A new set of bbsettings has been added to the base code for BlueBox2.0 which allow the control of thumbnail image sizing as well as final image resizing at class/module level.
Previously this was controlled at 'global' level by the config file.
The new settings are:
bbsetting_skip_image_resize - ignores the global resizing parameters for all images in this module
bbsetting_image_resize_width - sets the width for image resizing for all images in this module
bbsetting_image_resize_height - sets the height (if left blank, height is proportional to width)
bbsetting_image_thumbnail_width - as above, but for the auto-generated thumbnails
bbsetting_image_thumbnail_height - as above
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
BB2.0 Server Statistics Report
New to BlueBox2.0 this week is a System Statistics Module.
This new module is still in it's infancy, and currently stores a history of the highest ram-consuming page in the past hour on the server. The obvious uses for this report are to monitor which users/pages/reports are causing ram/processor outages on the system. We used the memory_get_peak_usage() function in PHP for this. An interesting article on PHP memory usage can be seen here.
To find the report go to Admin->System Stats
Available bbsettings for this module are:
bbsetting_system_stats_enable_storage : defaults to 1 (on) but can be disabled with a 0
bbsetting_system_stats_store_for_days : deafults to 7, number of days before 'old data' is deleted from the cache
In future this module will be used to store slow SQL queries, peak-usage stats etc.
This new module is still in it's infancy, and currently stores a history of the highest ram-consuming page in the past hour on the server. The obvious uses for this report are to monitor which users/pages/reports are causing ram/processor outages on the system. We used the memory_get_peak_usage() function in PHP for this. An interesting article on PHP memory usage can be seen here.
To find the report go to Admin->System Stats
Available bbsettings for this module are:
bbsetting_system_stats_enable_storage : defaults to 1 (on) but can be disabled with a 0
bbsetting_system_stats_store_for_days : deafults to 7, number of days before 'old data' is deleted from the cache
In future this module will be used to store slow SQL queries, peak-usage stats etc.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Quicker Access to bbsettings in BlueBox2.0
For those of you who use bbsettings a lot in the configuration of your BlueBox2.0 systems, you will relate to the time-consuming frustration of having to go to the admin->module_settings menu item, then having to select the relevant module from the long list of 100's... etc.
Recently added is a contextual menu item within each module which automatically takes you directly to the Module Settings module and auto-loads the correct module for you... enjoy:
Recently added is a contextual menu item within each module which automatically takes you directly to the Module Settings module and auto-loads the correct module for you... enjoy:
Cashbook Error Reduction in BlueBox2.0
A quick, little update to the Cashbook Module in BlueBox2.0 has been the introduction of the archivedYN flag.
This field, which is set in the bb_cashbooks table, determined whether a cashbook can be selected for manual cashbook entry. If not, it will not appear in the dropdown list.
Note: this setting does not stop automated entries from posting to the nominated cashbook.
This field, which is set in the bb_cashbooks table, determined whether a cashbook can be selected for manual cashbook entry. If not, it will not appear in the dropdown list.
Note: this setting does not stop automated entries from posting to the nominated cashbook.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Introducing BlueBox2.0 WebClicks Tracker
Released with today's code update for BlueBox2.0 is a nifty new module called the WebClicks Tracker.
As a web development agency we often get asked to assist customers with Google, Yahoo, Facebook etc Pay-Per-Click ad-campaigns, and invariably, these are then followed on with monthly feedback on the progress and status of the various campaigns we are running for them.
All too often, the stats we garner from Google Analytics or engines like Google Adwords, are too generic and don't offer the sort of in-depth drilldown analysis that would make the answer to 'who is clicking on our ads' or 'what pages are they viewing' or 'how many of them leave immediately' etc etc.
Given, an experienced eye cast of the Google Analytics report for each client would provide them with lots of info, but this is very time consuming and requires a lot of hand-holding.
What we decided was necessary was a stats engine that:
Our WebClicks Tracker does just that. You can edit a pre-defined list of 'accepted' referring domains, initially set to Google, Yahoo and Bing, and only traffic originating from these domains will be tracked. You can determine the frequency and recipients of an automated email which sends you all the info at regular intervals. And most importantly, you can get to view each user-session in a click-by-click manner, seeing which engine they came through, what keywords they were searching for and where they landed on your site. From there you get to see the pages they clicked on, and, if the cookie that is created by this process isn't deleted, you will see every page they come back to during the report period, even if they leave the site and return later.
The module is found under the Publishing menu, and configuration options are a set of bbsettings that can be configured by going to Admin->Module Settings:
As part of an ongoing enhancement of this module, we intend to integrate it with Google Adwords so that the origin adverts and their CPC details can be included in the reports.
That's it! Have fun!
As a web development agency we often get asked to assist customers with Google, Yahoo, Facebook etc Pay-Per-Click ad-campaigns, and invariably, these are then followed on with monthly feedback on the progress and status of the various campaigns we are running for them.
All too often, the stats we garner from Google Analytics or engines like Google Adwords, are too generic and don't offer the sort of in-depth drilldown analysis that would make the answer to 'who is clicking on our ads' or 'what pages are they viewing' or 'how many of them leave immediately' etc etc.
Given, an experienced eye cast of the Google Analytics report for each client would provide them with lots of info, but this is very time consuming and requires a lot of hand-holding.
What we decided was necessary was a stats engine that:
- stored ONLY the click-throughs from your priority engines, ie: traced the clicks you were paying for
- allowed you to analyse the clicks in groups per user-experience, not as separate page-stats
- sent you a daily or weekly automated email summary of your site, to keep you in the loop
The module is found under the Publishing menu, and configuration options are a set of bbsettings that can be configured by going to Admin->Module Settings:
- bbsetting_webclicks_tracker_maxmind_apikey
This setting is optional, and if you have a web-service key from MaxMind.com the system will translate your visitor IP addresses into country codes.
- bbsetting_webclicks_tracker_search_domains
This defaults to 'google.', 'yahoo.' and 'bing.' You can add more, just remember to leave the domain at the period (.) as this will allow traffic from all their country sites as well as the .com's
- bbsetting_webclicks_tracker_searchphrase_variables
This defaults to 'p' and 'q' as the top 3 engines all store their search queries in either &p=my+query or &q=my+query. If any of your extra sites store their search phrases in alternate GET variables, put them in here.
- bbsetting_webclicks_tracker_email_recipients
This is blank by default (ie no emails will be sent). It can contain an unlimited list of email recipients, separated by semi-colons (;). The email engine will only send one email every x days (where x is the value in the next bbsetting). To force the email script to send an email you can add the following to the URL of any page in you BB2 site... &global[force_webclicks_tracker_email]=1
- bbsetting_webclicks_tracker_email_frequency
This defaults to 7, which means that the above email function will send an email to all recipients every 7 days for the previous 7 day period. To change this simply put s different number in.
<!--:class:bb_webclicks_tracker:track:-->
As part of an ongoing enhancement of this module, we intend to integrate it with Google Adwords so that the origin adverts and their CPC details can be included in the reports.
That's it! Have fun!
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