Web design blog

SilverStripe & Foundation 4: How to fix the 403 javascript error in the foundation vendor folder

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:41:46 +0000

SilverStripe by default blocks access to the vendor folder using the following htaccess rule RedirectMatch 403 /vendor(/|$) This blocks access to all vendor folders. To allow access to themes/themename/javascripts/vendor we need to add the ^ character to the start of the htaccess rule RedirectMatch 403 ^/vendor(/|$)

How to work on a foundation 3 project after installing foundation 4

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:00:38 +0000

After installing the foundation 4 gem, you cannot compile foundation 3 projects. This error will bitch slap you in the face. sass/app.scss (Line 1 of sass/_settings.scss: File to import not found or unreadable: foundation/common/ratios.

Lets get this sorted out. Just in case, take a backup of your project.

1. Install bundler

sudo gem install bundler

2. Create a gem file for your project

Create a file called Gemfile (no extension) and put this in your project folders root. Put the following content in it. Change 3.2.5 to what version you want to install.

source "https://rubygems.org"
gem "zurb-foundation", "3.2.5"
gem "compass"

3. Install the gems

bundle install

4. Compile the project

Instead of using compass watch we will now use bundle exec compass watch

Don't forgot to make a change to app.scss so that it get re-compiled.

LemonStand: Adding calculated columns to an extended model such as shop:onExtendOrderModel

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:35:35 +0000

Just about to launch a complicated LemonStand website that has three tier order tracking that involves discounts and commissions which required some calculated columns for admin reporting so I thought i'd share how to add calculated columns to an extended model.

I use the shop:onExtendOrderModel event to extend the order model via a module. In the subscribeEvents function, i use the following Backend::$events->addEvent('shop:onExtendOrderModel', $this, 'extend_order_model'); Pretty standard module stuff.

Now i create a function called extend_order_model where i'm just getting the count of orders by the customer. I haven't tested the query so hopefully it works :)

public function extend_order_model($order)
{	
	$query = 'SELECT COUNT(o.id) FROM shop_orders o WHERE shop_orders.customer_id = o.customer_id';
	$order->define_column('calculated_column_num_orders', 'Number of orders');
	$order->calculated_columns['calculated_column_num_orders'] = array('sql'=>$query, 'type'=>db_number);
}

There is 3 lines in the function.

1. The first line is the calculated column query
2. We define a column called calculated_column_num_orders.
3. We now add calculated_column_num_orders to the calculated_columns array.

To allow the calculated column to be visible in the admin, use the shop:onExtendOrderForm event. Backend::$events->addEvent('shop:onExtendOrderForm', $this, 'extend_order_form');

public function extend_order_form($order, $context)
{
	if ($context == "preview") {
		$order->add_form_field('calculated_column_num_orders')->tab('Whatever Tab Details')->renderAs(frm_text);
	}
}

We need to check that the $context variable is 'preview' or else the edit order page will break. Thanks to @lemonstand for helping me with this

Complete module

class OrderIsupps_Module extends Core_ModuleBase
{
	protected function createModuleInfo()
	{
		return new Core_ModuleInfo(
			"Order Extend module",
			"Adds a calculated column to the order model",
			"Gavin Bruce" );
	}

	public function subscribeEvents()
	{
		Backend::$events->addEvent('shop:onExtendOrderModel', $this, 'extend_order_model');
		Backend::$events->addEvent('shop:onExtendOrderForm', $this, 'extend_order_form');

	}

	public function extend_order_model($order)
	{	
		$query = 'SELECT COUNT(o.id) FROM shop_orders o WHERE shop_orders.customer_id = o.customer_id';
		$order->define_column('calculated_column_num_orders', 'Number of orders');
		$order->calculated_columns['calculated_column_num_orders'] = array('sql'=>$query, 'type'=>db_number);
	}

	public function extend_order_form($order, $context)
	{
		if ($context == "preview") {
			$order->add_form_field('calculated_column_num_orders')->tab('Whatever Tab Details')->renderAs(frm_text);
		}
	}
}

Mobi Living website

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:25:20 +0000

I can't believe its been since July last year since I last wrote in this blog. I'm sure there has been lots of people spamming their refresh buttons, breaking keyboards and fingers waiting for an update. Get ready, here it is. Yeehaw!!!

Originally there was talk in using wordpress, booooo, but we decided to go with SliverStripe 3. The site is a showcase of products with a blog with a few other sections added such as a custom built blog & collaborators section.

I worked with themightywonton on this project who provided the creative.

Visit the website: mobiliving.com

Some technical details about the site:

Content management system: The site is built using SilverStripe 3 and uses the Dashboard and SortableGridField modules. The Dashboard is used as it creates a central area where just about anything can be changed on the site. A dashboard panel was developed that would show featured news items.

Front end development: The following was used to develop the front end of the site.

HTML5 Boilerplate for the base template in which a custom design was created.
jQuery
jQuery SuperSized plugin which resizes the background image to the browser size.
jQuery form and validation plugins to handle the validation on the product enquiry, product referral & product reminder forms.
slidesjs was used throughout the site to power the image slideshows.
Other plugins used were hoverIntent and columnize.

We wanted to make the site perform as fast as possible so the following was done.

SilverStripe partial caching was used to cache parts of each page
Javascript and StyleSheets were combined into single files to minimise http requests
Sprites were also used to minimise http requests

Silverstripe 3 - Custom form layouts

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:01:32 +0000

When design forms, I like to have full control over the layout so I extend the Form class and I create my own formname.ss file. The templating tags have changed a little bit from SilverStripe 2.4 to SilverStripe 3.

Here is some quick changes you will need to apply to your templates to get them to work in SilverStripe 3.

	SilverStripe 2.4	SilverStripe 3
Display a field.	$dataFieldByName(FieldName)	<% with Fields %>$FieldByName(FieldName)<% end_if %>
		or $Fields.FieldByName(FieldName)

If using $dataFieldByName(FieldName) in SilverStripe3 you will get the following error:

[User Deprecated] Form->dataFieldByName is deprecated. Use Fields() and FieldList API instead. Called from call_user_func_array.

<tr>

<td>Displayafield.</td>

<td>$dataFieldByName(FieldName)</td>

<td><%withFields%>$fieldByName(FieldName)<%end_if%></td>

</tr>

My Messy Room e-commerce website

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 01:35:20 +0000

Recently launched an e-commerce website for My Messy Room. The site is built in WordPress using the Woocommerce framework. Check it out. www.mymessyroom.com.au

Retrieving the values from an eNum field on a DataObject using the DataObjectDecorator

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:55:49 +0000

On a recent project I needed to add an eNum field to a DataObject in SilverStripe using a DataObjectDecorator. When I tried to get the values from the eNum object, I was received the following error: Fatal error: Call to undefined method DataObjectNameDecorator::dbObject()

The easy way would of been to modify the module, but thats just not cool. The problem was i was using $this->dbObject('Fieldname')->enumValues() instead of using Singleton('DataObjectName')->dbObject('Fieldname')->enumValues()

phillip&lea e-commerce website powered by LemonStand

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:47:31 +0000

Recently launched the phillip&lea website just in time for the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show. Go check it out.

The site is built in LemonStand with a lot of customisations which include:

A custom built shipping method
A custom built payment method which uses NAB Direct
Modifications to the customer model which includes extra fields which are also used in the checkout
Custom product layout with grouped products

Getting TypeKit to work in a SSL / HTTPS environment

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:31:57 +0000

When using a third party service such as typekit or jquery, there is a little trick to display content in HTTP and HTTPS / SSL.

You can use a // trick rather then http:// and https://

For typekit you can use the following:

<script type="text/javascript" src="//use.typekit.com/whatever.js"></script>

For jQuery we can use

<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7/jquery.min.js"></script>

Mitchell Torrens website launch

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:02:45 +0000

Just launched a website for Mitchell Torrens. Fans of Mitchell will be able to keep up to date with his movements and what he is up to.

The website is built using the SilverStripe CMS and uses jQuery and a bit of CSS3. Check out the blog page and hover over one of the images and be amazed :)

Mater Fire Safety

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:21:18 +0000

I worked with artshak who supplied the creative to create the layouts for the Mater Fire Training module. What I created was HTML5 layouts which uses HTML5 video which works in all browsers.

Central Coast Coatings website recently launched

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:47:25 +0000

Recently launched a website for a local Gold Coast Painter. If you are looking for a experienced, professional and reliable painter, I would suggest that you give Joel a call on 0488 196 776. You have a look at his website also. centralcoastcoatings.com.au

Now for the tech details, the website was built using the SilverStripe CMS, HTML5 and jQuery.

Axis Marine website launched

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:57:16 +0000

I worked with creating demand to launch the Axis Marine website. Basically its a website which lists premium quality brokerage listings.

Should we use WordPress

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:43:35 +0000

WordPress is great at what its designed for (a blog) but it seems to be an insecure system. I have lots of enquiries to build WordPress websites and this is my attempt to convince people to consider an alternative secure CMS system.

To support this argument, he is some recent press related to WordPress.

As many as 100,000 WordPress blogs infected 700,000 Macs with malware

21rd April 2012 - BetaNews

If computer security is your thing -- it really should be everyone's -- and you own a Mac, Kaspersky's analysis of Flashfake malware, also called Flashback, is a must-read. Gasp, this is only part one. There's more to come from the security software developer.
Read original article

Flashback Spread via Hijacked WordPress Blogs

20th April 2012 - Security Watch

If you found Flashback on your Mac, chances are you were infected after visiting compromised WordPress Websites, according to the latest analysis from Kaspersky Lab.
Read original article

Flashback Trojan spread by Wordpress web sites

20th April 2012 - The Inquirer

COMPROMISED Wordpress web sites have been sending visitors to malware hosts that infect Mac OS X systems with the Flashback Trojan, security outfit Kaspersky Lab has reported.
Read original article

Hackers booby-trap WordPress site with botnet-weaving Trojan

23rd March 2012 - The Register

Malware-flingers are taking advantage of vulnerable WordPress sites as part of an attack ultimately designed to spread an information-stealing botnet agent.
Read original article

Compromised WordPress sites serving client-side exploits and malware

21st March 2012 - ZD Net

Security researchers from TrendMicro are reporting on mass compromise of WordPress sites, currently serving client-side exploits and malware to users who click on malicious links in the spamvertised emails connected with the campaign.
Read original article

Compromised WordPress sites Drive Users to Blackhole Exploit Kit

21st March 2012 - Trend Labs

We were alerted to reports of a mass compromise of WordPress sites that lead to CRIDEX infection. To lure users to these compromised sites, the cybercriminals behind this employed spammed messages purporting to come from known legitimate sources such Better Business Bureau and LinkedIn, just to name a few. These spam use social engineering tactics to entice unsuspecting users to click the link found in the email.
Read original article

Rogue Antivirus Campaign Tricks WordPress Users, Infects 30,000 Sites

8th March 2012 - Web Host Industry Review

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Research by security firm Websense has found that about 30,000 WordPress websites have been infected with malicious code that distributes rogue antivirus software, according to a blog post published on Monday.
Read original article

Security Firm: Injection Hit 200,000 Sites

8th March 2012 - The Hosting News

(The Hosting News) –WordPress represents one of the largest online blogging platforms, used by a variety of companies and entities for the purpose of maintaining their web presences. Not surprisingly, the platform itself has also long been a common target of those who seek to disrupt stability on the web – hackers.
Read original article

30K WordPress Blogs Attacked by Malware

8th March 2012 - Business 2 Community

Do you have a WordPress website? If so, the latest news regarding WordPress’s security should have you more than a little concerned. According to Slashdot, 30,000 WordPress blogs and websites were infected with a recent malware scam.
Read original article

Rogue AV Campaign Infects More Than 200,000 Web Pages

7th March 2012 - Dark Reading Protect The Business

Researchers at Websense have detected a widespread rogue antivirus campaign targeting more than 200,000 Web pages and close to 30,000 unique Web hosts.
Read original article

Rogue Antivirus Campaign Targets WordPress

8th March 2012 - Tech Week Europe

A new wave of mass-injections of a fake antivirus campaign that appears to be targeting sites hosted by popular blogging platform WordPress, according to Websense it has detected
Read original article

30,000 Wordpress Sites Infected to Redirect to Fake AV Sites

7th March 2012 - Maximum PC

Fake antivirus is by no means a recent phenomenon. In fact, it has been around for ages, with the first documented instance of fake antivirus reportedly dating back to 1989. Of course, it has become much more widespread over the past few years. But in case you needed reminding that rogue antivirus software continues to be a threat, security firm Websense has just the reminder for you.
Read original article

Fake AV attack targets Wordpress users

7th March 2012 - Network World

Security company Websense has detected a new wave of mass-injections of a well-known rogue antivirus campaign, targeting websites hosted by the WordPress content management system.
Read original article

New mass injection wave of WordPress websites

7th March 2012 - Help Net Security

Websense has detected a new wave of mass-injections of a well-known rogue antivirus campaign. The majority of targets are Web sites hosted by the WordPress content management system.
Read original article

Mass injection wave whacks WordPress webpages

7th March 2012 - IT PRO

Almost 30,000 websites have been hit by a mass injection attack, most of which are based on the WordPress content management system, Websense has found.
Read original article

30,000 WordPress Blogs Infected to Distribute Rogue Antivirus Software

7th March 2012 - PC World Business Centre

Almost 30,000 WordPress blogs have been infected in a new wave of attacks orchestrated by a cybercriminal gang whose primary goal is to distribute rogue antivirus software, researchers from security firm Websense said in a blog post on Monday.
Read original article

Compromised websites leading to banking malware

2nd March 2012 - Info Security

M86 Security is warning that recent spam campaigns are luring victims to compromised websites that redirect to malicious Phoenix-hosting sites, which in turn seek to infect the visitor with the Cridex trojan.
Read original article

Hackers Infect WordPress 3.2.1 Blogs to Distribute TDSS Rootkit

1st February 2012 - PC World Business Center

Hackers are compromising WordPress 3.2.1 blogs in order to infect their visitors with the notorious TDSS rootkit, according to researchers from Web security firm Websense.
Read original article

WordPress attacks try to infect users with dangerous rootkit

1st February 2012 - SC Magazine

he number of WordPress blogs that have been compromised to hurl malware onto the machines of unsuspecting users is gradually growing, security researchers said this week.
Read original article

Hackers Infect WordPress 3.2.1 Blogs to Distribute TDSS Rootkit

31st January 2012 - CSO

IDG News Service — Hackers are compromising WordPress 3.2.1 blogs in order to infect their visitors with the notorious TDSS rootkit, according to researchers from Web security firm Websense.
Read original article

Adding a database index to a SilverStripe DataObject

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:31:14 +0000

If you have large amounts of data, you should be using database indexes. This is how you add a database index to a DataObject in Silverstripe.

There is a static variable called $indexes The way to use it is to pass an array to indexes using array('index name' => 'fields to index')

Here is a quick example.

static $indexes = array(
  'MyIndex' => '(Name)'
);

To index more than 1 field, you can use the following

static $indexes = array(
  'MyIndex' => '(Name,ShortDescription)'
);

To use a unique index as you would on a URLSegment field, you need to pass array('Field name to index' => true) to the $indexes variable.

static $indexes = array(
  'URLSegment' => true
);

Dont forgot to dev/build?flush=1 your database.

Loading the contents of a module into a component using Joomla

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:04:13 +0000

One of the best methods of loading the contents of a module into a component in Joomla is to have another editable content area. You could build this into the component but why bother when there is already a custom HTML module out there.

The first step is to create a module. You have to give the module a name and you also need to assign it to a module position. This module position needs to be a unique name. You can click on the textbox and enter a unique name. I have used mod_publications as the component i'm using is called com_publications.

You will need to also make sure that the module is displayed on all pages.You won't need to worry about the module actually being displayed on all pages as the module position mod_publications does not exist in your template.

The next step is to drop some code yo. This only takes a few lines to get it to work and you will need to edit a view.html.php file and a view template file. The following is an example of the file locations:

components/com_publications/views/productdetail/view.html.php
components/com_publications/views/productdetail/tmpl/productdetail.php

In the view.html.php file, what we need to do is use the module helper to load the modules for a module position. We have used the mod_publications position. We then assign this to the template using $this->assignRef

view.html.php

<?php

defined ('_JEXEC') or die;

jimport ('joomla.application.component.view');

class PublicationsViewProductDetail extends JView
{
	function display($tmpl = null)
	{
		jimport('joomla.application.module.helper');
		$modules = JModuleHelper::getModules('mod_publications');

		$this->assignRef('modules', $modules);
		parent::display($tmpl);
	}
}

?>

tmpl/productdetail.php

In the tmpl/productdetail.php file, we just need to render the contents of the modules.

<div class="publications-product-modules">
	<?php foreach ($this->modules as $m): ?>
		<?php echo JModuleHelper::renderModule($m); ?>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</div>

I've only supplied the code required to get this to work.

The benefit of using this approach is that we can load any module. We can have image galleries, forms, etc.

WordPress :: Include the content of one page on another page

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:50:58 +0000

Have you ever wanted to include the content from one page into another page in WordPress. Perhaps you want an editable sidebar! This is how to achieve this.

Below is a simple code snippet that you can put into your page.php file or whereever you need it.

<?php 
	$sidebar_page_id = 110; 
	$sidebar_page = get_page( $sidebar_page_id ); 
	$sidebar_content = apply_filters('the_content', $sidebar_page->post_content); 
?>


	<?php echo $sidebar_content; ?>

You must pass a variable to the get_page function. If you do something like $sidebar_page = get_page( 110 ); wordpress will drop an error on yo a$$.

SilverStripe HTML5 Boilerplate Version 2 Theme

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:54:06 +0000

The HTML5 Boilerplate project released version 2 in August so its time to create a SilverStripe HTML5 Boilerplate version 2 theme.

The theme was mainly based on the BlackCandy5 theme but it uses version 2 of the HTML5 Boilerplate and i've also upgraded the jquery version to 1.7 All of the blackcandy images have been removed as well as a lot of the un-necessary styles. Also added is a default email template as from the hard yakka theme. The IE conditional statements have been removed from the BlackCandy theme.

When starting a new project, I always grab the following 2 modules:

Also, we will want to remove prototype by adding the following to mysite/_config.php

Validator::set_javascript_validation_handler('none');

Then i create a SiteConfig Extension to remove the theme drop down list from the SiteConfig as explained in this post on ssbits.com and I add other site wide configuration options.

Finally I modify the Page_Controller class init() function so that its ready to combine the javascript and css.

	public function init() {
		parent::init();

		$theme_folder = sprintf('themes/%s', SSViewer::current_theme());
		$js_files = array(
			sprintf('%s/javascript/plugins.js', $theme_folder),
			sprintf('%s/javascript/script.js', $theme_folder)
		);

		$css_files =
			array(
				sprintf('%s/css/layout.css', $theme_folder),
				sprintf('%s/css/typography.css', $theme_folder),
				sprintf('%s/css/form.css', $theme_folder),
			);
		foreach($js_files as $js) {
			Requirements::javascript($js);
		}

		foreach($css_files as $css) {
			Requirements::css($css);
		}

		Requirements::combine_files("js.js", $js_files);
		Requirements::combine_files("css.css", $css_files);
		Requirements::process_combined_files();
	}

Comments are welcome and is there anything differently you do when starting a project?

Grab the theme here

Falcon90 Motoryacht website

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:07:31 +0000

I worked with Gold Coast company Creating Demand to deliver the Falcon90 Motoryacht website. The objective of the website is to get potential buyers in touch with the seller. So if you have a spare 5.8m lying around, you can buy this beauty.

The site was built using the SilverStripe CMS & features a custom built image gallery.

eco d e-commerce website launched today

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:58:48 +0000

Today I launched an e-commerce website for eco d. The site is built with LemonStand and has a lot of custom functionality including a stockists module which uses Google Maps.

Have a look at the site www.ecod.com.au

Here is some screen shots of the new site, enjoy!