[request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

Sam · 2009-09-06 16:09:10

Zander,

The major stumbling block for this is still the underlying code in the backend of Textpattern, it’s sadly still table based.

Hopefully at some point in the future this will change, but until then an iPhone specific CSS file just won’t work.. at least, not very well because of this.

TheEric · 2009-09-06 20:57:57

One can simply port the wordpress iphone app to TXP. The XMLRPC interface is largely the same, a few tweaks here and there and it would work beautifully. The WP App is meant as a blogging app, not an editing app. Any site edits would really be beyond the scope of the app and frankly, be rather painful. As a blogging app, it’s great though.

Also note : I could be commissioned/persuaded to do this as I’ve become a dedicated freelancer, code-slinger.

Last edited by TheEric (2009-09-06 21:06:20)

rathersplendid · 2009-09-06 22:00:45

TheEric wrote:

One can simply port the wordpress iphone app to TXP.

This would be awesome if a port could be made, I’m certainly not in a position to commission you to do it, although I would definitely contribute. I agree that the app should only be for a blogging, there’s no point using it for page or form editing.

Sam wrote:

The major stumbling block for this is still the underlying code in the backend of Textpattern, it’s sadly still table based.

It is a HUGE stumbling block. I just don’t understand why the TXP admin is still table based, I’m sure there are good reasons for it, but I reckon that one of the next releases should change it. How much effort would it be to change?

Also, I should point out that I really appreciate the work all the devs are doing and by no means am trying to criticise them.

Bloke · 2009-09-07 00:05:41

rathersplendid wrote:

I just don’t understand why the TXP admin is still table based

Breaks too many plugins to change it right now, which for a point release is asking a bit much. Plus tabular data such as the info presented on the article list page is better off presented in a… ummm table :-)

Having just gone through and reviewed the admin side from a markup perspective I can see that the Write tab itself might benefit from not being four table cells side-by-side; perhaps four divs side-by-side inside a fixed-width div to stop them wrapping. But then, logically, that’s pretty much the same as a table layout without the <tr>, right? Would that help the iPhone at all?

Forgive me for being naive but are you (and Sam) saying the iPhone can’t display HTML tables?! Or just that you have to scroll to see stuff because the table has inline styles? And if, say, the Write tab was eventually replaced by a bunch of floating divs, how does that stop the iPhone from wrapping the divs at inopportune places and making a hash of the screen? If the container is fixed-width you’d have to scroll anyway… or have I missed the point? Are you just trying to get TXP’s admin interface to run over the web on the iPhone or is there more to it?

From what I can fathom of this nebulous thread — as reid echoes — the line in the sand is a bit fuzzy. Do people want to do all their site admin on a 2.5 × 4.5 inch display with a virtual keyboard and hand gestures? Image uploads, cropping, editing, etc too? Do you want every TXP tab to be devoid of tables; and for what gain besides the questionable warmth of shedding the 90s table stigma? Or do you just want to post articles every now and again to an already existing site (presumably a blog)?

If the latter — and the Write tab won’t display on an iPhone for whatever reason — surely it doesn’t eventually matter what markup the admin side uses because, as TheEric says, you just write/piggyback a separate app that utilises XML-RPC to insert stuff directly into the DB. I’m not really up on all this iPhone geekery so I may need educating in the Way Of The Jobs.

In short, what is everyone trying to achieve, besides another “look, my iPhone can bake scones in the iOven” app?

How much effort would it be to change?

Quite a lot! It’s taken me the best part of my Sunday evening/early Monday to feck around with the Write and Articles tabs (in a purely academic, unofficial “seeing what I can do” capacity) and I’m still not completely happy with it. It’s a step forward, but with 20 tabs to sanitize and check for incompatibilities it’s going to take many more evenings before something remotely workable is produced. And that’s just sorting out the class names; I’m not really touching the markup much yet.

By all means, submit a patch or send revised markup over and we’ll see if it’s possible to realise your dream. If the benefits outweigh the amount of hassle I’ll get off my wife for spending every evening for months in TXP land for no apparent benefit to her, then it’s a winner ;-)

TheEric · 2009-09-07 00:24:31

Sam wrote:

How much effort would it be to change?

LOTS*(INF). I just changed a significant portion of the admin in xPattern, and there is still LOTS more to do. I don’t envy anyone converting to semantic-table free layout.

masa · 2009-09-07 02:16:56

Bloke wrote:

Do people want to do all their site admin on a 2.5 × 4.5 inch display with a virtual keyboard and hand gestures? Image uploads, cropping, editing, etc too? Do you want every TXP tab to be devoid of tables; and for what gain besides the questionable warmth of shedding the 90s table stigma?

Exactly.
It works exceedingly well, and that’s all that matters from a practical point of view. None of my users have ever complained about the backend using tables and I bet, none of them even know what a table is – ha!

All the folks running their cushy, personal blogs, stop getting your knickers in a twist about this! You have a mature, secure and very capable product, start enjoying it!

I’d rather see resources put towards where it counts: features and refinements.
And as time goes by so might the tables, but don’t let them stop you :-)

hidalgo · 2009-09-08 07:10:32

I think utilising the XML-RPC server is the better way to go.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, however, the TXP XML-RPC server currently doesn’t support image uploads. Maybe adding this, via metaWeblog.newMediaObject, would be a more worthwhile endeavour?

This would be great on the iPhone where file/image uploads aren’t possible in the web browser.

jelle · 2009-09-08 10:58:12

Maybe jQTouch can be of help building a iPhone/TXP combo?

“A jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone,
Android, Palm Pre, and other forward-thinking devices.”

TheEric · 2009-09-08 14:17:08

Nope. It would require a rewrite of the entire textpattern admin. The best option is to use XML-RPC with a the native cocoa interface. Most of the code is already written in the wordpress application. Just rewrite that to work with TXP and you’re golden.

jelle · 2009-09-08 17:01:13

TheEric wrote:

Nope. It would require a rewrite of the entire textpattern admin.

Well….wouldn’t a iphone compatible txp4.2 theme based on jQTouch do?

TheEric · 2009-09-08 17:10:19

Sure, are you volunteering your time? Implementing that would require an enormous rewrite and wouldn’t provide an ideal solution. Seriously, read above, the xml-rpc solution is best. Use the code provided on the wordpress site for their iPhone app and most of the work would be done for you.

Last edited by TheEric (2009-09-08 17:16:51)

360oasis · 2009-12-22 05:09:59

After using this thread as inspiration… I developed NAPHONE an admin side theme for iPhone. The theme utilizes the jqtouch css to achieve a native look (and soon a native feel with javascript). It also cleans up some of the oddball field widths textpattern has. Check it out on the forum or download it at neverarriving.com/naphone

Tell me what you think and test away!

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#25 2009-09-06 16:09:10

Re: [request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

#26 2009-09-06 20:57:57

Re: [request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

#27 2009-09-06 22:00:45

Re: [request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

#28 2009-09-07 00:05:41

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#29 2009-09-07 00:24:31

Re: [request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

#30 2009-09-07 02:16:56

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#31 2009-09-08 07:10:32

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#32 2009-09-08 10:58:12

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#33 2009-09-08 14:17:08

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#34 2009-09-08 17:01:13

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#35 2009-09-08 17:10:19

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#36 2009-12-22 05:09:59

Re: [request] iPhone & Txp: a killer application

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