Forums

Hello,

Came here from the JED through the demo link. Can't find a demo.

Forum search not helpful for me either.

Looking for a demo where I can create about 10 fields in the BE, then enter the data on the FE, then display the data on a FE page.

Any suggestions on where to see this appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I will try to fix the JED demos link!

there are some tutorials under Downloads/Chronoforms tutorials/ this will help you at #1

#2 this is straight forward, click the link beside the form name in the forms management area, after your form is created of course!

#3- to see data in FE you need the profile plugin, however to see it in BE its straight foward by clicking the table name beside the form, to store the data in general you need to create a table for the form, there is a tutorial for this also!

Cheers
Max

They guys here helped me type up this tutorial:
http://www.chronoengine.com/forums.html?cont=posts&f=5&t=12324#p21887

It's a start to finish using Forms and Connectivity for everything from creating the DB table and columns to the display and edits on the front end.

Hi,

Been looking the tutorials over and other referenced information. Been very helpful.

I do have two questions though, so please excuse any ignorance on my part.

1) Is it best to create a seperate DB for a potentially large project over time, or is it better to combine the data with the exisiting Joomla site DB data? Or does it even matter?

2) Also a question about tables. Many extensions tout that they are "tableless" as is I believe Joomla 1.5.X. As I understand it simply as a noob, "tables" are not good. Is this a seperate "table" issue from the DB tables? I believe it is, but would like confirmation and that DB tables are good.

Thanks again in advance for the help as I get my arms around this project.

Looking very much forward to implementing it.

#1, for ChronoForms DB Connection, the database table must reside in the very same database as the Joomla installation. You could use a separate database, but then you'd have to do much of the database work yourself. Only advantage I could imagine, would be separate storage quotas.

#2, html/xhtml tables are something completely different to database tables:

Html-tables are not bad by themselves, but it's rather how many designers use them in ways they were never intended to be. When creating a html-design, it's recommended to use <div>/<span> elements along with CSS styling, rather than nested tables (<table><tr><td><table><tr><td>left menu</td></tr></table></td><td><table>.....)

Databases store all data in structures which we like to call tables. Imagine a spreadsheet (MS Excel, OpenOffice Calc, etc):
Each column would represent a table field, and each row a record. That tells us that every cell on the same row belong together, and each cell on the same column are of the same type.
This "view" is very convenient when dealing with database records, and looks a lot like a table-structure. Hence we like to call them database tables.
Hence, database tables are "good", we'd probably not be able to deal with large amounts of data without them.

There are websites using Joomla and phpBB3 that have both installs on the same database and have thousands of users. You would need to have an unheard of amount of information in the database for it to cause an issue. Also, using the same Joomla database means you are able to backup that information as well anytime you backup Joomla with something like Joomlapack.

Hi,

Just a little PS here - Joomla is technically capable of connecting to any number of databases (you can just create a new connection - the code is in the forums here somewhere). But it is most unlikely that you'd ever need to do that except to link up with some exisiting application data.

Bob

Gents,

Thank you for your kind replies and sharing of knowledge. Much appreciated.

What I have learned about Joomla and adding extensions this past year is that in some cases they can lead you down a path that seems to develop ever steeper canyon walls.

As such, reading through the material, a couple more questions emerged.

1) With the recommended installation and related patches installed, how will they effect upgrading to later versions of Joomla, if at all?

2) Also, what effect will this installation have on Joomla SEF URLs, again if at all?

Thanks again for tolerating my noobishness...

Hi bkmchronoengine,

ChronoForms is a Joomla compatible extension, by and large Joomla upgrades work seamlessly with it. Though if the Joomla upgrade includes a structural change it may mean that ChronoForms needs to may some changes to stay compatible.

Again ChronoForms works reasonably well with SEF URLs provided that they are well set up. We do see some problems if the cache isn't cleared or if the URLs are misconfigured.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I really appreciate the heads-up on what I may run into down the road. Always nice to know where I'm going...

I would like to investigate the SEF URL issue some more, especially with my host provider.

Is there a location I may find all of the info regarding this topic as it applies to this project utilizing the CE applications?

Also, it would be nice to edit previous submissions from the FE too. Any place I can see this?

Thanks again in advance.

Hi Brian,

Is there a location I may find all of the info regarding this topic as it applies to this project utilizing the CE applications?

yes, the forums here ! ?

Also, it would be nice to edit previous submissions from the FE too. Any place I can see this?

using ChronoConnectivity, check the tutorial from the frontpage, it doesn't get much care from me now but I will make it better soon after I'm finished from all the Chronoforms issues!

Regards,
Max

...I would like to investigate the SEF URL issue some more, especially with my host provider.

Some food for thought on SEO. This article is a good read and comes from the people who know "search" as good or better than anyone else:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/09/dynamic-urls-vs-static-urls.html

If there is any chance the SEO algorithm for an add-on or Joomla might change through either it's own code changing or your current or new host not being able to provide apache rewrite, the standard static url actually becomes a better "SEO" url. It's just the look that is unpleasant.

Thanks Gents,

Ben,

Good info. Makes things interesting for sure...

Max,

Ckecked out the tutorial. It helps. Thanks.

For my needs, I need to have a user "Joe" log in through the standard Joomla login form, then create a new record from the FE. Joe can then edit or delete that record at will, or add another record again in the FE. Joe may have one or many records. Joe can also view his records in a summary column format or a detailed single record view again from the FE.

Would love to see this FE create/edit/delete functionality somewhere. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks again Gents. Appreciate the depth of knowledge and straight forward info.

This is available in ChronoConnectivity!

Regards
Max

Hi Max,

10-4, I hear you loud and clear.

I do understand CF and CC will do this...I just was hoping to play with or view an entire application up and running somewhere, especially the FE create / edit / delete function for a single user's records.

Thanks a million.

As soon as I finish the new Connectivity version I will add an application for us here with tutorial on how I did it, this helps of course!

Regards
Max

Hi,

Been a while.

Rolling up my sleeves and getting started on this project. Has anything changed regarding CF or CC since we last spoke?

Did a little poking around and it appears there has been some changes. So I'll ask some questions.

1.5.12 good to use for CC and CF?

What are the current server requirements?

Which CC and CF versions should I buy?

Thanks in advance.

Hi bkmchronoengine,

There have been a couple of new releases of ChronoForms - mostly consolidating some of the code behind the scenes but with some new plugins and some new features.

There's also a new release of ChronoConnectivity - this has some major changes and now uses ChronoForms as the Form engine for editing and adding records. (In the current release there is a major bug with the Admin forms that we are waiting for Max to fix in a new release, for the moment you can use front-end forms instead.) So ChronoConnectivity will only work if ChronoForms is installed.

Server requirements are the same as for Joomla - though you may experience some problesm with servers where security is over-tight. ChronoForms image verification, the session token management and file uploads can hit problems if the Joomla user does not have adequate permissions. In most cases your ISP can fairly easily make changes that will accomodate this.

Despite the caveat about Admin forms you should use the current releases of both products.

Bob

Hi,

Thanks for the speedy reply.

What can I not do with the front-end forms that the admin forms can do, once they are fixed?

Also, I want to do the application we discussed previously. Am I going to run into problems now that CF and CC have moved on to a new format? Will it be easier or harder for this app?

Thanks in advance.

Hi bkmchronoengine,

There's no difference in functionality between the front-end and back-end forms. But as a matter of management it's generally nto desirable to expose some of the admin functions at the front-end at all. You can hide them with user-group and ACL checks - but better not to have them there at all.

I'll go back and take a look at the application - I forget what it ws - and post again. I'd expect the answer to be that it is now easier - certainly no more difficult.

Bob

Third post of this thread has the link to the application...

Thanks again for speedy reply.

Hi Folks,

I need some much needed guidance regarding my application.

Should I proceed using the older versions of Joomla and CC and CF like Ben used, or should I use the current versions, or something in between?

Thanks in advance for the help so I initiate this project.

Hi bkmchronoengine,

Use the new versions.

Bob