Syndicated News Module (RSS FEEDS, BUT NOT IN A BLOCK!)

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 5:45 pm

Hi folks

Just as a heads-up.

I'm presently working on developing a Syndicated News Module for PHP-Nuke. This project has been 1 of 6 new modules that I have been developing since March.

In a nutshell, what this Module does is move incoming RSS feeds over to a seperate module that automatically grabs news data from whatever RSS sources I have selected for my site.

The major advantages are:
1: I can have my own news on a variety of 'subjects' seperated from the feeds provided by other sources. This is especially handy as my site (as most) targets a particular audience and I not only want to provide my own news relative to my hosted subjects, but want my users to have access to "Related" or "Industry" news offered by a variety of other providers (without clogging up my database or my homepage).
2: I have been extremely frustrated that incoming RSS feeds have to date only been available as BLOCKS within the mainpage. Sorry, but I feel that my mainpage should be for MY news, and everyone else's news should be somewhere else. I was VERY surprised to find that Nuke ONLY works this way, hence the reason for the development.

The closest thing I have found to date that actually works is a brand new Module developed specifically for CPG-Nuke called simply "Syndicated News". It works well (although I'm not wild about it NOT utilizing whatever your websites' theme is) but I am adapting much of its' code over to PHP-Nuke.

Anyone that wants to participate in developing this module is welcome to join in, simply send me an email and I'll make what I have developed so far available to you. THIS IS BETA CODE so remember, use it at your own risk!

Again, participation is invited and very welcome!
Thanks!

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 7:24 pm

Does it cache so we don't have to wait for for feeds to come in on every pageload?
Shouldn't take a lot to get it into module format. Is there some reason it was released as it was?

Can send me a copy or link not sure its for me but I'd be willing to give a good test.

webmaster |\."^"./| netflake.com will work

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 8:52 pm

If you want to see how it runs under CPG-Nuke, you can see it here.
[ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ] (Click on the Syndicated News Module)

Blocks refresh newsfeeds -- or not, your choice.

Configurable refresh times by site.

If you want to see the base code (the CPG Version, which won't run under PHP-Nuke), you can get it at [ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ]

I'll be posting my code sometime in the next couple of days on my regular site after I work out a few of the major problems on my beta4 site and alter the credits to reflect the work I've customized from 3 other sources to make it a package.

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:59 pm

Yeah that looks like a good start I didn't download the files. Yeah be cool to slam at least a header or return form in the pages that popup.

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 1:33 am

Given that the links open in a new Window, I'm not sure how feasible that is. If you were going to open the linked articles in a sub-frame, it would probably resolve that issue, but you would then be harvesting off someone else's site and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 9:13 am

Is this new module anything like MyHeadlines by Mike Agar. From the developer's website, "MyHeadlines is a web based news feed aggregator and scraper. RSS / XML / RDF are all supported. Also includes Blogger API, Google API, Skins, Templates, Subscriptions, and Sections."

I last used this MyHeadlines module on a former v6.5 website. I'm not sure if the PHP-Nuke version has been updated for 7.x.

Just throwing out alternatives. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:37 pm

What bothers me about My_headlines is that you need to purchase activation of each individual component and feature. Further, configuration and placement isn't what I would really want to have.

I've tried My_Headlines and while I won't knock it (I do like SOME of the things it does) it is more than what I am trying to accomplish.

I have now posted the working copy of the new Syndicated_News_Beta module that I am working with. There are a couple of things in there that I still need to address which are:

1) The old CPG-Nuke installer needs to be reworked for PHP-Nuke
(File is now called inst.php)
2) I have a call to an undefined function issue going on in the admin/modules/syndicatednews.php file at lines 166 and 167 with the statements:

Code:

   $title = Fix_Quotes($title);


   $description = Fix_Quotes($description);

3) I'm still reworking the "getlink" commands in the blocks to make them work the way they should.

Anyone that wants to join in, please feel free. While you won't make a million dollars, you will get your name in the credits! Smile

You can find the module on my website at: [ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ]

Thanks

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 7:44 pm

Hi Folks

This is just to let everyone know that I now have a fully working copy of the module posted (and also running) on my website.

It looks like I have fixed all of the bugs and in the latest release (version 0.1.2) I have included a SQL file to query against your database that will add the new sections.

Please feel free to visit my homepage and click on the newly enabled "Syndicated News" module or visit my downloads section to download and install it on your site.

The only Syndicated News that I have added so far is (go figure) Raven's PHP Scripts.

If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to let me know!

Thanks!

New Member Joined: Dec 08, 2003 Posts: 15

Hello 64bitguy,

How is this working for you? I went to your site and registered for an account to log into the forums and hopefully get a copy to try on my site. I have fiddled around trying about a dozen different ways and have yet to find an output I like.

Thanks,
Chas