Getting back in the groove...
I've been out of town for a week now (one more to go :)) so I haven't had much of a chance to get on and blog - though I've had a ton of thoughts and things I've wanted to blog about...but that's for another time.
This time, however, I wanted to get online and present an update to my .Text Blog Rating control. As readers may already know, several weeks ago version 1.0.0.0 of the rating control was made available for the general populace. I've (finally) taken the time to update it to version 1.0.1.0 and add several capabilities to it (I'll be getting it up on my blog momentarily - as soon as I get a chance!).
Of the new features these are the most notable:
1. A 'Top Rated Posts' control that presents up to the top 20 highest-rated posts on the site. This control behaves like an ASP.NET Repeater (in fact, it derives from it), so you can designate header, item, footer, etc templates. The properties you can bind to include Id, AvgRating, DateAdded, NumRatings, Title, and Url. Simply use the standard <%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, “propertyname“) %> syntax and you're set...there are, of course, alternatives to this approach. The TopRatedPosts control has a property called MinVotes that allows you to filter the list based on posts that have received a certain # of votes. For example:
<devstone:TopRatedPosts runat=server minvotes=2>
<headertemplate>
<div class=listtitle>Top Rated Posts</div><ul class=list>
</headertemplate>
<itemtemplate>
<li class=listitem>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "AvgRating", "{0:0.00}")%> - <a class=listitem href=<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Url")%>><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Title")%></a>
</li>
</itemtemplate>
<footertemplate>
</ul></div>
</footertemplate>
</devstone:TopRatedPosts>
2. A 'View Comments' link on rated controls. This will popup a small window (akin to the rating window) with a bar graph illustrating the rating distribution and comments associated with the ratings. Once aspect of the rating control that is somewhat unique is that it provides a mechanism for users to rate other users' comments and trackbacks. However, until this release you could not see those comments - that's now been remedied.
3. Miscellaneous enhancements.
There are some tweaks to the database and they are included in the database script. These changes alter a few stored procedures and create a few new ones.
The web.config file will also need to undergo a small change in the <HandlerConfiguration/HttpHandlers /> section. Those changes are also documented within the download.
Therefore, I present to you version 1.0.1.0. Feel free to provide feedback and input as I'd love to make this product better in any way.
Have fun!