[bigguy]

I have just uploaded the first (beta) release of the Jamroom Facebook module to the Jamroom Modules section of the Marketplace:

http://www.jamroom.net/index.php?m=td_market&o=browse&category=Jamroom+4+Modules

This new module utilizes the Facebook Connect platform/API for "linking" your Jamroom user profiles to their respective Facebook profiles. This first release is a beta release, and is being offered at a lower price then it will be when it is no longer in beta. Our goal with this release is the following:

• Determine the stability of the Facebook Connect API when running on a "real" site. Over the past 2 months, the Facebook API has been "up and down" a lot, so we need to see how often this affects the module when running on a real site. I hope that the Connect API becomes more stable as more sites begin using it.
  
• Gather feedback from the Beta tester on what works/doesn't work, and what additional features they feel would be good additions to the module.
  
• Identify any bugs in the core Connect library developed for the module.
  

With that in mind, please note the following for this beta release:

• Your Jamroom must be running on a server that is using PHP 5 - PHP 4 support will possibly be added, but the Facebook Connect API PHP code is only "officially" supported by Facebook for use on PHP 5. I have a 3rd party PHP 4 library I will be testing with, but it may not be needed as most sites are running PHP 5 now. Please post to this post if you are using PHP 4 so I can see if there are still sites using PHP 4.
  
• Integration templates for login and signup have been provided for Nova ONLY at this point - it's not hard to add the proper Facebook Connect buttons to the other templates (the module provides a simple template function to make it easy), but you need to be familiar with editing a Jamroom template and be willing to modify your own templates if you are not using Nova. The example Nova templates will be located in jamroom/modules/jrFacebook/skins/Nova after you install the module.
  
• Remember that this is a beta release, and it may be days or weeks before something that is "broken" is fixed, as core components may need to be changed out to fix or add the necessary functionality.
  
• Directions on setting the module up on the Facebook side will be in the "Readme" section of the module after install.
  
• You must be running Jamroom 4.1.5
  

With that said, I'm excited to get this into as many user's hands as possible - it is during this period that your feedback is going to determine the direction of the module, so if you want to integrate Facebook with Jamroom, make sure and check this module out and let us know what you think.

I hope you all enjoy the new release!

Thanks!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

Last edited by bigguy on 02/14/10 15:45; edited 1 time in total

[megaplatinum]

Setting it up now. My app is set on the facebook side. Do i need to fill these in?

* The Canvas Callback URL - where your app is hosted.
* The Canvas Page URL - the apps.facebook.com/yourapp URL for your application.

And, also, I am using Cobalt3. I don't want to ask too many questions about getting it together, but is it more of a style issue versus a functionality issue if i move these module files to Cobalt3?

Looks great so far...

[bigguy]

megaplatinum:

Setting it up now. My app is set on the facebook side. Do i need to fill these in? * The Canvas Callback URL - where your app is hosted. * The Canvas Page URL - the apps.facebook.com/yourapp URL for your application. And, also, I am using Cobalt3. I don't want to ask too many questions about getting it together, but is it more of a style issue versus a functionality issue if i move these module files to Cobalt3? Looks great so far...

I believe you can ignore those settings - I'll double check when I get back to my dev computer to be certain, but Jamroom's Connect API is not using the canvas.

What you want to do for Cobalt3 is look inside the 3 Nova templates, and you will see the {jr_fbconnect} function calls - you'll want to tailor those for Cobalt3.

Hope this helps!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

[mixy]

Sweet.Brian this is a nice job.
I will get back to you as soon as i have it installed.

[LM]

ok Brian , I've installed the module. I have enabled it. What do I do next to get the facebook attributes working?
Many Thanks,
LM

[bigguy]

LM:

ok Brian , I've installed the module. I have enabled it. What do I do next to get the facebook attributes working? Many Thanks, LM

Make sure you have followed the instructions in the "readme" section for the module, and have implemented the templates found in jamroom/modules/jrFacebook/skins/Nova.

Hope this helps!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

[megaplatinum]

Hey Brian, ok I think some of the confusion with the documentation is this. The skins and templates directories don't stay in the jrFacebook module directory, but actually go in your site's skins and templates directories and include the buttons from the example files into your current skins (i.e. don't overwrite your originals). Is this correct?

[bigguy]

megaplatinum:

Hey Brian, ok I think some of the confusion with the documentation is this. The skins and templates directories don't stay in the jrFacebook module directory, but actually go in your site's skins and templates directories and include the buttons from the example files into your current skins (i.e. don't overwrite your originals). Is this correct?

Yes - that is correct. I should probably rename the directory "skin_templates" instead of skins, so it is clear they won't work being left where they are.

Thanks!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

[megaplatinum]

Ok I'm migrating the skins files to skins, and should i move the templates directory as well or does that one stay in the facebook modules directory? Sorry for all the questions...

[bigguy]

megaplatinum:

Ok I'm migrating the skins files to skins, and should i move the templates directory as well or does that one stay in the facebook modules directory? Sorry for all the questions...

That one should remain (it is used by the module) - just copy the 3 skin templates from jamroom/modules/jrFacebook/skins/Nova into your jamroom/skins/Nova directory.

Hope this helps!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

[Dazed]

Brian - Is it just the function that needs to be added to non-Nova login scripts?

[megaplatinum]

Yep that's to add it to non-nova scripts.

Brian, noticed when i hit the "Go to my application" button on Facebook, it just displays my jrFacebook directory on my server. I've gotta be missing something.

[bigguy]

Dazed:

Brian - Is it just the function that needs to be added to non-Nova login scripts?

For the most part yes - you can see that the function references a template - i.e.:

Code

{jr_fbconnect_button background="dark" length="long" size="large" quota_id=$quota_id template="Nova_fbconnect_button.tpl"}

So basically you'd want to copy that into your signup.tpl (for example), and change the "template" to be something else - i.e. "Cobalt3_fbconnect_button.tpl", then copy the modules/jrFacebook/templates/Nova_fbconnect_button.tpl to modules/jrFacebook/templates/Cobalt3_fbconnect_button.tpl and modify it to suit your look and feel, just make sure you don't change the javscript in the template - that controls the Facebook integration.

Hope this helps!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation

[LM]

Hi Brian,
seems to be working although kind of flakey, sometimes the button is there sometimes it's not. And because I have so many modules the login sometimes shows up as a very thin line.
regards,
LM
www.bandlair.com

[bigguy]

LM:

Hi Brian, seems to be working although kind of flakey, sometimes the button is there sometimes it's not. And because I have so many modules the login sometimes shows up as a very thin line. regards, LM www.bandlair.com

The button is rendered from Facebook's end - sometimes it can take a few seconds to show up (I've seen it take as long as 15 - 20 seconds). I'm looking into having the button image cached locally so it will render faster, but still "work".

Hope this helps!

- Brian


_________________
Make sure and check out:
* The Jamroom FAQ
* The Jamroom Documentation