Mollom 0.7.4 and more

matthias@netsensei.nl (Matthias Vandermaesen) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:59:22 +0000

One of my ongoing efforts is trying to get WP Mollom translated. I’ve put the plugin up on the wp-polyglots mailinglist and I’ve received several translations. Which was enough a reason to tag a new release. So, now you can enjoy the power of Mollom in these languages:

Vietnamese (vi)
Bulgarian (bg_BG)
Bangla (bn_BD)

I’ve already written about revising the codebase and making room for improvement. I’ve made a small list of things that are on my wanted/todo list.

More OO
At this point, all the functionality is contained in 28 functions. These functions implement everything from the different calls to the Mollom API, over handling comment form input to showing a pretty graph. Although most functionality is comprised to it’s own function, there’s still lack of a good architectural design. I’ve come to a point now where adding new features or optimizing code means ripping apart large pieces of the plugin. For instance, the function that let’s the configuration page work contains code to handle the form but also to build and show the form. Boxing functionality limits the ability to reuse code or adapt it efficiently. Identifying separate segments of functionality and assigning them to their own classes and functions will make the plugin more agile and able to cope with change.
Implementing AJAX
Over the last iterations, WordPress has incorporated loads of AJAX. This technology makes it possible to, for instance, moderate a comment without the need to reload the entire page. And as a bonus, add a nice colored fade effect. It would be nice to leverage the AJAX API of WordPress and make WP Mollom more userfriendly. AJAX in Mollom would not only be applied in the administration panel, but also made available front-end to theme developers.
Usability
The current interface has already gone through several iterations but there’s still room for improvement. I’m thinking of several things. Instead of a percentage with no label, it should be a more visual indication of the spaminess of a comment. Comments that had a CAPTCHA should stand out more in the list. Pagination needs more refinement. The configuration page needs some rethinking. The quality indicator in the moderation module should be more verbose. I would also like to make the plugin more informative: a better breakdown of statistics and performance monitoring of the plugin.
Hooks
Wordpress allows plugin developers to define their own hooks. This enables plugins to ‘hook’ onto each other. A nice example is Ozh’ Admin Dropdown Menu that allows plugin developers to define a custom icon through a hook. I would like to keep an eye out for places in the plugin code where functionality added through third party plugins can generate added value. Mollom is designed not only to protect comment forms, but any form that’s presented to an end user. So it would be a plus to make Mollom protection available to other plugins through well placed hooks.
Widgets
Wordpress 2.8 will ship with a new improved Widget API. This enables plugin developers to write easy to create widgets which can display all kinds of neat things on your blog. An easy to install Mollom widget that displays the effectiveness of Mollom would be a nice-to-have.
WordPress MU support
This is something I’ve been talking a long time about: adding support for WordPress MU. The current codebase doesn’t allow this in an easy fashion. Incorporating WordPress MU support is one of the main reasons to rethink the way the plugin should be designed.

It’s pretty clear this means going back to the drawingboard. Development should progress pretty fast though, since most of the code which is now in the current stable version, can be reused. One lesson I’ve learned is that I should to code the plugin against the development version of WordPress (in this case: bleeding-edge 2.8) to cope with the changes and make use of newest features in WordPress.

In retrospect, the plugin has been a project which I’m working on little over a year now. The log of wp-mollom.php tells me that I started working on the plugin itself (after testing the Mollom API and very premature versions in february-march 2008) on april, 2nd of last year. So, a bit late: but happy 1st birthday WP Mollom!

AJAX

matthias@netsensei.nl (Matthias Vandermaesen) — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 09:28:24 +0000

Ik zag daarjuist bij 7 seconden de term AJAX opduiken. Dat is niet de eerste keer de laatste dagen dat ik die zag passeren. Het intrigeerde mij. Wie of wat is AJAX en wat doet het? Een speurtocht op Wikipedia leverde mij deze uitleg op. En een definitie:

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications using a combination of:

HTML (or XHTML) and CSS for presenting information

The Document Object Model manipulated through JavaScript to dynamically display and interact with the information presented

The XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data asynchronously with the web server. (XML is commonly used, although any format will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, JSON and even EBML)

Like DHTML, LAMP, or SPA, Ajax is not a technology in itself, but a term that refers to the use of a group of technologies together. In fact, derivative/composite technologies based substantially upon Ajax, such as AFLAX are already appearing.

Fascinating! Het komt erop neer dat de client niet voor elke interactie terug moet naar de server. Zoals bijvoorbeeld bij PHP het geval is. Neen. De afhandeling van de input en output wordt deels afgehandeld door een zogenaamde AJAX engine en wanneer nodig stuurt die eventueel een HTTP request (onder de vorm van XML) naar de server. Door een deel van het werk clientside te laten afhandelen vermijd je een pak overhead. Daardoor wordt je applicatie een pak responsiever. Beschouw volgende schemaatjes. (overgenomen van J.J. Garret Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications)

Toch zijn er ook een aantal (klassieke) nadelen aan AJAX verbonden:

Je moet je Javascript uitgebreid testen op crossbrowser-compatibility
Je kan niet meer betrouwen op de “back” button van je browser om naar de vorige staat te gaan. Browsers gaan er immers vanuit dat een pagina in zijn geheel wordt geladen en niet in stukjes zoals bij AJAX het geval is. Een oplossing bestaat momenteel uit kunst en vliegwerk met iFrames.
Hetzelfde geldt voor het bookmarken van pagina’s.
Aangezien HTTP verkeer binnen een AJAX framework asynchroon moet je als ontwikkelaar de latency tussen actie en http request goed in het oog houden. Of het resultaat is juist het omgekeerde van wat je voor ogen had: je interface reageert een pak trager op interactie.

Wie gebruikt er nu AJAX? Een aantal groten implementeren deze technologie reeds. Bijvoorbeeld Flickr en Google GMail of Google Maps. Het is allesinds een technologie om in het oog te houden. De voordelen zijn immers legio en de mogelijkheden onbeperkt.

Ajax on Netsensei

Mollom 0.7.4 and more

AJAX