Email notification of new comments

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if there are any plans currently to add a feature that would allow users to have gallery email them whenever someone leaves a comment in their album. This would be very useful for helping to keep users returning to the site so they would be interested in posting more pictures. Sometimes people tend to forget and then the gallery albums basically become stagnant. Just a thought, I guess. Dunno if this has already been suggested but I think probably yes. Hopefully it will be possible in the next installment of gallery2.

-Thanks

Ahhh, an email notification module would be awesome.

I envision a module where the user can get an email when some of the albums are updated with new photos or comments. It could also entail a newsletter of sorts.

Sorry I can't help with any coding at all, but I just wanted to shown that it would be a great addition down the road.

that certainly works, but it may be nicer in the long run to centralize email notifications.. make an event for anything we may want to send email about and then the email notification module can listen for those events and send email for anything that has been configured. then in site admin you could say things like: email all site administrators when a new album is created, email the item owner when a comment is added, etc.

We have a simpler mechanism for this. Whenever an item is saved, it generates an event, and you can create module which listens for those events. You can take your own action at that time, whatever action you want.

Look at modules/sizelimit/module.inc for the handleEvent method. It looks for the GalleryEvent::save event meaning that we're saving an item. It then checks to see if the item being saved is a new GalleryAlbumItem, and if it's being newly created then it takes an action.

You can do the same -- create a module that listens for newly created GalleryComment instances and fires off an email to your list of people. Start by creating a new module that just has an event listener that uses GalleryCoreApi::sendTemplatedEmail() to send a test email whenever a comment is added. Once you have that going, we can build on it together.

If anyone is interested, I've done a project document outlining goals and scope of the "notify" module.

http://colin.haggis.nl/?page_id=22

Haggis,

Just wondering if you're still working on this module or have other duties taken over. Been on to your website link for the project outline but nothings appears to have happened since mid May.

We trust in you ;=)

Hope you can find some time in this. I agree to the first posting. This is a method to bring the use back to the site. The user has to be informed when something is new or has changed.

Thank you for your support.

And Gallery (including G2) is great.

Regards, Gregor.

Haggis, any news on the module?
I just found this thread and notifying me as an admin when new photos are uploaded is one functionality that I definitely need for upgrading to G2.
I know that there is a similar module in G1, perhaps you can find some additional infos there?
Please keep us updated!

As I have trouble with the code too I tried to get it to work.
My solution look like:

                list ($ret, $item) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($itemId);

                list ($ret, $owner) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($item->getOwnerId());
                $ownerName = $owner->getFullName();

		list ($ret, $user) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($gallery->getActiveUserId());
		$userName = $user->getFullName();

		$emailSubj = '[Homepage] New picture comment';
		$emailContent = 'Greetings '.$ownerName.'!'."\n\n".
                                'New comment from user: '.$userName."\n".
                                'Subject: '.$form['subject']."\n".
                                'Comment: '.$form['comment']."\n".
                                'URL: http://www.your-page.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId='.$itemId."\n\n".
				'This is an automatic mail.!';
		$from = 'email@host.de';
	  	mail($owner->getEmail(),$emailSubj,$emailContent, "From: $from\nX-Mailer: PHP/ . $phpversion()", "-f $from"); 

Add the code above line: /* Send the user to a confirmation page, for now */
I'm sure the code isn't clean. It's my first steps with coding in Gallery2.

greetings riedl

Yes, in AddComment.inc.
I don't wanna give you a line, maybe I deleted some empty lines above.

I added the code (in class AddCommentController, function handleRequest) between this lines

 ...
$ret = $comment->save();
if ($ret->isError()) {
    return array($ret->wrap(__FILE__, __LINE__), null);
}

INSERT THE CODE HERE

/* Send the user to a confirmation page, for now */
$redirect['view'] = 'comment.CommentChangeConfirmation';
...

Take care that if you want to test the function you use a picture you are the owner of

assumed that you don't mind to whom the mail addresses just add another line like (if the mail $from is yours):
mail($from,$emailSubj,$emailContent, "From: $from\nX-Mailer: PHP/ . $phpversion()", "-f $from");
or else
mail('your@email.com',$emailSubj,$emailContent, "From: $from\nX-Mailer: PHP/ . $phpversion()", "-f $from");
and replace the

just edit one line, e.g.
'New comment from user: '.$userName." (".GalleryUtilities::getRemoteHostAddress().") \n".

phpversion is a php function.
from? do you maybe mean form? form is data from the form sent to insert the comment.

I can't believe this feature still didn't make the cut for Gallery 2.1.

code review:
- needs proper error handling (check $ret values)
- use $gallery->getActiveUser() instead of loading entity for getActiveUserId
- text strings should be translated
- putting email content in a tpl file and using GalleryCoreApi::sendTemplatedEmail would make it easier for others to customize the email (then they can use a local tpl)
- if you don't make this^ change then must use $platform->mail instead of mail() php function
- needs to use $gallery->getUrlGenerator() to generate URL (use forceFullUrl=true, forceSessionId=false and htmlEntities=false options) (and =core.ShowItem is missing from url above)
- gallery version number probably shouldn't be in the message, unless you get the actual number instead of hardcoded 2.1
- LFrank, you put "FROM@MAIL.COM" where the TO address goes.. the above code has $owner->getEmail()
- needs to check that $owner->getEmail() is not empty
- needs to have a site admin option to turn emails on/off
- needs to be unit tested

nicheplayer, other than the "FROM@MAIL.COM" error the code above can work.. you're welcome you use it (at your own risk of course) until this feature is added.. the above review is what is needed to get this ready for CVS.

Hi,

I am a newbie, just starting up a personal gallery. I have tried the above code. It works fine for the first test. Hope there will be no serious bug.
Thanks

----------------------------------------
Gallery version = 2.0 core 1.0.0
PHP version = 4.3.11 apache
Webserver = Apache/1.3.33 (Unix) mod_gzip/1.3.26.1a mod_auth_passthrough/1.8 mod_log_bytes/1.2 mod_bwlimited/1.4 PHP/4.3.11 FrontPage/5.0.2.2634a mod_ssl/2.8.22 OpenSSL/0.9.7a
Database = mysql 4.1.18-standard
Toolkits = ArchiveUpload, ImageMagick, Exif, NetPBM, Thumbnail, Gd
Operating system = Linux pass30.dizinc.com 2.4.29-ow1 #1 SMP Sat Apr 23 02:22:15 EDT 2005 i686
Browser = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1

This is exactly the functionality I have been looking for. But what the heck are you guys talking about? I get the basic idea that some code has to be modified somewhere. Can someone help out a newbie with what I do with all that code? Let's back up. How do I find out what version of Gallery I'm running? Then what do I do with the code? Thanks to all who worked on this.

Thanks for your response, LFrank. I found the file and made a copy (for when I mess up and have to upload the original again). Am I to understand that I replace the code:

$ret = $comment->save();
if ($ret->isError()) {
return array($ret->wrap(__FILE__, __LINE__), null);
}

/* Send the user to a confirmation page, for now */
$redirect['view'] = 'comment.CommentChangeConfirmation';
$redirect['itemId'] = (int)$itemId;
$status['added'] = 1;

with the code you have supplied above? It seems that the line "if ($ret->isError()) {" will then be replaced by "if ($ret) {". Is that OK or am I not understanding something? Thank you again.

Captenaj, put/insert the new lines in front of the "Send to confirmation page" ... there should nothing to be deleted. It simply adds to the existing code.

   ...
	$comment->setComment($form['comment']);
		$comment->setDate(time());

		$ret = $comment->save();
		if ($ret) {
		    return array($ret, null);
		}
		
		 /* added eMail Notification based on MRiedl's modification */
		list ($ret, $item) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($itemId);
		if ($ret) {
			return array($ret->wrap(__FILE__, __LINE__), null);
		}
		
		list ($ret, $owner) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($item->getOwnerId());
		if ($ret) {
			return array($ret->wrap(__FILE__, __LINE__), null);
		}
		$ownerName = $owner->getFullName();
		$ownerEMail = $owner->getEmail();
		
		list ($ret, $user) = GalleryCoreApi::loadEntitiesById($gallery->getActiveUserId());
		if ($ret) {
			return array($ret->wrap(__FILE__, __LINE__), null);
		}
		$userName = $user->getFullName();
		
		$emailSubj = 'GALLERY2 - New picture comment added';
		$emailContent = 'Greetings '.$ownerName.'!'."\n\n".
			'New comment from user: '.$userName." (".GalleryUtilities::getRemoteHostAddress().") \n".
			'Subject: '.$form['subject']."\n".
		  'Comment: '.$form['comment']."\n".
		  'URL: http://localmail.dynip.com/GALLERY2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId='.$itemId."\n\n".
			'[this is an automatic mail, generated by Gallery !]';
		$from = 'cps@lf-photodesign.de';
		mail("cps@lf-photodesign.de",$emailSubj,$emailContent, "From: $from\nX-Mailer: PHP/ . $phpversion()", "-f $from");
				

		/* Send the user to a confirmation page, for now */
		$redirect['view'] = 'comment.CommentChangeConfirmation';
		$redirect['itemId'] = (int)$itemId;
		$status['added'] = 1;
	    }
   ...

Btw. SVN is more clever than CVS ... it merges the change locally ;) - you only need to think about if you update from nightly archives (there was a switch from CVS to SVN sometimes ago - no need to bother any longer).

I've attached my "AddComments.inc" for your reference (don't forget to adjust your e-mails and gallery path).

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

Captemaj, just replace "http://localmail.dynip.com/GALLERY2/" with your "http://www.elliottsnest.net/photos/" and leave the main.php? stuff ...

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

Hmm. it looks like something got 'lost' ... the $redirect should be after the inserted lines, can you attach your file to have a look?

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

Captenaj, you have the "/* Send user to confirmation page, for now */" twice and therefore a "}" too much, remove lines 142 to 146 (these are duplicates to 134-138). And line 91-99 (these wouldn't cause an error - but will be better to have them out I assume).

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

Hmm, I know it running with 2.1 and newer ... why don't you update from 2.03?

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

OK, I'll keep fingers crossed ...

Gallery version = 2.2-svn core 1.1.16
PHP version = 5.1.6 apache2handler
Webserver = Apache/2.2.3 (Win32) DAV/2 PHP/5.1.6 mod_ssl/2.2.3 OpenSSL/0.9.8c
Database = mysql 5.1.11 beta-log,
Theme=PGlightbox,
Gallery-URL=http://lf-photodesign.de

Oh no! Now I can't get it to work at all. I WAS working with the new version of Gallery. I swear it was. I re-uploaded my original AddComment.inc file and now I get the error:

Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/ccc/xmen/yoururl.com/photos/modules/comment/AddComment.inc on line 145

With line 145 being the same one as I quoted in my previous posting.

What have I done????? Thanks.

That would explain it. I think I must have deleted the AddComment.inc file that came with the upgraded version of Gallery. How can I get another copy? Can someone give me a copy of theirs or can I download it from gallery somewhere? If I uninstall and then reinstall the module, will that work? Will it delete all my old comments? Thanks.