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Fun with Widget Structures: 0.1 beta

Started by Andrew Rickmann · 8 months ago

Fun with Widget Structures is a WordPress plugin that provides alternative ways of organising your widgets. For example, by creating a tabbed box. This page explains version 0.1 beta.
Requirements

PHP5
WordPress 2.6

Download
Download: Fun with Widget Structures 0.1 Beta 1
Insta ... Continue reading »

40 comments

  • SuperMAG

    10 months ago

    Is there any way i can add the old template, i mean the boxes type.
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    10 months ago

    SuperMAG, If you edit the default template and remove the background images then it will be very similar.

    You just need to decide what background colour and border colours you want.
    reply
  • SuperMAG

    10 months ago

    ok here is the problem, when ever i choose the default and Accordian in the wedget page, and click on save changes after that. it dosent save changes, i tried many times, its empty even after i change it.

    another thing, how can i delete widget structures 1,2,3,4,5 etc
    reply
  • SuperMAG

    10 months ago

    ok the first prob is solved, prob with my browser, thanks alot for your hard work
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    10 months ago

    SuperMag, removing them is an issue I will need to look at. Thanks for bringing it up.
    reply
  • Penelope Pince

    9 months ago

    Hi, first of all, thanks for this great plug-in.

    I've installed it on a test site and am having a problem with IE compatibility. You can see it at this page:
    http://ludwigandwolfgang.com/blogtest

    It looks okay in Firefox, but when I switch between tabs in IE6, the letters sort of "flash" and look weird for a moment before loading. Also, the corners of the tabs aren't showing up right in IE.

    It also seems to be conflicting with the Multi-Level Navigation plug-in (http://pixopoint.com/multi-level-navigation/) in IE6. When I hover over a multi-level menu item, bullets appear next to the Widget Structure box, which is peculiar. Bullets don't appear there when the FWWS plug-in is deactivated.

    Thanks for your hard work. I look forward to a stable release of this plug-in and being able to use it on my live site.
    P
    reply
  • Justin

    9 months ago

    Hey, great plugin. One question how do I get rid of structures I'm not using?
    reply
  • room1012

    9 months ago

    This widget is very cool! Thank you so much for all the work you've put in to this. Did I mention it's cool!?!
    reply
  • Cesar

    9 months ago

    I tried to put the widget but an error ocurred

    Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 49545216) (tried to allocate 40961 bytes) in /home/ralcesar/public_html/ayudaelectronica.com/blog/wp-admin/includes/widgets.php on line 213
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Cesar, I don't think this plugin is particularly memory intensive so it is likely that this just pushed your system over the edge.

    If it happens again I would suggesting talking to your hosting provider.
    reply
  • Rohin

    9 months ago

    when can we expect a sooner release ?
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Rohin, I will be releasing a further version early next week. It seems likely at the moment that the bugs reported so far will remain as I am having trouble fixing them without breaking the entire widget system. But the bug doesn't seem to have any adverse effects at the moment.
    reply
  • Rohin

    9 months ago

    is there any way to make the widget structure , adapt or inherit the css from the wordpress layout. Or is this just out of reach?

    By the way , I love your work so far , Don't give up !
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Not automatically no. For that to work all themes would really have had to define graphics and dimensions for the structure using known css variables and that just isn't going to happen.
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Thus plugin will search the theme folder for a template though, so if a theme author wanted to write a template for this plugin and include it then it would be available to import.
    reply
  • Martin

    9 months ago

    Hi!
    - looks exactly like the plug I was hunting for ;-)

    Just one thing: is it possible to "abuse" it to look like two smaller sidebars inside part of a wide sidebar?

    I am using the "Options" theme, which has a big fat 350px sidebar, and I would love to define a widget structure for the homepage sidebar, that basically looks like 2 sidebars with 160 px and stuff in some of the more narrow widgets in there...

    Thanks for your help and this plugin!
    Cheers
    Martin
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    I'll be honest Martin and say that I just don't know. I imagine it would be possible to restrict the width to 160px and throw two in but I don't think it could be done with a single sidebar.
    reply
  • Martin

    9 months ago

    Thanks Andrew! I was looking for a way without changing too much code in the theme files (updates...), but it seems there is no way around.

    Anyways: unfortunately widget structures kills the feature gallery of the Options theme (the "slideshow" with images and excerpts of featured articles), so I had to deactivate it. Have to find out what causes the trouble.

    Cheers - will definitely play some more with your plugin! Has great potential!
    reply
  • VizionQuest

    9 months ago

    Every time I add "Widget Structure 1" to my sidebar and save it, it becomes "Widget Structure 2 and so on. I created 6 Widget Structures but can't access them since the only one displayed in the left hand column of wp-admin/widgets.php is "Widget Structure 1". Any ideas why this is happening?
    reply
  • VizionQuest

    9 months ago

    Looks like Widget Structures 2 through 6 were being held in the "Show Unused Widgets" and weren't displaying in "Show All Widgets" under "Available Widget" list at /wp-admin/widgets.php
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Kevin, writing this plugin is a constant fight with the widget system that I haven't won yet.

    The add widget isn't supposed to have a number on it, i.e. it should be generic so the number is only added after you save. also the other widgets are not supposed to exist once removed from the sidebar but changing the code to make that work pretty much turns off the whole widget system.

    I still have some way to go, but thanks for persevering.
    reply
  • VizionQuest

    9 months ago

    I think it's very worth your while. I certainly appreciate it. When do you plan to add it to the WP repository?
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Thanks Kevin, I want to solve the widgets problems before I add it.
    reply
  • Craig

    8 months ago

    I installed on a client site, but am having a problem... on homepage it works fine, but on all other pages the tabbers are missing.

    Homepage is using sidebar_home.php.

    All other pages use sidebar.php.

    Both files have the exact same code in them.

    I also, used your address bar javascript, both homepage and other pages have the same divs, which is the same thing I see in firebug.

    Using FB, I can see that the pages it does not work on are not using/finding the defined css.

    Any ideas?
    reply
  • Craig

    8 months ago

    When I try to look at the style.php code it is now showing anything (in firebug), but does if on the homepage.

    Checked the header code and it is definitely loading it from the plugin directory.

    Thanks in advance.
    reply
  • VizionQuest

    8 months ago

    Hey Andrew,
    I recently deactivated the plugin because it wasn't displaying properly with my CSS and when I did so I had some widgets allocated to some of the structures. When I came back after the deactivation, the widgets that were assigned to the structures were no longer there. I reactived the plugin and the reappeared but my widgets were stripped from the sidebar and I had to re-add them again.

    I've deactivated the plugin for now. I still think it has some great potential. I am following these comments, so please post in here when it's ready to roll and I'll be back for the next version. Thanks!
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    8 months ago

    Craig, If it isn't showing any CSS in FB that usually means that WordPress is returning a 404 page instead of the file, meaning something is pointing to the wrong place.

    Kevin, these are the sorts of problems I am having with the widget system and so far I haven't been able to figure out what is going on. It is severe enough to put in doubt whether this ever gets released.
    reply
  • Craig

    8 months ago

    Well, not sure that makes sense. The homepage works fine, the sidebar.php is using the same code as sidebar_home.php.

    Also, when I say it isn't finding the css, it is picking up styling from the Theme's css file, but not from the plugin's. The pages that the sidebar are working on are displaying fine, no 404's.

    You can take a look ... http://inconwo.com/arealic/transportation/

    Thanks for the help.
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    8 months ago

    Craig, That is indeed the problem.

    The plugin is outputting a relative URL instead of a absolute one.

    If you open fun_with_widget_structures.php and find the function add_css.

    Then change the line that reads:
    echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="wp-content/plugins/fun-with-widget-structures/css/style.php" type="text/css" media="screen" />';

    to

    echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="'.get_bloginfo('wpurl').'/wp-content/plugins/fun-with-widget-structures/css/style.php" type="text/css" media="screen" />';
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    8 months ago

    Oh, WordPress converts the quotes to fancy quotes so don't copy and paste it.

    The only bit that matters is

    '.get_bloginfo('wpurl').'/
    reply
  • erin

    8 months ago

    I had a site running the sidebar tabs ap with WP 2.5 and everything was working great. Then the site admin upgraded to WP2.6 and now it's a total mess in IE7. Do you recommend simply downgrading to 2.5? I'm can't use a plugin that's still in beta for this site because it's too big of a gamble, it being so highly trafficked. What do you recommend? Have you heard of any other problems with your wonderful, but not retired ap and WP 2.6 not playing nice?
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    8 months ago

    Erin, I've not had any reports of problems in 2.6, I ran the old plugin myself on 2.6 until I switched themes and had no problems. Can you be more specific about the problem?
    reply
  • erin

    8 months ago

    You're right, it turns out that it has never worked right in IE7. So I upgraded to the latest version, and now it doesn't work in FF3 on a Mac. In IE7 all the widget content within the tabbed sidebar was being displayed, one on top of the other. I don't know if it's working in IE7 since upgrading to the last version of the plugin, but I do know that now in Firefox all the widgets are displayed as if they weren't in the tabbed sidebar at all. It does work in Safari though, but I noticed that some of the styling was thrown off by the upgrade to the latest version of your plugin. It's all just so weird. I think it might be best to just give up on getting it to work at all at this point. Seeing as you've retired the plugin!
    reply
  • Lilia

    8 months ago

    Hi, I've tried for 4 times enable and disable the plugin from wp.
    But widget structure still doesn't appear in design-widgets

    I'm using wp2.6.3.
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    8 months ago

    Lilia, I haven't been able replicate the problem.

    The only thing I can think of that would cause it would be if you were running PHP4. This plugin will only work on PHP5.
    reply
  • chris

    6 months ago

    Is this working with with 2.7 yet? It's not on my end, but that may be user error. ;)
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    6 months ago

    Chris, the folder in the ZIP file has been named incorrectly and that would have stopped it working. I will upload a new version. All you need to do though is change the folder name to fun-with-widget-structures
    reply
  • Sumu

    4 months ago

    Same over here: Don't find the widget listed. Using 2.7 on a MySQL5.0
    reply
  • boots

    4 months ago

    Hi

    Just came across this Beta of the next generation of Fun with Tabs. Very nice and it works in Safari and Chrome. Sa-weet.

    Would anyone be willing to share their non-graphical CSS-only FWS setup configuration as an export ? I'm looking for a nice box baseline much like the original FWT. I seem to be chasing my tail de-constructing the default template without the png's.

    Also, I have a suckerfish menu that drops down over my FWS container but parts of the FWS remain in foreground. Looks like I'll need to apply some zindex's to FWS elements. Does anyone have any tips to zindex FWS and/or have a config setup with zindex's they'd be willing to share as an export?

    Thanks in advance.

    Boots
    reply
  • Andrew Rickmann

    9 months ago

    Penelope, there are currently no compatability options for IE6. I am undecided about the direction to take on that.

    One option is to duplicate all the CSS fields again so each item can be overriden in IE6 using conditional comments, another is to do nothing and let it break. The third option is to detect IE6 and display it as a normal sidebar list.

    Justin, that is a bug in this version that I need to resolve.
    reply

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