firefox and ubiquity: gtd-php heaven (almost)

[fvaz]

is anybody here paying attention to the Ubiquity add-on for Firefox?
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Ubiquity

it should make adding an item to the inbox as easy as: ctrl+space in yourinboxitemtext

or adding an action in a context named "downtown" as easy as: ctrl+space ac d youractiondescription



this could be done with no changes to server-side gtd-php code, just by creating a new "command" in ubiquity


unfortunately, I'm a noob in javascript, and I've tried unsuccesfully to create this command in ubiquity 

so, if anyone happens to find or write commands for gtp-php, please let me know...


thanks!

[Andrew]

Hi there fvaz,

no, I haven't seen Ubiquity - though it seems to be running through the blogosphere and whatever the equivalent is for twitter (twitterswamp?) this week like a dose of salts

I usually use Greasemonkey when I want to augment web-page functionality. Still, it's all javascript,  so a solution for one should be reasonable transferable. Some addons are going to allow interaction between different extant tabs: I don't think Greasemonkey does,  but it looks like Ubiquity and other similar addons like inky might, so they would have an edge, there.

So here's some pseudo-code to start things off, for an inbox item:

Code:

create form, method="post", action="{path to gtd-php}/processItems.php"
create text input elements: title,  action
set value of action="create" (or in 0.9, "createbasic")
set value of title={yourInboxItemText}
submit form

and for a next action:

Code:

create form, method="post", action="{path to gtd-php}/processItems.php"
create text input elements: title,  action, type, nextAction
set value of action="create" (or in 0.9, "createbasic")
set value of title={yourInboxItemText}
set value of nextAction="y"
set value of type="a"
submit form

Now, that could all be done in a new window, or as an AJAX call. There will be some cross-site scripting issues.

It's a bit harder to do stuff with parents, categories or contexts, because generally the user knows those by name, and processItems works by using their id numbers; there is no lookup from text to id in processItems, but that would be easy enough to write in PHP

One approach might be to write a javascript command-line interface as a gtd-php addon in the first instance, and then look at bridging it to ubiquity / greasemonkey / inky / Gnome do / Enso / Conkeror / whatever

For ergonomic and design considerations, see http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/language-based-interfaces-part-1-the-problem/

[Andrew]

ok, I'm having a hackabout with ubiquity now. I'll update the wiki with my progress: warning, this test version may eat your data!

[fvaz]

hey la, that's great news! I'm a real noob, so even your pseudo-code won't be able to help me...

and I'll be pleased to have my data eaten by your ubiquity hack! 

[Andrew]

Hi fvaz,
which version of gtd-php are you using, by the way? The v0.8 stable or the v0.9 alpha?

I expect I'll be using the ubiquity "add inbox" and "add reference" that are on the wiki now.  I'll refine the "add reference" to incorporate a parent lookup, and that will be specific to v0.9, I expect.

Looking beyond that: the browser market's quite fragmented and fast-moving at the moment. It's hard to know which platforms our users will be on, in a year's time.

The core gtd-php will continue to be predominantly vanilla html, to serve all browsers within reason, but inevitably additional functionality is going to exclude some browsers - I expect that the ajax plugin break badly on IE6, for example.

I don't think I can justify much more time on ubiquity just yet, because FF3+ubiquity will be a pretty small user base: we'll see how far it takes off: it certainly seems to have potential.  But then, so does google's Chrome.  IE8 doesn't seem to have a great deal going for it compared to either of those two, but may achieve a much higher market share.

A pure javascript gtdphp front-end (c.f. googlemail) designed to work with IE8, FF3, Chrome, Safari might be the best next step in dynamic webbery.

Regards,
Andrew

[fvaz]

hi la

I'm using the 0.8 stable now, but I'm thinking of moving over to 0.9 already


anyway, since Ubiquity has been receiving so much attention lately (even if it's only webmonkeys), maybe it's a good marketing trampoline for improving awareness about gtd-php

I still have got to check 0.9 alpha (and shame on me, I should try helping also), but I believe it is a quick and lean interface (and thus a smooth experience) that makes some web software better than others (take 37signals stuff as an example)

I think Ubiquity might help exploring this alternate text interface, which seems pretty fast and straightforward to me

and while it's a small share of the browser market, I suspect a large portion of early adopters are also GTD aware -- so it's a tiny fraction of the browser market, but maybe a boost for our beloved gtd-php's user base


by the way, how's the browser share like for gtd-php downloads? I think since it still requires a web-savvy person (to perform a php+mysql installation), it might be very skewed towards Firefox and Safari

[Andrew]

There's no expectation that any of our users will move over to 0.9 until it at least reaches formal beta: but those that do so are very very welcome, and feedback is enormously useful in creating a better experience.

I don't have access to the download logs; I expect you're right about a higher proportion of users having access to Firefox, and using it at least some of the time.  I think quite a few of our users use several different machines to access it: I get to my live installation from at least 4 different PCs and 1 mobile device; each of the PCs have different Firefox extensions installed (I must get around to addressing that one day - there must be an easy way to standardise a profile).

At least one of our developers uses gtd-php from a wide number of machines, many of which aren't under his administration, so sometimes ends up having to use IE6.

[Andrew]

The wiki page for gtd-php's ubiquity interface has moved to http://www.gtd-php.com/Developers/Ubiquity.

The source code for the ubiquity commands can be viewed here on the SVN browser

It will get updated via the usual branch updates, and users with the AJAX addon active will get an option to subscribe to the ubiquity commands, from the front page of their gtd-php installation.  The ubiquity commands will also auto-update from that page too.

I'm getting excited about the technology  , and welcome any suggestions for possible ubiquity commands - I can't guarantee I'll get time to address them, but we'll see what we can do. Next on the list is creating a next action.

[Andrew]

OK, the ubiquity stuff made it into the core in time for the release of the 0.9 beta!

[didier69]

How I ubiquity know the gtg-php of my site when I add an inbox item ?!?!

[Andrew]

How does ubiquity know where your gtd-php site is?  Aha - good question.  There's something cunning at the top of the gtd-ubiquity file.  It's a PHP file, not plain javascript.  And it pretends to be a javascript file, once it's done some PHP goodness.

The PHP implants the name of the path to the gtd-php at the top of the javascript:

Code:

<?php
    if (!headers_sent()) header('Content-Type: application/javascript; charset=utf-8');
    include_once 'gtdfuncs.inc.php';
?>
var gtdcommandlineversion="200810160939",
    gtdbasepath="<?php echo getAbsolutePath(); ?>",

...

That line gtdbasepath="<?php echo getAbsolutePath(); ?>" is the one that does the magic.

[didier69]

So I need to connect to my gtd-php before use gtdphp-ubiquity ?

PS: I can't post personnal message, the image to verify I'm a human is not displayed on my firefox 3.0.3 ....

[Andrew]

To use gtdphp-ubiquity:

• install the ubiquity addon into firefox
• activate the AJAX addon in gtd-php Configure > User Preferences > Addons
• Add the gtd-ubiquity commands to your list of subscribed commands - make sure you tick the Auto-update this feed box too
• You should then be able to use the gtd-ubiquity commands anywhere.  If your installation requires an authentication, then you'll need to do that before using the commands.  You might need to do that each time you start the browser, depending on the type of authentication, your cookie settings, etc.

Hope that helps,
Andrew

[didier69]

That's what I did, and it works ! Magically ! What I don't understand, is how ubiquity can find the URL to use for my own gtd-php ... It's strange ... but never mind it works .

[scribbly]

To use gtdphp-ubiquity:

• install the ubiquity addon into firefox
• activate the AJAX addon in gtd-php Configure > User Preferences > Addons
• Add the gtd-ubiquity commands to your list of subscribed commands - make sure you tick the Auto-update this feed box too
• You should then be able to use the gtd-ubiquity commands anywhere.  If your installation requires an authentication, then you'll need to do that before using the commands.  You might need to do that each time you start the browser, depending on the type of authentication, your cookie settings, etc.

Hope that helps,
Andrew

The Ubiquity API has changed to version 2 and so these scripts do not work any more. Are there plans to upgrade them?