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New Features in the Feedback Module

Jan 30

Posted by: Sanjay Mehrotra
1/30/2007

As part of the role of managing the Feedback Module, I have recently made some major changes to the module which will be available for release shortly.

List of Changes

Converted module to VS 2005 (to be released as version 04.04.01).
Corrected references to obsolete DNN core functions which were in the 3.2.1 version.
Moved Categories from the Lists table to a table controlled by the Feedback Module (Feedback_Lists)
Created interface to manage Categories via new Feedback_Lists table and modified references to Feedback_Categories (hard coded list in version 3.2.1)
Validation on Email field and group validation on the submit button so that the form does not throw an error when dropped on a page that has other modules with form submission capabilities. The validation on the email field is similar to what the core has implemented with the email field (User Registration) - it checks for null values and also the regular expression check to make sure it's an email address (i.e. has "@" and ".")
Created ability to create dropdown lists for Subjects so that emails sent out have a pre-defined subject setup. (Prior functionality of allowing users to type in a subject is still available). Internally this is handled in the Feedback_Lists table as another List Type.
Modified module to be on a per Portal basis - this ensures that sites with multiple portals only display the feedbacks posted on a specific portal.
Categories and Subjects are also setup on a per Portal basis - this will allow multi-portal users to setup different categories and subjects.
Moderation has been fixed to be a page to which the Administrator can navigate to (Prior version had it only accessible via the email that the module sent out).
Posts can now be changed to/from the following statuses via the Moderation Page.
- Pending (this is applicable for a moderated Feedback module)
- Private (not visible to in the view feedback comments)
- Public (visible in the view feedback comments)
- Archive (posts which are stored in the table as archived and don't show up in Public or Private Posts).
Subjects and Categories can be sorted and presented in a specific way to the user.
FeedbackGUID has been removed from the Feedback table and all comments are handled via the FeedbackID which is the primary key on the Feedback Table.
Database scripts have been updated to include a migration path for prior version users.

The module has been submitted to the release tracker and once the core has validated the new version, it will be available for general consumption. I am assuming that there will be some beta testing invovled too and look forward to getting users to test out the new functionality.

Thanks

Sanjay Mehrotra

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Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

Thank you for adding the email validation. Perhaps in your next blog entry, could you describe what validation is provided?? e.g. blank field or wrong kind of text, etc., what is done to prevent spamming, perhaps even adding the option to use captcha.

Also is there a way you can set up something such that one can easily add a few text fields, such as an optional Phone field (with choice of validation for USA phone or international phone field), I don't know how complicated this would be.

A lot of times a phone field is good to have.

And likewise for people to choose if they want, say, 1 or 2 more additional user-defined fields, be they drop-down list or single-line text field or multi-line text field??

Thank you, Tom

By tlyczko on 1/31/2007

Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

I've updated the blog to reflect the validation that has been included in the upcoming release. It does not include captcha although that option is on the table for the next version.
With regards to additional fields, yes that is definetely on the roadmap for the next version. One of the quick and dirty fixes would be to simply extend the Feedback table, however I'm leaning against this option since the user will then be limited to a specific number of columns and this will probably not work for 99% of the users who will probably want more. One of the alternatives is to use the new feedback_lists table that I've added in the 4.4.1 version but extend that to allow for the creation of additional fields and then training the form to look here for the additional fields. These could be simple dropdown lists or check boxes or even text fields. I'm hoping I can get some feedback from users regarding this and how best to implement it in the next release - my thoughts may not neccessary be the best and it's always better to get ideas from more than one person to make a change like this.

By smehrotra on 1/31/2007

Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

Thanks for responding. It seems like you do validate that all the fields are filled in. However you extend it to allow a few additional data fields I think should make most people happy. Isn't captcha already in one of the core modules, could that not be used?? Thanks, Tom

By tlyczko on 10/4/2007

Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

Hi Sanjay.

Thank you for taking lead on the Feedback Module. It's a valuable tool that needs care, attention and further development. I am looking for the Admin. to be allowed configure Feedback Module so that Name and Email cannot be changed. In situations where only registered users (w/ valid email) can access Feedback, this would insure Feedback is from a valid user. Maybe you could advise a workaround in the meanwhile? I am not a source programmer, however, I can work w/ small edits inside resource files and such.

Also, I would be happy to do testing when 4.4.1 is back from the core team, validated. Please let me know how I may help.

By Tikkune on 10/4/2007

Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

BattleAce - Not sure which version you're referring to but the email address display is optional in the view comments. The name of the person submitting the feedback is stored in the database.
Thanks

By smehrotra on 12/29/2007

Re: New Features in the Feedback Module

Dude! Why in the world are you displaying the email address? With all of the bots going around gathering people's email addresses and adding them to spam mailings, you should never show this. You do not even save the Name field in the database. Why do you ask for the name when it is not even saved in the table? I like the module except for this huge issue.

By battleace on 12/29/2007