[SOLVED] Strange issues with CB Blogs (unable to add blog etc)

I'm having some weird issues with the CB blogs feature, and thought I'd post here for some help (it's probably again one of those "small things" that I am missing).

The blogs can be configured to either use "internal" or either Joomla/K2 in the blog model usage section. I also know that if I use "Joomla", I'd need to set up the category first in Joomla! (Article Manager - Categories) and then use that category for the blogs.

What I am currently trying to do is use "internal" (I'm assuming this means CB internal, so would probably be the best way to do it) and set up the blogs that way. Everything works great, but when I click "create blog" after inputting in the sections required, the page goes blank and does not redirect back to the my profile page (or any other page, for that matter). However, the blog itself seems to be getting created as I can see it under the "my profile" section.

I then tried to use "Joomla" as the blog model, and selected the category I created in Joomla!. However, that category does not show up in the drop down box in the "add blog" section, and therefore it does not allow me to add the blog since no category gets selected.

Finally, I tried using K2 - and the same thing happens as when I use "Joomla" i.e. the categories don't show up.

I've also made sure the Joomla! and K2 categories are named differently, just in case that might be what is causing the issue (though it shouldnt be a factor, really) but no dice.

Is there something I'm missing here, either in terms of blog config or overall config?

All I'm really looking for is a way to add blogs - the first way is probably what I'd prefer the most i.e. adding through "internal", but I am happy using Joomla and/or K2 as well. . .

Any input would be much appreciated!

Edit: Adding through K2 works fine via the front end (if I use the K2 add blog feature).

Ok, after a ton of head scratching I finally figure out the Joomla/K2 model usage. Apparently (correct me if I'm wrong though), one has to create a category, and then a subcategory, and use the subcategory instead of the parent category to display the blogs. I just want one category, so figured there was no need to create a sub category - but I did that - and voila - works for both the Joomla and K2 models.

Still not quite sure why the internal model is not redirecting correctly tho, and any input on that would be appreciated.

Edit - Also, if I try to create a "my blogs" link (only for registered users obviously) on the main menu, how do I get it to display the blogs for the user that is logged in at the moment? What I did was to create a menu item pointing to "plugins" under "Community Builder", and I then used "cb blogs" for the plugin itself, and then "show blog". I left the "select user" field empty, and am getting a "not authorized" error when I click the link (it should ideally pull up the blogs under that userid).

Not a huge deal either way as the blogs show fine under the "blogs" tab under "my profile", but would be nice to know anyway!

By the way, is it possible to have SEF links working when one clicks on a blog name (when viewed under the "blog" tab in "my profile")? SEF works fine for K2 items (I tested this by clicking via a K2 recent posts module), but for some reason the SEF URL doesn't show up when accessing through "my profile". Strangely enough though, it works for the "add a blog" button - - but not when I click on a blog item (though I have hidden menus for both).

Edit #2 - - Also, would it be possible to use the default K2 commenting system in case I use K2 as the model in CB (which as stated in my last post I'm doing currently)? Not sure if there are additional settings I'd need to configure - for some reason, the K2 comments form doesn't show up for blogs added through CB (when using the K2 model), but they show up for blogs added directly through K2.
(Edit #2.1 - I managed to fix this particular issue after a few hours of "pulling our hair" (not really hehe - but I'm leaving it here just if others encounter similar issues - it was simply a matter of the K2 user group not having permission to post in the K2 subcategory)

Apologies for the long posts - just wanted to make sure I explain the issues in detail!

You don't have to use a parent category. CB Blogs works with or without one. However, you do need to have categories the user can actually access. This means their access parameter needs to be set correctly and they need to be published or they won't show up in the dropdown. K2 categories are pulled using K2 API so whatever happens during that is up to K2, but my assumption is same as Joomla (correctly set Access and Published state).

The redirect during blog save is the same for Internal as it is for Joomla or K2. They share that code entirely so I can't see how one would give a blank page while the other doesn't. Maybe caching or some sort of fatal errors? Will test locally to see if there's a problem.

As far as Joomla/K2 display of blogs CB Blogs has no control over. It's just linking to them in Joomla/K2 using their router API (generates the URL). How it displays from then on its up to Joomla/K2. This includes SEF behavior as this is all handled by the router of Joomla or K2; so there's no reason SEF shouldn't work and you'd need to better describe how it's not working for me to suggest anything further.

As you provided no version numbers I've no idea what to suggest. CB 2.x includes CB Blogs in its core. Its default configuration is setup to work out of the box. Basically enable and use.

krileon wrote: You don't have to use a parent category. CB Blogs works with or without one. However, you do need to have categories the user can actually access. This means their access parameter needs to be set correctly and they need to be published or they won't show up in the dropdown. K2 categories are pulled using K2 API so whatever happens during that is up to K2, but my assumption is same as Joomla (correctly set Access and Published state).

Noted, and thanks for explaining Kyle.

krileon wrote:
The redirect during blog save is the same for Internal as it is for Joomla or K2. They share that code entirely so I can't see how one would give a blank page while the other doesn't. Maybe caching or some sort of fatal errors? Will test locally to see if there's a problem.

Yes, please do and let me know if you manage to figure it out. I've currently got it working fine with K2/Joomla - - would ideally prefer to get it to work with the CB internal blog system though, since I'd prefer my site to be using CB wherever feasible/possible.

krileon wrote: As far as Joomla/K2 display of blogs CB Blogs has no control over. It's just linking to them in Joomla/K2 using their router API (generates the URL). How it displays from then on its up to Joomla/K2. This includes SEF behavior as this is all handled by the router of Joomla or K2; so there's no reason SEF shouldn't work and you'd need to better describe how it's not working for me to suggest anything further.

As you provided no version numbers I've no idea what to suggest. CB 2.x includes CB Blogs in its core. Its default configuration is setup to work out of the box. Basically enable and use.

My apologies - I'm using CB2.0.7, Joomla 3.4.0 (stable) and K2 2.6.9.

In terms of the SEF issue, what is happening is as follows:

1. I login to the site, and click on my profile (all SEF links working fine during this process)

2. I then click on the "new blog" button (SEF links working fine for the my profile page). I've got the CB blogs tab set up under "canvas menu" in terms of positioning.

3. I then get to the add blog page, which does not have a SEF URL (http://... /index.php/blog/pluginclass?plugin=cbblogs&action=blogs&func=new) - and that is fine - as explained earlier by you, CB plugins don't have SEF's enabled as yet (I'm guessing that is why the tab names themselves don't have SEF enabled either i.e. userprofile?tab=cbblogsTab).

4. I type in the blog entry, fill out the fields etc. I click create blog, and I'm redirected back to the my profile area, and I can see the new blog entry.

5. I click on the new entry to view it. The page itself displays fine, but the URL is not SEF enabled - http://.../index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5:test-76 is what I get.

6. I then click anywhere else on the page (let's say the blog category) and it goes to that page, and SEF is working again.

That's basically what is happening - I'd appreciate it if you could provide any pointers as to what I might be missing here.

Also, another question, and one that you might have missed from my earlier posts:

Also, if I try to create a "my blogs" link (only for registered users obviously) on the main menu, how do I get it to display the blogs for the user that is logged in at the moment? What I did was to create a menu item pointing to "plugins" under "Community Builder", and I then used "cb blogs" for the plugin itself, and then "show blog". I left the "select user" field empty, and am getting a "not authorized" error when I click the link (it should ideally pull up the blogs under that userid).

Would appreciate it if you could let me know. I basically just want a "my blogs" link to be there so users can click that link to be directly taken to a listing of their blogs (as opposed to all blogs).

Thanks!

Yes, please do and let me know if you manage to figure it out. I've currently got it working fine with K2/Joomla - - would ideally prefer to get it to work with the CB internal blog system though, since I'd prefer my site to be using CB wherever feasible/possible.

With CB 2.0.7 it seams to be working fine. The redirect code is the same regardless of the model so I've no idea why you'd have an issue specifically with Internal. Switch back to Internal then in Joomla global configuration enable debug mode and set error reporting to maximum then retest to see if any fatal errors show up (didn't see any in my tests). If no errors, but still having issues try upgrading to latest nightly found below.

www.joomlapolis.com/downloads/doc_details/640-community-builder-nightly-build

5. I click on the new entry to view it. The page itself displays fine, but the URL is not SEF enabled - http://.../index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5:test-76 is what I get.

Don't know what to tell you. CB Blogs is using K2s own API to generate the URLs in the same way K2 does. My guess is K2s _findItem call isn't finding a Joomla menu item associated with the K2 category or article so it has no Itemid, which means no SEF. Maybe try creating a Joomla menu item to the category of the article.

Would appreciate it if you could let me know. I basically just want a "my blogs" link to be there so users can click that link to be directly taken to a listing of their blogs (as opposed to all blogs).

There is no My Blogs page. CB Blogs provides profile blogging. It's all done through the tab. Best I can suggest is use CB Content Bot and substitute the CB Blogs tab into a Joomla article and then link to that Joomla article. I really wouldn't expect independent pages for pretty much any of our plugins as they're all designed to extend the profile.

krileon wrote:

Yes, please do and let me know if you manage to figure it out. I've currently got it working fine with K2/Joomla - - would ideally prefer to get it to work with the CB internal blog system though, since I'd prefer my site to be using CB wherever feasible/possible.

With CB 2.0.7 it seams to be working fine. The redirect code is the same regardless of the model so I've no idea why you'd have an issue specifically with Internal. Switch back to Internal then in Joomla global configuration enable debug mode and set error reporting to maximum then retest to see if any fatal errors show up (didn't see any in my tests). If no errors, but still having issues try upgrading to latest nightly found below.

www.joomlapolis.com/downloads/doc_details/640-community-builder-nightly-build

Will do, and will let you know my findings.

krileon wrote:

5. I click on the new entry to view it. The page itself displays fine, but the URL is not SEF enabled - http://.../index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5:test-76 is what I get.

Don't know what to tell you. CB Blogs is using K2s own API to generate the URLs in the same way K2 does. My guess is K2s _findItem call isn't finding a Joomla menu item associated with the K2 category or article so it has no Itemid, which means no SEF. Maybe try creating a Joomla menu item to the category of the article.

That's the trick - the SEF works now. THANK YOU!

krileon wrote:

Would appreciate it if you could let me know. I basically just want a "my blogs" link to be there so users can click that link to be directly taken to a listing of their blogs (as opposed to all blogs).

There is no My Blogs page. CB Blogs provides profile blogging. It's all done through the tab. Best I can suggest is use CB Content Bot and substitute the CB Blogs tab into a Joomla article and then link to that Joomla article. I really wouldn't expect independent pages for pretty much any of our plugins as they're all designed to extend the profile.

Noted.