So I can pull in a a set of blocks using the construct:
<{foreach item=block from=$xoops_lblocks}>
....
<{/foreach}>

Or I can hard-code the contents of a block.

But I can't explicitly include a block by name or id.

Unfortunate, but not a critical issue. I'm just trying to modularize things a bit.

Thanks

What do I need to do to insert the block?

I'm not talking about copying the HTML of the block and inserting it directly into the theme. I would like to have the theme include the contents of the block dynamically.

Is that what you are doing?

Is it possible to include a specific (preferably custom) block directly into a theme?

I have seen posts that suggest taking one of of the block types -- like the center-right block -- and including it in the theme at a specific place. That would work, but seems a little awkward.

What I am looking to do specifically is to develop a custom logon block or search block and then insert that block into the theme by name (or reference).

Is this possible?

thanks

James

You could probably use any of the image gallery modules -- like MyAlbum -- withought any modification. Users can be entitled to upload their own photographs and each posting has a link to the user profile of the person who uploaded the photo. The user could put whatever contact information he or she wanted there. An email address would be perfect.

With a little bit of work on the blocks provided with the module you could simplify things a bit for the users. For example, instead of the default block to display the image and information you could hightlight the contact information of the user who uploaded the photograph.

With more work you could hack the module to provide fields for all the key information that you wanted to capture.

I would just try the module as provided and see how it works.

James

I think that there are a number of different, but related issues balancing usability, security and flexibility.

1: The autologin hack -- From a usability standpoint I like autologin, but I don't like it from a security standpoint. For now, I would keep it as a hack -- if you want to implement autologin, use the hack. In the long term, I would like to see autologin as an option. I wouldn't mind if it was an installation option -- you can either install XOOPS with autologin or whithout with lots of warnings about the risks and probably some information about how to mitigate those risks.

2: User Ids -- I don't like user ids. I prefer using email addresses for login purposes. That gives the user one less thing to remember -- what user id did I use for that site again? I know that there are hacks out there to implement an email address logon, but I think that this should be part of the core. I would also like to see it as a configurable option. That way you can either use email address for logon and not require a user id or you can require a separate user id.

3. Display Name vs. Real Name -- I like being able to distinguish between real name and display name. We don't have to require the display name. We can default to show either the user id (email address?) or the Real Name if no Display Name is given. And again, make this configurable. I think of the Display Name as being like an text avatar -- I can use one or not. Couldn't it be part of the extended profile?

4. What do display? -- Regardless of what we use to logon (user id or email address), we should have the ability to specify how the user is identified within the site. Even better, let the user specify what should be displayed and provide a default value.



Just my two cents.
Keep up the great work.

James