Description

Provides a seamless and flexible, interactive display option for online polls with Democracy Poll with a lot of parameters to be controlled for various display possibilities.
To be used as a shortcode alongside the poll for an interactive results display or separately just for result display purposes.
It provides and will further provide enhancements for Democracy Poll, like e.g. mixed polls (checkboxes plus radiobuttons in one poll). User fields (poll categories) can be defined and maintained in the users’ profiles to provide enhanced result statistics (e.g. showing a choir’s voices representation on proposed concert or rehearsal dates being polled in order to judge the ability to sing) – this was the author’s initial motivation.
Fields can as well be automatized in input based on regular expressions applied on the main user’s field (poll category).
Email reminders to users that didn’t vote, yet. Flexible sorting options and much more. Of course: the main shortcode is made for registered users only. Give it a try!

Inspired by and enhancing: Tkama’s Democracy Poll plugin.

Some General Considerations and more details:

The basic idea for this plugin was developed when the need for polls arrived for the choir I have the pleasure to be part of: Voices Unlimited.
This plugin can be used by any organization, association, union, society, club or group of people when polls shall be executed and results be displayed in a structured way, e.g.:

For this or that choir rehearsal or planned public event to be scheduled, would sufficient Sopranos 1 or Tenors 2 be available?
Or do the choir members support this or that idea and from which sub-group do they come from?
Or what could be winning ideas for the next concert stage dress (Democracy Poll with answers to be brought by the voters and be displayed for everyone easy to understand) and would this spread nicely in color on stage, considering the choir’s stage order?

You will surely translate all this into your own environment and your own needs…

Main feature is the Foodle shortcode, which allows to display poll results in a configurable table format. Alongside the Democracy Poll shortcode, it will display the results interactively by use of AJAX communication.
However, it can as well be used independently to just display poll results.
Together with the WordPress comments function in pages or posts, this can be considered a good tool for online interaction with your registered (!) users.

Warning! Democracy Poll’s logging and IP storing option must be activated in order for Foodle to work. By this, all votes are stored in the database for Foodle to work with. You may select to avoid IP storage in each individual poll in order to avoid failures when voters share the same IP address, e.g. when voting in the same WLAN environment.

The list of Foodle features comprises:

The interactive poll results table (shortcode)
This shortcode only makes sense and therefore only works for registered users (else: no display) and registered voters (else: message)
All other functions work regardless this necessary restriction
Several Democracy Poll shortcodes on one page/post (like before)
Full shortcode flexibility: Several Foodle shortcodes – even for the same Democracy Poll id with differing parameters – on one page/post
Email reminders for users who are late to vote
An unlimited number of user metafields to be defined and used (in user profile – can be switched off in Foodle settings)
A shortcode for a front-end interface to these extra user metafields
Recovery of orphaned metafield field names, which still have data in the database (user meta)
Deletion of data in the database (user meta) for metafield field names, which are orphaned
Manual drag-n-drop fields sorting
Careful (!) selection and use of existing user metafields
Manual entry or drop-down entry in the user profile
Automated filling of user metafields by use of Regular Expressions
Easy overview and control over past user entries (normalization)
Flexible sorting definitions
Definition of role & user plugin-internal capabilities
Dashboard widget (and shortcode) to provide statistics and check for logical errors in democracy_q, democracy_a and democracy_log databases
A shortcode to link to the Foodle page/post
A shortcode to display content based on roles
A free name/title definition for Foodle, e.g. for the user profile and the email
Changeable highlighting of Foodle & Democracy Poll in the admin menu and admin toolbar
You can define a list of page/post IDs where the AJAX interactivitiy is switched off.
Switchable interactive explanations for all functions (‘Help-Tooltips’)
Warning-Tooltips can be disabled
Help-Tooltips and Warning-Tooltips are available anywhere for the administrator (frontend and backend)
A number of Foodle CSS classes to have the design control
In parallel to the ‘administrator’ role, managing Foodle can be delegated to other roles and their allowances can be tailored to your needs – some settings, however, will remain an administrator privilege (Foodle title, post exclusion, roles/allowances and vote expiry)
Tracking of Foodle shortcode usage in pages/posts

In addition to that, functionality is added to Democracy Poll:

In multiple answers polls, you can combine checkboxes and radio buttons
In each poll edit page, you may select from the available categories (user metafields) for display
In each poll edit page, you may define the (main) category to be used for the category column
In each poll edit page, you may define the related text of its sorting button
In each poll edit page, you may decide whether to display an AJAX refresh button in the results displays (voted and/or not voted)
In each poll edit page, you may decide whether to have marked users to be counted (columns sums and first-come-first-serve answers)
In each poll edit page, you may decide whether to prevent from storing the voters’ IP adresses for this poll in order to preserve full functionality even when voters share the same IP address.
Reminder: Democracy Poll’s logging and IP storing option must remain activated in order for Foodle to work!
In the graphical poll results, a text will indicate the voter’s choice(s)
You can choose to avoid the vote expiry on polls lasting longer than 12 months
The use of shortcodes is now possible inside the Democracy Poll’s own text field located underneath the very poll
A shortcode to disable the display of certain Foodle IDs in an archive listing (i.e. by enclosing the related Democracy Poll archive shortcode)
A number of Democracy CSS classes to have the design control
Corrected tracking of Democracy shortcode usage in pages/posts

You will probably – at least in the beginning – want to switch-on the ‘Help-Tooltips’ (Foodle Settings) to see explanations for every function throughout the admin page tabs.
And don’t hesitate to propose additional valuable features you might still be missing – for me to review openly.

Screenshots

Sample front-end poll
Sample front-end poll #2
Admin tab: Metafields
Admin tab: Normaization and sorting
Admin tab: Roles & User internal capabilities
Admin tab: Edit email
Admin tab: Foodle settings
Tips tab with detailed explanations
Tips tab with detailed explanations #2
Enhanced Democracy Poll edit screen
User profile extract

FAQ

FAQ #1: When updating a page, an error like “Updating failed. The response is not a valid JSON response.” appears. What does this mean?: This error typically appears with the “democracy” shortcode present on a page and is NOT linked to Foodle. A reason could not yet be determined, however, while unpleasant, this error is without any negative functional effect!
FAQ #2: During testing, I experienced that deleting one vote of a poll would sometines eliminate all votes. What can I do to avoid this behavior?: Your votes probably contain the same IP address, which typically happens if voters are in the same WLAN environment. For using Foodle, it is mandatory to switch Democracy’s logging and storing of IP addresses on! When re-voting, Democracy would delete all votes with same IP address. In order to avoid this, you can prevent Democracy from storing IP adresses in the Foodle area of each poll admin page.
FAQ #3: I have a few brilliant ideas to further enhance this plugin. What should I do?: That’s great to hear! Just contact the plugin author to propose your ideas :)!

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“Foodle Add-On for Democracy Poll” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Michael

“Foodle Add-On for Democracy Poll” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Foodle Add-On for Democracy Poll” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

2.1.2.1

(New) Button for orphaned metafield data deletion is only activated if such data is existing in the database.

2.1.2.0

(Tweak) Shortcode [foodle-show-extra-fields] display will be visible for logged-in users only.

2.1.1.0

(New) Added a button to trigger the shortcode usage update manually.

2.1.0.0

(New) Append democracy_q database by column ‘in_foodles’ to be able to track Foodle shortcode usage.
(New) With each page/post save, update democracy_q database with shortcode usage information (correctly now for [democracy] and new for [foodle-for-democracy-poll-list-log]).
(New) New tab added to dispay the Democracy shortcode usage and Foodle shortcode usage in pages/posts for each Democracy Poll ID.
(Tweak) Introduce option ‘foodle_version’ to better track updates (also through FTP) and necessary adaptations thereupon.
(Fix) A few minor optimizations here and there.

2.0.0.5

(Fix) Corrected some minor formatting.

2.0.0.4

(Fix) Corrected behaviour with some default settings.
(Fix) Corrected behaviour with admin menu colors in some isolated cases.

2.0.0.3

(Fix) Corrected an error on the vote expiry setting introduced with version 2.0.0.0.

2.0.0.2

(New) The Foodle title setting has been added to the administrator privileges.
(Tweak) Improved display format of the role allowances setting.

2.0.0.1

(Fix) Correction of a string with functional influence.

2.0.0.0

(New) Allow other user roles to manage Foodle (like existing for Democracy). The roles’ allowances can be tailored as needed in the Foodle settings. Some settings will remain an administrator privilege (post exclusion, roles/allowances and vote expiry).
(New) In the metafile definition tab’s drop-down of existing metafiles, ‘RECOVER’ entries appear for recovery of orphaned Foodle field names with still existing data in the database.
(New) Still existing data in the database for orphaned metafield names can be deleted, if not recovered through the above new function.
(Tweak) Upon pressing the ‘Delete orphaned metafiled entries’ button, a confirm popup will explain how to recover still existing data before to really delete it.
(Fix) A few minor code and string improvements plus some fixes for further stability.

1.9.1.2

(Fix) Check and correct for admin capablity ‘manage-foodle’ as re-activiation of plugins will obviously not run the plugin’s own activation function (to deactivate and then activate the plugin again would accomplish the same).

1.9.1.1

(New) Administrator can see the Foodle metafields in the user profiles, even if switched off for the users (then marked for the administrator by a red dashed border).
(New) Introduced Foodle menu and submenus in the admin menu toolbar. Can be switched on and off in the Foodle settings.
(New) Introduced capability ‘manage_foodle’ to prepare future functionality.
(Tweak) Added a link to the user profile in the extra metafield shortcode.
(Tweak) Added CSS classes ‘foodle-extra-button’ and ‘foodle-extra-date-delete’ to complete the ‘foodle-extra-…’ CSS classes.
(Fix) One string replaced.

1.9.0.0

(New) Shortcode to access the Foodle metafields anywhere in the frontend.
(New) Access to the Foodle metafields in the user profile can be switched off in the Foodle settings.
(Tweak) Introduced a number of CSS classes to controll the front-end appearance of the Foodle metafields.
(Fix) A number of small optimizations and text corrections.

1.8.8.1

(Fix) Avoid warnings in non-admin area.

1.8.8.0

(Tweak) For the Foodle admin menu color input: show color preview and limit input to hex characters.
(Fix) Allow to delete a ‘foodle-date’ type input.

1.8.7.7

(Tweak) Safety queries (confirmations) before saving can now be deactivated.
(Fix) A few minor corrections and improvements.

1.8.7.6

(Tweak) A few more confirmation queries.
(Tweak) A few text corrections.

1.8.7.5

(Tweak) Enhanced the messaging/information system of Foodle.
(Tweak) Improved code robustness.

1.8.7.4

(Tweak) Just to avoid misunderstandings: two WARNINGs changed to INFOs, one WARNING changed to ERROR.

1.8.7.3

(New) Added graphical information in each Democracy poll edit page, whether IP storage is switched on or off in each poll.
(Tweak) The ‘foodle-date’ input now prevents ANY key.

1.8.7.2

(Fix) Fixed an HTML id conflict.

1.8.7.1

(Fix) Existing fields were not always deactivated (error introduced by last version) due to a bug.

1.8.7.0

(New) Introduced new input type ‘foodle-date’ to control date input formats based on the format stored in foodle settings.

1.8.6.2

(Tweak) A few improvements with messages and confirmations.

1.8.6.1

(Tweak) Added tooltip warning for metafield entry deletion in database.
(Fix) Slightly changed tooltip warning position to avoid flickering at right borders.

1.8.6.0

(New) Introducing metafield HTML input types to format the input in the user profile.
(New) Option to delete orphaned own metafields still stored in the database.
(Fix) Improved a number of original strings and their German translations.

1.8.5.2

(Fix) Format of FAQs in help tab corrected.

1.8.5.1

(New) Show FAQs in help tab.

1.8.5.0

(New) Warning in Democracy and Foodle before leaving the page when input fields or seletions were edited without saving (does not work on IOS).

1.8.4.0

(New) Enable/Disable fields for selection as left hand category column in the Foodle table. Therefore, the metafield definition was slightly rearranged.
(Tweak) Some texts were improved for more clarity.
(Tweak) Democracy and Foodle will be displayed together in the WordPress settings submenu.

1.8.3.0

(Fix) Tested and updated to work with WordPress 6.2 version.

1.8.2.5

(Fix) Corrected an error introduced with version 1.8.2.4.

1.8.2.4

(New) Added graphical information in the Democracy poll list, whether IP storage is switched on or off in each poll.

1.8.2.3

(Tweak) Added a few tooltips and a bit of formatting.

1.8.2.2

(Fix) Ensure that shortcodes (e.g. [foodle-link-democracy-poll]) are also executed within [democracy_archives].
(Tweak) The string “From posts” in the [democracy_archives] shortcode was modified and can now be translated.
(Tweak) Some further optimizations in overall formatting and in marking of own votes.
(Tweak) Added CSS class ‘foodle-reminder-email-area’.

1.8.2.1

(Tweak) A number of formatting improvements.

1.8.2.0

(New) Added notifications when Democracy Poll database logging is switched off and Foodle can therefore not work.
(Tweak) Added a button to move to the Foodle settings within a poll admin page.

1.8.1.0

(Tweak) Further optimization of IP delete function per poll.

1.8.0.1

(Fix) A minor language correction.

1.8.0.0

(New) Allow to delete the stored IP adresses of individal polls upon vote. This will preserve the full functionality even when some voters share the same IP address. Foodle still requires the Democracy setting for storing of IP addresses to be selected!

1.7.3.2

A few CSS optimizations for CSS class ‘foodle-link-button’.

1.7.3.1

A few CSS optimizations.

1.7.3.0

Code optimization to avoid PHP warnings under certain circumstances.
Introduced new CSS class “foodle-sort-is” to accompany existing CSS class “foodle-sort-button” (both initially now on “white-space: nowrap;”)

1.7.2.1

Minor typo incl. language file corrections.

1.7.2

Small improvement to front-end CSS in order to work with more themes instantly.
Added a few CSS classes within the Foodle table for easier access.
Thorough test with WordPress 6.1.1 version.

1.7.1

Inserted an explanatory remark in the democracy poll edit window for the multiple answers option.

1.7.0

A shortcode was added to inhibit the display of certain Foodle IDs in a Democracy Poll archive shortcode.
Thorough test with WordPress 6.0.2 version.

1.6.0

Optimized sorting algorithm for metafields sorting, since correct sorting was prevented under certain conditions.
Make sure to have no line starting with spaces!
Thorough test with WordPress 6.0.1 version.

1.5.6

Optimized HTML textarea behaviour with line breaks (metafields sorting), occurring under certain conditions.
Make sure to have no line starting with spaces!
Thorough test with WordPress 5.9.3 version.

1.5.5.7

Corrects an AJAX-error, introduced with version 1.5.5.5, which – in some cases – avoided the output upon an AJAX call.

1.5.5.6

Further SQL optimization.

1.5.5.5

Avoid any output if poll (referred to in the shortcode) does not exist.
Some SQL optimizations.

1.5.5.4

Added a hint whether marked voters are counted in the answer column sums or not.
Compatibility improvement #9 for PHP 8.0.
Some CSS improvements.

1.5.5.3

Improved tick image and size.
Improved Foodle table background.

1.5.5.2

Improved category counting behaviour and CSS color scheme in a first-com/first-serve scenario.
Compatibility improvement #8 for PHP 8.0.

1.5.5.1

Corrected: Ensure marked users NOT to be counted by default.

1.5.5.0

For each individual poll, it can be decided, whether to count a marked voter both, in the total count per answer column and in a first-come-first-serve answer.
Added CSS class ‘foodle-cell-is-marked-in’ for the cells mith marked user names being counted in the Foodle table.

1.5.4.1

Corrected location of a translation string.

1.5.4.0

Added to display “Unknown User” when voting user is not known in the database.
Compatibility improvement #7 for PHP 8.0.

1.5.3.0

Tested ok with WordPress 5.8.
Added links in the help-tabs to plugin settings.

1.5.2.0

Foodle table headline text is now part of the Foodle settings.
Missing help translation string added and linked to settings.

1.5.1.0

Parameter ‘status’ added in shortcode ‘foodle-link-democracy-poll’ to select link button display when ‘logged-in’ and/or ‘not-logged-in’ as comma-separated list.

1.5.0.0

Democracy Poll shortcode now allows shortcode usage inside its own text field (underneath the very poll).
New parameter ‘horizontal’ added to shortcode ‘foodle-link-democracy-poll’ for button alignment (left, center, right).
Shortcode ‘foodle-link-democracy-poll’ now accepts ‘self’ as id content for usage inside the Democracy Poll’s own text field (located underneath the very poll).
Added related CSS class ‘foodle-link-button’ for the button used by shortcode ‘foodle-link-democracy-poll’.
With the above, a usage like [foodle-link-democracy-poll id=”self” not_same=”true” verbose=”false” horizontal=”center”] could be interesting.
Some still missing text and messages wrapped by <div></div>.

1.4.9.3

Avoid to offer any existing user meta with array content for field selection.
Added parameter ‘verbose’ to shortcode [foodle-link-democracy-poll].
Some text and messages wrapped by <div></div>.
Updated refresh button design.

1.4.9.2

Compatibility improvement #6 for PHP 8.0.

1.4.9.1

Correction of refresh button placement when multiple result displays are shown on one page/post.

1.4.9.0

Added an optional AJAX refresh button in both, the results display before and after voting. Both options can be selected individually for each poll id in the related Democracy Poll admin page.
Added related CSS class ‘democracy-refresh-button’. However, the button uses CSS class ‘dem-button’ as well and therefore follows the Democracy CSS settings – if not otherwise decided.
Compatibility improvement #5 for PHP 8.0.
Minor code and format improvements.

1.4.8.1

Added CSS classes ‘democracy-voted’ and ‘democracy-not-voted’ to the existing ‘democracy’ CSS class and CSS class ‘democracy-your-vote’ inside the poll results for the text indicating the users votes – all three to be able to differentiate for CSS use.

1.4.8.0

Added CSS classes ‘democracy-voting’ and ‘democracy-results’ to the existing ‘democracy’ CSS class in order to be able to differentiate for CSS use.

1.4.7.0

As the main shortcode was designed (and only makes sense) for registered users and registered voters only, it will now be disabled for other purposes.
All other functions work regardless this necessary restriction.

1.4.6.0

Compatibility improvement #4 for PHP 8.0.
Code structure and robustness further improved.
CSS class ‘foodle-statistics-check-table’ added for the related dashboard widget / shortcode.

1.4.5.0

Compatibility improvement #3 for PHP 8.0.
Better cross-browser design compatibility (e.g. IE, Safari, Firefox).

1.4.4.0

A few format adaptations and code improvements.

1.4.3.1

Table width behaviour and table column width behaviour – while moving a row – was ‘beautified’.

1.4.3.0

Compatibility improvement #2 for PHP 8.0.
Corrected behaviour during new user registration.
Improved recognition of invalid user metafields in the user profile

1.4.2.0

Improved behaviour in Foodle check (dashboard widget & shortcode) to handle polls without responses so far.

1.4.1.0

Compatibility improvement #1 for PHP 8.0.

1.4.0.2

Ensure that jquery-ui-sortable is active and don’t rely that other acctive plugins did this job already.

1.4.0.1

Avoid undefinded message for ‘is_plugin_active()’ under certain conditions (controlling dependency between Foodle and Democracy Poll).

1.4.0.0

Foodle’s back-end tooltips (Help & Warning) are now available in the frontend (and the backend) for anywhere-use by the administrator.
Foodle’s individual back-end CSS and back-end javascript/jQuery are now limited to the Foodle admin pages to avoid unnecessary loading elsewhere.
A few format adaptations in the backend.

1.3.1.0

Back-End manual row moving (for sorting) now works on touchscreens as well (Touch Punch).
Inadvertent scroll-up upon row moving is being prevented – even for newly added (and not yet saved) rows.
Row swapping is initiated as soon as the pointer hovers above another row.
Minor mouse pointer corections.

1.3.0.0

In the metafield definition table, rows can now be dragged manually to generate a new sorting order.
In the same manner, the Foodle user capabilities table can be sorted manually as well.
A few jQuery use improvements.

1.2.3.0

Further improved timing of initialization events (user_meta, shortcodes, and so on).
Reduced javascript output size by combining some elements.
Avoid unnecessary duplication of output.

1.2.2.1

Logic improvements to avoid unnecessary function calls.
A few page format enhancements, e.g. with solo=”true”, ‘foodle_table_top_spacing’ is no longer used in order to improve administrator layout control.

1.2.2.0

New shortcode to display content depending on roles. Can e.g. be used to display the Democracy Poll archive or certain polls for selected roles only. Can as well be used for anything in your site.

1.2.1.0

AJAX improved to avoid potential conflicts with other plugins.

1.2.0.1

Some explaining strings still needed to be updated following the big move in 1.2.0.0.

1.2.0.0

Full shortcode flexibility added (thus improving vs. 1.1.6.0), including several Foodle shortcodes with individual parameters for one Democracy Poll on the same page/post.
Individual Foodle AJAX parameters on the frontend are now stored in user-meta in order to avoid any potential conflicting scenarios.
Added CSS classes ‘foodle_democracy_top_spacing’ and ‘foodle-table-headline’.
Format improvements in the email reminder area and the Foodle table area.
The shortcode parameter ‘solo=”true”‘ will not only switch off the email reminder area and the headline above the Foodle table but the date column as well, if hidden (this column is hidden and only visible for selected users, when ‘show_date=”false”‘).
Minor code and stability improvements.

1.1.7.0

Small AJAX bug corrected (introduced with 1.1.6.0).

1.1.6.0

Several Democracy Poll shortcodes and several related Foodle shortcodes on the same page/post are possible now. However, several Foodle shortcodes for the same poll id will further not be allowed for the sake of the dynamic AJAX interaction. But – if really needed – you may choose to switch AJAX off on such pages/posts (see the Foodle Settings).
A number of further CSS classes added (see the tipps tab) for more administrator design control.

1.1.5.0

Format error in email-reminder-area corrected.
Foodle table (column-width) optimized for columns with no responses so far.
Potential division-by-zero error removed.
Added CSS class ‘foodle-button’.
Minor improvements.

1.1.4.0

A few visibility improvements.

1.1.3.0

Minor adjustments and stability enhancements.

1.1.2.0

A few strings precised and German translations adapted.
Position of donation button moved to help tabs.
Foodle admin footer beautified.

1.1.1.0

Enhanced check of regular expressions incl. error display upon form submit.
Strings further optimized and German translation completed.

1.1.0.9

Missing translation strings completed.

1.1.0.8

Optimized input validation including Regular Expressions.
Optimized a few strings.

1.1.0.7

Page format error corrected. Was introduced with 1.1.0.6 unintentionally.

1.1.0.6

Previous reminders are shown as well for closed polls or polls, where reminders are switched off.
Display optimization for answers marked radio (‘••’) when in radio polls anyway.

1.1.0.5

Bug in statistics for email reminders corrected.

1.1.0.4

Added tips tab content: How to handle own CSS styles for the Democracy Poll and Foodle frontend.
Email placeholder added: {user-login}.

1.1.0.3

Activation conditions checks upon plugin activation and during operation were optimized.
Minor enhancements in the tips tab.

1.1.0.2

Minor tips table and CSS adjustments.

1.1.0.1

Tested ok with WordPress 5.7.1.

1.1.0.0

Added Democracy Poll enhancement to allow mixed polls (checkboxes and radiobuttons in one poll).
Added Regular Expressions to control user profile fields.
Added full control of categories per poll from within the democracy poll edit screen.
Added further Foodle parameter settings.

1.0.0.0

First stable version with all initial features.