Using ExpressionEngine or Joomla templates inside a pre-existing page? - codeigniter

So I'm new to both Joomla and Expression Engine, and want to know if I can use it like I'd like. I've already made a full site, and would like to integrate blogging into the site. The site is on CodeIgniter.
Is there a way that I could create a form template for submitting a post which would then save to my Joomla/CodeIgniter DB. Then, on a different page, use a different Joomla/CodeIgniter template to display the blog in the form I would like.
Note that this wouldn't necessarily be powered by EE or Joomla. From what I understand, and from all the examples I've seen, you have to make the html of the entire page inside of their templates.
At worst, if neither work, is there anything I can use to do this?
Thanks!

I would think EE would be the way to go since as of a few months ago, EE was 100% built on CodeIgnitor. I'm not sure from your question what you are trying to do - but in short, if you install/use EE to power your blog it is going to write to the EE database. That said, you can embed anything within an EE template (raw PHP or CI), including a form that would post to your existing site database.
There's some talk about this on the EE forums:
http://expressionengine.com/forums/viewthread/74157/

Related

Application to display information from database

I understand that this is a very broad question and could get flagged but I need inputs from experienced programmers and will ask it anyway. If there is another forum where I can post this question, please let me know.
Currently we manage all our application information in an Excel spreadsheet. At a high level it contains an app id, the server names that it is hosted on and the name of the environment. The Excel spreadsheet has become too large and I am looking to build a simple application for it.
Ideally, I would like to write this app on Windows as everyone uses Windows but dont know how to go about it in Windows. I then thought of using MySQL and PHP or Perl (CGI) to build this but thought of exploring something new. I read about Joomla and a few other CMS products which make it very easy to build websites but am not sure whether these allows me to pull information from a database.
I am seeking inputs on what would be a good way to way to build this application.
Use Joomla! CMS is a good choice and to pull data from database you may use webservice calls. So, you will able to create a CMS website using joomla and will able to pull data easily from database with the help of webservice.
You can get webservice support in joomla by installing component redCORE in joomla.
Component: https://github.com/redCOMPONENT-COM/redCORE
Wiki: http://redcomponent-com.github.io/redCORE/?chapters/webservices/overview.md
Other videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzJkC7f9fJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NRT5jh3Ewc
Joomla dev group discussion https://groups.google.com/d/msg/joomla-dev-cms/3OctbkIZlQw/5d_1MLrzbgYJ
You can also post questions in Joomla forum http://forum.joomla.org/
I think Joomla is a great option to handle big loads of information. If you already know PHP and don't need to reinvent the wheel, it's cool. The way of handling data in Joomla is using Components.
If you want to try, it would be as easy as installing a local copy of Joomla, building the field structure on component-creator.com installing it and importing the data inside the component using phpmyadmin.

What is the correct approach to learn Codeigniter?

In the last 3 months, i have learnt html, css, js and php and now i'm trying to learn Framework Codeigniter. My teacher gave me a rough idea abt MVC and asked me to download a project made on codeigniter from internet and edit it.
I downloaded a login form project and tried to read it. But i'm still kind of confused how everything works. i hv 2 questions:
What is the correct approach to learn codeigniter?
In how many days one can learn codeigniter? (i practice around 6-7 hrs a day)
The best way to learn codeigniter is to read the manual of codeigniter
Because, codeigniter framework is so much popular for their well formatted and clean documentation.
Or you can check this for beginner level tutorial
Or if you want to learn codeigniter by doing practical projects then you can follow this link
I learned CI over a weekend using this technique.
Start with simply setting up a 2 page site.
Home and About Us.
Pass simple string variables from the controllers to the views.
Next, bring a model into it.
Make a method in your model that returns some plain text, to the controller and finally to the model.
Next, make the model actually make a request to your database and return the result to the constructor then view.
After that try these:
write a helper function
Try making a basic route
Log a debugging message
upload a file from a form using the upload library
That's a good grounding in CI
Keep in mind Codeigniter is no longer in development also.
If your keen on sticking with PHP, you might want to check out the similar active project called "Laravel" after getting the hang of CIs very simple MVC structure.
Good luck!
the common way is read their manual and follow the guide, the another approach is search youtube for codeigniter turial, there are many good tutorial out there and easy to follow for example here is my result in the first place for keyword "codeigniter tutorial"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP9NRZXOvIw&list=PLIQyGVrcLTeXsq37O7IBGaUwu6xEwqBWV&index=1

what is simple MVC based PHP blogging application?

I am searching for a Blogging tools like wordpress. But I want MVC based tools to extend my blog with MVC structure.
My main requirements is
Must be based on MVC
Simple & lightweight
it's blog url structure should be domain.com/cat_name/post_title , because my current wordpress blog is like that, I don't want to lose Facebook Share and Tweets.
I want a simple one, because this is learning only.
Clarifying: if a CMS you use is based on a MVC design pattern or not is irrelevant to you as an user, except if you want to meddle with its inner workings (which you don't - a CMS is made to be used and possibly extended, but in 99% of use cases, if it isn't extendable to your needs, changing the source code is a bad idea, as it will most likely break with any updates you may want to make)
You may want a MVC framework, which will in turn allow you to **code** a CMS of your own, or use a good, extendable, CMS app
The one I use is ProcessWire, which is a CMS/CMF (F stands for Framework) php app, and seems to be the kind of thing you are looking for - it manages your content for you (the default installation comes with a few demo pages) but you define the fields, and you use them to display your content at will. Check it out - the user forum is quite active, and people there are really helpful.
Well there are tons of Content Managment System Based on MVC frameworks (eg . CodeIgniter ) . I personally recommend Pyro ( Based on CodeIgniter) but other also seem promising . but i don't know much since i haven't tried .
Note that this is a highly relative question and will bring forth a ton of opinions and not real answers. With that in mind, here is my answer.
I know of a tool that you can use to install an MVC template for and on top of ProcessWire along with basic project managing tasks using gulp. Note, the M will be considered ProcessWire.
Have a look on github.com and look at the profile of fixate and repo generator-fixate-pw. (ie: generator-fixate-pw, added the sentence if the link breaks).
Install this by following the instructions on the repository. The tool is very specific but learning to use the framework helped improve my php skills allot (still learning allot).
Whether the CMS will be used as a blog or not will depend on your implementation of the install.

customizing componnet in joomla

i have created a component using this http://www.notwebdesign.com/joomla-component-creator/index.php component creator how can i add a simple registration form in that and also make its backend looks like the other component
The name of that utility is a little misleading since it only creates the structure of a component. If you want to add functionality to the structure created you will need to actually put in the code that does what ever you need it to do. Think of this as the foundation and framework of a house. You actually have to put the walls up and furnish it.
It would probably be helpful to understand the files that have been created for you so you know what needs to be added. I would recommend learning how to build a component from scratch first. Joomla has pretty good documentation on that here - http://docs.joomla.org/Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_Component_-_Part_1
i have develop the Lots of component from this site http://www.notwebdesign.com/joomla-component-creator/index.php .
1) First Create the components and give the name and crrate the require field fo the registration from .and save the components then after the download this components.
2) Install the components in your joomla site.
3) Go to the Fornt-end view components folder. and create a form in the default.php page and save and update operation query is written in the model .
Your Registration page is ready.
This tutorial is the best I have come across so far. It will hopefully guide you to understand the MVC structure that the component generating site delivers to you.
I am actually the developer of the Component Creator you have used. It only creates the MVC files and structures needed to quickly create a component. You still need quite good PHP skills to develop a fully working component.
The component creator helps developers with the tedious tasks of building the framework.

How to create my own form in joomla

I want to create my own form that are submitted and values of that form will be stored in joomla database. How can i used the Joomla connection code to interacte with the joomla database.
If you just want to get your work done, there are some components already avaiable in Joomla Extension's website to your form's needs. CkForms is a good one, you can create simple forms with it that are automatically saved in the database (supports upload of files too).
If you want to learn how to write extensions in Joomla, you should read Joomla Official Documentation website.
Extensions in Joomla are divided in "Components", "Modules" and "Plugins". More informations about these differences can be found here and here.
What you're trying to achieve sounds a "component" to me. Downloading the CkForms and reading it's source code should get you started to Joomla's way of writing components.
EDIT: Joomla has a huge API with a lot of features. It has a database module of it's own, with insert methods and such. Reading Joomla's API website before implementing your component it's a good idea to avoid "reinventing the wheel" and it's a good practice since those methods are extensively tested by all Joomla users.
The JForm class helps you build forms.
Documentation can be found here:
joomla CMS: http://docs.joomla.org/API16:JForm
joomla API: http://api.joomla.org/11.4/Joomla-Platform/Form/JForm.html
This class provides you with ready to use form elements and form loading and/or processing methods
This class includes validation methods, date picker control, color picker, etc.
Of course, as another mentioned above, if you are building a module, component, or application, you will need to learn how to to develop a module, component or application. Of these three, the module is the easiest to implement.
The application gives you much freedom b/c you are not constrained to the CMS paradigm, front and back end complexities. However, there is little documentation about how to develop applications with Joomla framework b/c joomla as a framework is relatively new
This tutorial gets you started understanding how to use JForm to create a form in Joomla: http://www.ostraining.com/blog/how-tos/development/getting-started-with-jform/
Or you could just create add a html module to any position and then write the form in html i.e.
<form method="post" action="mycreatedpage.php"> <input type="text"/> <input type="submit">
Now just create a page that handles the code by emailing or inserting into db. I havent tried it but i think it should work.
Looks like everyone already told you almost everything I know except for the component creator. Very easy to use, and it follows Joomla standards. Will get you up and running within minutes.
I have got good working experience with Joomla RSForm Pro. It has got options for
validation
user email/admin emails on submit
file uploads
and many more
Good tutorials too. Get started with http://www.rsjoomla.com/support/documentation/view-knowledgebase/21-rsform-pro.html
Good luck!
Create View.
Create Model.
Create Table.
Create Controller ( if Needed ).
Create Form xml file.
Go here for more information:
http://docs.joomla.org/Standard_form_field_types
Take a look at the Chronoforms extension - does more than you want.
You have two options:
Use an already built custom form extension
Create your own custom form extension (or outsource it)
Now if you only want to modify the user registration form, then you can do some PHP customization to accomplish your goal.
Making forms in Joomla can be done in a couple of ways.
If you just wanted a contact us, you can just create a page with a menu item for the User contact form. This gives you a page with a Members address and contact form. So all you would need to do was add the user as the company of the websites home address and email. But the form is very basic, name, title, textarea for message.
Next up from that you could just make a Custom HTML module add add a form to it in plain HTML like +Sean said above this, you would need to code in PHP your own form process script. You would not get error in form data checking unless you also wrote it.
Next you might rather look on the Joomla Extension Directory JED for one of the good extensions for 3 and 2.5 Joomla RSForms!Pro is good, and can do all we have needed. This lets you add fields one by one and move your form around. Then can auto generate or custom the html of the form.
You can easily create your own forms with Fabrik
Chronoforms are now a days a very popular solution for custom forms in joomla. Chornoforms support twitter bootstrap also. In simple 5 steps you can create a contact form with unlimited fields and also embed various function like DB save, Email, Thanks Message, Redirection on any page. There is events and events will have particular events.
Also possibility of extension of Normal joomla registeration. It will not extend the core registration but at the time of registration you can take various information from users.
I would use Chrono Forms, they work really well and are easy to use.
Download here
Here is a full tutorial on the new Chronoforms 5 to help you get started quickly and understand most of the features available.
CLICK HERE
You can use plugin to insert external php form in content. It is easy and you don't need to make plugin etc. Please use this.
I suggest you to use breezingforms: http://crosstec.de/en/extensions/joomla-forms-download.html
It's one of the best solutions for custom form creation in joomla.

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