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Snoooz Tennis re-launched
Snoooz Tennis is a TXP powered re-launch of a site that features Tennis Jobs and Classifieds. The previous site operated on a custom-built CMS that did not provide the platform for new features for the site’s users.
TXP and various plugins later, we have a site that features user-posted content in the form of classifieds.
This site may be quite unique in that users post content directly to the database. Users, once registered, have their own personal page called My Classifieds, which lists each user’s classifieds and allows editing and deletion of the user’s classifieds.
To achieve this, a combination of plugins are used – mainly ign_password_protect and Manfre’s plugins.
This has been a long time coming, as I had always wanted to develop this site with TXP, but it does not do what we needed out of the box. I’d like to acknowledge jakob’s initial help, he helpfully suggested Vanilla which for various reasons did not work out. Many other solutions, such as EE and Drupal, were unattractive or not quite right.
After eventually coming across the power of Manfre’s plugins, it became a possibility to use TXP. I contacted Michael and he helped me build the site, using updated versions of his plugins – mem_self_register, mem_admin_parse, mem_form, mem_moderation and mem_moderation_article.
I can honestly say that without Michael, it would not have been possible. I can’t recommend him highly enough to anyone looking for a professional developer.
Kudos to Dan Cederholm for ideas on how to properly create a liquid layout, and to Reid for his calendar date styles from the Web Writer template.
Finally, aMember is integrated into the backend to provide subscription management support.
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
wow, that looks like some feat of integration. Any chance of you posting some images of the user’s “persoanl page” back-end area? I remember you were trying to find a way for users to not only post but also edit their infos without giving them back-end access. That’s something one would like quite often.
Style-wise I like it too. Clear, no-fuss, easily distinguishable, nice snappy menus. I couldn’t work out where the layout was liquid (using Safari). Only two things: without the name “Tennis” in it I wouldn’t guess it’s to do with tennis – I guess being a classified site you decided to avoid all imagery. Also the date boxes are quite prominent without there being an indication of what it’s for. I would imagine for job-seekers the deadline would more important than the date the job was added (ah, just noticed it’s not just jobs).
How did you go about integrating aMember. I don’t know it but I presume it has it’s own user handling and database. Did you mesh the two or is aMember a sort of gateway before a parallel user is set up in textpattern. I presume when one’s subscription lapses, the user has to be determined (or their access at least).
Finally, there are lots of ads already there so I guess the existing user base was significant. What happens to jobs/classifieds when they expire or the user no longer subscribes? Are they kept for a while in case the user re-subscribes, wishes to extend the deadline etc. or auto-deleted. Or are they just kept and you will periodically trim old articles (can imagine the database would get large with time).
Sorry for all the questions – but looks quite interesting, especially to learn for parallel situations.
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#3 2008-01-25 08:44:05
- simsim
- Member
- Registered: 2006-05-06
- Posts: 70
Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
That’s really fantastic!
I’m interested too in knowing what was the aMember integration is all about? What functionality did it add to Textpattern that isn’t possible with plug-ins or direct code hacking?
Also, and while I’m a Textpattern lover, I’m wondering if you’ve considered Wordpress for that project? It has a user registration readiness and the inclusion of WYSIWYG editors would fit the job more appropriately than Textpattern, IMO.
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#4 2008-01-25 15:10:00
- dcolburn
- New Member
- Registered: 2007-06-12
- Posts: 2
Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
I love it. It’s everything I wish I could achieve in my work: crisp, clean, elegantly simple, and effective.
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
simsim wrote:
That’s really fantastic! I’m interested too in knowing what was the aMember integration is all about? What functionality did it add to Textpattern that isn’t possible with plug-ins or direct code hacking? Also, and while I’m a Textpattern lover, I’m wondering if you’ve considered Wordpress for that project? It has a user registration readiness and the inclusion of WYSIWYG editors would fit the job more appropriately than Textpattern, IMO.
Glad you like it! I did consider WP for this project, but I did not find what I was looking for. In fact, I realise I may have missed something, but I found it hard to find plugins to do what I wanted. There is a job board plugin, but its not feature rich and it was necessary to use aMember, since it is used to manage the subscribers and their payments.
dcolburn wrote:
I love it. It’s everything I wish I could achieve in my work: crisp, clean, elegantly simple, and effective.
Thank you! Its not very often I hear that about my work…!!
Last edited by jstubbs (2008-01-25 17:35:23)
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
jakob wrote:
wow, that looks like some feat of integration. Any chance of you posting some images of the user’s “persoanl page” back-end area? I remember you were trying to find a way for users to not only post but also edit their infos without giving them back-end access. That’s something one would like quite often.
Thanks Jakob. As I note in my first post, you really helped get the ball rolling with this project and I am grateful for your help and support. I will try and post some images in another post, or if you prefer, email me and I will give you a login to look around.
I did not mention that the Post a Classified page is aided by Javascript. Users are able to post a classified based on it being either a Tennis Job or a Tennis Classified. A date picker is used for the expiration date.
Style-wise I like it too. Clear, no-fuss, easily distinguishable, nice snappy menus. I couldn’t work out where the layout was liquid (using Safari). Only two things: without the name “Tennis” in it I wouldn’t guess it’s to do with tennis – I guess being a classified site you decided to avoid all imagery. Also the date boxes are quite prominent without there being an indication of what it’s for. I would imagine for job-seekers the deadline would more important than the date the job was added (ah, just noticed it’s not just jobs).
Layout is liquid in that the page is set to a width of 66ems. Resize your text to see the changes. I would agree that it is not a “Tennis-y” site, but I did not want that. I wanted to focus on the classifieds. Yes, the date boxes are prominent and I may adjust that in the future, but the date of posting (which is what the date represents) is quite important, since it shows how fresh the classified is. That’s important for potential subscribers. Deadline dates are not important.
How did you go about integrating aMember. I don’t know it but I presume it has it’s own user handling and database. Did you mesh the two or is aMember a sort of gateway before a parallel user is set up in textpattern. I presume when one’s subscription lapses, the user has to be determined (or their access at least).
Actually its not an integration in the sense that it is combined with TXP. Instead it runs on the side. I adjusted the header/footer and style sheets. aMember is a fully featured member/subscriber application. All payments are handled automatically as are the subscriber features. More details here
If you visit this page you will see a box saying “you are not logged in”. I check there if the subscriber is current and logged in. If so, the subscriber is presented with the contact details for the position. If not logged in, you see that message. By logged in and current, I am referring to an aMember paid up subscriber.
Finally, there are lots of ads already there so I guess the existing user base was significant. What happens to jobs/classifieds when they expire or the user no longer subscribes? Are they kept for a while in case the user re-subscribes, wishes to extend the deadline etc. or auto-deleted. Or are they just kept and you will periodically trim old articles (can imagine the database would get large with time).
The classifieds came from the old site, so yes, there are quite a lot. What happens is a classified is posted with an expiry date of not more than 6 months from the date of posting. I just create a cron job that deletes old classifieds (articles) once the expiry date is reached.
So, classifieds are retained until they are set to expire. The basic idea here is to always display the classified, but hid the contact details, which are kept in custom fields (thanks to glz_custom_fields).
Sorry for all the questions – but looks quite interesting, especially to learn for parallel situations.
If you want access to any code just let me know.
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
There’s a lot of information and you’ve managed to keep it all simple. Well done! It’s a bit strange looking at a site with no images (except the calendar which is just about an image:)
2p: You have the word ‘tennis’ repeated lots of times and I think this makes it slightly harder to browse, so perhaps consider using a tennis image in the header and removing most instances of ‘tennis’ (unless it’s essential)
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
Great effort – I have a similar requirement right now – can this be done ‘off-the-shelf’ using those plugins or is ancilliary coding etc required to get it all working – love more info to see how you’ve pulled that together if you have time.
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
Hi Damien,
Best is to ask questions, which I can then answer. For the aMember integration, take a look here
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
jstubbs wrote:
Hi Damien,
Best is to ask questions, which I can then answer. For the aMember integration, take a look here
Will do, thanks – just waiting for the full script from the client. We wont be needing the aMember integration I dont think. They are mainly looking to have a free ‘classifieds’ section where tradesman can advertise themselves and others can advertise for tradesmen. I’ll be back!
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Re: Snoooz Tennis re-launched
Impressive functionality jstubbs. Site design is spartan, but works well. My only suggestion is perhaps creating a logo for Snoooz Tennis rather than using live text. It will give the site that extra hit of character and really make the top banner stand out.
Great work overall.
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