# sfSimpleBlog plugin

The `sfSimpleBlogPlugin` adds standard weblog features to an existing website:

  * List of posts

  * Details of a post

  * Ability to add a comment

  * Email alert on comments

  * Tagsonomy

  * RSS feeds (if [sfFeed2Plugin](http://trac.symfony-project.com/trac/wiki/sfFeed2Plugin) is installed)

  * Administration for posts and comments

It is not aimed at replacing full-featured blog packages, but offers a lightweight alternative for when you build a website that has to contain a blog section. It is voluntarily simple and limited (that's why it doesn't come with a BBCode parser, a search engine, a media asset library, or a user management module). However, it is very easy to configure and adapt, so it should fulfill most basic blog requirements.

This plugin can only provide one blog per project.

## Contents

This plugin contains one schema with three new Propel classes:

  * `sfSimpleBlogPost`
  * `sfSimpleBlogComment`
  * `sfSimpleBlogTag`
 
It also contains three modules that you can activate in whatever application you need them:

  * `sfSimpleBlog`: Blog front-end
  * `sfSimpleBlogPostAdmin`: Backend for managing posts
  * `sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin`: Backend for managing comments

The plugin is fully i18n and is bundled with English and French versions. Additional translations are easy to implement.

## Installation

Tip: If you just want to test the plugin, a sandbox already packaged with the right plug-ins and configured correctly is available for download in this page. [Click here](http://trac.symfony-project.com/trac/attachment/wiki/sfSimpleBlogPlugin/sfSimpleBlogSandbox.zip) to download the sandbox.

The prerequisites for using the `sfSimpleBlog` plugin are:

  * The symfony version must be at least [r3703](http://trac.symfony-project.com/trac/changeset/3703) (trunk version for now)

  * As the plugin doesn't contain a user management module, the project where you install it must have a table managing authors, or users (whatever the name), and the related Propel class must have a `__toString()` method. Both these conditions are satisfied by the [sfGuardPlugin](http://trac.symfony-project.com/trac/wiki/sfFeed2Plugin), so installing this plugin is a good choice.

  * If you want to use RSS feeds, the [sfFeed2Plugin](http://trac.symfony-project.com/trac/wiki/sfFeed2Plugin) must be installed.

  * If you want to use rich text editing, the TinyMCE JavaScript editor must be [installed in your project](http://www.symfony-project.com/book/trunk/10-Forms#Rich%20Text%20Editing)
 
To install the plugin for a symfony project, the usual process is to use the symfony command line:
    
    $ php symfony plugin-install http://plugins.symfony-project.com/sfFeed2Plugin
    

Alternatively, if you don't have PEAR installed, you can download the latest package attached to this plugin's wiki page and extract it under your project's `plugins/` directory. You will also have to copy the contents of the `myproject/plugins/sfSimpleBlogPlugin/web/` directory into a `myproject/web/sfSimpleBlogPlugin/` directory.

Clear the cache to enable the autoloading to find the new classes:
    
    $ php symfony cc
    

Copy the sample configuration file from `myproject/plugins/sfSimpleBlogPlugin/config/sfSimpleBlog.yml.sample` into yout project's (not application!) `config/` folder. Rename it to `myproject/config/sfSimpleBlog.yml`. If you want to specify the name of the existing user table and class, edit this file (see next section about the plugin configuration).

Rebuild the model and generate the SQL code for the three new tables:
    
    $ php symfony propel-build-model
    $ php symfony propel-build-sql
    

Use the generated SQL file in `myproject/data/sql/plugins.sfSimpleBlogPlugin.lib.model.schema.sql` to build the new tables in your project's database.
     
    $ mysql -uroot mydb < data/sql/plugins.sfSimpleBlogPlugin.lib.model.schema.sql
    

Enable the three new modules in your applications, via the `settings.yml` file.
    
    // in myproject/apps/frontend/config/settings.yml
    all:
      .settings:
        enabled_modules:        [sfSimpleBlog, sfSimpleBlogPostAdmin, sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin](default,)
    

Start using the plugin by browsing to the frontend module's default page:
     
    http://myproject/frontend_dev.php/sfSimpleBlog
    

## Configuration

### The `sfSimpleBlog.yml` file

The plugin is highly configurable and should be easy to integrate to an existing project. Here is the default plugin configuration, taken from `myproject/plugins/sfSimpleBlogPlugin/config/sfSimpleBlog.yml.sample`:

    
    schema:
      connection:    propel          # database connection you want to use (related to the databases.yml configuration)
      user_table:    sf_guard_user   # user table name
      user_id:       id              # primary key of the user table
      user_class:    sfGuardUser     # name of the Propel object for users
      post_table:    sf_blog_post    # post table name
      comment_table: sf_blog_comment # comment table name
      tag_table:     sf_blog_tag     # tag table name
    
    blog:
      title:         How is life on earth?
      tagline:       You'd better start to live before it's too late
      author:        John Doe
      email:         john.doe@howislifeonearth.com   # Used only for alerts on comments
      
      sidebar:       [recent_posts, tags, feeds, blogroll, meta](custom,)
      
      custom : |
        <h2>About the author</h2>
        <p>My name is John Doe and I'm a freelance freelancer. I do things when I have time, 
        and the rest of the time, I write things here.</p>
    
      blogroll:

        * { title: how is life on earth?, url: 'http://www.howislifeonearth.com' }

        * { title: google, url: 'http://www.google.com' }
        
      use_bundled_layout: true       # if true, the three modules will use sfSimpleBlog/templates/layout.php for layout; if false, they will use the layout settings from the view.yml
      use_ajax:      true            # enable posting of comments in Ajax
      use_feeds:     true            # enable feeds (require sfFeed2Plugin)
      use_rich_text: false           # enable tinyMCE
      
    post:
      max_per_page:  5               # number of posts displayed in a list of posts
      recent:        5               # number of posts to display in the recent sidebar widget
    
    comment:
      automoderation: on             # triggers the automoderation of comments. Possible values are:
                                     # on: comments are not published until a moderator accepts them
                                     # first_post: the first comment of a user must be accepted, subsequent posts are accepted automatically
                                     # off: comments are automatically accepted and published
    
      mail_alert: on                 # send an email to the blog owner when a comment is posted.
                                     # Possible values are: 
                                     # on: send an email for every posted comment
                                     # moderated: send an email for every automoderated comment
                                     
    feed:
      count:         5               # number of posts appearing in the RSS feed
    

The `sidebar` array controls which widgets, and in which order, appear in the sidebar of the blog frontend. The existing widgets are:

  * `custom`: insertion of custom HTML code taken from the `blog_custom` parameter

  * `recent_posts`: list of recent posts

  * `tags`: list of tags

  * `feeds`: links to the RSS and Atom feeds

  * `blogroll`: list of blogs

  * `meta`: not much for now (link to administration modules, but the link works only if the modules are in the same application)

Note: After modifying the `schema` settings, you must rebuild your model.

### Security, view configuration, custom templates, etc.

Just like for every other plugin module, the `sfSimpleBlog`, `sfSimpleBlogPostAdmin`, and `sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin` modules can be partly overridden by your applications. 

For instance, if you want to restrict access to the `sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin` module to users with an `editor` credential, create a `sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin` directory in your application `module/` folder, and create in a `config/security.yml` with the following content:
    
    // in myproject/apps/backend/modules/sfSimpleBlogCommentAdmin/config/security.yml
    all:
      is_secure: on
      credentials: [editor]
    

Alternatively, if you want the `sfSimpleBlog` module to use some special templates for presentation, you can create templates and partials with the same name as the plugin's ones in this kind of tree structure:
    
    myproject/apps/frontend/modules/sfSimpleBlog/
      templates/
        _add_comment.php
        _blogroll.php
        _comment.php
        _comment_list.php
        _feed.php
        _meta.php
        _post.php
        _post_short.php
        _recentPosts.php
        _sidebar.php
        _tagList.php
        addCommentAjax.php
        feedSuccess.php
        indexSuccess.php
        sendMailOnCommentSuccess.php
        showByTagSuccess.php
        showSuccess.php
    

## TODO

  * Unit tests
  * Add hooks to allow extension by other plugins
  * Trackbacks

## Changelog

### 2007-04-10 | 0.8.2 Beta

  * francois: Added email alert on comment
  * francois: Added blogroll in the sidebar
  * francois: Added ability to have more than one custom sidebar element

### 2007-04-06 | 0.8.1 Beta

  * francois: removed `lib/model/om/` and `lib/model/map` from package
  * gordon: Added German translations
  * Michael.Nolan: fixed incorrect validation message in `addComment.yml`

### 2007-04-03 | 0.8.0 Beta

  * francois: Initial release