Plugins!!!

The last two weeks I was working on the Database integration and…on a PluginManager.

I also Started a new Frontend. This time its getting modular and therefore customizable.

Right now the frontend is only able to login and logout but that will change with each plugin I (or everyone who wants) write(s).

Screenshots or example pages comming soon. I want to get some more functionality done first.

Now to the more interesting stuff…how do you write a plugin and what exactly can it do.

Writing a ContactR Plugin is easy, just write a class for your program stuff it in a php file and drop it into the functions folder of contactR. Furthermore there need to be a line added into an DB-Table. That sounds like an awful lot of work for deployment? No problem. The PluginManager soon is able to do that for you. Soon you only need to pack your plugin into a Zip-File and upload it with the webinterface. Then click activate in the administration view.

You see there WILL BE cake

I will post the interface for a Plugin the net days I want to do some fixes first. The biggest problem irght now is the integration into the design. I need to do a kind of anchor for marking the place where an output for an plugin should go. So one can specify where the output should go in the plugin itself.

Perhaps there could be a Designer for that. Like the one WordPress or blogger uses. It could just override the hardcoded position choosen by the plugin itself  with a value in the database.

Some Funcionality a Plugin need as far as I see right now:

• Administration View
• Configuration View
• The actual View (showing Output)
• The “Doing” of actions
• Installation/Uninstallation
• Updating (from a given server)
• Information (like Author, status, posible actions, …)

If you miss something write me a comment

So long.

Title Logo/Image

I’ve thought about the crappy Image on the Welcomepage.

It was a not to overthought gimp experiment. Basically y just wanted to do some shiny things.

I want to replace this with a few images with a little more message. It needs to say connect, contact, share, collaborate, mobil, of course it needs to look like fun. So what I’m looking for are a few picture like this:

- Smiling Woman looking on cellphone (you can see the screen of the phone)

- Laughing boy looking on PC (screen visible)

- Female student like girl sitting in a park with a laptop also…smiling/laughing/having fun (of course screen…you get the idea)

My plan is to connect these pictures with a kabel-like logo which then also becomes the ContactR logo. The pictures then cycle through so that always at least 2 are shown.

If some of you just happen to sit in front of any of these devices…why not smile into a camera at the same time?

Also, if some of you have more Ideas about on what devices somebody could possibly use ContactR, I’m happy for every thought.

So long…