Confused about K2 Article App Plugin and K2 Inbuilt App
By Neel on Monday, 08 September 2014
Posted in General Issues
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I find the EasySocial's inbuilt app and the separate K2 Article App to be confusing. I go back and forth trying to understand what does what. I already read the description in App directory for K2 Article App plugin. Out of all the features in it, the only reason I want to use that plugin is for adding stream updates when user creates new articles and for giving points and badges for K2 articles. So far so good. But when I go to EasySocial Backend settings -> Applications -> Select Type "Applications" -> User — K2, I see that this also has settings for showing stream items for K2 and also displaying list of submitted K2 Articles in profile. So my confusion is:

1) The "User — K2 settings" that I see, that is due to the inbuilt K2 Application isint it? Or is it due to me installing the K2 Article App Plugin. (I am assuming its inbuilt since it appears even when the K2 plugin is disabled).

2) Why do I need the K2 Article App Plugin when the inbuilt K2 app already has settings for adding Stream items from K2 articles? I thought only the K2 Plugin can do that (i.e adding streams on newly created articles). Have I misunderstood the purpose for App and Plugin?

3) Why cant you integrate both the K2 Article plugin and K2 inbuilt App together as 1 instead of having it as 2 separate things?
The "K2 content plugin" is required to intercept when someone saves / modifies the K2 items. The "K2 app" instead, displays articles that was written on K2 on your EasySocial profile.
Mark
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Monday, 08 September 2014 23:37
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Thanks Mark. Why cant you integrate K2 App and K2 Content Plugin as 1 by combining those features together? That way all the selections and settings can be controlled from EasySocial section itself.

Secondly, how can I can edit (increase) the points awarded when creating K2 articles? I feel that the K2 plugin needs to be upgraded with more features since its quite limited right now. I really hope you get a chance (and give importance) to improve this useful plugin Mark.
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 22:20
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The "K2 content plugin" is required to intercept when someone saves / modifies the K2 items. The "K2 app" instead, displays articles that was written on K2 on your EasySocial profile.

Regarding that, if K2 plugin is not installed, I see that the K2 App does not show stream updates when someone saves / modifies the K2 items. This was confusing for me first since I see all of these settings there already even before installing the plugin that got me wondering why I need the plugin and why the settings werent working although they are all set to yes. Another reason why they both should be combined as one to prevent confusion. This way the plugin settings and app settings can be found in the same section for ease in controlling these settings.
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 22:30
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K2 plugins are Joomla plugins and K2 app is an EasySocial app itself, it cannot be merged into one unfortunately If we have everything developed as plugins, then we will be limited to the functionality of Joomla plugins
Mark
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 22:40
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aha.. fair enough. Although I do see some room for improvement in the K2 app though Mark. Some of the things I am missing now are:

1) Ability to edit settings for the number of points awarded and badges settings. (if it already exists, can you point me where? I searched in app configuration, user points section and badges section and I cant find the options for the K2 points and badges settings other than enabling and disabling them in the k2 plugin).

2) The "K2 Articles" filter that shows in the sidebar, is that due to enabling K2 Plugin or K2 App? Which one controls the filter there? It will be easier if the filter name can be changed from the backend itself instead of manually editing the language file so it doesnt override during updates in the future (similar to the K2 Title that can be changed from the Application Configuration).
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 22:48
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Please post feature requests at http://stackideas.com/voices/easysocial
Mark
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 23:11
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I will... I can post in feature requests since I have made a long list, but would you consider updating this k2 app anytime soon? A lot of requests I have are quite basic that already exists in other component that integrates with EasySocial and I dont know if you would consider adding these to K2 app too anytime soon.

For now, if I want to edit the number of points awarded for k2 articles, how and where do I edit that?

And, if someone comments or likes on the K2 new article stream updates that gets added due to the plugin, would the article author be notified (via system notifications) about the likes and comments in easysocial's activity feed stream?
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 23:19
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I cannot guarantee that these enhancements would be added but if there is enough votes for it, we will definitely review it As for editing the points, you can do so by editing the points at the back end of EasySocial.

Yes, if you post a comment on the stream that is generated by a user that created the article, they will be notified.
Mark
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 23:23
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Thank you mark. I am happy the notification works as the new article feed are generated by the ES user. Simple...

As for editing the points, you can do so by editing the points at the back end of EasySocial.

I had a look, but where? I looked under K2-User Application configuration and User points I can only see settings for com_content and Easysocial points. No K2 there.. (unless I'm blind..lol)

I cannot guarantee that these enhancements would be added but if there is enough votes for it, we will definitely review it

I will post my feature requests now. I am not sure how many votes this would receive though. For k2 being one of the all time popular Joomla component with a huge user base, I am surprised to see that not many users have requested for some of the basic features already. Anyhow, I will post it up and stay hopeful!

Thanks again Mark. You are a good man!
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 23:34
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I had a look, but where? I looked under K2-User Application configuration and User points I can only see settings for com_content and Easysocial points. No K2 there.. (unless I'm blind..lol)

Never mind this. This post in the other topic helped me. It showed once ES discovered
As for the points, you need to run the discovery of the points at the back end of EasySocial to discover new points.
Neel
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Tuesday, 09 September 2014 23:38
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Thanks for updating Neel
Mark
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Wednesday, 10 September 2014 14:49
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I was playing around the app and plugin a bit more last night and it makes sense now. Once you understand the logic it makes sense. Sorry I am new to both joomla and es so hence these questions. Kindly bear with me if the questions sounds silly at first.

Thanks Mark for your first answer that puts it exactly the way it is. Very clear and precise
Neel
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Wednesday, 10 September 2014 15:15
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No problem Neel Thanks for understanding.
Mark
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Wednesday, 10 September 2014 15:38
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Mark wrote:

Please post feature requests at http://stackideas.com/voices/easysocial

Hi Mark,

I have created a list of feature request that I think is needed to improve this EasySocial K2 application and have posted it here: http://stackideas.com/voices/easysocial/item/440

I hope you can add atleast the first 2 request in the next release. Please...
Neel
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Wednesday, 10 September 2014 21:01
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Thanks, as always I cannot guarantee that this will be added but we'll see what is more important in a whole
Mark
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Thursday, 11 September 2014 03:03
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