Different Fantastico Versions?

There seems to be different Fantastico versions out there because my Fantastico on Lunarpages is limited on what it offers. What out any suprise, what they lack I really need.

For example: phpBB, Drupal, and Gallery are all missing from the list of scripts. I looked up other host like Hostgator, Bluehost, and Siteground to see what they offered and it seems that only Lunarpages has this version.

So I called Lunarpages and asked about it and after some time and transferring of calls… I got this answer, “Our support team removed all those programs for security reasons.” For some reason I don’t think that is a very accurate answer or a bunch of crock. If those scripts are such a threat then why are all the other host still offering them?

Anyways, I am stuck with them for another 1.75 year, lol. If I had known that they didn’t offered those scripts before signing the contract… I would probably with another host.

So if you are looking for a good host and are considering, be warned that Lunarpages’ version of Fantastico is “incomplete.”

Plugin Blues

If no one has found any problems with downloading/installing/using WordPress plugins, let me be the first to say, “I have!” and I hate it of course. The plugins I spent hours if not days carefully selecting were very useful… until I updated my WordPress version. The minute I did that many of the plugins simple stop working or didn’t work right.

After I realized it was because I upgraded my WordPress, I went to the “plugins” section in WordPress and found that over half the plugins needed to be updated. Unfortunately, the majority of them came from different providers. That means I needed to go to each providers site to download and reinstall each of them.

The thought of such a task was just too daunting so I deleted almost all of them and kept the ones I deemed necessary. With that said… there needs to be an easier way to “auto update” our lovely plugins. Hopefully, our superb WordPress programmers will think of something soon.

YouTube Enabled

With the YouTube craze spreading like a wildfire, last summer (’07) I took some time to enable Noteful.COM with YouTube. Users can now visually depict their thoughts using YouTube videos. The code wasn’t hard and thanks to C.K. Sample’s blog (here), it was even easier…

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="[INSERT VIDEO URL FROM EMBED CODE PROVIDED HERE]" width="400" height="326"><param name="movie" value="[INSERT VIDEO URL FROM EMBED CODE PROVIDED HERE]" /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerMode=embedded" /></object>

With this code I can also allow users to embed Google Videos as well, this would have to be done soon before I fall behind. More and more video streaming sites are hitting the web that are a must for me. Stage6, for example is on the top of my list. If anyone has any advice on this, please comment. 🙂

UPS WorldShip XML Auto Import

I have a new “UPS WorldShip XML Auto Import” osCommerce contribution if anyone is interested… Its actually a few months old, but I never took the time to blog about it. You can find it here on the osCommerce Addons Website… http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/5519.

This contribution allows you to process your UPS Worldship orders with the click of a link. The links are located in the order’s details page.

Your are required to have: UPS Worldship software that can be ordered free here: http://www.ups.com/orderworldship?loc=en_US, an UPS account to order and use the UPS Worldship software, and a daily UPS pick-up required for use of the software.

Also, you must have UPS Worldship running, specifically… you must have their “XML Auto Import” running. Instructions straight from UPS: http://ups.com/media/en/XML_Technical_Support_Guide_Final.pdf

My future plans for this contribution are:

  • Fancy up the 7 new UPS ServiceType Links, maybe javascript, maybe css.
  • Make it so the User data is entered/configurable thru the osCommerce back admin.
  • It would be nice if tracking number could be read from UPS’s AUTO XML IMPORT output file and inputted in order comment and customer notified.
  • Some of the options are still hard coded into this contribution… ie/ number of packages and anything I haven’t noticed.