10 Feb
3.1.0 Beta 4 Beta 5
And to make up for the late post today, here’s another release. :)
This release integrates the fix for bug 37 that just went into 3.0.12, and also fixes bug 34, which is probably more important to the IE7-users in the crowd. I still think that IE’s behavior is broken, but my code will work both ways now regardless.
Edited to add…
I botched beta 4; it works fine in IE7, but not in Firefox because of a stupid little mistake. I’ve fixed the problem and tagged a new release. Sorry for the false start!
Download In Series 3.1.0 Beta 5.
32 Responses to “3.1.0
Beta 4Beta 5”Posted: Feb 23rd, 2008 at 16:19
when there is no series, you want the widget to return without printing anything.
so amend widget_series_toc function as
if(!empty($toc) && is_single()) {
$output = $args['before_widget'];
$output .= $args['before_title'] . $options['title'] . $args['after_title'];
$output .= $toc;
$output .= $args['after_widget'];
}
echo $output;
Posted: Feb 24th, 2008 at 12:16
Nope, the current code is exactly correct. The before/after_widget text needs to be output even if there is no ToC to be printed; otherwise, the final HTML output may be broken (specifically, if the ToC widget is the only widget in the sidebar, you’ll get
<ul></ul>, which won’t pass validation). Thanks, though. ;)Posted: Mar 16th, 2008 at 12:57
Hi and thanks for a neat plugin. I downloaded the previous version, though. But here are som thoughts on what you might put into the next version:
1. Series on pages. What would be nice is to have a static page for each series, with just the table of content and some comments.
2. A table of content page which should be numbered 0, since it is not part of the actual series.
3. Posibility to add some posts which are related to the series, but more like appendixes, or material for further reading.
Regards,
Iskwew
Posted: Mar 16th, 2008 at 14:37
The first item you mentioned is covered by bug 29. The second and third items probably are a single feature, i.e., “related posts” that aren’t actually part of the content of the series proper. It’s a valid ask, but I’m going to have to ponder on what a good author experience would look like, as well as what a good reader experience would be. I’ve filed bug 39 to cover this.
Thanks!
Posted: Mar 17th, 2008 at 10:07
Re: Alan’s post about the widget.
I understand where he’s coming from. I’ve built several themes with boxes, borders, whatever, around sidebar widgets. If the widget shows up and is empty, it looks ugly.
Unfortunately, you can’t depend on users being intelligent enough to not put the widget in until there’s a series.
So - conditionally register the widget and its control. If there is no series, there is no widget.
BTW - great work on this. I used the earlier one but abandoned it because it didn’t work as expected and I didn’t have time to screw with it. Thanks for picking up the ball and running with this. It’s a good plugin and more useful than the rest.
Posted: Mar 17th, 2008 at 17:46
Hey Steve,
I prefer to blame the system for being stupid before blaming users. ;)
Conditional registration is a thought that had not occurred to me, and it’s a novel idea, but I think it could be confusing and potentially harmful. Specifically, I can envision:
What I can do is make it so that the widget will still output its header, even when there’s no content. Given the header, I think that most folks will know “hey, that spot’s empty because I don’t have any series yet; maybe I should go write one, or take that widget out.” :)
Posted: Mar 18th, 2008 at 11:53
Right you are…you have different considerations when writing a plugin for general consumption vs. a custom, like I usually do.
BTW, if the series went away, so would the widget registration so your point #3 shouldn’t be a problem. The widget would disappear, although all the options would still be in the db - much the same as deactivating a plugin without removing the widget first.
The other two reasons, though, are enough arguments against doing it as I suggested.
And duh - having a blank sidebar widget would certainly be an indication to take it out, wouldn’t it? LOL
Another BTW - if you use the get_args($args) function, you have available all of the arguments as vars, i.e., $before_widget, $before_title, etc. rather than having to get them from the array. Just a little easier, IMHO.
Posted: Mar 18th, 2008 at 18:18
Eeeeh… I’d have to test that. The scenario I’m envisioning is that the user has only the Series List widget installed, and then removes their only post… then their sidebar either reverts to the default (and stays that way), or switches between the default sidebar and the custom/widget sidebar (depending on if they add a new series). You may very well be technically correct; in any case, I have to commend you for a very interesting way to solve the problem. :)
get_args() isn’t a PHP or WordPress-defined function; I assume you mean extract($args). I concur that explicit array references are not as pretty as nice, succinct variable references. However, from a clarity and defensive coding standpoint, I much prefer explicit array references. Specifically, someone reading the code knows where the variable came from (clarity), and you won’t accidentally overwrite your local variables if your caller decides to add new values to the array (security). Yes, you can tell extract() to not clobber existing variables (it’s not the default), but you still pollute your namespace — as soon as some schmuck decides to use an uninitialized variable, you have a potential vulnerability in your code. :)
I really appreciate you taking the time to go through the code base and give your thoughts; please feel free to get in touch with me via e-mail if you’d like to discuss anything else. I can always use more help!
Posted: Apr 22nd, 2008 at 13:31
Just so you know where i was coming from, the vast majority of posts on the blog i run are not in a series - but for the series we DO have, it is important to have a ToC. An empty ToC widget does mess things up though. Fortunately i’ve written my own plugin that allows me to show the widget only when
is_single() && InSeries::adv_CurrentSeries($post->ID)
Cheers for the plugin - wouldn’t be without it.
Posted: Jul 8th, 2008 at 04:30
Thanks for the plugin…
a small request… I’d like to change the displayed position of In-Series to directly after the TITLE, and not after the_content.
Is there a way of doing this with a template tag?
Thanks
Posted: Jul 8th, 2008 at 07:19
Err… the HTML
<title>, or the title of the post (In Series automatically inserts <link/> elements by default)? If not the HTML title, “directly after” the title of the post would be the very start of the_content, ne? If that’s sufficient, check the FAQ (and essentially reverse the positioning to put the ToC info at the very start). If not, you’ll need to turn off the automatic templating, and go to manual tags — the public API is fully documented in in-series.php.Posted: Jul 15th, 2008 at 19:44
Does the latest beta version have the option to only display the TOC on post pages?
thanks
Posted: Jul 15th, 2008 at 19:51
Yep.
Posted: Jul 17th, 2008 at 13:56
Hello,
I’ma happy 3.0.12 user
My weblog uses WP 2.6
I tried 3.1.0 beta 5 and got
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /foo/bar/wp-content/plugins/in-series/in-series-config.php on line 45
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /foo/bar/wp-content/plugins/in-series/in-series-config-advanced.php on line 20
Any idea
Luc
Posted: Jul 17th, 2008 at 17:27
Yep. Please refer to the FAQ (specifically, you need to follow proper upgrade procedure).
Posted: Jul 25th, 2008 at 11:32
Using In Series 3.1.0 Beta 5 on Wordpress 2.5.1. List Series Widget in sidebar listing not only the series but trackbacks unrelated to series. ??
Posted: Jul 25th, 2008 at 11:34
Ok i’m stupid.. of course it worked like a charm
Sorry
Luc
Posted: Jul 25th, 2008 at 17:47
Nah, don’t be sorry; I knew the answer right away. You should only feel sorry if you ask a stumper — those take a lot of my time to figure out answers for. ;)
Posted: Aug 4th, 2008 at 06:52
@Oklilihila,
If you have specific repro steps, please file a bug. Thank you!
Posted: Aug 6th, 2008 at 14:45
How do I get this to appear at the bottom of the post?
Posted: Aug 6th, 2008 at 19:32
@Ryan
Answered in the FAQ. ;)
Posted: Dec 13th, 2008 at 13:31
To get this working on WP 2.7 I have to manually add and edit the entries in the DB (wp_in_series_3_0_11_entries table). Any fix for this? Thank you. :)
Posted: Dec 13th, 2008 at 14:35
Did you upgrade In Series? Did you follow the proper upgrade procedure?
Posted: Dec 14th, 2008 at 06:49
Yes. Also, there were no series in use. I installed this plugin but at the bottom of post management/editing the only option to a new (or existing series)post is the name of the series and two radio buttons that say “start” and “end”. When I add a new post to a series (in WP 2.7) I have to manually edit the DB (phpMyAdmin) and then the items appear with no problem.
I do not know if this is related, but after installing this plugin and then creating a series, I immediately began experiencing the white screen of death every time I try to add or edit a post.
I hope this reply helps narrow down any potential issues.
Posted: Dec 14th, 2008 at 08:50
I’m sorry to hear that — WordPress partially broke In Series in their 2.6 release, and the 2.7 release appears to be brand new. I wouldn’t be surprised if the plugin’s completely broken by whatever the hell they’ve done. Unfortunately, I lost interest in cleaning up after the API incompatibility mess left by the WordPress development team; I haven’t supported In Series for this reason since the early 2.4 days.
Posted: Dec 14th, 2008 at 09:43
Oh gee, that’s too bad. Would you be offended if I asked some twitter users if they might be interested in updating this (hopefully some will respond)?
I think you’ve put so much work into this that it would be sad to see this die. (Please don’t let this die).
Posted: Dec 14th, 2008 at 09:45
Oh… and I don’t know where my other comment went, but this plugin is NOT the one causing the white screen. The only issue is having to manually (phpMyAdmin) edit the database.
Posted: Dec 14th, 2008 at 11:56
Not at all; go right ahead.
Posted: Dec 18th, 2008 at 09:38
Hello, 3.1.0 Beta 5 user here!
I have a non-widget theme and I use the non-supported direct call on my sidebar. With Beta 2 the list was sorted by latest post and I rather liked it, but no more. In fact I can’t tell how the list is being sorted right now.
Can I use the direct call and still get the list by last updated option? What are the parameters?
Thank you so much!
Paulo
Posted: Dec 19th, 2008 at 16:14
Um… you’re asking me to support something explicitly marked unsupported :)? I’d recommend using the supported, documented API in in-series.php instead. That would be InSeries::adv_SeriesList_By<SortCriteria>($ascending). Your options are series name, most-recently-posted-to, and series creation date.
Or use InSeries::SeriesList() if you want an easy, pre-generated list with limits spat right out onto the page. The plugin config controls the order in which the series are listed by this call, which is also fully documented in in-series.php.
Posted: Dec 20th, 2008 at 15:28
Yay thanks for supporting the unsupported! I’ll try it right away, and I promise to check the thoroughly documented in-series.php before making another silly question.
By the way, as far as I am concerned In Series 3.1.0 Beta 5 is working flawlessly with Wordpress 2.7. Go figure!
Thank you again for this plugin. Even unsupported it keeps supporting a lot of blogs on this small planet. A happy winter season for you!
Posted: Mar 22nd, 2009 at 09:45
[…] But you know the good news? The next release of In Series is expected to overcome all these limitations. The beta version of new In Series is available for download here […]