The scenario (all happening within the administration area/backend):
From the listing page, the user clicks a link to view an article (on the backend).
From the article view page, the user clicks a link to edit that article.
In the article edit page, form is submitted to the current uri.
If validation succeeds or user cancels, user is redirected to the article view page.
From the article view page, the user click a 'back' link to return to the listing page.
List <--> View <--> Edit
Right now, I'm only able to track referring url from a previous page. In the edit form, I'm using a hidden field to maintain referral to the view page, lest it be changed during failed form POST submission to itself and user remains in the edit page.
Problem is that when the user returns to the view page from edit, the 'back' link to the listing page is now linked to the edit page.
FYI,
The listing page url is dynamic as the user should return to the listing on the same page and sort order (stored in query strings); therefore a fixed url is out of the question.
In the past, I've tried using sessions (e.g. SESSION['view_to_list_ref'] SESSION['edit_to_view_ref']), but it messed up with multiple tabs.
I could transition between view/edit via ajax, but I'm hoping to keep the app simple and ajaxless at this point of time.
I'm using PHP + Kohana 3.2 Framework
The only solution I can think of is to have the list page url encoded and appended to the 'view article' link via query string. This way, the location of the listing page is preserved even while in the edit page; as the referring url back to view page would also contain the listing page url in the query string. However I don't really like the idea of 'dirtying' the url with long parameter values (encoded or not).
I'm really hoping there is a more elegant solution to this problem of generally tracking multiple levels of page referrals; not just specifically to solving the scenario I've mentioned.
EDIT: Oh and the solution should be able to support multiple tabs performing the same scenario.
You could track the pages by using a unique identifying code in a PHP session, a temporary variable, and using a temporary database table that tracks page loads by these temporary values.
The database structure might be:
+-------------+-------------------+---------------------+
| Unique ID | Page Referral | Time of page load |
+-------------+-------------------+---------------------+
Tracking time of page load would allow you to selectively wipe loads older than X minutes, and keep the table relatively small.
Anyway, this would allow you to keep as many levels as you'd like, and if you wanted to add an auto incrementing counter field, or your own counter field, you could even keep a simple to use number system that tracks page loads, though I believe the time of page load would suffice for that scenario.
Related
I'am using the CodeIgniter. I have a global category list, which is separated into the several components such as (Conten articles, E-commerce, Users, Banners, etc...). There is /categories/get_categories page where I display all rows from Database Table ci_categories.
On that page, there is a <select> box with the <options> of available ci_categories.com_id (components). Whenever I select one of them, either Users or E-commerce it will send the POST data /categories/get_categories/$com_id and it will filter the category items corresponding to the component's id com_id. All of this works great.
But what I want is to keep this filter selected and do not return to default selection (all components). For example, I click on Categories - it will output all category rows in a <table>. There I choose an option from a dropdown selectbox list, and it will filter the specific rows output, then i Click Add new category, and it should pass that selected component option to the next page. On the next FORM page, where I add a new item informations, i Click on SAVE, and it should return me to the previous page where All of categories are listed, but with that filter com_id selected.
Any suggestion ? Is there a way to do it without sessions or cookies ?
My suggestion is to make use of sessions as they are especially meant to store data between requests based on the current user experience. Most people only search the website in one browser window, so it shouldn't give a real problem. Even if there are other options, you always need to identify the user by a specific code which will be stored in session/cookie.
The only option I can think of is changing every link afterwards to contain the stored information in a base64 encoded string. But that would ruin your link structure and needs canonical links on every page to show the right url to search engines.
I would suggest you to stick to Sessions, as they are handled fine in CodeIgniter. You can even store them in the database if you want by setting that in the main config file.
Flashdata is an option, but it's a session in the end anyway but only lives one request.
you can use session flashdata like this:
Set flashdata
$this->session->set_flashdata('search','your_search');
Read flashdata
$this->session->flashdata('search');
flashdata is setted for only one refresh, after the refresh the variable is deleted
http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/sessions.html
I have sort of design problem with my site. Here's the introduction:
I have a simple, dynamic page which contains a videoplayer and next to it a bunch of videos to play. Under the videoplayer there's a comment section that is powered with jquery form plugin because naturally I don't want the page to refresh and reset the video if someone enters a comment while watching.
So, the page fetches the video ID to play via a $_GET variable and then gets another 10 or so video links based on the ID from MySQL database and plays the first one and lists the rest as links next to the player.
The comment system is simple. It fetches all the comments from MySQL table having the same ID as the video playing and lists them via the jquery form plugin mentioned before. Upon entering a new comment it adds the comment to the table again by targeting the same ID.
Since the ajax form plugin fetches the comments from external PHP files containing the comment showing/adding code - I have to use a $_SESSION variable to pass the info from the main page to those files.
And here's the problem:
Everything works as I expected when a client browses the page normally.. but when he decides to open another video to a new tab - the comment system breaks down.
So what happens is that I pass the video ID from the main page's $_GET variable to a $_SESSION variable and use it to let the external show/add-comments-PHP-files know which comments to show. This works fine when a client is using only one tab but when he opens another video in a new tab the $_SESSION variable of course updates to match the new tab's currently playing video's comments and since this variable is same in both tabs - the original tab now points wrongly to the new tab's comments.
So.. to hopefully clarify a bit:
browser tab 1:
$_SESSION['now_playing'] = video 1
[..client opens another video into a 2nd tab]
browser tab 2:
$_SESSION['now_playing'] = video 2
..and from this point on the tab 1's comments are of course the same
as tab 2's.
Would there be any tricks to start a new session upon a new tab creation or something like that? I'm rather new to all this so there might be obviously silly involved.. any pointers how to get this fixed would be greatly appreciated - even if it's a better way to implement the commenting - adding comments without a page refresh is a must tho.
Regards, kitsu
You are hitting the classic problem that the Session data is controlled by a cookie, and is therefore per browser not per screen.
One approach is to have a hidden field on the screen. When handling the get to create the screen, set this to a unique value, and use that value as a key into the session data.
Then pass the value back with the ajax requests - so each screen's requests are handled with a different part of the session data.
I'm planning a site and I was thinking would it be possible to show alternate content in the sidebar based on the behaviour of the visitor? Say the user has clicked on link X on page A and I want the alternate content in the sidebar to be shown on page B, if they clicked on the link. Also, if the visitor fills out a form, would it be possible to associate the tracking cookie information with the submitted form to see what pages the visitor viewed? Would this be easier to implement in a particular cms?
I would appreciate it if someone could at least point me into the right direction. Thanks in advance!
Yes anything is possible & no need for cookies (unless you want to keep a persistent track of the user)
Have a relationship column next to the content in your db, when creating the content assign this value much like a category or tag ect.
Then when user clicks on link A as the page loads store its relationship in the session, then when link B is clicked load content related to the previous set session value.
I need store different post data to each tab in a browser. If I open a new instance of the same page, the data aren't shared between both.
My problem:
I'm building a CMS to control my website content. But I will open some instances of the same page (many tabs). So I have a search form to find news that I been created on my CMS. If I open a news item I have a cancel button that back to previous page (the news list).
The problem is that the news list have a pagination and a filter form. So I can, for instance, search by a term like "john doe" and advance to page 5, and open a news item. If I cancel, currently I back to news list without filter and on first page.
My solutions:
Well, I don't want to use the history.back() because I can submit a news form and click on back/cancel button. So, I'll back to the current form, what is wrong.
My second idea is to store a $_SESSION with the $_POST sent to the news list and the back button send me to /news/list/recovery-session, that will recovery the $_POST data from session. But it have a problem: if I open two tabs and make two searchs, I'll have only the last session saved.
Your solutions:
Well, I can work with PHP and JS to make it work. You can suggest a idea of what I can do. I think about work with COOKIES, but I belive that it is shared by domain, and not by tab, what is a problem.
Someone?
Generate a unique id and attach it to the form or some hidden element that will be submitted. Save that unique id in a cookie or session variable. Compare the two at time of submission.
If second tab has generated a new id, the first tab will not evaluate to true.
The main problem is the need to persist the state of what page to return to and also the search term when returning back to the news list page. There are many ways to accomplish this, but one simple method is by encoding this data into your query string.
As an example, assuming your search term is "john doe" and you are on page 5, pass that data along to your news page.
news.php?returnSearchTerm=john+doe&returnPage=5& ....
When the news page is created, you can format your cancel link to send you back to the list page with the correct parameters.
news_list.php?search=john+doe&page=5
Lets say I have a Page with a List (list.php).
I click on a row on that list to Edit that record. I go to a edit.php Page.
I have 3 buttons on that edit.php page. Save, Apply, Cancel
Save button - Saves the Record and returns to the (list.php) Page
Apply button - Saves Record but stays on the same page (edit.php)
Cancel button - No save, just return to the (list.php) Page
But now image if I can access for edit that item on a different page. How do I return to that calling page?
Do I add a parameter(code) to the URL? something like a Page Origination Code?
Do I save the previous page URL in a session? (bad, they can right click open another page and that would be saved to session url)
Am just curious to how others return to a previous page after a SAVE.
you can the server variable $_SERVER['HTTP_referrer'].
They are other ways also you can store in session the current page and use is processing page.
Adding a parameter to the URL is the only reliable though quote ugly way.
That's why such an in-place editions nowadays often being implemented using AJAX, and this very site is a perfect example.
However, there are different cases.
Login page is imperfect example for example, as you always have a form instead of just a link, and thus you can always store the current page in a hidden form field.
Another approach is possible if you are using some sort of front controller, and all requests actually being directed to the single index.php file which runs appropriate script based on the URI.
in this latter case you will need no more than mere a redirect to the current page.