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Readme for the "Shoutbox Plugin" 
version 1.0a
a plugin for LifeType (v1.1 and 1.0)
Developed by Palantir, radar@netpalantir.it

See the plugin in action at my blog:
http://www.netpalantir.it

This plugin is released under the terms of the LGPL

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Warning: Use at your own risk. It may work, but
it may also kill your blog.  BACK   UP   FIRST!!
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WHAT IT IS
A shoutbox is an object of your page that allows your visitors to leave a comment. It differs from the usual comments that users can leave, because shoutbox items are not bound to a post, rather they are visible in every page of the site.

WHAT THE PACKAGE PROVIDES (features)
 * It's a LifeType plugin, so it benefits from the LifeType archietecture and is completely integrated into the administration area
 * Full control on the shoutbox in the admin area: browse through posts and delete any of them
 * Nickname protection: you can set a password so no one ca use your nickname
 * Internationalized
 * NEW Email alerts with a link to immediately delete the post
 * NEW Can be temporarily disabled
 * NEW history: lets your users browse through all the past messages
 * Customized parts of the 'standard' template so that the plugin can be used right away. Please see the template files in the templates-sample/ folder.


HOW TO INSTALL (from scratch)
=== A: admin side
1. Unpack the archive
2. Locate the installation directory of LifeType
3. Copy the whole "shoutbox" directory into the plugins directory
4. Change the permissions/ownership of all the files, according to your setup.
   If you transfer files via FTP this should be unneccessary. All the files must 
   be readable by the web server.
5. Point your browser to your blog administration page, log in, click on: 
   Control Center > Plugin center (lifetype 1.0) or Administration > Plugin center (lifetype 1.1). The shoutbox plugin should be on your list. If it is not, try updating the page a few times, it seems to help ;)
6. Click on the Shoutbox tab on top of the plugin center section (lifetype 1.0) or    click on Control center > Shoutbox (lifetype 1.1)
7. The first time you access it, the plugin should autodetect if any change has to
   be done to the database and apply them, so to make it ready to use.
8. *IMPORTANT* enter the configuration area, review the default settings, and SAVE

=== B: user side
First, integrate the plugin into the template.
The easiest way is to modify the footer template to add the shoutbox on the right column. This procedure refers to the Standard theme, if you use your customized one, please make the according adjustments. On a multi-blog environment, you will need to customize each theme your bloggers have.

1. Find the theme directory you are using. It's located in templates/
2. Copy the following files into it, and customize them:
   shoutbox.template
   shotbox_history.template
   info.template
3. Open the footer template, find the place where the plugin needs to be placed, and include it. For example, change the standard footer template, so it looks like this:

      ... (continues) ...
      <li><a title="RSS 2.0" href="{$url->rssLink("rss20")}">RSS 2.0</a></li>
      <li><a title="Atom" href="{$url->rssLink("rss20")}">Atom</a></li>
      </ul>
      </div>

      <h2>{$locale->tr("Shoutbox")}</h2>
        <div id="Shoutbox">
          {include file="$blogtemplate/shoutbox.template"}
        </div>  
      ... (continues) ...


HOW TO USE IT
After the first setup, customize the options at the bottom of the page. Then, 
wait for people to leave messages. If you have enabled email notifications, 
you will receive the shouts directly into your mailbox. You can delete shouts 
from the admin interface, by selecting them and clicking the delete button, or using the link that is sent in the notification.
You can protect one or more nicknames, by adding them into the protected nicks 
box. Separate them using spaces. Then, when you want to use them, simply enter
the nickname followed by : and the password. Password is case sensitive.

HOW TO UPGRADE
Remove the old plugins/shoutbox directory and replace it with the new one. Then try to follow the changes on the templates. Updating from 0.13 will migrate your data automatically. Upgrading from earlier versions is not supported. Your data will not be lost however.

DOESN'T WORK? BUGS? WISHES? WHO TO CONTACT
Please, use the LifeType's bug reporting system. It's located at:
http://bugs.lifetype.net
Otherwise, send me a mail: radar@netpalantir.it
I must admit I don't read LifeType forum regularly, so if you post there, please
let me know by mail as well.

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TODO:
- Restore the validation of the fields in the admin interface
- Flooding protection
- Spam protection
- CAPTCHAs optional support

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CHANGELOG:
v 1.0a
- Finally 100% LifeType architecture compliant
- Ported to LifeType 1.1
- Added locale
- Added shoutbox history mode
- Now fully supports cached blogs
- Quick delete with links in the email notification (using a public blogaction and an auth link)
- Added the possibility to temporarily disable the shoutbox

v0.13
- Fixed password bug
- Fixed error messages

v0.12
- Porting of the whole thing to the new pLog 1 framework. Costed A LOT of work
so it's not such a _minor_ release ;-)

v0.11x
- Nickname password protection
- Admin section: shout list divided in pages

v0.1
Initial release