RandomTopicPlugin

Pick and display some random topic names/links.

( Discussion in TWiki:Plugins/RandomTopicPluginDev )

Syntax Rules

• %RANDOMTOPIC% - inserts a single random topic name in it's place.
• %RANDOMTOPIC{params}% - inserts potentially more than one random topic, with user formatting. Parameters:
  • topics="5" - Number of topics requested. Default is 1 topic
  • include="^Web" - Perl regular expression. Only topics that match this expression will shown_. Default is set by RANDOMTOPICPLUGIN_INCLUDE (see below).
  • exclude="^Web" - Perl regular expression. Any topics that match this expression will never be shown. Default is set by RANDOMTOPICPLUGIN_EXCLUDE (see below).
  • format=" format string " . The format string accepts 3 quoted parameters:
    • $t will be expanded to \t (necessary for bullet lists)
    • $n will be expanded to \n (So that things appear on separate lines - again for bullet lists
    • $topic will be expanded to the randomly chosen name
    • Default is a bullet list : "$t* $topic$n"

Examples

• %RANDOMTOPIC{topics="5"}% - 5 random topics as a bullet list
• %RANDOMTOPIC{topics="5" format="| *$topic* | $topic|$n"}%
  • Provides 5 random topics.
  • They will be formatted to look like this:

TWikiMetaData	TWikiMetaData
TWikiTemplates	TWikiTemplates
TWikiUserAuthentication	TWikiUserAuthentication
HiddenAttachment	HiddenAttachment
WikiName	WikiName

• %RANDOMTOPIC{topics="10" exclude="^Web"}% - 10 random topics, excluding any that start with "Web".

RandomTopicPlugin Global Settings

Plugin settings are stored as preferences variables. To reference a plugin setting write %<plugin>_<setting>%, i.e. %INTERWIKIPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%

• One line description, is shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Pick a selection of Random Topics
• Perl regular expression matching topics to be selected from
  • Set INCLUDE =
• Perl regular expression matching topics to be excluded
  • Set EXCLUDE = ^Web

Plugin Installation Instructions

Note: You do not need to install anything on the browser to use this plugin. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the plugin on the server where TWiki is running.

• Download the ZIP file from the Plugin web (see below)
• Unzip RandomTopicPlugin.zip in your twiki installation directory. Content:

  File:	Description:
  ./lib/TWiki/Plugins/RandomTopicPlugin/build.pl	Build script
  ./lib/TWiki/Plugins/RandomTopicPlugin.pm	Plugin code
  ./data/TWiki/RandomTopicPlugin.txt	Plugin topic
  RandomTopicPlugin_installer.pl	Install script

• Test if the installation was successful:
  • If you see a table below of 5 random topics then you have successfully installed this:

---

AnApplicationWithWikiForm

NavbarPluginExampleFirst

UserDocumentationCategory

InterWikis

ExampleTopicTemplate

---

Plugin Info

Plugin Author:	TWiki:Main/MichaelSparks
Plugin Version:	1.200
Change History:
15 Nov 2004	1.200 Crawford Currie - removed non-functional persist option, added exclude and include parameters, ported to Cairo & BuildCOntrib? build system, add to CVS.
10 Jul 2003	1.010 Initial version
Dependencies:	None
Perl Version:	5.005
Plugin Home:	http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/RandomTopicPlugin
Feedback:	http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/RandomTopicPluginDev

Related Topics: TWikiPreferences, TWikiPlugins

-- TWiki:Main/MichaelSparks - 10 Jul 2003
-- TWiki:Main/CrawfordCurrie - 13:13:25 15 November 2004