Collections /w Tagger, Syndication, automatic fURL-based Share-on-Social Links

Hey everyone,

I have a head-scratcher here... I apologize if any of these questions are posted somewhere else and answered...

Background...
I am using the Collections MODx Extra to organize and group several content types within my website, the most important of which is my Blog Articles. I am also using Tagger to add associated Tags to each Blog Post, so I can eventually create links where readers can click on a tag link and view all the Blog Articles with that same tag. I found the Tagger docs to be incredibly vague in this regard. My URL scheme for my Blog Articles is usually as follows: http:// {mywebsite} / {blog collection} / {blog article}

Question # 1) How do I set up fURL resources that will display the blog articles for a specific tag only? (without using Parameters), ex. http:// {mywebsite} / {blog collection} / {tag}. I recognize there is a manual way to do this, (by manually creating each tag resource and using getResources to only output those articles with that tag) but is there a simpler way to do this automatically using a fURL method? (Possibly see Question 3 for a similar question regarding fURLs and parameters, etc).

Question # 2) I used to use the Articles MODx Extra for my Blog Articles and found it to be too unstable. However, I vaguely remember seeing somewhere within Articles a feature where it automatically pushed the article to a content syndication service... Anyone know/remember what that service is/was? I tried finding a similar standalone extra but couldn't find one...

Question # 3) For every one of my Blog Articles I have 4x sharing buttons for Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+), and their share links are not friendly-URLs, and that has always nagged me. Is there a way that I can somehow create a Snippet to sit on each article page that captures a fURL subdirectory and returns it as a parameter so I can redirect that URL to somewhere else? Ex. http:// {mywebsite} / {blog collection} / {blog article} / share / facebook would redirect (like a symlink) to https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=[[~[[*id]]?&scheme=`https`]] I'm trying at all costs to avoid having to create symlinks under each article using the article as a container or sub-collection. Having to manually create symlinks clearly is not the answer because manually creating repeating content goes against every fibre of my being!

Question # 4) More of a minor annoyance than anything, but I'm wondering if there is a setting I can select to force sub-Collections to stay within the Collection View instead of defaulting to the Resource Tree? (I could have sworn there was a setting somewhere, and maybe I'm blind but I can't find it to save my life!)

AS ALWAYS THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTES RESPONSES ON THE MODx FORUMS AND MAKE THIS COMMUNITY TRULY A M A Z I N G !!!

Sincerely, Chris

You need a routing plugin like CustomRequest.

FWIW, I've been using Articles for years and have never noticed it being unstable.

Articles had a Twitter plugin, but it never worked reliably and was removed.

Notify lets you send a notification to Twitter and Facebook (via Twitter) and an email to selected groups of registered users. These contain a link to the blog post. Notify is manual, not automatic, but it's fairly quick and easy once you have it set up. If you use it, be sure to install Subscribe, because Notify uses some of Subscribe's features.

I don't know of an extra that does automatic posts to social media (though there may be one), but TwitX might let you post to Twitter. You can have your Tweets posted to Facebook automatically.

There is a show_in_tree resource field that hides resources in the Tree. I thought collections automatically set it to 0, but you could do that in a plugin if you can't find a setting to do it in Collections.

Quote from: BobRay at Oct 16, 2017, 11:23 PM

FWIW, I've been using Articles for years and have never noticed it being unstable.

Articles had a Twitter plugin, but it never worked reliably and was removed.

Notify lets you send a notification to Twitter and Facebook (via Twitter) and an email to selected groups of registered users. These contain a link to the blog post. Notify is manual, not automatic, but it's fairly quick and easy once you have it set up. If you use it, be sure to install Subscribe, because Notify uses some of Subscribe's features.

I don't know of an extra that does automatic posts to social media (though there may be one), but TwitX might let you post to Twitter. You can have your Tweets posted to Facebook automatically.

There is a show_in_tree resource field that hides resources in the Tree. I thought collections automatically set it to 0, but you could do that in a plugin if you can't find a setting to do it in Collections.

Hey BobRay,

I don't necessarily feel the need for automatic sharing to social networks, but rather I'm referring to the buttons I include at the top and bottom of each of my blog articles that lets viewers share the blog post on their own social accounts... I would much prefer it be of a fURL style rather than unelegantly including parameters, etc... On a side note, I must say that every time I've posted you've posted a response, and I really appreciate that! (Not to mention the MODx Guide I purchased off your site a few years back!)

Any chance I could get a free opinion on my website so far from a fellow web designer?... https://keddyandassociates.com if your curious

Cheers and thanks for the feedback ~ Chris

Quote from: Jako at Oct 16, 2017, 06:19 PM

You need a routing plugin like CustomRequest.

Thanks Jako for the recommendation... I feel somewhat confused though, after glossing over the documentation for CustomRequest... maybe it's my lack of deep understanding of MODx, but I'm not sure how I could use CustomRequest to accomplish my fURL Share Links? (I apologize in advance if it is clear and I'm just slow haha)

Cheers ~ Chris (and P.S., ditto on my comment to BobRay about the feedback on my website too would love to get your thoughts...)

Chris,

Thanks for the kind words.

Sorry I misunderstood your question. I use AddThis for that. I have no idea how well it works, but it's not difficult to install. TBH, I don't even know if it works, though it does display the social media icons for sharing at Bob's Guides.

I don't claim to be a design expert, but the site looks great to me. I only have one comment. I'm on a 24" monitor and I'm seeing the hamburger menu. I'm guessing that's not what's supposed to happen.

Quote from: BobRay at Oct 17, 2017, 03:53 AM

Chris,

Thanks for the kind words.

Sorry I misunderstood your question. I use AddThis for that. I have no idea how well it works, but it's not difficult to install. TBH, I don't even know if it works, though it does display the social media icons for sharing at Bob's Guides.

I don't claim to be a design expert, but the site looks great to me. I only have one comment. I'm on a 24" monitor and I'm seeing the hamburger menu. I'm guessing that's not what's supposed to happen.

Hamburger menu?? LOL I have no idea what you're talking about. Weird. Could you send me a screencap if/when you have a chance? I also work for a restaurant company which sells Veal Sandwiches (which admittedly sometimes are confused with Hamburgers)... but I don't think I have them on my own corporate website haha I must look into that...

...Unless 'hamburger' is slang industry jargon that I don't know? LOL you mean literal hamburgers?

It's a common name for your menu icon with the three horizontal lines:

https://www.google.com/search?q=hamburger+menu+icon&oq=hamburger+menu+icon&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.2379.3074.0.3344.5.5.0.0.0.0.160.549.0j4.4.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.4.548...0i67k1.0.J7EQKqHJwlA

Typically, this is only shown on mobile versions of a site. It's out of fashion these days, though I have no objection to it and I think it works well with your design. It's a pain to have to click on the icon to see the menu, though, on sites you visit over and over.

Here's the screenshot: https://bobsguides.com/assets/images/keddy.jpg [ed. note: BobRay last edited this post 6 years, 6 months ago.]