.
4. Go to the Forum Profiles here and paste the new code into the Signature box. If there's already code there, delete it first.

Does that help? This is why I'm writing a user's guide. Until then, just ask questions.

Okay Al, all's good. I missed that crucial step of add book. I thought that was a tool for finding your books one by one. For idiots like me, your steps were very easy to follow. Thank-you.

[TimothyEllis]

By all means comment on how you think the tool could be improved.

How to make it more intuitively used?
Better layout?

Personally, I'm hoping Al puts in separate fields for the url links we commonly have on signatures. I'd rather not have to assemble the code for them myself, and a lot of people cant. The all purpose text box is just too simple, for what most people need to display.

And I've also suggested instead of having to forward and back the pages, he puts each line of returned covers down the screen so all are visible at once. Even if you use different search terms, each search simply shows another group down the page, making final assembly of the signature easier. And use of double click to add a cover would simplify the process as well.

Also, associate codes is still not implemented. Both using the forum default code, and adding your own.

[Al Stevens]

Personally, I'm hoping Al puts in separate fields for the url links we commonly have on signatures. I'd rather not have to assemble the code for them myself...

You don't have to assemble any code. Put the text cursor where you want the link and use the Link button.The program assembles the url you provide along with the text into the BBCode.

And I've also suggested instead of having to forward and back the pages, he puts each line of returned covers down the screen so all are visible at once.

The amazon search engine doesn't allow that. Even their own searches don't do that. You get ten at a time with an enforced delay between queries. If you try to go for the next ten too quickly, they shut you down for a while. It is what it is. We have to abide by their rules.

And use of double click to add a cover would simplify the process as well.

I like the double click idea. And insert into the signature ahead of the selected cover rather than always append to the end. Eventually. A drag ang drop would be cool too, but that's harder I also want to make a signature preview popup that looks just like the forum's signature..

But I've been working on this tool full time for about four weeks. I've got a book underway that's languishing on the shelf, and a few workshop projects. I'll play with the tool (did I really say that?) on a part-time basis. For now, you've got something that works. Of course, I'll be here to answer questions. And any programmer who wants to help is welcome to jump in. I'll share the source code willingly. You need some fluency in PHP, HTML, XML, CSS and Javascript.

Also, associate codes is still not implemented.

That's on the list as the next thing to be done. It will affect screen shots, so I need to do it before continuing with the user's doc. You can keep bugging me about it, but it won't hurry anything up. 

[Al Stevens]

When I enter "Mark Gardner" I don't get anything.

If you do it with a key word search you get the same books that Amazon's search returns. Apparently they don't have "Mark Gardner" specifically listed as an author. I've seen that with other authors too. I think it's why they do all their searches by key words.

[TimothyEllis]

You don't have to assemble any code. Put the text cursor where you want the link and use the Link button.The program assembles the url you provide along with the text into the BBCode.

Shouldn't need to enter standard text. Just needs a set of input fields. Insert insert insert insert. Make. A lot of people will do what I'm doing and look at a big blank box and think WTF do I do with this? Even with the explanation for links, it still doesn't make intuitive sense.

A set of titles with a url insert box is simple, everyone understands it, and should be simple to make into the code to display it.

The more you get people to have to do themselves, the less they either will do, or the more they will just write it off as too hard.

And I've also suggested instead of having to forward and back the pages, he puts each line of returned covers down the screen so all are visible at once.

The amazon search engine doesn't allow that. Even their own searches don't do that. You get ten at a time with an enforced delay between queries. If you try to go for the next ten too quickly, they shut you down for a while. It is what it is. We have to abide by their rules.

Your missing my point. At the moment, you hit next, and the 2nd group get displayed over the top of the first. I'm saying display them UNDER the first, and keep displaying them under the last down the screen, so all are visible all the time.

You just need to save each lines query data each time. Its still the same number of queries, just accumulating the data instead of overwriting it.

And it should auto make the requests, not wait for a button press. Send queiry, display, wait, send, display, wait etc. The whole thing building an array of covers.

No-one is going to worry about a slow load time, when it saves a lot of actual work. They set it loading, and go do something else while it loads.

Also, associate codes is still not implemented.

That's on the list as the next thing to be done. It will affect screen shots, so I need to do it before continuing with the user's doc. You can keep bugging me about it, but it won't hurry anything up.

And until its done, a large portion of the people wanting a signature tool wont use what it currently generates, because the associate code is something they want in it.


For me at the moment, the tool is not usable.

1. Associate code is not an option, but a requirement.
2. The blank box is too difficult, and not intuitive. Too much work for the person who has no clue what you even put in the blank box, let alone how to get a link in there.
3. Takes far too long to find covers in the order you want them, across 7 or 8 lines of return. Especially takes too long to go backwards for a cover displayed on page 1 when your on page 7.

I like the way it looks, but functionality and ease of use (without needing any instructions) is far more important.

And this is for people with 100+ or 200+ books to use, and not just under 20. I'm finding it cumbersome and slow for my 40+ books. For someone with a big catalog? It wont be worth the time it takes to find what they want.

[Al Stevens]

I'll leave it up for a while in case anyone wants to use it. Those who don't can still use the KBoards Link Maker. You can use it without having to log on. I'll probably continue to tweak this one as it suits my needs. And there are other boards with BBCode signatures that might be interested.

But not useable? Thanks for your comments and for the opportunity to flex my atrophied programming chops.

[guest819]

Hi Al,

It's an excellent tool and I know how hard you worked on it. It seems that it's not too much of a stretch to show people how to insert the affiliate code. Y'know as a short term solution?

Personally, I wouldn't put the code in anyway, so it's a moot point.

Hope you got paid well, mate!

[Al Stevens]

[geek alert]
I need to explain something here lest the criticisms given make folks think I don't know what I'm doing. We can't have that.

In the operating environment where a website manages interaction between that user and an online resource such as the Amazon search engine, there are two processes going on. One is in the browser, which runs locally in your computer. That code is in Javascript mostly. The other is in the remote server, which is the PHP part. I'll try to simplify this. Yeah, right.

Whenever an event, such as a next page click, needs to change the page's visible contents, the browser has to reload the page so it can render the changes. Page renderings are not dynamic. When it does that, it must communicate the new data to the new copy of itself. There are two ways to do that without using the database, which involves permissions. One way is with cookies. The other way is with arguments in the URL. Passing dense arguments via either medium is a burden on the system and is restricted. URL arguments have a length limit of 2083 characters. Passing multiple pages of image and product page links that way reaches the limit rather quickly. Cookie size is similarly limited to 4096 characters per domain.

I hope but doubt that this clears up why we cannot support the requirement to stack multiple pages of cover image urls along with the urls that link them to their product pages. The only solution I can think might address these restrictions it to reprogram the tool in Ajax, which is not only starting all over but which also presents yet another steep hill to climb.

If you agree with Timothy that the tool as is is functionally unusable, please chime in, and I will pull it down from my server with my sincere apologies for wasting your time.

I just wanted you all to know. 
[/geek alert]

[TimothyEllis]

But not useable?

It only produces half a signature at the moment, and building the rest is too hard, or too time consuming for a lot of people.

All I'm saying is, until it builds a full signature, its easier to leave my existing signature as it is.

It looks great, but its a great deal more complicated than I was expecting. Then again, I come from old school text programming, not all this flashy graphical stuff.

It's an excellent tool and I know how hard you worked on it.

It is.

But it isn't anywhere near finished.

Hope you got paid well, mate!

Al took this on as a volunteer. He has more or less been doing his own thing to see where it went. He's also more or less ignored everything I've said along the way, so what I'm saying now doesn't really matter either.

It's his vision and work, I'm just trying to add practicality.

for wasting your time.

Nothing is a waste of time, just a learning experience.

[Al Stevens]

Al took this on as a volunteer. He has more or less been doing his own thing to see where it went. He's also more or less ignored everything I've said along the way, so what I'm saying now doesn't really matter either.

You sell yourself short. Several features are direct results of your comments. It's  quite the opposite. You have mostly ignored my advice and you continue to insist on features that are not feasible.

"Management doesn't know what they don't want until they get it."
-- Al Stevens c. 1990

[guest819]

"Management doesn't know what they don't want until they get it."
-- Al Stevens c. 1990

True! I spent years as a 'C' programmer trying to teach amateurs the difference between 'good programming' and 'walking on water'

I gave up. My hair grew back within weeks. 

[Al Stevens]

I wrote the C Programming Column for Dr. Dobb's Journal for many years, went to all the conventions, lectured, wrote books. They are indeed a culture all their own.

[A. N. Onymous]

When I was forty years old, having never so much as turned a computer on, let alone owned one, I was admitted into a diploma course for computer programming. Mainly DOS, C+ and C++, with a little of windows(95), and MS Office thrown in. My first computer had a 500MB hard drive with  8 MB of RAM. Only a fraction faster than using punch cards I reckon. I lasted one semester!! I know how hard this sh*t is. Al, my hat is off to you. With your instructions I have a reasonable signature. It is more than I had before, because I could not follow the procedures they were suggesting early on.
Timothy, I think you might need to lighten it up a little there. I hope the strain of keeping the forum going isn't getting to you already? I think you have done a remarkable job in a very sort time. Given a little more time, I think we can work out the finer details. No great rush to do it all today. It's a great forum and I believe it will grow.

[Al Stevens]

Found something weird about the Amazon associates tag. I set the default value to blank in the Signature Tool as I was removing references to this forum. I had Timothy's as the default and didn't think it appropriate to keep it and the logo without his support of the tool. Turns out without an associate's tag, the product retrievals don't work. So I set the default to mine and added a Tag button that lets you put your own in place of mine. You can change it but you can't blank it out. I don't know what it does if the tag is not valid. I chose one at random to test and it worked okay, but that one might have been real.

The tag is stored in a cookie, so keep an eye on it if you are using this tool. The tag is embedded in the urls as ?tag= something.

With a little work I could separate the inquiries from the product urls but for now they use the same constant value. Maybe later.

The cookie is set to expire on my 100th birthday, so don't yell at me if it goes away because you forgot to keep track.

That's okay. They tried to blame some of Y2K on me too. 

[TimothyEllis]

I dont understand what was so hard about adding the associate code, when it's now been done. Mountain out of a mole hill stuff.

Bug: If you put a line feed at the beginning of the large text box, it deletes everything you put in there.

Formatting issue: Needs a blank line after the short text. And another one before the long text. Otherwise they are scrunched up together badly. I inserted mine manually after shifting the code.

The small box wont allow a line feed after. The big box assumes its empty if you put one in.

[Al Stevens]

I dont understand what was so hard about adding the associate code, when it's now been done. Mountain out of a mole hill stuff.

What makes you think it was hard? It was a matter of priorities. Thanks for the bug reports. I wouldn't say the absence of blank lines is done "badly, though." It's just that you don't like them. I'll look into adding blank lines since you requested that as a feature. I am surprised, though, that although you deemed the program "not usable" you seem to be using it.

[TimothyEllis]

I dont understand what was so hard about adding the associate code, when it's now been done. Mountain out of a mole hill stuff.

What makes you think it was hard? It was a matter of priorities. Thanks for the bug reports. I wouldn't say the absence of blank lines is done "badly, though." It's just that you don't like them. I'll look into adding blank lines since you requested that as a feature. I am surprised, though, that although you deemed the program "not usable" you seem to be using it.

It is now usable, although I lost it when it ate my text links the first time. Fortunately, I was able to back out far enough to find a version of my original profile I could copy what I lost from. I've now saved that.

I'd still like the links section done as a form and constructed from what is entered, since a lot of people dont know how to do this, but for now, its usable for me. And that was a priority for me as well, just the opposite to yours.

I hate things cluttered together when they dont need to be. I like them nicely separated so they can be read more easily. Inserting a couple of line fields makes no real difference to how much space the signature uses, and makes a big difference to readability.

[Al Stevens]

I think I fixed the blank line bug. The cookie system eats newline characters. Took a while to figure that one out. I had to encode them. Please wring it out. There are several combinations of input with respect to blank lines, and I'm sure I haven't tested them all. The one under the upper line is fixed. Do you want me to return your associates tag as the default and the WS banner at the top?

And please choose your words more considerately. I am thick skinned, but stress pushes me away, and the word "hate" applied to my endeavors is off-putting to say the least.

[Al Stevens]

A few small changes:

1. I removed the Add Book button. You now add a book by double-clicking it. If a book is selected in the signature, the new book will be inserted ahead of it. Otherwise it will be added to the end.

2. I had to force a blank line between the signature's covers and the lower text. The cookie system kept eating beginning newlines.

3. Because of #2 above, I made the BBCode text box editable. You can delete that extra line there if you want. But do that just ahead of copying the code to the clipboard because the next reload will put it back in. This means you can also tweak the BBCode at your own risk. It's easier to do it in this tool than in the forum profile. But, again, the BBCode is rebuilt on each reload, so your changes will go away. We don't store the BBCode itself anywhere, so it has to be rebuilt based on what is in the signature, which we do retain.

4. I've begun to add content to the little popups you get when the mouse cursor hovers over something. If I do enough of it and well enough, the user's guide might become unnecessary.

[Mark Gardner]

I was able to get it to work for all but two of my titles by searching "Title," those two I found by searching for my last name and the title in "Keywords."

Incidentally, when I tried Paradox, or Escape in the "title" field, I got many hundreds of results, and after clicking on "Next Page," the resulting page showed no books, and clicking on "Next Page" on that page didn't seem to work.

[guest819]

and after clicking on "Next Page," the resulting page showed no books, and clicking on "Next Page" on that page didn't seem to work.

I did that, and I think it does work, it's just empty too.

[TimothyEllis]

Empty means the 10 books it returned had nothing at all to do with the search.

The search feature returns a whole lot of crap most of the time. Al is weeding this crap out, and not displaying it.

Author Central uses the same search, and it's possible for your book to not be in the first 100 returned. All 100 have nothing at all to do with the search, but Amazon still show them to you because Amazon.

[Al Stevens]

Amazon's search engine is eccentric. When you do an author search, it still returns books that aren't by you even when you spell your name in an accurate match to how Amazon has you listed. With my name I get books by people with the same last name and some whose first name is like my last name. When I bypass those books in the Signature Tool, sometimes I'm left with an empty page. I've been looking at how to skip that last page and automatically proceed, but haven't solved it yet. The problem is if there are a lot of empty pages the automatic next pages would need at least a second of sleep per page to keep Amazon from choking the program. All they say in their response is how many pages there are, and that's not always accurate.

[Al Stevens]

Incidentally, when I tried Paradox, or Escape in the "title" field, I got many hundreds of results, and after clicking on "Next Page," the resulting page showed no books, and clicking on "Next Page" on that page didn't seem to work.

I was able to duplicate that. It's a bug. Thanks.

[Al Stevens]

[I was able to duplicate that. It's a bug. Thanks.

Fixed, I hope.

[Al Stevens]

The fix involved putting a comment in the Retrieved panel when the retrieval delivers no books that match the search criteria.

I had made the bbcode user-editable, but it presents too much opportunity for confusion. That "feature" will be removed in the next upload. Sorry.

[Al Stevens]

Timothy, I asked this earlier, but neglected to make note of your answer. That thread seems to have gone away. Or been moved somewhere.

What are the maximum pixel height and width dimensions in the forum's signature panel? Also, is there an enforced image pixel height for the signature? In other words, does the signature accept the BBCode's height property in the IMG tag or does it override it with its own value? I've seen this work differently on other sites. Thanks.

[TimothyEllis]

What are the maximum pixel height and width dimensions in the forum's signature panel? Also, is there an enforced image pixel height for the signature? In other words, does the signature accept the BBCode's height property in the IMG tag or does it override it with its own value? I've seen this work differently on other sites. Thanks.

At the moment set to 150 high, by 1000 wide. This is to allow for banners.

It's changeable to whatever works best.

No idea if anything overrides anything. The number of images was set to 9, but I still managed to have 10 at one point. That also is changeable.

Recommend what you want these set to.

[Al Stevens]

I doesn't seem to matter. My signature exceeds 150 pixels in height. I'll leave it like that until you've seen it.

[Al Stevens]

Timothy, As I remember the links request you made and as I interpret what you've said here (the other thread has vanished; lost
a lot of information there), you want a dialogue box that allows multiple links to be entered. Does the user also enter the names of these links? Or is there a list of specific sites that you prefer? Would your list be the same as everyone else's. (Some of us don't tweet.) Whatever it turns out to be, the values would have to be persistent, of course, which means they have to be stored somewhere. The database comes to mind. For that, users will have to log in when they use this program.
Which means everyone's login data would be exposed to me, at least. Unless there's a way to do that internally that I don't know about. I'm sure there is. We need an SQL expert to advise us before we can do that.

Once the dialogue is filled in, I assume there is something specific you want done with it to put it in the signature. Will your specifics be how everyone must do it, or should they have options about how and where to format the list?

As you can see, just saying you'd like to have it do thus and so will almost always lead to a lot of questions.

[TimothyEllis]

If anyone wants to add more to this list, be my guest.

Amazon AuthorCentral Page url.
Facebook Group url.
Facebook Page url.
Mailing list signup url.
Forum Promo Thread url.

I dont see any call for twitter or any social media on signatures, so no need to do them.

"Author Page", enter url.
"Facebook Group", enter url.
"Facebook Page", enter url.
"Mailing List Signup", enter url.
"Forum Promo Thread", enter url.

Assemble a line of text with embedded links, based on the ones where a url is provided. Ignore those where no link is provided.

[Al Stevens]

Thanks. What about links like the one in my signature? I can think of others not in your list. We need a maximum so the entry form can be laid out. Probably based on what would fit in one line of signature.

You did not address the issue of how to make everyone's list persistent. This feature probably cannot be added until that issue is resolved. Ignoring such problems does not make them go away.

With that much data (urls can get long) we'd run out of cookie space. I'm already nervous about how much we use now. The banner url is stored in a cookie, for example. Plus the fact that when you move to a different computer or maybe to a different internet connection, your cookies might not move with you. I need to look into that further, stress the system, see what it takes to break it.

[Al Stevens]

I just ran it on another computer here. Same router. No cookies. It came up with blank screen panels. I thought that was how it worked.

[TimothyEllis]

Maybe add 2 free form ones, where you enter text and url.

There is no SQL programmer around at this point in time, so the database is out. Unless one is reading and volunteers to help.

I dont have any other options. The forum could use a SQL/PHP person for a number of other issues. And I'm not apposed to paying for coding time for some things. But so far, no-one has even said they do SQL.

I'm not sure that info needs saving. Most people dont change their signature all that often (Dan excepted), so re-entering the urls might be acceptable. I keep mine on a document, so cut and paste doesn't take very long. Maybe people would like to comment on this?

[Al Stevens]

I'll have some spare time next week. I'll read up on MySQL and PHP. My test SMF site has a database like yours, although not much it in it besides my own account, and I can log on with my userid and password and experiment from the outside. Not promising anything, but it ought to be interesting.

A peculiar thing about SMF is that although my web host set up the database and provided me with a userid and password of his own making, SMF never asks me as a user to log in with those data. I had to provide them to install SMF, but I use different login protocols as the admin, so I don't know how it works. That's where I could use an expert, someone who could explain it without burying me in geek speak.

[Al Stevens]

I figured out how mySQL will work. As admin, Timothy has a userid and password that grants him access to the database. He needed that when he installed SMF. I'm admin on my test site, and I verified this. A program establishes a connection by providing the host (usually named localhost), the userid, and the password. The program can then access and update existing databases (providing the user has the necessary permissions), and also create new databases.

I plan to try this (none of this involves the forum's database):

1. Maintain a signature database table, one row per user. If the database doesn't exist, the program creates it.
2. users  sign into the signature tool. No password is needed, just a userid. Once they've done that the first time, the program remembers them in a cookie. Nothing we store will be sensitive, so I don't think a password is needed.
3. The signature tool uses userids as the primary key to the database to retrieve and update records. Each user has one record that has in its fields the user-oriented data we need to maintain: banner url, author name, BBCode text and links, and so on.

This way, their data go with them wherever they go, which has been one of my main concerns about using cookies.

I'll work probably next week to get it up and running.

To install the program with another forum, such as WS, the admin will provide the userid and password that the program uses to access the database. We can rig it so nobody else sees those access data.

This is me speculating. MySQL looks like a lot of relational databases I worked with in the old days. It shouldn't be difficult to work with. I hope.

Anybody out there with SQL chops should chime in if I'm heading in the wrong direction. Wish me luck.

[guest819]

Al

I don't understand why you're doing this?

The forum database (usually _sm1) has an SQL entry section (sm_members) where you place the signature (complete with your links) and it saves it against your username. It won't matter which computer, phone or tablet you're on. The database will pull up your signature and generate dynamically every time you login.

Cookies are not the right way to do this.

[TimothyEllis]

To install the program with another forum, such as WS, the admin will provide the userid and password that the program uses to access the database. We can rig it so nobody else sees those access data.

No need.

Use your own setup.php to create a tool specific database, and use that. Keeps the tool independent of forum code.

So it prompts for database name, user, password, which the admin has to create first. Then it creates files in the database to store everything it uses in.

Keeps the tool completely isolated.

[Al Stevens]

The forum database (usually _sm1) has an SQL entry section (sm_members) where you place the signature (complete with your links) and it saves it against your username. It won't matter which computer, phone or tablet you're on. The database will pull up your signature and generate dynamically every time you login.

I had to be independent of the forum database. I mentioned early on about getting the user's signature from the database and proceeding from there, but no one could or would tell me even as much as you just did.

As near as I can tell, the forum's database stores only the BBCode for the signature. I looked for and even set out to write a BBCode to HTML converter, but that is a big job. A recursive decent parsing algorithm. There are some such converters posted on-line, but none of them works in our usage of BBCode. I've looked for it in the SMF code but haven't found it yet. Plus, I need to store more than just the signature's content. The user's search criteria and options, for example, aren't implicit in the BBCode.

Cookies are not the right way to do this.

I agree. I'll soon be using cookies only as temporary repositories that Javascript uses to communicate with PHP. And as a way to make unnecessary signing in for each session.

I'd like to attach to the forum database. But for that to work, the program must be launched from within the SMF application because that's where the user signs in. An advantage would be that the program could write to the user's BBCode entry, eliminating the need to copy and paste to the profile.

[Al Stevens]

To install the program with another forum, such as WS, the admin will provide the userid and password that the program uses to access the database. We can rig it so nobody else sees those access data.

No need.

Use your own setup.php to create a tool specific database, and use that. Keeps the tool independent of forum code.

So it prompts for database name, user, password, which the admin has to create first. Then it creates files in the database to store everything it uses in.

Keeps the tool completely isolated.

The tool itself needs the database host and name and the admin's userid and password in order to connect to the database. Can't get around that. We just need to keep those data hidden from the user.

[guest819]

Al

You need to develop your app in SQL, make it work as a standalone, but capable of injecting it into sm_signature, then take the table and organise it so that the database owner can inject it into their SQL which will then include it within its own datafile. You then need to create an html page, or php like what you have so that the user can then complete the fields, click on add, and it will show up in their signature. I believe all of the code is written as per the code you received from Harvey's. I don't have time to look at the code to tell you how, but you have all the nuts and bolts, you just need access to an SM database so you can play. you might look at putting an SQL Server on your PC, installing the forum locally and emulating the environment. Take a look at WAMP and similar products. It will enable you to bypass the limitations you have working online.

Take a look here: http://breakthesecurity.cysecurity.org/2011/07/how-to-run-php-files-using-wamp-server.html

[Al Stevens]

Al

I don't understand why you're doing this?

Neither do I. 

[Al Stevens]

... you just need access to an SM database so you can play.11/07/how-to-run-php-files-using-wamp-server.html

I have that. I installed SMF on my server first thing in this project because Timothy couldn't set up a test site. Mine isn't a WS duplicate, which would be ideal, because I haven't installed all the SMF mods that Timothy has, but it serves as my view into how things work and a way to test integration if that's what I decide to do.

[guest819]

... you just need access to an SM database so you can play.11/07/how-to-run-php-files-using-wamp-server.html

I have that. I installed SMF on my server first thing in this project because Timothy couldn't set up a test site. Mine isn't a WS duplicate, which would be ideal, because I haven't installed all the SMF mods that Timothy has, but it serves as my view into how things work and a way to test integration if that's what I decide to do.

You don't need a duplicate because the code you need to access is within the core and nothing to do with any mods. So long as your mod works on your system all you need to do is tie it up in a bow with an idiot proof install button and give it to to the site owner.

[Al Stevens]

You don't need a duplicate because the code you need to access is within the core and nothing to do with any mods. So long as your mod works on your system all you need to do is tie it up in a bow with an idiot proof install button and give it to to the site owner.

At the time we weren't talking about the signature tool. It was fixes that, as far as I could tell, involved changes to the SMF PHP code. After I'd finished one--addog a third gender--I saw almost right away that those fixes needed to be applied to source code that had been modded, and I didn't have that. Timothy sent me his source code, but it wouldn't run I guess because it needed a similar database and whatever other files are a part of the runtime. I advised him that such in-house modifications were inherently dangerous, and I wouldn't work that way. That's when I decided to take on the signature tool. At least it could exist outside the SMF code except maybe for a link to it from within the SMF page. Like KBoards does it.


{Fixed the quote. t}

[TimothyEllis]

To install the program with another forum, such as WS, the admin will provide the userid and password that the program uses to access the database. We can rig it so nobody else sees those access data.

No need.

Use your own setup.php to create a tool specific database, and use that. Keeps the tool independent of forum code.

So it prompts for database name, user, password, which the admin has to create first. Then it creates files in the database to store everything it uses in.

Keeps the tool completely isolated.

The tool itself needs the database host and name and the admin's userid and password in order to connect to the database. Can't get around that. We just need to keep those data hidden from the user.

The only reason to connect to the forum database is to insert the signature. But you dont need to. I'm quite happy with the copy and paste method of getting it in there. Anyone can do that.

By not using the forum database the tool retains its own integrity. Version 2.1 is already in beta, and I'd be surprised if it even has the same database structure. By keeping your tool out of the database, it isn't going to break with a future forum release.

All your tool need do is create its own database, and store its own data separately. This also allows the tool to be used by ANY forum, using any forum software.

[guest819]

All your tool need do is create its own database, and store its own data separately. This also allows the tool to be used by ANY forum, using any forum software.

Like that's going to happen! You think other forums are going to allow a link to an outside source they have no control over, that might actually be used to compromise their own database? What's more, the type of signature is limited to an SMF site that works for authors - very limited application.

[TimothyEllis]

No need.

Use your own setup.php to create a tool specific database, and use that. Keeps the tool independent of forum code.

So it prompts for database name, user, password, which the admin has to create first. Then it creates files in the database to store everything it uses in.

Keeps the tool completely isolated.

Like that's going to happen! You think other forums are going to allow a link to an outside source they have no control over, that might actually be used to compromise their own database? What's more, the type of signature is limited to an SMF site that works for authors - very limited application.

Try reading what I said a message or 2 before.

The tool needs a setup.php, which asks for database details, and then creates its own database entries. The admin of the site creates a new database, and plugs it into the tool setup. The tool uses the local database.

This is exactly the procedure for installing a forum or anything php/sql based. You create a database, and then tell the setup.php the details to use it.

There is nothing offsite about any of this. And also not using the database for the forum. Completely isolated tool, which can be installed anywhere.

[guest819]

Timothy sent me his source code, but it wouldn't run I guess because it needed a similar database and whatever other files are a part of the runtime.

It's simply a PHP file that calls Timothy's database. All you needed to do was amend yours (or his) PHP file to the same as his/yours and it would have worked. 

[TimothyEllis]

Timothy sent me his source code, but it wouldn't run I guess because it needed a similar database and whatever other files are a part of the runtime.

It's simply a PHP file that calls Timothy's database. All you needed to do was amend yours (or his) PHP file to the same as his/yours and it would have worked. 

He's building this to be usable on any forum now. Better making it completely stand alone.

[Al Stevens]

Timothy sent me his source code, but it wouldn't run I guess because it needed a similar database and whatever other files are a part of the runtime.

It's simply a PHP file that calls Timothy's database. All you needed to do was amend yours (or his) PHP file to the same as his/yours and it would have worked. 

All I needed to do was find that file.  I might try that some day. I suppose I could join the SMF developers group and ask about such things there.

[guest819]

Timothy sent me his source code, but it wouldn't run I guess because it needed a similar database and whatever other files are a part of the runtime.

It's simply a PHP file that calls Timothy's database. All you needed to do was amend yours (or his) PHP file to the same as his/yours and it would have worked. 

All I needed to do was find that file.  I might try that some day. I suppose I could join the SMF developers group and ask about such things there.

Al..... 

forum directory on your server....

settings.php contains this:


########## Database Info ##########
$db_type = 'mysql';
$db_server = 'localhost';
$db_name = 'yourDBname_sm1';
$db_user = 'yourDBname_sm1';
$db_passwd = 'X.WVoLbvEf4xPtxjix150'; <this is an encrypted version of Password>
$ssi_db_user = '';
$ssi_db_passwd = '';
$db_prefix = 'sm_';
$db_persist = 0;
$db_error_send = 1;

#############################

SMF uses a standard php setup on EVERY.SINGLE.INSTALL.

[TimothyEllis]

Yes, that's all you need.

Admin sets up the database, runs the setup, and enters the info.

[guest819]

Yes, that's all you need.

Admin sets up the database, runs the setup, and enters the info.

Sorry, what was it you needed an SQL/PHP expert for?

[TimothyEllis]

Yes, that's all you need.

Admin sets up the database, runs the setup, and enters the info.

Sorry, what was it you needed an SQL/PHP expert for?

Me? Fixing the Bookmarks mod for a start. <<<Most often requested feature, and the mod is broken.
Changing the way thread and post deletions are done for another, especially where a user is deleting their account. The way its done now is only half a feature and causes more problems than it fixes.

Al wanted a SQL person for the tool, in order to store all the cookie stuff in a database properly.

[guest819]

Me? Fixing the Bookmarks mod for a start. <<<Most often requested feature, and the mod is broken.

if it's this one '"BOOKMARK MOD by Leipe Po"' then it's not broken it only works on the default theme.

If you're referring to this one '"BOOKMARKS by Matthew K." then why don't you simply uninstall it and re-install.

[TimothyEllis]

Me? Fixing the Bookmarks mod for a start. <<<Most often requested feature, and the mod is broken.

if it's this one '"BOOKMARK MOD by Leipe Po"' then it's not broken it only works on the default theme.

If you're referring to this one '"BOOKMARKS by Matthew K." then why don't you simply uninstall it and re-install.

No idea which one I have. It doesn't identify itself. Links to both please.

This is the default theme. And whichever one I have only displays the bookmark button for admin.

[guest819]

Me? Fixing the Bookmarks mod for a start. <<<Most often requested feature, and the mod is broken.

if it's this one '"BOOKMARK MOD by Leipe Po"' then it's not broken it only works on the default theme.

If you're referring to this one '"BOOKMARKS by Matthew K." then why don't you simply uninstall it and re-install.

No idea which one I have. It doesn't identify itself. Links to both please.

This is the default theme. And whichever one I have only displays the bookmark button for admin.

FFS don't be lazy Timothy - go do some checking. You only have to go into your admin and look at what mods you've installed.

[TimothyEllis]

FFS don't be lazy Timothy - go do some checking. You only have to go into your admin and look at what mods you've installed.

It says Bookmarks v 2.5.

[guest819]

FFS don't be lazy Timothy - go do some checking. You only have to go into your admin and look at what mods you've installed.

It says Bookmarks v 2.5.

OK, it's not a bug in your system it's a bug in theirs. I have a call into the developer and will get back to you if and when I get a reply. Meanwhile, I might take a poke around and see if I can see the problem.

[TimothyEllis]

OK, it's not a bug in your system it's a bug in theirs. I have a call into the developer and will get back to you if and when I get a reply. Meanwhile, I might take a poke around and see if I can see the problem.

Don't hold your breath waiting.

As I said, it displays the button for Admin, but no-one else. My guess its a really simple goof, with something in the wrong place.

Back in the Cobol day, putting the . in the wrong place could cause total chaos. Bound to be that simple, and just as hard to find.

[guest819]

OK, I've solved the bookmark issue. It's not a bug, at least not in the sense of there's something wrong.

It's a permissions issue.

Go to Admin - Permissions - Regular Member

Click 'Modify'

look for 'Create bookmarks for topics' and tick the box on the RHS

Goto bottom and SAVE

[TimothyEllis]

OK, I've solved the bookmark issue. It's not a bug, at least not in the sense of there's something wrong.
It's a permissions issue.
Go to Admin - Permissions - Regular Member
Click 'Modify'
look for 'Create bookmarks for topics' and tick the box on the RHS
Goto bottom and SAVE

*sigh*

Well it had to be something that simple.

 

[Al Stevens]

Al wanted a SQL person for the tool, in order to store all the cookie stuff in a database properly.

I am unwillingly  becoming that expert. At least as far as learning what I need to get the tool working properly.

[Al Stevens]

forum directory on your server....
settings.php contains this:
...

Thanks. I found it. That's a big help. The tool doesn't need setup. It can get its login info from this file. The password is not encrypted, however. Now I need access to my database via command line. It's been ages since I used telnet, and I don't remember the login values. My ftp login doesn't work. Neither do any of the database logins. I have a call into my webmaster. I want command line access to MySQL.

[guest819]

forum directory on your server....
settings.php contains this:
...

Thanks. I found it. That's a big help. The tool doesn't need setup. It can get its login info from this file. The password is not encrypted, however. Now I need access to my database via command line. It's been ages since I used telnet, and I don't remember the login values. My ftp login doesn't work. Neither do any of the database logins. I have a call into my webmaster. I want command line access to MySQL.

I thought you were using WAMP?  You shouldn't need to do any of this. If you use WAMP then you control your own server. 

[Al Stevens]

I thought you were using WAMP?  You shouldn't need to do any of this. If you use WAMP then you control your own server. 

I'm not sure why you thought that. My local webhost has everything I need and is only a few miles away. The owner is responsive when I have questions. I've considered wamp, but never tried it.

[guest819]

I thought you were using WAMP?  You shouldn't need to do any of this. If you use WAMP then you control your own server. 

I'm not sure why you thought that. My local webhost has everything I need and is only a few miles away. The owner is responsive when I have questions. I've considered wamp, but never tried it.

Your post #74 states you have that and quotes the WAMP servier guidelines. Here you state you've never considered it.

Good luck Al, I'm out! 

[Al Stevens]

Your post #74 states you have that and quotes the WAMP servier guidelines. Here you state you've never considered it.

That was in response to this:

you just need access to an SM database so you can play

Sorry I wasn't clear.

[Al Stevens]

I just found a bug. If you clear your browser's cookies, the program won't retrieve anything again. I'll have it fixed later today I hope.

[Al Stevens]

Fixed. It could have been in there a long time. I cleared cookies to see how something worked from a fresh start and that's when I found it.

[Al Stevens]

A new version is uploaded for testing.

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link/

The Login entry field and button only display a message that the named userid is logging in. It's the launch pad for integrating database storage and retrieval of a signature composition.

There is a dropdown listbox from which a user can select Books or Kindle Store to search. We can add others. I got a kick out of seeing some of my ancient decades-old books still up for sale.

There will be a way to select Locales other than amazon.com. (.co.uk and .ca at the least) I haven't gotten it to work, though. It's on my list. KB's Link Maker uses a display of small flag icons to make that selection. If those icons are provided by Amazon, I'll look into using them.

After flailing around in the PHP/Javascript/HTML swamp, I can understand why they developed AJAX. I'll be looking into that later. I feel a book coming out of this exercise. Although everything you'd want to know and more about developing web applications with these tools is available on the Internet, nowhere that I've found is it well-organized in a tutorial sequence that builds a student's knowledge with well-structured lessons. Many of them claim to be that. Those I've found fall short.

If I live long enough, that is.

[Al Stevens]

I've been trying to incorporate locale selection into the tool to search those amazon stores. Right now it works only with .com, which is the US. At the least I want .co.uk and .ca.

To change to a different locale, I need a different set of access keys, private and public, which need to be registered as Associates or Affiliates, depending on what Amazon page you're reading at the time.

The paths to acquiring, managing, and registering such keys is a nightmare. The error messages link to sites to register that have no registration information or links. I've searched the applicable forums and found that programmers have had this problem for years. The solutions they are offered are things I've already tried. Most of them point to solutions for .com searches, with which I have no trouble.

I might add that Amazon's API documentation is incredibly abstruse. They often have page after page, telling you to this or that but never saying how or offering links to where to do it. When they do direct you to a specific page, telling you to click this or that on that page, those clicks usually aren't there. Apparently the pages are  newer than their documentation.

This is a rant for public consumption, not asking how or looking for sympathy, but merely to explain why the tool might be stuck with .com searches only.

[Al Stevens]

The problem is resolved thanks to a sneaky workaround that Timothy suggested. We retrieve books from amazon.com and link the signatures to the selected locale store without ever having to search it.

I can sleep tonight.

[djmills]

Testing signature images.

[Al Stevens]

Minor change: Previously, when you selected a locale, that locale would be associated with all the books in the signature, irrespective of what locales you used for prior searches. Now, the search locale attaches itself to the book in the signature when it is retrieved. You can build a signature with different locales for different books. This would be handy for foreign language translations, for example.

A small detail, but it bugged me as soon as I realized it.

Presently, you chose from three locales, USA, UK, and Canada. Let me know if there are others you'd like added to the list. Amazon has a lot of them.

[Al Stevens]

For the record, these are the features I'm planning to implement, not necessarily in this order:

1. The ability to select book covers and product listings from websites other than Amazon's.
2. The use of the database to maintain user selection persistence. I'm using cookies now, but we're pushing those limits.
3. The personal link feature that Timothy has requested.
4. And, of course, the Info document is incomplete. That's definitely at the end of the list because it involves screen shots, and screen designs aren't final.

[Al Stevens]

Found some bugs. Back to the pre-locale version for now.

[Al Stevens]

Found some bugs. Back to the pre-locale version for now.

Found and fixed.

[Al Stevens]

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link/

I uploaded a new version. It's the beginning of a major overhaul most of which is out of sight. The visible changes are:

1. You can see how the new Links feature works. it doesn't do anything for the signature yet, but the entry form is there. You can use the Go To button to check the url and navigate to its page. Just this much took several days. Javascript doesn't support interactive dialog boxes the way other development platforms do. I had to build it piece by piece. Looking at it, you'd think there was nothing to it. Ha.

2. I eliminated the panel that displayed the BBCode. It wasn't doing anything constructive for users other than cluttering up the screen. It was helpful during testing to see the code being compiled, and I can turn it back on if I need it later. Now, when you click OK, the program compiles the BBCode and copies it to the clipboard without you having to look at it. If you really need to, open Notepad and paste.

I want to add a "selfie" feature where, instead of searching Amazon, you can specify your own urls and images to add books to the signature that link to custom product listings. My page has links to all the distributors I use: Amazon, Kobo, B&N, iTunes.

This new version needs to be wrung out thoroughly to reveal the inevitable bugs.

Login still doesn't do anything. That's in the next wave...I hope.

[Al Stevens]

<geek alert>

I've been two days hammering down an elusive bug related to browser differences. When a form has a text entry field, its onscreen size is controlled by one of two values: the width property in CSS or the size property in HTML. Different browsers handle it differently.

The problem reared its head in the Links dialog box. There was no combination of properties that worked across all the browsers.

Incidentally, I cannot test Safari, because it refuses to connect to my server because of some vague security concern.

I finally narrowed it down. It depends on variables in the CSS, but the size element in the HTML/PHP is the main controlling property. Trouble is, different browsers handle the value differently.

I narrowed it to two values, one value for Chrome and Opera, and a different value for all the others. Then it took a while to learn how the program can sense which browser is running so it could apply the appropriate size. None of the online suggestions worked. That in itself is a convoluted mess, but I was able to work it out. After two days.

</geek alert>

We're getting company tomorrow. All day company. That'll give me time away from this thing. Will somebody please test this mother? There are still features missing, but I need to know where it might blow up.

http://www.alstevens.com/forum/Sources/sigmill

[Lysmata Debelius]

Thanks for all the hard work, Al

I tested it and I had no problems adding my covers, but when I tried to add my blog link below my covers, I clicked "link" and entered the text  and URL into that pop up window, but when I clicked "save", the link did not appear, and the text I'd added into the "upper text" field was missing as well. I tried several times, and eventually just added them in by hand, as it were, directly in the BB code.

[Al Stevens]

Thanks for all the hard work, Al

I tested it and I had no problems adding my covers, but when I tried to add my blog link below my covers, I clicked "link" and entered the text  and URL into that pop up window, but when I clicked "save", the link did not appear, and the text I'd added into the "upper text" field was missing as well. I tried several times, and eventually just added them in by hand, as it were, directly in the BB code.

Yeah, that's one of the features still under development. I hope to have it working later today. I'll let you know as soon as it's ready for testing. Thanks for your comments and your help.

[Al Stevens]

I think the Links process is working now. I used the program to build my signature here with no tweaking needed. As usual, please test the program wall to wall.

Next, the database. Oh, boy.

http://www.alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link

[Al Stevens]

A bug in the tool breaks the link to the book when you click the cover. I'm looking at it now. You won't have to rebuild. When I get it fixed, rerun the tool, click OK, and paste the bbcode into your profile.

[Al Stevens]

The bug is fixed. That one, at least. It took the day I meant to devote to the database. Oh, well.

https://www.alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link

[Al Stevens]

I just uploaded a new version with two new features. A minor one is that the user can choose whether to view the BBCode in the bottom panel. That's mostly for me as I'm testing.

The other feature lets you add what I am for now calling "selfie" books to the signature. A selfie book is one for which you provide both the url to link to from a click in your signature and the url of the book's cover image. This allows you to link to your own page or to the page of some distributor other than Amazon.

https://www.alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link

[Al Stevens]

The first book in my signature is an example of a selfie. Clicking it takes you to my page for that book which includes links to all the distributors who carry it. Eventually, all the covers in my signature will be selfies. But it's quicker to use the amazon listings while I'm texting.

The selfie's cover image expands when you click it and return to the page. Press Refresh (F5 on a PC) to restore it.

That's a bug in the SMF software. The image file is 150 pixels high, and the signature allows a height of 125 pixels. The covers from amazon are 125 high, so they don't expand. I'll have to edit the covers on my site to match the signature's requirements.

[TimothyEllis]

Al, tell me what signature height you want set, and I'll change it.

As long as the 375 high one dont get used at that size, it doesn't really matter to me what height the images are. Tell me what works best for the tool, and I set it that way.

[Al Stevens]

125 is good because Amazon includes covers that size that the tool links to, so there's no expansion when you click it.

[Al Stevens]

Selfies are good for works in progress, too. I include them on my page of books. The last cover in my signature is an example of a WIP.

[Al Stevens]

Much progress in the past few days. I have the database working with the signature tool, although there are still a few small glitches. The bigger part is to get user registration and logging in and out working and to have the tool react appropriately to the user situation. I didn't design the original software with that in mind, so there's a lot of rewiring going on.

Once I get it all working, I plan to rewrite it with AJAX, something I need to experiment with. Then there's JQuery. Will it never end?

[Al Stevens]

(Is anybody out there?)

About two weeks have passed since my last post. I have logins with encrypted passwords working. It won't be up for review until I've finished a wall-to-wall test here. I've also added an admin user who can manage the database from within the app. That's not quite finished.

Every time I fix my "last bug," I introduce a few more. This server/browser interactive platform is a pain in the ass, particularly given that I don't have a working integrated development environment with source level debugger in place. I tried NetBeans but couldn't get it working inside the server code.

When there's a coding error, the runtime doesn't flag where it finds the problem. It just stops running. It's best to code in small increments just to narrow the potential places where the typo might be. This is like the old days before IDEs.

Stay tuned...

[TimothyEllis]

Been wondering how its going, but didn't want to jog your elbow.

[Al Stevens]

I don't get to spend as much time with it as I'd like, but I'm happy with what I'm learning from the project.

[Jeff Tanyard]

I'm still reading the thread, Al.  I appreciate your persistence in the matter, and I think it's great that you're volunteering time and effort for the site's benefit.   

[TimothyEllis]

for the site's benefit.

Not just the site. Potentially any forum where the members have products on Amazon.

[Al Stevens]

I've uploaded the latest version. It uses the database and logins. You might need to open your browser's history settings and clear cookies. If you already have a signature build with this tool, you'll have to start over.

The Info document is complete too.

I'd like if many people would try this out, mainly to let me know if there can be too many users logged in and searching at one time. I've tested it with two users. One, actually, me at two computers with both hands on mice.

Timothy, I'm sending you a message.

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/Link/

[TimothyEllis]

First chance I've had to test.

Registered, but got 2 errors immediately about some associate tag being too long.

And trying to search the first time,I keep getting the same error message.

Not cleared cookies, and not going to either. Last time I did this, the amount of constantly used stuff I lost was infuriating to have to redo.

I checked the associates tag itself, and its set to mine.

[Al Stevens]

Oops. Your affiliate tag is larger than I allowed. I did not find anywhere in the AWS API that gave a max. I increased the size and rebuilt the database. Try it now, please.

If you get unusual behavior--the one I saw was Search didn't work--do this to clear the Signature Mill cookies only.
Log in as "guest." No password needed.
Log out.
Shut down the browser.
Restart and try again.

Those cookies last only as long as the browser is running. There is one persistent cookie, the "Userid" one. The logout should clear it.

Thanks for the help.

[Al Stevens]

P.S. I set your affiliate tag as the default in the current release.

[Al Stevens]

I'm not sure the cookie strategy will work. I've had difficulties in the past trying to delete cookies from within the program when the one in place had an extended expiration date. Let me know how it goes. If nothing else, I can always change the names of the cookies. I think the ones in earlier versions had 30-day expiration dates.

[Al Stevens]

While Signature Mill is out for testing, I'm rewriting it with AJAX. There will be no feature or design changes except what testing might turn up. But that annoying flashing black screen seen at every small change to the signature goes away.

AJAX is one of those platforms that programmers don't see a need for until they write their first interactive PHP/MySQL app. This has been quite a learning experience.

This rewrite is going a lot faster than the first iteration. A lot of the existing ode is reusable. A lot more can be tossed out.

The iser experience difference is so dramatic that I wouldn't consider releasing the tool outside our small circle until the AJAX version is working.

[Al Stevens]

During testing, the working database got initialized. Not on purpose. Timothy was the only registered user, so it shouldn't affect anyone else. Sorry about that. I'll try not to do it again, but shift happens. It will probably happen on purpose when I move the ajax version into place, but that's a ways off.

[Al Stevens]

[geek alert]

Life just got easier. My host provider has gotten slow with ftp and mySQL, Painfully slow. And I never could get it to work with Xdebug. So, based on Tobias's suggestion a while back, I installed Wamp, which puts the server on my PC. It took all day, but I got it running, got Xdebug running, and got everything integrated with Netbeans. Breakpoints, watches, and all the tools a programmer needs. I should have done this at the outset. Thank you, Tobias.

[/geek alert]

[Al Stevens]

In order for my program to search Amazon's product listings with their API, they granted me an access account to the API. They just notified me that inasmuch as my website is not generating sales, they might withdraw that permission. It means that any site that uses the program will have to apply for and get their own such account. The account information is an element in the search criteria uploaded to retrieve books. I responded to the notice, explaining that I am developing a search tool and what it will be used for. They will either grant me further access, or cut it off very soon. None of you are using the tool at this time, so it shouldn't affect anyone here. But if they do shut me out, I'm essentially out of business. I shouldn't and won't release a program that I can't test wall-to-wall.

[Al Stevens]

The email was from a no-reply address. So I went on-line and logged into a "chat" to discuss the problem with a tech support entity named Randy. I think I was chatting with a bot. The exchange reminded me of that old program Eliza that was a simple AI of an automated psychiatrist.

http://psych.fullerton.edu/mbirnbaum/psych101/Eliza.htm

Whatever Randy was, he promised to refer my problem to someone who could deal with it. We'll see.

[RappaDizzy]

I appreciate the effort you're putting into the tool. Al. It works great and I hope you can continue on with it.

[Al Stevens]

Thanks, Eugene. I haven't heard back yet, but given the season, that's not unexpected. If I don't in about a week, I'm going to hit social media and ask them to go to my website and buy my book about diabetes. I've lowered the price to the minimum and will donate my royalties to the local food bank. Or to the homeless vet at the interchange with the cardboard sign.

[Al Stevens]

The improved version of Signature Mill is available for test, review, and critique. The link is not the same as before. The new link is:

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/sigmill/

You'll see improvements in the user interface performance, a new feature or two, and what looks like a couple fewer features. Specifically:

Banner and text-only signatures are not in their own categories. For banners, simply program a selfie that links to a banner url and where you want the user to go when they click the banner in your signature. For text-only, simply program no books or banners in the signature and use the upper and lower text fields and the links field for your signature.

You'll see changes in the dialog boxes too.

I removed the Admin tool. An administrator who manages a database has lots better tools than the paltry ones I provided.

Yet to do:

1. Finish the documentation.
2. Install smart error checking that a user can understand. For example, when the database or the Amazon Product Advertising API is down.
3. Figure out how to link to Signature Mill from within the SMF forum code.
4. Put together an install package for system administrators.

[Al Stevens]

Did #2 today. Don't laugh.

[Al Stevens]

The online user's guide is finished. The little circle-I icon at the top right of the app opens the document.

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/sigmill/

Now working on the admin's guide for how to install and configure the app.

[Al Stevens]

Timothy, we should address the Tag issue. Making it easy for members to substitute their tags for the forum's could result in no sales being credited to the forum's associate account. Based on my experience, this results in Amazon removing the search engine credentials from the host tag, which renders the signature tool inoperable as far as Amazon book searches go.

Because of that, I've made the Tag feature an option controlled by the administrator. But, of course, the user's guide shows the Tag button and explains its use. At the very least, I could remove the reference from the document and let each administrator decide whether they care to reveal it to their members. I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

By the way, I am pleased and humbled that our members joined in to support the project. I hope it works. But, if it doesn't, the software works now, and shouldn't need further testing. He said hopefully.

[TimothyEllis]

Timothy, we should address the Tag issue. Making it easy for members to substitute their tags for the forum's could result in no sales being credited to the forum's associate account. Based on my experience, this results in Amazon removing the search engine credentials from the host tag, which renders the signature tool inoperable as far as Amazon book searches go.

Because of that, I've made the Tag feature an option controlled by the administrator. But, of course, the user's guide shows the Tag button and explains its use. At the very least, I could remove the reference from the document and let each administrator decide whether they care to reveal it to their members. I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Is it sales, or click throughs which matter?

Sales at the moment are pretty non-existent. Talking cup of coffee commission over a quarter. So its not exactly a money maker. (Not that I want one.)

I cant tell how many clicks are happening, but I suspect a lot, although they usually dont generate sales, since people are just looking at whatever book is being discussed. So there is activity, just not revenue.

The other thing which might help is in-forum code to change any external link in posts, going to Amazon, to add the tag. Since a lot of activity is about a book not in a signature, this could add traffic to the tag. In any case, all external links should be https, so the forum needs to be dynamically changing them where https works as a link, in order the browser green lock stays in place. At the moment, it doesn't on any thread where an external link is http, and this affects how google thinks of the forum. Fix 2 birds with one code? But yes I know, needs a php coder who knows the forum code for this.

As a general comment, I'd prefer not to force people to use the forum tag. They have the right to use their own if they have one. But where people dont, I cant see a problem in adding the tag automatically, as long as they can change it later.

[Al Stevens]

Is it sales, or click throughs which matter?

Here's what they said:

"We're writing to inform you that your website is not generating any referring sales to Amazon from your Product Advertising API (PA API) links. Regularly referring sales through your PA API links is a requirement for maintaining access to the API. In order for you to retain access to PA API, you must generate referring sales before January 16, 2019, otherwise your access to PA API may be removed."

Which means it's about sales.

The other thing which might help is in-forum code to change any external link in posts, going to Amazon, to add the tag. Since a lot of activity is about a book not in a signature, this could add traffic to the tag. In any case, all external links should be https, so the forum needs to be dynamically changing them where https works as a link, in order the browser green lock stays in place. At the moment, it doesn't on any thread where an external link is http, and this affects how google thinks of the forum. Fix 2 birds with one code? But yes I know, needs a php coder who knows the forum code for this.

I'll look at that when I get a chance. The biggest problem is finding where in all that forum code to make the changes. It took me most of today to find where to insert a link to the signature tool so it would desplay in the forum's footer.

[guest153]

Every time I click something, I get a pop-up that says, "Error updating record: Unknown column 'bannerurl' in 'field list'." I can still use the site, just that this pop-up keeps appearing.

[Al Stevens]

Every time I click something, I get a pop-up that says, "Error updating record: Unknown column 'bannerurl' in 'field list'." I can still use the site, just that this pop-up keeps appearing.

The newest version is at this link:

https://alstevens.com/forum/Sources/sigmill/

bannerurl is not in the database anymore. Are you using that link or the old one? (I need to take down the old one.)

[guest153]

I got the link from the first post, wasn't aware of a new one.

[TimothyEllis]

It took me most of today to find where to insert a link to the signature tool so it would desplay in the forum's footer.

Footer? Needs to go on the main menu line at the top.

[Al Stevens]

I used the footer because 1) that's where KBoards and Absolute Write do it and 2) because the link includes a graphic. I'll take a look at how to get it to the menu. The problem is that those things are side-effects of themes. You do not allow users to change the theme, but others do. All I can do is suggest where and how to put the link, and the admin has to look at all the themes the site permits and modify them all. Putting it in the header requires a link code mod to every theme's index.template.php file. Unless there's a utility procedure in the Admin process that makes it easier. I didn't find one. Adding to a menu depends on how they encode menu selections. Even so it will probably be theme-specific. I'll check it out. We can probably put yours wherever you want it, but the distributed package has to be easy enough that an admin can do it. 

[TimothyEllis]

KB has it on the author menu at the top.

[Al Stevens]

KB has it on the author menu at the top.

I'd never seen that. They also have it at the bottom when you are reading messages. I know how to get it on the top menu now, but I haven't figured out how to make it open in a separate window. Fortunately putting it on top seems to be independent of themes and only needs to be done in one place. But it's deep inside the menu code.

We don't have an author's menu. Right now, I can get it on top between Members and Logout.

[TimothyEllis]

But it's deep inside the menu code.
We don't have an author's menu. Right now, I can get it on top between Members and Logout.

Maybe just Add a Tools menu, in case anything else gets added in the future. Since most people here are authors, we dont really need an authors menu like KB did.

[Al Stevens]

We could add it to the Profile menu. It's kind of where it fits.

[TimothyEllis]

We could add it to the Profile menu. It's kind of where it fits.

No-one would ever look for it there. People dont find half the stuff which is already there as it is.

[Al Stevens]

We could add it to the Profile menu. It's kind of where it fits.

No-one would ever look for it there. People dont find half the stuff which is already there as it is.

That's probably why they put the link in the footer too.

[Al Stevens]

New URL for Signature Mill:

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill

Installation guide draft:

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill/install.html

New keyboard shortcuts listed at the end of the user's guide:

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill/docs/info.pdf

[Al Stevens]

I added a Preview feature to Signature Mill. Before saving, you get a look at about how it will look in the forum. I found it tedious to be constantly pasting into the forum only to have to undo it because its looks were wrong.

Of course, every time I add something, I have to update the user's guide with new screen shots. Talk about tedium...

[Al Stevens]

Timothy, do you want the signature tool installed into Writer Spectrum?

[TimothyEllis]

Timothy, do you want the signature tool installed into Writer Spectrum?

Define 'installed'.

I'm happy with the tool being on your site, and we add a menu link, or a text link somewhere.

I'm also happy to host the tool on your domain name if you dont want the final version on your site. (Could be a lot of bandwidth use if it is used a lot.) I've got plenty of available resources for it here if you need to host it elsewhere.

Does it need to be installed into the forum itself other than a menu or link addition?

[Al Stevens]

Installation means:

1. Copying the source files to their own directory in SMF's Sources directory.
2. A few mods to the TSMSettings.php file for configuration.
3. Adding link(s) to the forum code.

The configuration uses the database settings from the SMF Settings.php file, so nothing need be done there.
It also needs the host's AWS credentials (two keys) granted by Amazon in order to run searches.

Details are here:

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill/install.html

I prefer to have your site host the tool. My host cannot handle heavy traffic.

I can perform the installation if you wish including adding the link to the WriterSanctum forum. I'll need ftp access to your site's Sources directory. We can use my AWS credential keys until you get your own. I can't guarantee that mine won't expire. We'll leave my tag as the default until we change to your credentials. The search engine uses that along with the keys to identify who's sending queries.

I shoiuld also have phpMyAdmin access to your database so I can troubleshoot if any problems arise during installation. Just provide the link to where that is run from. Unless you have a different utility for managing the database, in which case I'll need access to that.

With all that I should be able to assist with other database tasks you come up with. I've gotten to know mySQL pretty well with this project.

The exchange of these keys, passwords, etc., should, of course, be done in PMs.

[Al Stevens]

Does it need to be installed into the forum itself other than a menu or link addition?

It can run elsewhere, but there has to be mySQL and a database on that site. The program adds a table to an existing database, which it has to know how to access. It cannot use the forum's database constants. The configuration file is set up to handle that. The database name, user, and password have to be encoded into the configuration file.

Just tell me how you want to do it and provide to me the data constants for host, user, password, and database name. And the link to a localhost phpMyAdmin if you have one.

[Al Stevens]

It's been a while since I've posted. Signature Mill is still available for your use in its previous configuration:

https://www.alstevens.com/sigmill

I'm working on a number of changes. If I can get all this to work:

• The program will run from within any SMF forum such as Writer Sanctum.
• It will be oriented to all products, not just books. I found very few writer/book forums that use SMF and few others that use BBCode signatures.
• It will automatically update your profile signature on command. No more Profile/Summary/paste required.
• I will probably (emphasis on probably) host the Amazon AWS search part of the application from my site. I ran into blank stares when I mentioned the AWS public/private key requirement.
• Installation will involve copying the sigmill folder to a forum's server and inserting one line of code in the SMF subs.php file. I might automate that in an install program.

I cannot install Signature Mill on Writer Sanctum. I do not have access permissions to the source code files and my request for such access was denied. You may continue to use the standalone version however.

I have looked into releasing it as an installable "mod," but the coding and formatting requirements are stringent, and the potential for collision with other mods is high even though I'm adding only one line of code to one file. I might wait until they release 2.0 before I get further into the mod mess.

[Al Stevens]

In the list above, I left out an important feature in the newer Signature Mill]/\. You no longer log into and out of Signature Mill with a password. It uses your login info from the forum that launches it. If you run Signature Mill from outside an SMF forum, you are treated as a guest. You can search Amazon for products, build a signature, and paste the BBCode into wherever you wish. But none of the work gets saved in a database when you end the session. Next time you run the program, it's from scratch.

[TimothyEllis]

Moved to the Read Here First section, so people can find it with the other tools and suggestions.

[lea_owens]

I'd like to have my books in a signature at the bottom of posts, but I opened the three links above, and I'm tired - so I just read that first you register then this, that, this, this, that, that, ten pages and I shut the links. I know I've put signature links on other sites, and it was easy - but all those who know what they're doing with this have done a great job.

[TimothyEllis]

I'd like to have my books in a signature at the bottom of posts, but I opened the three links above, and I'm tired - so I just read that first you register then this, that, this, this, that, that, ten pages and I shut the links. I know I've put signature links on other sites, and it was easy - but all those who know what they're doing with this have done a great job.

Click the link on the first post. There is no need to register now.

The main part is finding your books on Amazon.

[lea_owens]

I'd like to have my books in a signature at the bottom of posts, but I opened the three links above, and I'm tired - so I just read that first you register then this, that, this, this, that, that, ten pages and I shut the links. I know I've put signature links on other sites, and it was easy - but all those who know what they're doing with this have done a great job.

Click the link on the first post. There is no need to register now.

The main part is finding your books on Amazon.

Thanks. I've tried a few times, but it just gives me the message, "AWS Access Key ID: AKIAJQYKDMZ642KP6JFA. You are submitting requests too quickly. Please retry your request again"

It doesn't matter what fields I have filled in, whether or not I try to log in, that is always the response when I hit search or enter.  I've pm'd my  signature code to you - thanks if you can help, but no stress if you can't. Not having my books in my signature isn't an important issue.

[Al Stevens]

I just tested it. It's been a while. It's doing what she said to me too. Amazon must have tightened their access times or something. I'll take a look later today.

[Al Stevens]

Amazon has changed something in its AWS protocols. No matter how big a choke I put on the queries, it returns the error that says I'm querying too fast. Amazon is unresponsive to my requests for information. It may be that they have disabled my AWS account and are sending the wrong error message. The only way to tell is for someone else to sign up and let the program use those public and private keys in the queries. Until that happens, I'm shut down. I've disabled the tool. I cannot change the link in the first message to this thread because it's no longer my thread.

It could be that we're using the wrong technique to query AMS. If the KBoards tool still works, that's a possibility, but I'd have to look into how they're doing it.

Programming the Signature by using the Selfie feature will still work where you provide links to book listings rather than using the search mechanism, but the program needs to get around the mechanism. I'll look into that, but (1) I didn't see much use of the program back when it was working and (2) I do not and have been told I will not have access to integrate the tool with the forum, so I doubt it's worth the effort.

[TimothyEllis]

The KB tool was always link based. You entered the asin, and it looked it up. So 9 maximum requests.

This tool returns all books, and lets you choose one. Could be Amazon has decided to not allow this anymore.

As in requesting a specific book is ok, but asking for all books is not.

[Al Stevens]

The KB tool was always link based. You entered the asin, and it looked it up. So 9 maximum requests.

That might have been their old tool. The KB Link Maker lets you enter keywords. It returns a list of books that match the search. The difference is that with KB you choose one and manually paste it into the signature one at a time. We build a complete signature. The searches are the same with respect to what is searched for and what is returned except that my search supports author searches whereas they go for keywords only.

I just tested theirs and it still works. Ours used to work. Whatever Amazon changed disables our search but not theirs.

[Maggie Ann]

Anything new happening with the signature tool? If not, any other way to update a signature?

[Post-Crisis D]

Anything new happening with the signature tool? If not, any other way to update a signature?

You can always update it manually.

[Al Stevens]

Anything new happening with the signature tool?

The project has been terminated and the tool disabled. There were problems with the Amazon search protocols. Plus I was not allowed access to the forum's code repository in order to install and test the tool in a live environment.

[TimothyEllis]

Anything new happening with the signature tool? If not, any other way to update a signature?

You can always update it manually.

That's what I've been doing. I copy the whole thing to notepad, edit it on a full sized screen, and copy it back.

Al has been the only one to tackle the signature tool so far. He went with an automated approach, which subsequently turned out to have issues at Amazon's end.

The original idea was a more manual version of KB's, but Al wasn't happy with doing it that way. The result was really good, but ....Amazon.

And so far, no-one else with the skills has come forward to try, or been found.

Anyone is welcome to give it a go. But it needs to be a separate entity from the forum, although I will host the result if needed.

[Maggie Ann]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I set up the original sig before Al automated it, but I couldn't remember how I did it.