Pragyan CMS v3 Tickets

[Abhishek]

Post in this thread the tickets which you created on Pragyan TRAC. So
that others who dont check the Pragyan TRAC Page [
https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/pragyan/report/1 ] regularly can see
it here. By the way here are 2 open tickets currently :

Ticket #1
Optional Breadcrumb Submenu
Reported by: abhishekdelta
Description: When the breadcrumbs are generated, there should be an
option for a submenu of breadcrumbs. That submenu should have links to
the child pages of the current pages. This was implemented in the
Pragyan 2010 website's top menu.

Ticket #2
Optional Breadcrumb Submenu
Reported by: abhishekdelta
Description : During installation, the settings form is not validated
before submissions. It should be validated i.e. no fields should be
empty, however fields like ADS, IMAP, LDAP details may be empty
provided the corresponding login method is disabled.

If anyone is willing to work in it, he/she can post appropriate mails
here/ or mail me privately. Also if anyone creates a new ticket, then
also print info about the ticket here.

And I request everyone to get registered on SOURCEFORGE.NET as SOON as
POSSIBLE ! And post your NICKNAMES on sourceforge in this group.

[Abhishek]

People, I need some activity on Pragyan CMS. Most of you had shown
interest on working with v3 when it was unreleased but now there's
absolutely no activity. I want to know what issues are keeping you
from working for the CMS. Working on Pragyan CMS is of special
importance to Second Years, as for seconds years, this entire google
group is only about Pragyan CMS and based on that we're going to
decide about the future Core. So I hope to see some new tickets and
patches in the Pragyan TRAC soon. If there're any issues, feel free to
ask us.

[Abhishek]

REMINDER : Always use escape() function for the mysql_query as
mentioned here : http://groups.google.co.in/group/delta-nitt/browse_thread/thread/7431a4c67fb46187

Try to write as secure and optimized codes as possible. By security,
I mean to make sure that any user-given input to the CMS is properly
filtered, like all types of input items in the forms (GET or POST)
should be checked for malicious codes having ', ", etc.. before
being processed. Also good codes with proper identation are
appreciated.

Happy coding :)

[Abhishek]

NEW TICKET on SourceForge : Template Installation Module
https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/pragyan/ticket/3

[Lakshmi Priya Sekar]

i'll be taking some time.. Well i hav summer project for the entire two months and i wont be able to finish it this summer.. i'll be continuing in winter too.. We were free during sem.. All this work could have been done then.. The whole day i'm in lab and i am free only on sunday.. i think it'll be the same for everyone, especially second yrs.. Everyone would hav taken up some project.. I'm not trying to say that we wont do anything just that give us some time..

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

Well, I understand your concerns... you guys can take time as u like,
but try to give some worthy contributions by the end of next time..
The pragyan CMS v3 beta is expected to release on 2nd week of June,
and the stable official version by July.. So that the new Pragyan
site, as well as NITT and symposiums can be run on Pragyan CMS.. rest
is upto you guys how much ru willing to contribute..

--
Abhishek Shrivastava
E.C.E., N.I.T. Trichy

[Abhishek]

For those who are working on Pragyan CMS v3, there's a change in the
implementation of the escape() function as described in the LAST post
of this discussion : http://groups.google.co.in/group/delta-nitt/browse_thread/thread/7431a4c67fb46187

Also people, one important thing to note is that as people are
contributing to the Pragyan CMS v3, its files are updated. So it may
happen that you are still working on the OLD copy, besides the
download option in the home page is not always the updated one. To get
the LATEST version of Pragyan CMS everytime you start working, there
are 2 ways. The first one is to download the LATEST source-code from
the below link :

http://pragyan.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/pragyan/trunk.tar.gz?view=tar

The second one is applicable ifyou have linux and also hav
"subversion" package installed. Exec the following command :

svn co https://pragyan.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/pragyan pragyan

This would create a folder "pragyan" in the current directory and
download the latest source codes in that directory.

NOTE : Whenever you do any of the above steps, its recommended to re-
install the Pragyan CMS. This is called a "NIGHTLY BUILD" and its
installation instructions are given in "DEVELOPER-README" file.

Happy Coding :)

[Balanivash]

Hey...for the template installation module, i think instead of
uploading the template package and then checking if there is another
template of the same name, wont it be easier if we have another field
in the module where the user has to enter the name for the template
that is going to be uploaded...It will make the job easier...we just
have to make a directory of the name in the templates folder and unzip
(or untar) the files into the folder and add the name into the
table....this will also help if we are using a remote server so that
we don't have to waste time uploading a file if it is already
present.....

And i checked how to unpack files in php...it seems only .zip can be
unzipped using php...for tar we need to use execute to untar the files
in linux.....and in the checkTemplateInstallConflicts() instead of
checking if all the Pragyan CMS php variables are present in the
template index will it be ok, if we just make menubar and content a
compulsory, because using of others can be left to the interest of the
users.......

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

What if the name user enters is already used by a template ? It essentially boils down to the same question of matching the name of the template to the existing templates. Only difference is that there we used the name of the folder inside the uploaded package as template name and here we are letting the user specify the name, the rest is same.

Besides, we don't actually have to scan the directory. The name of the installed templates are already stored in "templates" table. So we can instead retrieve from the database.

Hmm, since only .zip is supported by PHP, then we should implement just that. Its not such a big deal.

Regarding the problem of uploading when its already present, in the template installation page the list of currently installed templates will be displayed. If the user still wants to upload his template, then let it be. If the extracted folder name has the same name as one of the existing templates, then we can show a new page giving the user a chance to rename the folder and give a new name. If still there are problems, then delete it.

Not just menubar and content, the errorstring,infostring and warningstring are also required for admin mode. And then there are other things like footer and title. Breadcrumbs can be made optional though.

[Balanivash]

Hey...actually i too was talking abt scanning the table only and not
the directory...and when we ask him to enter the name we can just tell
if the name is available(just like for a username)......so now, the
user cant upload if it s already present....and so now the name of the
template'll be unique...so we can just extract it in the template
folder.....check its compatibility and then either accept or
reject.....and why do you want it to be extracted in the uploads
folder and then transferred to the templates folder after checking
instead of extracting in templates folder and checking.....

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

In most cases, the template contents are put into a folder which is names as template name and then zipped.  So by default, we should be able to guess the name of the template from the folder it contains rather than asking the user for it. This is like more automation and I want the user to as little thing as possible. So let the CMS find the name on its own, and ask the user ONLY if it encounters a conflicts and not always. We can also list some suggestions to the user in that page so the user can pick from it. And the reason I want to extract it to uploads is that right now only uploads folder has got write permissions by the webserver and not templates. Besides, the extraction process may mess up the directory in case the user has not created a folder inside the ZIP file. This mess would be difficult to clear if we extract it in templates folder. However incase of uploads folder, we can simply delete that entire subfolder inside which we extracted it.

[Abhishek]

Ticket No. 2 is closed. Pragyan CMS v3 now supports the optional
Breadcrumb submenu feature thanks to Chakradar Raju :)

See the change log here : http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/pragyan/browser/trunk/ChangeLog

[Balanivash]

ok...i get why you want it to first to be uploaded in the uploads
folder and then change it...and about the name....so first we've to
check if there is only one folder or multiple folders present in the
unzipped file..if it contains only a folder and nothing else, then
assume that as the name of that folder and ask the user if he is sure
of the name....if there are multiple files, then we assume it as the
name of the zip and suggest it.....then we check if all the CMS
variables are present (except breadcrumb) and if yes tansfer it to the
templates folder and update the table and throw an error and delete
the folder from uploads.....this is what has to be done right...???

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

yes, ur precisely correct. But as per my knowledge, Lakshmipriya and Chakra has also shown interest in working with this feature. I dont want 3 people to do the same work, so better get in touch with them. By the way, there are 2 more new tickets on Pragyan :)

[Balanivash]

Hey.....this is about the replacing of the current forum module with
phpbb.......i went through phpbb.....but integrating the whole thing
will be a problem.....this contains only the forum module but uses
around 60 tables and the users table alone contains some 30 odd
tuples.....so do you want all the functionality of phpbb to be
implemented??....and the other one about page statistics.....is the
graph you are telling something similar to the one in wordpress?? and
isnt it kinda going too far to keep track of the ip address, duration
and the links visited.(and also the number of hits per day,week and
month...which can be calculated if we store the former).....is this a
part of the QUOS for the website...:)

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

@balanivash : guess ur right about phpBB. Its not just a forum, its a complete CMS in itself with usermanagement and all. But we  need a light forum. We'll stick with the current forum and try to make it better. So are you willing to work on the forum module ?

Regarding the page stats, no its not part of QAOS. Its a global option to enable or disable page stats. Its not that difficult as it sounds. All you have to do is to run a AJAX script on page load. That script will take the IP address of the client machine and time he opened the page and send those details to the server db where they'll be logged. Getting the duration can be a little tricky. What can be done is to make the script report to the server every few seconds. The time at which the server stopped recieving signals from the script, thats the log off time. Finally when the admin views it, he'll be able to see the compiled version of the logs. Its a pretty interesting work.

[Balanivash]

@abhishek: I'd be glad to work on the forum module....But improving
the present code is a big problem....it is fully hard coded (about
1500 lines of code )..I think it'd be better if we just study phpbb
and learn the how it is done and we can come up with a new module.....

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

No need to study phpBB. Making a forum in PHP isn't a big task that you need to do "study". Think of your own ideas. Besides, phpBB isnt so easy to understand, after all its morethan 5000 lines of code. Wouldn't it be faster if u study 1500 lines of codes of current forum? Its not that hard. Besides, the current forum isnt that bad as it seems. It has got some pretty cool features, also it has good looks. Improving it will not be difficult once u understand the code.

However, if u really wanna develop from scratch. Go ahead. But the problem is we have to release the beta version soon for testing, and I want the forum module to be included in the beta. I can delay the release date by 15th june. Can u finish forum by then ?? If not, how long do u need ?

[Siddhant Sanyam]

I too want to work on Forum module. I completely agree with Balanivash
that we should start afresh rather than hacking the old module.
Abhishek, I was thinking that we should branch the development into
two : one be working on our own forum module while other (can be worked
by me) is to integrate some `lite' forum module. The self-made module
can be kept just for the time limitations of releasing the CMS early.
Meanwhile I can work upon integrating a pre-existing forum to pragyan
CMS as a separate branch. How is that?

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

See I have no problems if you guys wanna recode the forum from scratch as long as you are able to complete it within a reasonable period of time. So how long do you think can u finish the forum from scratch ?

About the branches, well it can be done and I'll give you two SVN access to your branches. But then I dont want anyone to work on the existing forum and waste time upon it, afterall, its anyways going to be replaced. So decide now whether you wanna keep the old one or a new forum.

[Balanivash]

@abhishek: Hey by studying i dint mean the whole....just the
core...anyway leave that....and i think a new module will take around
a month...you need to code and check the working, compatibility nall
rt....and as of now what we can do is either put the old module for
the beta release.....(its working...no problem with that...i wanted
changes just because it was too hard-coded, and dint adapt to the site
template and some minor things....)...or get some lite open source
forum and use it temporarily and them when the work is over can be
substituted....

@siddhant:Could you pls tell exactly what you are planning to do....

[Siddhant Sanyam]

> @siddhant:Could you pls tell exactly what you are planning to do....

I am planning out branching. Currently, I think Abhishek is right that
the priority is to get the job done on time (of course after removing
the vulnerabilities in the old forum). After, looking at the code of the
current forum, I guess it is hackable, although you are right that
hacking it might consume a much time than actually coding afresh.
My proposal is that one of us, might start working on a new forum as a
separate branch, meanwhile, another person, can work on integrating some
lite forum (not phpBB) into PragyanCMS. We could work separately.
Whichever finish faster can be merged into the main branch. Meanwhile,
if you will, some third person may still be improving the code of the
current Forum.
This might involve three different person, but do note that Forum is a
important part of the CMS. Spending energy and time on it is worth. Out
of these three, you may skip one of them and only work on any two.

Another option which might work around for the time being ( and which is
often adopted by many web communities ) is to separate out forum and
PragyanCMS, create a one to one link between the username of Forum and
username of Pragyan (might be the same username), and then integrate the
forum as a separate page. This way, we will have to administrate two
separate website (PragyanCMS main website and Forum). I am not speaking
about to create a different weblocation for Forum. Forum would be there
as a server side include.
This is a dirty and quick way to get things started.

[Balanivash]

@siddhanth: i think we'll just hang on to the first two....one'll work
on a new module and the other in integrating a lite forum(just a dummy
for time being) into the CMS for the time being.....then
after the release of the beta we can finish the forum module properly
and then replace the dummy with the new one......and about separating
out the forum.....i dont think it'll be good to do that..ll give a
overall bad look to those who look at it technically (as to the end
user the functionality will be the same)...and ll just bring upon a
negative imapct...

@abhishek:Will this be ok....???

[Siddhant Sanyam]

Mind you that `separate-forum-completely' idea was for temporary
betterment. And no, it really shine out the essence of modularity.
Anyway, that is another topic. For now, apart from what you suggested, I
think we should still continue the current forum as spare. I am not
suggesting any improvableness that can be done in that forum but we sure
can patch up few security vulnerabilities to make it more secure to XSS
attacks. Having said that, the module still works good. The only problem
is that, as you said, that
(1) It is hard coded
(2) It is vulnerable
So I suggest that there should be three branches
(*) `Main branch' consisting of the old forum module ( we will only fix
up the security vulnerabilities )
(*) `New Forum branch' which will focus on development of a new forum
from scratch.
(*) `Forum integration' which will integrate some existing **lite**
forum module to our CMS.

[Siddhant Sanyam]

[Balanivash]

@siddhant: isn't improving the present forum module and trying to
integrate a lite forum into pragyan cms redundant.....finally we need
a forum for the beta release as a new one cannot be completed in such
a short period of time.....so doing any one of these will be fine
right...instead of wasting time in doing both.....

[Siddhant Sanyam]

Disagree. We are not ( at least I am not ) sure if we would be going for
a self made forum or integrate a pre-existing forum. We have to decide
upon that. Better do it now. Integrating something which is already
working and tested has it's own advantages. I mean we would be saving
time in maintainability of the forum. All the updates and fixes of the
forum can be taken care by the host developer's team of that forum.
But it will have one disadvantage that our CMS will gain a dependency
towards another group of developers (what if they discontinue their
project).
So, other option can be going for a completely new Forum from scratch. I
think I don't need to tell you the pros and cons about it. We would have
to first release it under Beta stage and test for vulnerabilities. We
will have to maintain the module in the future. Plus since PragyanCMS
doesn't have a big developer base (nor userbase as such) it can be hard
to find the bugs and vulnerabilities. But on the other side, we would be
gaining a complete control over the module. We can hand-craft it to our
needs and brag upon that we do not have any dependencies on anything.
Choose your poison.
:)

[Abhishek Shrivastava]

I see a lot of redundant tasks being discussed here. First of all, if you're planning on a dummy "lite" forum, then there's no need for improving the current forum, because its implied that "dummy" forum should be ready before beta release (after all, thats why u wanted to use it soon instead of a new fresh forum). Hence, if we u r sure to replace the current forum with the dummy one before beta release, then y maintain it ?

Secondly, if u r planning to recode a new forum in a month, then it should better be worth it and better than the current forum. Few good things I like about the current forum :
i) It uses "bbeditor", a simple editor for forums where it is able to parse all forum specific tags like [bold], [link], etc and replace them with html tags while posting. It uses very extensive regular expressions for that purpose. It also supports smileys.
ii) It supports "sticky" threads, has the option for "approving and disapproving" a thread, has special powers for admin.
iii) It looks good and gives enough details about the posts in every thread (like the date of joining of post creator, his other posts, etc) and also things like forum last visits, check it out yourself.

All I think is that the actual creator really worked hard and took huge amount of time to get these functionalities working. And thats the reason I originally didnt want to dump it. Recoding a forum is indeed a very gigantic task, because the number of functionalities involved are huge and there's always scope for more. And in every huge project, the probability of its success is directly proportional to the dedication by the authors and which is inversely proportional to the time it takes for the project to complete. So considering you guys are already involved in other projects. are you sure you'll be able to complete the forum project in a month ??

Just give some time on it and then give a final answer. I don't want any "drop-outs" in between as it has already happened with other projects like faculty module and idelta.

[Balanivash]

Hey guys, two more tickets have been added.....Please check them
out,..:)

[Abhishek]

Updates :
Template Installation module has been done by Chakra. Hence, Ticket No.
3 is closed !

Pragyan v3 has been moved to "alpha" release from "pre-alpha". You can
all download the latest version of pragyan cms from the sourceforge
home page.
The file name is pragyanv3.0-alpha.tar.bz2. Use the new release for
all ur work.

Deadline for Design round is coming near, so designers act fast !
There'll be NO EXTENSION.

[Abhishek]

Updates :
PDF module finished by Chakra .. ticket No. 11 closed ! Now convert
every page of pragyan cms as pdf directly from the browser :)

[siddhant3s]

Two new tickets:
Ticket 30: http://linkpit.co.cc/ticket30 (Critical: A non-persistent
XSS vulnerability)
Ticket 20: http://linkpit.co.cc/ticket28 (OpenID integration in
Pragyan)