soderlind.no

Node.js

PerS — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:54:25 +0000

If you haven’t looked at Node.js, you should. Node.js is “evented I/O for V8 javascript”. With Node.js (and its well documented api) you can write extremely high performance non-blocking event driven network servers in JavaScript.

Here’s a simple chat server and client I wrote using Node.js, Faye and the Connect middleware.

app.js (the chat server, run using connect app.js -p 8080):

var Faye = require('./lib/faye-node');

var fayeServer = new Faye.NodeAdapter({
  mount:    '/faye',
  timeout:  45
});
var cometServer = {
    handle: function(req, res, next){
                  if (fayeServer.call(req, res)) return;

                  // Handle non-Faye requests
                  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
                  res.end('Hello, non-Faye request');
    }
};

module.exports = require('./lib/connect').createServer([
    { module: cometServer }
]);

client.html:

SharePoint 2010: Customize out of the box Application Pages (AccessDenied, Confirmation, Error, Login, RequestAccess, Signout, WebDeleted )

PerS — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:38:26 +0000

In SharePoint 2010, for security reasons, master pages are not applied to the application pages AccessDenied, Confirmation, Error, Login, RequestAccess, Signout and WebDeleted, instead you’ll have to create a new custom application page and run the power shell command Set-SPCustomLayoutsPage.(source http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/PR02 – a must-see):

In WSS3.0 and MOSS2007 it was a real headache to customise pages such as the Access Denied page or Sign Out page without editing the out of the box SharePointRoot files.

In SPF2010 and SPS2010 this has changed with the introduction of PowerShell commands to point the location of the application page to a newly created customised one.

Get-SPCustomLayoutsPage -Identity "AccessDenied | Confirmation | Error | Login | RequestAccess | Signout | WebDeleted

Set-SPCustomLayoutsPage

“Following PS Command replaces Request Access Page (reqacc.aspx) in layouts folder, assuming customized version of Request Access page is deployed to custompages folder under layouts directory

Set-SPCustomLayoutsPage -Identity "RequestAccess" -RelativePath "/_layouts/custompages/reqacc.aspx" -WebApplication "{replace with web app url}"

(source http://www.sharepointadminwiki.com/display/sp2010/Customise+out+of+the+box+Application+Pages)

Set-SPCustomLayoutsPage: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607768.aspx

Get-SPCustomLayoutsPage: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607821.aspx

So, don’t change the files (error.aspx, login.aspx etc) in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS, but use them as templates for the new custom pages

My iPad 64GB 3G

PerS — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:55:12 +0000

My iPad is running these apps:

You’ll find them at the iTunes app store:

radial navigation in html5

PerS — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:00:41 +0000

Sorry no IE (might work in IE9 platform preview), so open these in a modern browser:

WordPress plugin template

PerS — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:21:45 +0000

UPDATE: You can create a personalized plugin template by using my WordPress Plugin Template Creator

When I rewrote my WP-DenyHost plugin, I wanted to do it as fast as possible. Instead of reinventing the wheel (again), I googled after a plugin template and found a very good one at Pressography. It had most of what I needed in a plugin template.

Modifications to the Pressography plugin template

I’ve made some changes to the Pressography plugin template and I have explained them below. Before you continue to read this article, you should view the video at Pressography, it presents the idea behind the plugin template and how it works. You get the full source of my modified plugin template by using my WordPress Plugin Template Creator

Being able to use new functionality in WordPress, I’ve decided that my plugins will only support WordPress one minor version lower than the current i.e. the current is 2.9 and hence my plugins and this plugin template will only supports WordPress 2.8 and later.

plugins_url()

WordPress 2.8 extended the plugins_url() function which makes it easy to find the plugin location. In the plugin template constructor, I use plugins_url() to find the languages files and the plugin itself:

function __construct(){
	//Language Setup
	$locale = get_locale();
	$mo = plugins_url("/languages/" . $this->localizationDomain . "-".$locale.".mo", __FILE__);
	load_textdomain($this->localizationDomain, $mo);

	//"Constants" setup
	$this->url = plugins_url(basename(__FILE__), __FILE__);
	$this->urlpath = plugins_url('', __FILE__);

	//Initialize the options
	$this->getOptions();

	//Actions
	add_action("admin_menu", array(&$this,"admin_menu_link"));
	add_action('wp_print_scripts', array(&$this,'{plugin_slug}_script'));
	add_action("init", array(&$this,"{plugin_slug}_init"));
}

Adding JavaScript

I’ve done it and I still see plugin authors adding scripts using the wp_head function. There’s only one correct way of adding scripts, and that’s using wp_enqueue_script via one of the script hooks (admin_print_scripts, wp_print_scripts etc). wp_enqueue_script makes sure that the script loads in the correct order and that a script is only loaded once (e.g. If another plugin has already loaded jQuery, my plugin will not load jQuery, but use the script already loaded).

I’ve added the wp_print_scripts hook to the plugin template (see the constructor above) since it’s the generic load-script-hook. The wp_print_scripts hook adds the {plugin_slug}_script function in which I enqueue the scripts:

function {plugin_slug}_script() {
	if (is_admin()){ // Only run when in wp-admin. Other conditional tags at http://codex.wordpress.org/Conditional_Tags
		wp_enqueue_script('jquery'); // other scripts included with WordPress: http://tinyurl.com/y875age
		wp_enqueue_script('jquery-validate', 'http://ajax.microsoft.com/ajax/jquery.validate/1.6/jquery.validate.min.js', array('jquery'));
		wp_enqueue_script('{plugin_slug}_script', $this->url.'?{plugin_slug}_javascript', array('jquery-validate')); // load embedded javascript
		wp_localize_script( '{plugin_slug}_script', '{plugin_slug}_lang', array(
			'required' => __('Please enter a number.', $this->localizationDomain),
			'number'   => __('Please enter a number.', $this->localizationDomain),
			'min'	   => __('Please enter a value greater than or equal to 1.', $this->localizationDomain),
		));
	}
}

wp_localize_script, in the code above, creates a JavaScript object that passes the language strings to the embedded JavaScript:

Embedding JavaScript

When I write my plugins I like to keep the code in one file, that’s why I also embed the JavaScript code:

if (isset($_GET['{plugin_slug}_javascript'])) {

	Header("content-type: application/x-javascript");
	echo<<
Note: If you prefer to keep your JavaScript code in a separate file, you can add it by adding the following to {plugin_slug}_script:
function {plugin_slug}_script() {
	if (is_admin()){ // Only run when in wp-admin. Other conditional tags at http://codex.wordpress.org/Conditional_Tags
		wp_enqueue_script('jquery'); // other scripts included with WordPress: http://tinyurl.com/y875age
		wp_enqueue_script('jquery-validate', 'http://ajax.microsoft.com/ajax/jquery.validate/1.6/jquery.validate.min.js', array('jquery'));
		wp_enqueue_script('{plugin_slug}_script', $this->urlpath.'/myscript.js', array('jquery)); //load your script
		wp_localize_script( '{plugin_slug}_script', '{plugin_slug}_lang', array(
			'required' => __('Please enter a number.', $this->localizationDomain),
			'number'   => __('Please enter a number.', $this->localizationDomain),
			'min'	   => __('Please enter a value greater than or equal to 1.', $this->localizationDomain),
		));
	}
}

WordPress Plugin Template Creator
While writing this article, I decided to create a tool that will create a personalized plugin template. The WordPress Plugin Template Creator takes your input, creates the necessary slugs and returns a personalized plugin template you can build your own plugin with.

When .LESS is more

PerS — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:01:06 +0000

@the-border: 1px;
@base-color: #111;

#header {
	color: @base-color * 3;
	border-left: @the-border;
	border-right: @the-border * 2;
}

#footer {
	color: (@base-color + #111) * 1.5;
}

ul
{
	list-style-type: none;
	height: 30px;

	li
	{
		float: left;
		padding-right: 15px;

		a
		{
			padding: 5px;
			display: block;
			color: black;
			text-decoration: none;
		}

		a:hover
		{
			background-color: @menu_color - #222;
		}
	}
}

Curious? 4GuysFromRolla has a nice article about .LESS

btw, if you’re not doing ASP.NET, you can create css from .less by using the command line compiler:

dotless.Compiler.exe -m Styles.less Styles.css

jQuery 101: Adding unobtrusive ajax to your existing form page

PerS — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:50:48 +0000

Using jQuery and the form and validate plugins, it is simple to add unobtrusive ajax to your existing form page

1, Modify your existing form page

Add to your form. This field will tell the processing script, process_input.php in my example, if the values in the form were submitted using ajax or as an ordinary form submit, defaulting to isAjax = 0 (false).
Add class="required" to the fields that requires input
Add the where you want the ajax output


	
	Name:

2, update your process_input.php code

The process_input.php, uses the value in isAjax to decide how output is displayed

Welcome";
	echo $_POST['name'];
}
?>

3, Add the jQuery code

Here’s the complete form page










	
	Name:

Fighting spam

PerS — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:48:42 +0000

I have reduced the number of splog attacks on my site

I use the Akismet and WP-DenyHost anti-spam plugins for WordPress. Akismet is a must-have and has, since I installed it, caught 304,056 spams (!!). When Akismet catch a spammer, it logs the spammers IP address. WP-DenyHost, written by me, prevents spammers from getting access to my site a second time by blocking access from this IP address.

I installed WP-DenyHost in the fall 2009 and, as you can see from the graph above, the number of spam has dropped dramatically.

Mobile blogging

PerS — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:07:51 +0000

[wpvideo 73jyWIka width="400"]

Earlier WordPress.org has release their WordPress for iPhone and WordPress for Blackberry, today they released WordPress for Android

You’ll find WordPress for Android in the Android Market. If you are visiting my site from an Android device, you can download it here

jQuery 1.4 Released

PerS — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:09:44 +0000

*DRUM ROLL* jQuery 1.4 is released !!!

It has a lot of new features and enhancements like the examples below:

jQuery("", {
    "class": "test",
    text: "Click me!",
    click: function(){
        $(this).toggleClass("test");
    }
}).appendTo("body");

jQuery("", {
    type: "text",
    val: "Test",
    focusin: function() {
        $(this).addClass("active");
    },
    focusout: function() {
        $(this).removeClass("active");
    }
}).appendTo("form");