'Moblog' CMP/Module for Revo

I’ve looked at writing a CMP that would enable posting by email in Revo.

The basic premise would be that you could send an email with text, an image, and perhaps a headline/title and the module would pick up emails on a schedule and add them to the site in the correct place.

In EE you can do this using the Moblog module - although not perfect, it does work.

I’m getting no where fast trying to write this myself and until a dummies guide exists I don’t think I’ll make it. I’m more CSS/Designer/’fixer’ than developer.

I’ll be honest it’s not the most important requirement for my client but, I think it’s something we’d like to have.

So whats the going rate for a module/CMP like this? Any ideas?

I’d be willing to give it back to the community if that inspires anyone! So I could pay someone or donate to MODx.

We’re not ready to go yet, I’m just seeing whether there’s any interest - thanks

I really don’t have any idea what something like this should cost, but it’s definitely something I’d be interested in working on for payment (and then it could be given to the community). A while ago I wrote something related for my church, except it essentially forwarded the email to a list of subscribers instead of posting to MODx. The basic premise of receiving email and doing something with it is the same, and I could adapt the code to do what you need. MY subscription system even handles attachments, so uploading an image like you said would be easy to do.

I’ve been using MODx Evolution for over a year, and I’ve been playing with Revo since it’s early betas, but I’ll say right up front that I don’t have much experience actually coding for Revo. That said, I’ve been programming in PHP for some 5-6 years and definitely have the experience and ability to make the kind of module you need. It’d be a great way for me to immerse myself in Revo’s functionality, and I wouldn’t expect to be paid for the extra time it’d take me to figure things out as I go along, if that makes sense.

Would you use this to create a new resource for each email? Almost like posting to a blog via email?

The only significant issue I can see is problems with text formatting. If you send plain-text emails it wouldn’t be a problem, but if you need to support formatting that gets translated from the email to the MODx resource, I think there could be some difficulties there.

Not sure about handling the images, but there’s this that could probably get you started... http://sottwell.com/email-posting.html

Sottwell, correct me if I’m wrong, but your guide is for Evo, isn’t it? I’m sure the code wouldn’t be too much different for Revo, though.

No, the only difference will be in the database queries for inserting the data into the site_content table. I don’t work with Revo, so I’m not sure if there’s any major difference in the table or not. But a look at the processor for saving resources should clear that up.

The code for handling attachments (such as the images) is not something you want to handle yourself. When I wrote the subscription system for my church, I used this MIME Parser library: http://www.phpclasses.org/package/3169-PHP-Decode-MIME-e-mail-messages.html It deals with pretty much every aspect of decoding and email, even a complicated one. It works great, although it’s a bit confusing to figure out at first, but it’s probably the easiest way to process image attachments (or any attachments).

jimryder, I’d love to work with you on this and earn some money while I’m at it, so be sure to keep me in mind when it comes time for you to implement this.

I’ve looked at sottwell’s code for insertion before and your (Compeek) experience with a MIME parser would be v.useful.

The issue of email content is a tricky one, in the first instance it would be a v. simple template, text, 1 image and a headline/title.

In the next couple of weeks we’ll have more of a roadmap so perhaps I can PM you Compeek when I know more?

Thanks all -

Absolutely, feel free to get in touch via PM any time. If email is easier for you, I’ll give you my work email address when you PM me. Looking forward to it!