solved Ordering Group discussions by latest active

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
When i am on a Group's home page, the group's Discussions are always listed in order of when they were first created, with the newest on top.
I really need this to change, since some discussions stay active while others become no longer relevant. Group members want to be able to see which discussions have been recently active, and not have those active discussions sink to the bottom despite people posting on them every day. Of course a new discussion would start out at the top anyway. This change would also make it easy to find long inactive discussions that might be candidates for deletion now and then.

I'm suspecting I can change this easily in the Group Support module templates somewhere? Like changing the "order_by" in some template location to 'latest' instead of 'created' or something?
Any help on this?- so many of my members would be thrilled by this change. Thank you


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...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

updated by @strumelia: 09/08/15 07:31:58PM
gary.moncrieff
gary.moncrieff
@garymoncrieff
9 years ago
865 posts
It wont be as easy I as that I suspect because of the way group discussion are made, ie a post with comments. Simply changing the order_by to _updated would only kick in if the actual discussion topic gets updated.
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
Another user has recently had the same request and I wrote a simple custom module for her that 'listened' for comments and updated the commented item's '_updated' field to 'now'. This means that you could then order groups by '_updated NUMERICAL_DESC' so that the most recently 'active' would show first.
Let me know if you are interested and I'll copy it to your site.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
Paul, just to be very clear- I DON'T want to order GROUPS by latest activity. I want to order the individual group's DISCUSSIONS ordered that way, when one is looking within the group itself. -> I have my /Group Index Page and my Groups 'block-module' on my main page so that my site groups are ordered by the number of members they have- most members at top, fewest members at bottom- and I want to keep it that way.

BUT- WITHIN each individual group, --on that Group's own main page-- where one sees the block of 'group discussions' and the expanded group_discuss pages via the 'view all' link for that group's discussion list...well that's where I want those discussions to be ordered so that any group discussion that has a new 'comment' will be brought to the top again, so group members have a way of seeing the latest group postings better.
See attached file showing exactly where/what i mean...within one of my groups as an example. thanks


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paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
Understood. If you have this module installed and enabled, then set the group discussions to be ordered by '_updated NUMERICAL_DESC' it'll do what you want.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
Sounds perfect- let's do it! This will be awesome if it does what I am hoping!


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Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
Have installed the module for you (ACP=>Users=>Commentee Update) and changed the group detail and group_discuss list templates accordingly.
Have made a test comment on the Hello Again group. Seems to be working.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
Hi Paul- nope, something's not right.

First, I have no Group called Hello Again...so I have no idea where you posted your test. Maybe that was a thread by that title within a regular Forum, or within a Group someplace? Cannot find "Hello Again" in any site search. But it's not a group.

I just cleared cache and looked over the top-to bottm listing of dicussions in my Moderators' Group, and they are NOW (after your fix) ordered this way in terms of their latest discussion 'posts' (really comments):
8/3
8/2
7/30
8/3
6/23
8/4
7/31

Now, SOMETHING happened when you just did your module thing-
...because now the "Free Hugs" discussion is no longer at the bottom of that discussion list like it was a few hours ago, like it always was because it was the oldest created discussion. It's now third from top. But for example the discussion called "I'll be Away During..." was posted to 7 hours ago, early this morning...and now it's next to bottom position. Somethings' wacky.



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Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

updated by @strumelia: 08/04/15 09:25:40AM
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
Sorry - test posted as you on the first group discussion that came to hand - http://fotmd.com/doug-berch/group_discuss/1640/hello-again

Discussions are now ordered by their '_updated' time field so that is why the changed (they were ordered by their '_created' time field). They won't immediately be ordered by their latest comment time, that will now happen as comments are made on them.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
OK Paul- YES i see now that is working great- didn't realize it would apply to comments GOING FORWARD from now. THANK YOU! this is GREAT!

Some new issues popped up now though- and I'm not sure whether it got changed by the thing you did just now in this here thread, or by the thing you did on my site yesterday, as in the end of this thread:
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/forum/my_posts/31648/groups-no-join-or-follow-but-nonmembers-can-comment#last -where you said "You had a jrGroup_item_detail.tpl overide template in your skin so the changes I made to the module template to fix this were not being effected. I've fixed this up in your skin template. See how it looks now. "

There are two things that now are changed/messed up from their previous 'good' setup I had going before:
Both having to do with what shows up in my site Index/Home Page's main Latest Activity Feed--
1) new responses to Group discussions are suddenly no longer showing up in the Activity feed...only new posts in Forum Discussions, but not from Group discussions. Had that going nicely before, and it's really the ONLY way members can see new Group activities happening when they pop in to scan over the site's Main Page "Latest Activities".
and
2) now have reverted back to showing two things in the Activity Feed that I had coded to NOT show-- you had helped me with a code shown in the end of this thread from February: https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/forum/ning-to-jamroom/24059/refining-whats-shown-in-the-home-page-activity-timeline#last that prevented when members 'follow' someone, and when members leaves comments on each others' profile pages. Now both of those activities are again showing up again in my main page activity feed...so you must have de-activated that code somehow when doing the things in my groups codes over the past 48 hours.

Possible to tweak those things back again to how they were, while keeping your new improvement from today? Thank you so much....




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Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

updated by @strumelia: 08/04/15 11:40:08AM
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
I don't get this. Have just checked your index.tpl and you do have this jrCore_list code for activities -

{jrCore_list module="jrAction" search1="action_module != jrFollower" search2="action_module != jrComment" order_by="_item_id numerical_desc" template="index_activity.tpl" pagebreak=50 page=$_post.p}

which means that no follower or comment activities will show. Have just tested this on your site and that is the case. Yet you say that before I added in the module to update the _updated field on comments, you were seeing group discussion comments?
Am going to temporarily disable this new module and check it again.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
OK - Done that. Still not seeing comments in the activity timeline, which is what I expected.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
The main issue from the title of this thread is now working just as I has wanted it to- THANK YOU!! This is awesome. :) It's a HUGE improvement for all my members!


The other two issues that have somehow come up now-
will try to explain clearly:
----------------------
1) Nowhere on my site's Main page now can one see any new 'posts' in GROUP DISCUSSIONS (NOT in group comment walls, i know 'comment wall comments' are not going to show in the Activity Feed on Main page). I previously did have new Group Discussions and new posts in Group DISCUSSIONS appearing on the Home ftomd.com page Main activity timeline before.
But as it now is, nobody browsing the main page of the site can know there are discussions happening in Groups.
I just logged in as a reg member "The Member" and posted a new post in a Group Discussion about 15 min ago (item number 8833 in the Activity Timeline DataBrowser). The post was in the discussion "Playing for Posterity and Pie". Cleared cache, in the site and in my browser...It is NOT showing up in my site Index page main activity feed. It should have hsowed between DebbyHinz and Sheryl StClair's new Forum posts. Only site/FORUM discussion posts are showing now in the main Activity Feed, not Group Discussion posts. I know I somehow HAD this set up to show Group Discussion posts, previously. Could be Michael or Brian had put in the code at some point several months ago. But it 'seemed' to be working until like a couple days ago.
-----------------------
2) This other thing, I figured out where we are mixed up with you not seeing it and me seeing it:

"I don't get this. Have just checked your index.tpl and you do have this jrCore_list code for activities -
{jrCore_list module="jrAction" search1="action_module != jrFollower" search2="action_module != jrComment" order_by="_item_id numerical_desc" template="index_activity.tpl" pagebreak=50 page=$_post.p}
which means that no follower or comment activities will show. Have just tested this on your site and that is the case. "

All looks good...UNTIL you scroll down to the end of the first batch in the Activity timeline and click on the NEXT PAGE...where FROM THEN ON you have those two items showing up in the timeline- people 'following' other people, and people greeting new members by commenting on their profile page comment walls. So, the code is only being applied to the initial page of the Activity timeline.



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Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

updated by @strumelia: 08/05/15 08:59:57AM
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
1) Is this in your 'Join a Group' section? This is currently ordered by "group_members_count numerical_desc". Can change that so that it is ordered by groups with the latest post?

2) Have fixed this up. The index_activity_list.tpl template didn't have the searches to exclude comments and followers in it.


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
1)- No, I don't want that "Join a Group sectionblock to be merely listing group names ordered by their latest activity. I want to keep that list of groups ordered by the number of members they have..i.e. most popular on top.
I want people to be able to see in: the Activity timeline on site's main page, that someone made a new post in the (group) discussion titled :Playing for Posterity and Pie". Preferably naming the member who made a new post there, and preferably with a little excerpt bit from the post.
I swear I had that going before, until just recently! Let me look over some of my old 'site building notes' from months ago- maybe I can find when/where/who helped me achieve it. Or maybe I'm insane and never had it, but geez I don't think im that far gone yet. lol I'll get back to you here. Meanwhile, thanks for fixing up 2) ! :)



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...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

updated by @strumelia: 08/05/15 10:17:56AM
paul
@paul
9 years ago
4,326 posts
With comment activities disabled in the timeline that cannot have happened. Maybe you remember it from before that was implemented?
It could be done with something custom though - "If a comment on a Group Discussion, add it to the activities" - but that would require a custom version of the custom module I've just put on your site ;-)


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Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
I'll look into it further- thanks Paul! (please dont close this thread yet)


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Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
michael
@michael
9 years ago
7,715 posts
This is a config option now in jrGroupDiscuss
ACP -> PROFILE GROUPS -> GROUP DISCUSSION -> GLOBAL CONFIG -> Sort by Recently Active
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts
Thank you Michael!

My members are extremely happy to have this change. :)


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...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015