Validation plugins

[Sophist]

According to the Wiki there should be the following validation plugins:

Akismet
Are Unique Values
Email Exists
Is Alphanumeric
Is Email
Is Greater or Less Than
Is Not
Is Numeric
Is Unique Value
Not empty
Open Provider
PHP
Regular Expression
Rsa id
Special Characters
User Exists

On Github there is also an "isiban" validation but no "RSA id".

But when Fabrik is installed from a package the only available validation plugins are:

Is Email
Is Greater or Less Than
Not empty
PHP
Regular Expression

Can someone please advise what the status is for the other validation plugins and why some or all of the missing ones are not included in the basic Fabrik package?

 

[Sophist]

P.S. I note that the same is true for other plugin types, most notably elements where Github has 47 only 15 of which are included in the Fabrik package.

P.P.S. I have no problem with some plugins having been obsoleted. After all, they take a lot of effort to maintain, some may have become incompatible over time, and some may not be used by many people. However we need to be very clear about their status so that people know what they should and shouldn't use.

 

[troester]

The Fabrik core package doesn't include all plugins, it's only the core functions (e.g. with the php validation you can do all validations on your own).
The additional plugins can be downloaded and installed, some are only accessible for subscribers.

GitHub is not the "official" Fabrik source and not the official way to get plugins.

 

[Sophist]

I would like to suggest that all the free plugins are included in the basic package. After all, if you have downloaded fabrik from the extension store you might not even know they exist.

It would also simplify the download page - and give greater focus to subscription-only plugins - which might encourage more people to subscribe.

 

[Sophist]

And finding, downloading, and uploading to install is a PITA, and then you don't get the Joomla updater updating them so you have to do it manually (which can be a security risk).

I will update the PR I submitted for `isunique` to include all free plugins.

 

[troester]

and then you don't get the Joomla updater updating them so you have to do it manually

No, all plugins - all installed ones and even all not installed ones (if you did a GitHub update) - are going through the Joomla updater.

All possible (free) plugins will make the package to big.

 

[Sophist]

No, all plugins - all installed ones and even all not installed ones (if you did a GitHub update) - are going through the Joomla updater.

All possible (free) plugins will make the package to big.

Ah - I did not realise that about the updater.

As for making the package too big, the Github plugins directory is 17.4MB (including subscription only plugins), and the fabrik package is 7.32MB - so we are talking about only a 10MB difference in size which in today's technology is negligible.

 

[Sophist]

P.S. It might also be worthwhile for the fabrik team to add functionality (even if it is only static text) to the plugin selectors to point people to the fabrikar download area for additional plugins. If I get time I will try to create a PR for this.

 

[troester]

I think there are a lot of servers still allowing only 8MB upload. I can remember Hugh struggeling to get the size this low + add the additional Fabrik-lib for download (including e.g. the domPDF lib), so you no longer need to do a GitHub update if you want to use PDF.

After all, if you have downloaded fabrik from the extension store you might not even know they exist.

Yup, there could be a big "After-installation message" and pointing out "Additional plugins" in the Fabrik Home"

and give greater focus to subscription-only plugins - which might encourage more people to subscribe

Yes. I think the "Download access" filter should also be visible to non-logged-in visitors, so showing what they are "missing".

 

[Sophist]

Wow!! I cannot believe that the calc element is not included in Fabrik as standard.

Nor the cascading dropdown.

 

[Sophist]

I think there are a lot of servers still allowing only 8MB upload. I can remember Hugh struggeling to get the size this low + add the additional Fabrik-lib for download (including e.g. the domPDF lib), so you no longer need to do a GitHub update if you want to use PDF.

`

Yes - I can understand why we need to be aware of this limit for those who want to upload Fabrik as a package. According to the php documentation the default maximum upload filesize is only 2MB. So I suspect most hosting companies will have changed that upwards already.

That said, anyone who wants to use Fabrik needs to be reasonably technical and should be able to work out how to increase that limit using php.ini directives or ini_set. Indeed, perhaps Joomla should include capability of setting post_max_size and upload_max_filesize in the Global Configuration. (Ticket created.)

BTW, current F3.8 is 8.12MB (8522069 bytes), so it has crept over the 8MB limit. I am going to cancel my PR to add more to the fabrik package to avoid growing it further - and instead concentrate on adding static advert text to backend.

But perhaps Fabrik needs backend functionality which knows the list of free and subscription plugins with a description and a button which downloads and installs the free ones automatically.
Alternatively, perhaps the most useful of the additional free plugins could be bundled together separately as another <8MB package - or perhaps a package per plugin type, and published to the Joomla Extensions Directory so that they can be downloaded using Joomla's "Install from Web" functionality.