Author: John McLear

Getting a name wrong.

Posted on by John McLear

We’re having a bit of a reflection period at the Etherpad foundation lately. A big issue for all of us is the name “Etherpad Lite”. We really messed that up. Etherpad Lite isn’t Light for the users, Etherpad Lite is light for the admin and the business’ bottom line.

We made the code base 80% lighter, the application requirements 80% lighter, the system requirements 80% lighter but we kept the majority of the functionality.. In fact, we introduced more via an API. More potential for developers.. We also made it wayyyy easier for developers to get started as we reduced the whole 3 language stack(scala, java, javascript) down to just one language.

So why Lite and why not V2?
We didn’t want to upset any foundation members. We knew we had a bunch of talented Java guys we didn’t want to upset and lose so we took the 1/2 cocked descision and tried to keep everyone happy. In hindsight, this was a terrible mistake. We are now 100% sure that the pure JS approach is the future, adoptions are up, performance is up, all of the indicators the foundation committed to from day one are showing positive signs.

We’re a family focused on making the collaborative web better. A group of people made this call and the same group of people are committed to finding a good solution.

Like any organization or individual we know that we have to correct our mistake so we’re on the hunt for a better name for Etherpad Lite.

A consideration is “LinePad” which would stand for Lite Is Not Ether.. Pad…
Another consideration is NodePad, also Etherpad V2, also Etherpad N (N for Node), also Etherpad JS…

So many choices, how do we make the right one?

Ajax CSV upload to a Table with jQuery and PHP

Posted on by John McLear

So I had to write a new user importer for School Email and I was looking for a simple plugin in solution but didn’t find one so here is a simple way of uploading a csv file that is uploaded to a file and rendered to a table..

Projects used: CsvToTable & jQuery File Upload & Editable Grid *optional for live edits.

Grab those two projects, grab the below files and put them in a /js folder then put the .js files into your head..

Put the jQuery-File-Upload folder in your root, we will be uploading files to here.. You may want to add a layer of security in front of the upload function.

<head>
<script src="/js/csvToTable.js"></script>
<script src="/js/jquery.iframe-transport.js"></script>
<script src="/js/jquery.fileupload.js"></script>
</head>

At the bottom of your body add..

<div id="csvToTable"></div>
<div id="fileupload"></div>
<script>
var loggedIn = 1; // you will want to modify this if you require auth
$(function () {
  if(loggedIn == "1"){
    $('#fileupload').fileupload({
      dataType: 'json',
      acceptFileTypes: '/(csv)$/i',
      url: '/jQuery-File-Upload/php/index.php',
      done: function (e, data, Users) {
        $.each(data.result, function(index, file){
          $('#csvToTable').html("");
          $('#csvToTable').CSVToTable(file.url).bind("loadComplete",function() {
            console.log("Loaded data into table");
            /*

            Call functions to manipulate data here

            */
          });;
        });
      }
    });
  }
});
</script>

Want to make your table editor like the rest of the cool kids? Check out this jQuery plugin

The wedding ring shop review

Posted on by John McLear

I went to McSorley’s wedding ring shop in Leeds to get some custom / bespoke ring designs done for a band I was working with and he constantly promised things he never delivered.

Most of the emails he sent were incoherent..

Most of the time he doesn’t answer the phone as he isn’t even in the store..

It also took 4+ months to get a refund. Even that came in two parts with him thinking it was okay to refund me less than I paid..

Avoid this shop, it will burn you.