History of DataPluginSpyText
| Version 2 | Current version | |
|---|---|---|
HistoryI originally named this Plugin HideText - and then my sense of humor got a hold of both of us - and we took a trip to never-never land. What kind of people hide things in plain sight? Well - Spy's Do. And the idea gave itself a new name SpyText while I fell off my chair laughing about it. If you don't see anything humorious in all of this - take a l look at the code - there's a Spy on nearly every line.Summary - So What does it Do?All that SpyText does is Hide stuff. It will Hide text (or anything else) so that only specific people (Spy(s)) or Groups (Agency(s)) can see them. It works the old fashioned way - by encasing the data between a pair of Code Blocks - Like This:{SpyText}Data{SpyText} The data can extend as far as you like - and will be displayed in a div box Parameters - How Do I Call It?{ SPYTEXT spy= agency= sender= to= hidden= title= width= icon= alert= }
A Important Visibility Note:By Default - everything encapsulated with in the SpyText Code Blocks is Not Displayed. i.e. Nobody will see the contents unless you say they can. Nobody that is - except the Administrator - who can always see it. I made that little mistake while writing this page. It looked great - it was really was too bad that nobody could see any of my examples.Examples:SpyText Without Data - Nothing is Displayed-->{ SPYTEXT }{SPYTEXT}<---->{SPYTEXT }{SPYTEXT}<-- This shows the result of Calling the Plugin without Data - a single space NOTE This applies if: The current user is not on the list of users(spy) - AND - The current user is not in the list of the groups(agency) See the Note on Visibility (above). All of the Examples on this page have agency='Registered' specified so that they are visible to everyone Which brings up something kind of Cute Anonymous user will not be able to see any of the Examples on this page Try Looking at this page without being logged in - None of the SpyText messages are visible Of Course - that wouldn't be worth spit if it couldn't be reversed - The next example show how to do that. SpyText With / spy='Guest' - ONLY an Anonymous Users can see it{SPYTEXT spy='Guest' }Data{SPYTEXT}Hint - Don't try adding "Anonymous" to the list of groups(agency) Doing that will allow Anonymous Users to view the message But because of the way Groups function - EVERY User will be able to see it Let's Play a Buildup Game - Each Call Adds to the OriginalSpyText Visible to All Registered Users{ SPYTEXT agency='Registered' }Data{SPYTEXT}{SPYTEXT agency='Registered' }Data{SPYTEXT} SpyText Add the Expandable Address Box[+]SpyText Displaying Only Valid Users[+]SpyText Displaying Only Valid Groups[+]SpyText Displaying Only Valid Senders (Users)[+]Starting OverSpyText Testing to - Replacing a Single Header[+]SpyText Testing to - Not Assigning Enough Headers[+]SpyText Testing to - Assigning all new Headers[+]OK - Lets Get HiddenA SpyText Message will be hidden if the hidden parameter is set TRUEThe link to Expand/Contract the Message is the Title or Icon displayed. A Important Note on Hidden MessagesThe SpyText Plugin uses an Alert Box to notify the Administrator that a page has Hidden Text on it. This may be a mistake - but for now that is how it is. That means that each time an Admin looks at this page - he/she will have 7 Alert Boxes to respond to.The reason I'm saying this is - Like everything else - Hidden SpyText Messages can be abusive if overused. If you really want to play games with your Admin - just dump a hundred Hidden SpyText Messages on every page you can edit. See how long it takes before you can never login again. Starting Over - AgainSpyText Hidden Only[+]SpyText Changing the Title & the Width of the Title[+]SpyText Add the Expandable Address Box[+]OK - Lets Do IconsStarting Over - Part 3SpyText Default Icon[+]SpyText Add the Expandable Address Box[+]SpyText Give the Icon a URL[+] | HistoryHave you ever had a project that seemed to have a life of it’s own? I have and my latest was SpyText. It not only gave itself it’s name but also demanded features that I never intended to include. Let me explain.I originally named the Plugin HideText on the Plugins Proposal Page but felt a better name for it would have been HideStuff - mainly because that's what it does. When I started working on it though - I asked myself - "What kind of people hide things in plain sight?" - and quickly answered "A Spy Does!" I didn't seem to have be a choice after that. My imagination (and warped sense of humor) took me and I found myself in the Madd Magazine's Land named Spy-Verses-Spy where I left Secret Messages everywhere. Alive or not - the decision was made. The name became SpyText and there was no turning back. While the idea behind SpyText was simple - I found that writing the code was far more difficult than I had imagined. I like Puns (especially Groaners) and when I started writing - they kept jumping on my desk and demanding to be included. Each time the code became a little more complex - but that wasn't the real killer. The real difficultly was that I couldn't reach the keyboard while sitting on the floor. Each Pun arrived in rapid succession and they had me laughing so hard I that I kept falling out of my chair. I've been told that simple minds are easily amused and I guess it's true. At any rate - there is a Spy hidden on nearly every line of SpyText's code. Summary - So What Does It Do?All that SpyText does is Hide Stuff! The Default Visibility for every Message is - Don't Show Nobody Nuttin and everything placed between it's 2 Code Blocks is hidden from everyone Except the Spy(s) & Agency(ies) (Users & Groups) that you define.Note: It's a Plot! A Conspiracy I say! Every Administrator is a Spy! They see every SpyText Message! All of this means that SpyText can be used as a way of controlling what each User will see on a page. As an example: Anonymous Users can be shown one thing while Registered Users can be shown something else entirely. Note To Administrators: If you are using SpyText Messages in this manner - Make sure you test the visibility of the Messages in the Groups your including (or excluding). I know that this seems obvious - but I made this mistake while writing this page. I do most of my editing on my Testing Site before placing the finished pages on bitweaver.org. Everything looked great to on my Site where I was the Administrator. After adding it to bitweaver.org though - I discovered that None of my Examples were visible. Oh - Dahhhhh! The Plugin's Help[+]A Note On Abusing SpyTextThe alert parameter is provided to give the Less-Than-Swift Spy a little assistance in finding their Messages. Alert Boxes can be very annoying when overused - so please limit their usage to once a page or once per Spy / Group.Administrators are not quite that fortunate. Every time SpyText creates a Hidden Message - an Alert Box is added to give the Administrator notice that a page has Hidden SpyText Message on it. This may be a mistake and if so it will be changed in the future - but that is how it is right now. What that means is that the Administrator will have a lot of Alert Boxes to respond to when the page contains a lot of hidden messages. This page as an example has 7 Alert Boxes - far too many. Now if you Really want to play games with your Administrator - just dump a few hundred Hidden SpyText Messages on every page. Yes - You can be the first one on your block to find out how long it takes to Never Be Able To Login Again. Note: This problem has been eliminated with the last update. Only one Alert Box will be generated per page. Examples:All of the Examples on this page have agency='Registered' specified so that only Users who are Logged In will be able to see the Messages. Anonymous User will not be able to see any of the Examples on this page. See for yourself - Log out and look at this page. The only SpyText Message that is visible - is Example 2 for Anonymous Users.Example 1 - No Parameters Or Data[+]Example 2 - Only Visible To Anonymous Users[+]A Note About The Following ExamplesIn the following Examples we are going to play a buildup game with the Parameters. Each Example will have the same Parameters as the preceding Example except as noted.Example 3 - Only Visible To Registered Users[+]Example 4 - The Address Box[+]Example 5 - The Spy Line Only Displays Valid Users[+]Example 6 - The Agency Line Only Displays Valid Groups[+]Example 7 - The Sender Line Only Displays Valid Users[+]Examples 8 & 9 - Demonstrate Changing The Address Box HeadersEach of these Examples use the Parameters spy='Spider' agency='Registered' sender='StarRider' with only the to Parameter being changed.In addition to specifying if the Address Box will be displayed (to='TRUE') - the to Parameter can change the Default Headers used in the Address Box. The Default Headers are: "To the Spy:" / "To the Agency:" / "From Your Source:" This is accomplished by providing replacement strings separated with the | Character. Note 1: The Address Box is available at any time no matter what other parameters are supplied. Note 2: For further information on the to Parameter - see the Plugin's Help (above). Example 8 - Changing All Of The Headers[+]Example 9 - Changing A Single Header[+]Hidden ExamplesAll of the Hidden Examples use the Parameters spy='Spider' agency='Registered' sender='StarRider' to='TRUE'SpyText Messages can be hidden on a page. That is - the SpyText Message Data is placed in a Contracted Expandable Box that uses either the Title or an Icon as the link to Expand/Contract it. Note: A Hidden Message cause an Alert Box to be generated for the Administrator even if the Alert Parameter has not set - so please see the Heading about Abusing SpyText. Example 10 - A Hidden Message[+]Example 11 - With A Title Bar[+]Example 12 - Changing the Title Bars Title & Width[+]Example 13 - The Default Icon[+]Example 14 - The Default Icon In A Title Bar[+]Example 15 - Using Content Id Numbers[+]Example 16 - Using A URL[+]Example 17 - Using Alerts[+]Final ThoughtsHow to end this? For me - SpyText was one of those projects that make it all worth while. It started as something simple that grew and then just continued growing. At times it was a royal pain in the - Ahh-Hummmm! Most of that was my fault - nobody forced (or even asked) me to try to make everything that popped into my head work. I laughed my - Ahh-Hummmm! - off about it and thoroughly enjoyed myself.I hope that each of you will find a similar project. StarRider (s-r on IRC) Lee L. Bell Jr. |