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Using PostNuke and MySQL in Unicode (UTF-8)   (News)

MySql and UTF-8

by: Bernd Plagge
www.choicenet.ne.jp

MySql introduced support for different character sets and collating rules in version 4.1. While this has many advantages databases sometimes need to be migrated and then we have to ensure that the correct character code is set for the new database. We are mainly using UTF-8 and hence you may have to adapt this information to your situation!

What is the problem?

MySql uses as default Latin1, swedish flavour.
How do we check this?

run mysql.
mysql> show variables;

How to check the character set for a particular database?

run mysql.
mysql> show create table


The character code can be set in various places - so where is the best place for this?


We always use UTF-8
------------------------
In this case it makes sense to set the character code for the whole server to UTF-8. MySql actually sets the character code at different levels:
server
client
database connection
database

The character encoding for server, client and the connection work hand in hand to ensure that the data is interpreted correctly. It seems that MySql makes no effort to determine the correct character set but will convert data in accordance with it's configuration. This leads to problems for old databases if the database character code differes from the one configured.

The easiest way to configure MySql for UTF-8 is to put the configuration inot the main configuration file (/etc/mysql/my.cnf).
In my.cnf there are different file sections. So you can't put it just anywhere.

[mysqld]
character-set-server=utf8

[client]
default-character-set=utf8


Setting UTF-8 for one Database
--------------------------------------
You can check the default character code for a database either by dumping the data and then changing the schema file or you can do this online.
You use the 'alter table' statement to change the database using mysql.

run mysql
alter database
default character set utf-8
default collotion_name utf8-general_ci;

note: you may omit the word 'default'.


It is also worth noting that e.g. mysqldump silently adds the default character code when exporting data!
This can causes problems if the character code defined and the database content are different. In such cases MySqldump will try to convert data to it's default character code!
However, you can disable that by adding the character code option when using MySqldump.
e.g. mysqldump --set-charset.

In the same way you may explicitely set the character set.

mysqlimport --default-character-set = utf8
mysqladmin --defautl-character-set = utf8 create


Setting the character code at server start
-----------------------------------------------------
You can start the server with:
character-set-server
collation-server

The current values can be determined with the command

run MySql:
mysql> show variables;


Values may be changed with commands like:

set character_set_server = utf8;
set collation_server = utf8_unicode_ci


Setting the character code within Applications
----------------------------------------------------------
You want ensure that the correct character code is set when connecting to a particular database.

Connect to the database and issue the following SQL command:

mysql>SET NAMES utf8;


SET NAMES is equivalent to the 3 commands:
character_set_client
character_set_connection
character_set_results


How to run PostNuke in UTF-8
-----------------------------------
Several things have to fall into place for this to work correctly.

1) the database encoding needs to be set to UTF-8
2) the application language needs to be encoded in UTF-8
3) PostNuke needs to be told to use UTF-8

ad 1)
see above for details!

ad 2)
The character code for a given language is set in language//global.php (PN 0.76x) or in language//core.php (PN 0.8). Search and adjust the following 3 define strings:
define('_CHARSET','UTF-8');
define('_LOCALE','en_US');
define('_LOCALEWIN','eng');

Of course it is not sufficient just to change the _CHARSET to UTF-8. The text strings themselves need to be encoded in UTF-8. This can be done in a number of ways:
a) use 'recode' or 'iconv' on every language file
b) use the pnlwb (PN Language Workbench) to extract and convert all language files

ad 3)
Following the database initialization you need to issue a "set names to 'UTF-8'" command. As this is done in includes/pnAPI.php we need to patch that file.

PN 0.76x
----------

// load security functions.
include 'includes/pnSecurity.php';

// Load our language files
include 'includes/pnLang.php';
pnLangLoad();

//bplagge 2006-01-31 - charset fix for new MySql version
$dbconn =& pnDBGetConn(true);
$info=$dbconn->ServerInfo();
if ($dbconn->ErrorNo() != 0) {
echo "Error: "; echo $dbconn->ErrorNo();
}
// print_r($info);
$c = _CHARSET;
// Mysql uses non-standard name for UTF-8!
if ($c == 'UTF-8')
$c = 'UTF8';
$query = sprintf('SET NAMES \'%s\'', $c);
$dbconn->Execute($query);
if ($dbconn->ErrorNo()!=0) {
echo "Error: "; echo $dbconn->ErrorMsg();
echo "check pnAPI.php";
}
}
// end bplagge - mysql charset adjustment


PN 0.8
-------

if ($stages & PN_CORE_LANGS) {
// Load our language files
pnLangLoad();
}

# bp 2007-06-01
# need to "set names '' " to ensure correct data handling
$query = sprintf('SET NAMES \'%s\'', 'UTF8');
$result = DBUtil::executeSQL($query, -1, -1, true, true);

Please note that the MySQL character code names are NON STANDARD!

How to check?
----------------
I always found that phpMyAdmin is an excellent tool for MySQL databases. If the data entered in PostNuke is also correctly displayed in phpMyAdmin table browse mode I'm quite confident that everything is fine.

Generated on June 6, 2007.

Development Update, September 2006-03   (News)

From the team
Mark West has been moving house recently. Since Mark usually takes holidays just after each new release, some of the devs thought this was just a new kind of "holiday" he was taking before new releases. This is now confirmed :) but this type of holidays comes with far more debt than the other type and isn't anywhere near as much fun. However, the joy of a new home came with consequences: no proper internet connection at home... But, Mark is not the only one moving. Also Wendell, Frank and Vanessa have moved or will move in 2006.
Another milestone has been reached: On September 7, 2006 (10:25:52), Mark committed revision 20000 to the repository. A celebration and big party still needs to be organised.

PostNuke.eu
For about a month, the domain name postnuke.eu is in hands of the German PostNuke foundation. This domain and the accompanied website aims to be an informative portal with information in several languages, and links to the various communities. This a call for translations and links, you can send them to pnteam (at) pn-cms (dot) de.

Status on release(s)
Read this article now, as this one is probably moving a bit downwards on the portal page quite soon. MS2 is scheduled for release by the end of the week, and if this is announced, nobody will be interested anymore in this article... So read on now, while you can! :)

Date Format change
Discussed in the team, and committed to the repository, is a better structured way of date formatting and display. First, the date formatting in the DateUtil class was changed. Default formatting is the same as before, but it is now generated using strftime() instead of date(). Furthermore, the behaviour of the smarty modifier has been changed: Instead of defaulting to Y-M-D format, it now defaults to the language constant _DATEBRIEF which is like "Sep 29, 2006" in english. Finally, both smarty plugins "pndate_format" (modifier) and "dateformat" (function) are now using DateUtil::formatDatetime. This makes both plugins consistent.
Module authors are encouraged to use the DateUtil functions in their modules, and the smarty plugins in their templates.

Categories, plugins and core system changes
On the categories system, the mainCat parameter has been renamed to a more common rootCat parameter. To summarize all the commits last weeks by Robert Gash and some team members, the categories integration code has been finalized for testing and the Quotes module serves as the categories example (and has been configured to allow multi-categorization). One item can belong to more than 1 category.
The footer meassage (see

Generated on September 28, 2006.

PostNuke 0.760 released   (News)

Summary of Main Changes
Further cleaning of HTML

pn-normal custom class removed in favor of styling of block level element using CSS
pn-pagetitle class replaced by use of h1 tag
pn-title class replaced by use of h2 tag
all fake lists created using middot's replaced with proper lists

Simplication of non API compliant links
op=modload & file=index are the defaults so these are removed from all links
New printer (Xanthia) theme - enables printable view of any page
A printable view of any page is available using the printer theme. Append the url theme=Printer to the url or build a 'print me' button into your theme.
Removal of NS- prefix on all modules
All modules that contained the NS- prefix in the directory name have had this removed. This prefix is a result of our origins in php-nuke.
Baseline security analyzer
This new feature adds a check for some of the more basic configuration settings that can enhance the security of a PostNuke installation.
New features in core

Modules can now be referenced using an 'alias' via the module display name setting.
Default start function type, function name & parameters to the function can be defined. Note: API compliant modules only.
Standard database connection error moved to a 'template' in includes/templates.
Ability to turn the site off for maintainence (access to provided via permissions setting).
Smarty updated to v2.6.10.
ADODB updated to v4.6.5.

Modules
Admin_Messages, Modules, Blocks, Permissions, Groups, legal, Censor, Messages, Ephemerids, Quotes, Autolinks, AvantGo, Credits, Members_List, Ratings & Admin have been updated for full API compliance and templated output.
New modules

Sniffer; Detects browser and browser capabilities using phpSniff (by Roger Raymond).
RSS; Replaces dated feed handling with an xml based parser (magpie rss).

Bug fixes

Xanthia - many fixes since original release.
Mailer (added support for additional headers, bcc's & cc's), fixed sending to multiple addresses.
New features in modules (in addition to API compliance and templated output)
Modules module

filter by letter, state
graphical indicatator of state
detection of change of type, admin & user capability
ability to recover from missing files state


Blocks

graphical indicatator of state
ability to define each block as collaspable (credit to Mark Heldstab)
ability to define each blocks' default collapseable state (credit to Mark Heldstab)

Others

Groups - ability to add multiple users to a group in one go
legal - added template accessibility report (thanks to http://diveintoaccessibility.org)
Censor - added transfrom hook for censor module (supercedes pnVarCensor API - maintained for backwards compatability)
Admin - added ability to split modules into categories, the categories view are skinable via a single stylesheet
Credits - support for multiple module contacts via comma seperated values in pnversion.php

Generated on August 22, 2005.

One Step Closer to .8: Download the Latest .76 Release   (News)

Summary of Main Changes
Further cleaning of HTML

pn-normal custom class removed in favor of styling of block level element using CSS
pn-pagetitle class replaced by use of h1 tag
pn-title class replaced by use of h2 tag
all fake lists created using middot's replaced with proper lists

Simplication of non API compliant links
op=modload & file=index are the defaults so these are removed from all links
New printer (Xanthia) theme Enables printable view of any page
Removal of NS- prefix on all modules
Updated modules: Admin_Messages, Modules, Blocks, Permissions, Groups, legal, Censor, Messages, Ephemerids, Quotes, Autolinks, AvantGo, Credits, Members_List, Ratings & Admin
Modules updated for full API compliance and templated output
- New modules

Sniffer; Detects browser and browser capabilities using phpSniff (by Roger Raymond)
RSS; Replaces dated feed handling with an xml based parser (magpie rss)

Bug fixes
Xanthia - many fixes since original release
Mailer (added support for additional headers, bcc's & cc's), fixed sending to multiple addresses.

New features in core

Modules can now be referenced using an 'alias' via the module display name setting.
Default start function type, function name & parameters to the function can be defined. Note: API compliant modules only.
Standard database connection error moved to 'template' in includes/templates.
Ability to turn the site off for maintainence (access to provided via permissions setting).
Ability to set what function type, function name and any parameters for the start page (API compliant modules only)

New features in modules (in addition to API compliance and templated output)
Modules-module

filter by letter, state
graphical indicatator of state
detection of change of type, admin & user capability
ability to recover from missing files state

Blocks

graphical indicatator of state
ability to define each block as collaspable (credit to Mark Heldstab)
ability to define each blocks' default collapseable state (credit to Mark Heldstab)

Others

Groups - ability to add multiple users to a group in one go
legal - added template accessibility report (thanks to http://diveintoaccessibility.org)
Censor - added transfrom hook for censor module (supercedes pnVarCensor API - maintained for backwards compatability)
Admin - added ability to split modules into categories, the categories view are skinable via a single stylesheet
Credits - support for multiple module contacts via comma seperated values in pnversion.php
Smarty updated to v2.6.6
ADODB updated to v4.5.4


Remember, this build is a release candidate and is not recommended for production sites. Please report any bugs to the bug tracker found on the "Development" block on every PostNuke.com page.
Download details

PostNuke-0.760-RC2.zip
PostNuke-0.760-RC2.tar.gz

Generated on February 8, 2005.

Pre release notification - PostNuke .76   (News)

Summary of Main Changes
Further cleaning of HTML

pn-normal custom class removed in favor of styling of block level element using CSS- pn-pagetitle class replaced by use of h1 tag
pn-title class replaced by use of h2 tag
all fake lists created using middot's replaced with proper lists

Simplication of non API compliant links
op=modload & file=index are the defaults so these are removed from all links
New printer (Xanthia) theme - enables printable view of any page
Removal of NS- prefix on all modules
Updated modules: Admin_Messages, Modules, Blocks, Permissions, Groups, legal, Censor, Messages, Ephemerids, Quotes, Autolinks, AvantGo, Credits, Members_List, Ratings & Admin
Modules updated for full API compliance and templated output
- New modules

Sniffer; Detects browser and browser capabilities using phpSniff (by Roger Raymond)
RSS; Replaces dated feed handling with an xml based parser (magpie rss)


Bug fixesXanthia - many fixes since original release
Mailer (added support for additional headers, bcc's & cc's), fixed sending to multiple addresses.

New features in core

Modules can now be referenced using an 'alias' via the module display name setting.
Default start function type, function name & parameters to the function can be defined. Note: API compliant modules only.
Standard database connection error moved to 'template' in includes/templates.
Ability to turn the site off for maintainence (access to provided via permissions setting).
Ability to set what function type, function name and any parameters for the start page (API compliant modules only)

New features in modules (in addition to API compliance and templated output)Modules-module

filter by letter, state
graphical indicatator of state
detection of change of type, admin & user capability
ability to recover from missing files state

Blocks

graphical indicatator of state
ability to define each block as collaspable (credit to Mark Heldstab)
ability to define each blocks' default collapseable state (credit to Mark Heldstab)

Others

Groups - ability to add multiple users to a group in one go
legal - added template accessibility report (thanks to http://diveintoaccessibility.org)
Censor - added transfrom hook for censor module (supercedes pnVarCensor API - maintained for backwards compatability)
Admin - added ability to split modules into categories, the categories view are skinable via a single stylesheet
Credits - support for multiple module contacts via comma seperated values in pnversion.php
Smarty updated to v2.6.6
ADODB updated to v4.5.4

Generated on December 23, 2004.

Not quite a Roadmap   (News)

50%. He emphasized the advantages of this real templating system of non-templating systems like the old theme enginge or Autotheme.

After some turkish fast food Larsneo (Germany) told about the advantages of accessibility within Postnuke core. All avertable barriers will be removed from the core. The rest will lie in the hands of the administrator. This will not only make Postnuke sites accessible for handicapped users but also better to evaluate for search engines.

His second topic was the dangers of cross site scripting and other security issues. He pointed out his latest advances in fighting these problems. In the following discussing the team came up with a number of ideas that might prevent some of the mistakes of the past.

The second Day

The second day was the day of the module developers and far too short. Jørn Lind-Nielsen (Denmark) introduced us to his latest coup: workflows in Pagesetter 5.0.0. The state-based system uses XML and php-plugins for the design of specific workflows. Everybody was really impressed by his advances.

A new quality of commercial module development was presented by Frank Schummertz (Germany): He and his collegues from pnCommerce are currently working on a complex confugurator module that enables their customer to offer a shopping system for air conditioning system. The user enters all the requirements he has and the module calculates a specific offer.

The Remains of the Day

All in all it was a very interesting weekend with a bunch of really nice people. I think by getting to know eachother personally the relations within the team improve and we established some quite important connections among the module developers. As far as I understood Jørn, he's going to cooperate with Xexpress' Brave Cobra (Belgium) who not only entertained us with the story of his journey that almost ended in Paris and not in Stuttgart, because he used the right highway in the wrong direction. He also turned out to be a skilled singer and guitarplayer as he played some songs in the Biergarten as the other relaxed from the day.

Not quite a Roadmap

One of the important results of the meeting was the evaluation of the state of the .8-development – what is done, what is missing and what needs to be done:

Postnuke .8 will not contain any more features that .7x in regard to kinky stuff like more colorful links or coffee machine drivers. It will be a total redesign of the Postnuke core that gets rid of all the legacy stuff from phpNuke and form Postnuke into a professional framework that offers Interfaces for module developers.

So the main features will be the abstraction of API, Permissions, ADODB aso from the modules. An admin will be able to install the pure core with e.g. Pagesetter only and it will work. This will be a slim, performative core and it is already pretty advanced. But it needs to be completed and properly tested.

The next step will be milestone releases for module developers to test their modules with the new core. These milestones will work and can be uses as example but there will be no upgrade mechanisms for existing sites and no garantee that it will be 100% compatible to the final release. As a result the milestones can't be used in live sites.

Another thing that needs to be done is a total rewrite of all the old modules. They need to be API compliant and templated. The estimated 6 month did not suffice as the work turned out to be more complicated than imagined.

The last problem to be solved is the upgrading process, as for example the data from the Weblinks module will have to be distributed to the new Weblinksmodule, the ratings hook and EZComments.

All this efford will make the system more secure, performative and flexible but it's still some road ahead.

BTW: We are already planning a second meeting next year near Hamburg

Generated on August 10, 2004.

Updated Version of Xanthia Theme Engine (XTE) and pnRender Available in Downloads Section   (News)

The following are the changes in RC3:

Fixed : Missing quote in Xanthia init script preventing successful install under certain configurations
Fixed : Removed unneeded short urls global from all theme.php's
Fixed : Added ADODB error checks to queries during engine initialisation (pnuserapi.php). See note 1.
Fixed : Added check for valid engine object after engine initialisation (all theme.php's). See note 1.
Fixed : Added missing tag in piterpanv2 theme (master.htm)
Fixed : Correct smarty variable case in table1 and table2 templates - prevented old style module output from displaying.
Fixed : .7x category/theme overides now work in Xanthia themes.
Updated : Many functions how have internal in memory caches to avoid repeated db queries. This enhances performance.
Updated : Xanthia themes now include header and footer html so master.htm now represents an entire page.
Updated : Xanthia now uses new database connection method (credit to Eric Barr for this code).
Updated : Output filters now only operate on the final master template to avoid repeated replacements on sub templates.
Updated : Engine now uses assign by reference on all dynamic content - reduces memory usage.
New : Caching of block zones, palettes and theme settings in pnTemp/Xanthia_Config via Generate Config Cache admin option.
New : Full page caching available via admin panel. Modules can be excluded from full page caching via the admin panel.
New : modulestylesheets plugin allows loading of per module stylesheets (stored in modules//pnstyle).
New : New plugin to generate standard PN header and footer (additional_header, pagerendertime, lang, keywords, charset).
New : visual editor plugins for typetool v55 (PN .72x), typetool v8 (larsneo's new version) and htmlarea (.8x).

Download it here

Generated on April 12, 2004.

Interview: Jörg Napp   (News)

How did your Postnuke career start?

In early 2002 I was looking for a CMS for a Website. After some researches I had to choose between PHPNuke and Postnuke, but I chose Postnuke for the besser concept. There was the API, and the big community that convinced me of Postnuke.

What are your tasks in the pnCore-Team?

I work on pnRender, the Postnuke Smarty implementation. Besides I seem to be the only one to keep an eye on static-docs.

When did you start programming for Postnuke?

My first selfwritten modules are fortunatly unpublished. They are only used internally. But my first steps I did in theming.


How do you work?

Most of my own code I write as a kind of "proof of concept". That is e.g. how "Search Statistics" evolved: The idea is to get a statistic on search queries without any changes in the core structure. The resulting modules was written in a hustle - it still lacks an adequate admin interface...


What is the future of Postnuke?

As some your interview partners already said, Postnuke will become more of an application framework. That sounds much like a buzzword, but there's a lot behind that. Apart from the the Photoshare integration into PagEd there's currently almost no cooperation between the modules. The greatest challenge is to offer this kind of mechanisms in an abstract way, so that module developers can use them.

A first step is the hook concept. There should be a lot more hooks available to demonstrate the power of this concept.


What is Postnuke's strength?

The strenght lies in its future. A clean implementation via the API, the development into an application frame and the coming Smarty integration are great oportunities.

The weakness is that Postnuke is quite well documented, but this documentation is hard to find and spread across several sites. The same applies to the modules. The NOC is well intended alas poorly implemented...


I know you have some "side-project", tell me about them.

You can find my projects at http://lottasophie.sourceforge.net.

My best-known Modul is certainly the universal comment module EZComments. I started working on EZComments in connection with my work on the German Postnuke documentation in early 2003. The idea was to implement a documentation including user comments. Content Express doesn't offer comments, so we had to implement them. With Postnuke's hook-concept it was an easy task to attach the comments.

The Title_Hack is a way to display "sensible" information in the title of the browser. The hack has become more popular than first expected. Meanwhile there exist title plugins for a number of modules.

Last but noch least I am involved in the maintenance of My_eGallery. I use this module at my own private site. Several patches and fixes existed for My_eGallery but not centrally available. Patrick (Marsishere) stopped working on MEG so I adopted it and maintain it together with chasm.

The users should keep in mind that my developments often are a "proof of concept". If you find a big, don't keep it - report it in the forum and if anybody changed anything in my modules, I'd like to get it. Feedback is far to rare.

Thank you for the information.

Generated on December 23, 2003.

Interview: Cas Nuy   (News)

What are you working on?

My work can be divided into 2 categories:

Add-ons, mainly integration modules for existing web-applications which are not (yet) PostNuke enabled.

My aim is not to fully integrate other applications but to enable single signon. I hate logging on multiple times so the reason is obvious. In addition, most of the time I add one or more sideblocks for PN. I have created integration modules for:

Owl- a document management system There is a PN enabled version called NukeOwl but unfortunately this is no longer maintained. This module comes with a sideblock.

Coppermine- a slick photo gallery. Again comes with a sideblock. By now there is a fully integrated version devlopped by phpNuke developers and I have adjusted my side block to fit in this solution. Having seen my integration for coppermine, I received a request if I could do similar for another gallery called 4images. This one is available also with a sideblock.

Mantis- a bugtracker application was actually on of the first modules I created. Recently added a sideblock.

phProjekt- again upon request. This one comes with multiple sideblocks and also includes Mantis integration within phProjekt.

Looking for a nice knowledgebase, I stumbled across Mindmeld. Although a kind of integration with PN was available, I did not like the way it was done. Created my own version including a sideblock.

phpGedView also created upon request. I have some interest in genealogy and am using TNG myself.

Netjuke was one of the latest. I had been checking out various jukeboxes but neither fitted my needs till I found Netjuke. Still think this is was of the best around. Also comes with a sideblock.

Already some time ago, someone asked for integration of Moodle. Once I found the time for it, things moved quickly. Moodle is a socalled LMS (Learning Management System) and looks very good. Once i made this available, I received a request for ATutor, another LMS. This one has been released shortly (seemd to me a good idea to offer 2 options to the PN community).

In the pipeline are updates for various of the above mentioned modules and also a new one will be released shortly for Zentrack, another bugtracker.

As part of the add-ons, I also created some Blocks. NukeOwl latest doc blocks. When I started with NukeOwl there only was one block which did not meet my requirements, so I added one. NewsScroller, one of the most downloaded on my site. I just did not like all that news on the frontpage and wanted to have a scrolling block. Recently have extended this with ability of scrolling Admin-messages & rss-feeds.

New modules
Feedback module was one of the first, it was just not available so it had to be made (my very first one).

pnChangeLog is the other full module I have created. It allows one to keep track of changes of various objects. This time again, I could not find something that fitted my needs. One of the things I am thinking about is a survey module where you can weigh the answers, save them in between.


Tell me about your postnuke "career".

As soon as i was able to have a broadband internet connection, I wanted to setup my own webserver. I started testing the various CMS systems (alhough having very little
knowledge of this platform) and found that PN was relative easy to use, a lot of modules were available and was having a very rich usergroup.


When did you start working on your own module?

Although a lot is available, there is always something missing. Just for fun, I created a Feedback module and that really was the start. In search of modules i wanted, I also found that there is lot's of good software around although not always postnuked. That's where i started creating the integration modules. The NewsScroller-block was something I wanted to have for my site, so it had to be made. The first true module is my pnVhangeLog module which is still being further developed.


What is your development like?

Given my daily work, there is not much time left. So i work on things I "need", in some cases upon request. The help is actually coming out of the community, there are always people available to help in testing and giving proper feedback. I do not use any specific tools apart from coffee, tabac & music.


What is the biggest difficulty in your development?

Time and knowledge, there are more & more new developments which are difficult to keep up with due to my time constraints.

What features should the Postnuke .8 core have to simplify your work?

Well i just hope all the new things are very well documented so I do not need to discover everything by myself. Apart from that, performance increases are what i am hoping for. Certainly development of a "standard" bridge function for modules of other nuke related cms would be very nice.

Which route will Postnuke/your module in your opinion go in the future?

Well my modules will follow the core progress so smarty/pnRender will be the things that I will have to look into.

What should users of your module regard? What is the weakest/strongest point in your module?

Documentation is as always the hardest part.

Anything else you always wanted to say about Postnuke/your module?

Working together is always we should look at. A good sample is the recent developments around the Coppermine gallery. This standalone gallery had a phpNuked version (fully integrated) and there was pnCPG( single signon for Postnuke). Now the phpNuke port is also suitable for Postnuke. Although most of the work was done by the phpNuke team, at least there was communication from both sides. That is the way forward !

Thank you very much for the interview.

More info on Cas Nuy's work: http://www.nuy.info

Generated on December 20, 2003.

Internet Peaks as America's Most Important Source of Information, Reports Year Three of UCLA Internet Project   (News)

Communication Policy, a unit in the Anderson School of Management and affiliated with the university's College of Letters and Science.

When Internet users were asked to rank the importance of major media, 61.1 percent said the Internet was very important or extremely important, surpassing books (60.3 percent), newspapers (57.8 percent), television (50.2 percent), radio (40 percent), and magazines (28.7 percent).

Even the newest users of online technology believe the Internet is a vital information source. Among Internet users with less than one year online, more than half (52 percent) say the Internet is very important or extremely important as an information source.

"Clearly, users consider the Internet to be their key source for the broad range of information needs," said Cole. "We are especially interested to see how the role of the Internet as an information source continues to evolve as online access increasingly shifts to broadband instead of modem access, and the Internet becomes an instantly available service in America's households."

By comparison, television remains the most important source of entertainment, with the Internet ranked fourth; 56.2 percent of Internet users ranked television as very important or extremely important, followed by books (50 percent), radio (48.9 percent), magazines (26.5 percent), the Internet (25 percent), and newspapers (22.8 percent).

Internet credibility: problems grow
Yet a sobering perception persists about the Internet's value as an information source: the credibility of information found on the Internet has declined for the first time in the three-year history of the report.

In 2002, 52.8 percent of users said that most or all of the information online is reliable and accurate — a decline from 58 percent in 2001 and 55 percent in 2000.

Non-users reported even lower levels of belief in credibility of online information; slightly more than one-third of non-users (33.6 percent) in 2002 continued to say that most or all of the information on the Internet is reliable and accurate — down from 36.7 percent in 2001 and about the same as the 33.3 percent in 2000.

"A troubling split in perceptions about the Internet is becoming increasingly clear," said Cole. "The Internet is viewed as a vitally important source of information by new users and experienced users alike, yet disturbingly large numbers of users do not trust what they find online."

"If the Internet's importance for information is growing, but it continues to be perceived as a source of unreliable information, then a 'credibility clash' is looming," Cole said. "How long will the Internet be valued as an important source of information, if the material users find online continues to be considered unreliable and inaccurate?"

Television viewing continues to decline
Year Three of the UCLA Internet Report found that television viewing continues to decline among online users.

"The trend across the three years of the UCLA Internet Project shows that users are 'borrowing' their time to go online from hours previously spent watching television," said Cole. "While survey respondents typically underreport their television viewing, the trend in viewing time is very definitely on the decline, while Internet use is rising."

Regarding television:

· Overall, Internet users watched less television in 2002 than in 2001 — 11.2 hours per week in 2002, compared to 12.3 hours in 2001.

· In 2002, Internet users watched about 5.4 hours of television less per week than non-users — this compared to 4.5 hours in 2001.

· Almost one-third of children now watch less television than before they started using the Internet at home — up from 23 percent in 2001.

· The decline in television viewing becomes even more pronounced as Internet experiences increases; more than twice as many of the very experienced users than new users say that they spend less time watching television since using the Internet.

Concerns about online privacy: still high, but down slightly
Even while the importance of the Internet grows by some measures, concerns about online privacy and the security still remain sky high.

Year Three of the UCLA Internet Project found that the vast majority of Americans continue to express some level of concern about the privacy of their personal information when or if they buy on the Internet.

Yet overall, concerns have declined slightly. Overall, 88.8 percent of all respondents — users and non-users alike — expressed some concern about the privacy of their personal information when or if they buy on the Internet — down from 94.6 percent in 2001. Those who are not concerned at all increased to 11.2 percent, more than double the number in 2001 (5.5 percent).

Concerns about credit card information: a continuing major problem
While worries about personal privacy online declined slightly in 2002, concerns about credit card security on the Internet remain as high as ever — and for many users, nothing will reduce their concerns.

Overall, 92.4 percent of all respondents age 18 or over in 2002 expressed some concern about the security of their credit card information when or if they buy online — a statistically insignificant change from 94.4 percent in 2001.

For nearly one-quarter of the respondents (23.1 percent) who have concerns about using their credit cards online, nothing will reduce their concerns about using a credit card online.

"The twin problems of online privacy and credit card security plague many aspects of Internet use," said Cole. "Those concerns decline somewhat as Internet use increases, but they nevertheless remain, and cannot be overemphasized as an important factor in online purchasing and information exchange."

Internet use at home: a dramatic increase
While overall Internet access remained generally stable from 2001 to 2002, use of the Internet at home increased dramatically.

Of the 71.1 percent of Americans who use the Internet, almost 60 percent of users (59.4 percent) have Internet access at home, a substantial increase in only two years from the 46.9 percent of users who reported home Internet access in 2000, the first year of the UCLA Internet Project.

Hours online increase
The number of hours users spend online continued to increase in 2002 — rising to an average of 11.1 hours per week in 2002, up from 9.8 hours in 2001 and 9.3 hours in 2000.

The Top Five Most Popular Internet Activities in 2002
1. E-mail
2. Instant messaging,
3. Web surfing or browsing,
4.Reading news, shopping and buying online
5. Accessing entertainment information.

* * * * * * * *

The UCLA Internet Project: Background
Year Three of the UCLA Internet Report, titled "Surveying the Digital Future," provides a broad year-to-year view of the impact of the Internet by examining the behavior and views of a national sample of 2,000 Internet users and non-users, as well as comparisons between new users (less than one year of experience) and very experienced users (six or more years of experience).

The project compares findings from all three years of the study, looking at five major areas: who is online and who is not, media use and trust, consumer behavior, communication patterns, and social and psychological effects.

The UCLA Center for Communication Policy created and organizes the World Internet Project, which includes the UCLA Internet Report and similar studies in Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia.

The UCLA Internet Project is supported by public foundations and private companies, including the National Science Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, America Online (AOL) Time Warner, Microsoft, Sony, Verizon, SBC, DirecTV, and the National Cable Television Association.

The UCLA Center for Communication Policy is based in The Anderson School and maintains an affiliation with the university's College of Letters and Science.

To download the full text of the UCLA Internet Report, visit www.ccp.ucla.edu.

UCLA Internet Report, Year Three Additional Highlights
In addition to the highlights cited in the press release, other important findings among the more than 100 major issues in Year Three of the UCLA Internet Project are:

(Page references for from the report are listed after each highlight)
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Who is Online and Who is Not? What are Users Doing Online?
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Overall Internet Use
Internet access by Americans remained generally stable from 2001 to 2002. More than 70 percent (71.1 percent) of Americans in 2002 went online, compared to 72.3 percent in 2001 -- a statistically insignificant different -- but up from 66.9 percent in the first UCLA Internet Project in 2000. (Pages 17 and 18)

Technophobia
Technophobia affects respondents at all levels of experience using the Internet; 30.3 percent of new users and 10.8 percent of very experienced users report some technophobia. (Page 24)

How Do You Connect To The Internet At Home?
Most households with Internet access still connect to online service with a telephone modem; however, broadband access has increased, and modem access is declining. (Page 25)

Broadband Vs. Modem: How Do They Affect Online Use?
Broadband users spend more time online than modem users in all of the most popular Internet activities. (Page 25)

How Many Working Computers At Home?
Almost one-quarter of respondents (24.1 percent) have more than one working computer in their homes. Nearly 10 percent (9.5 percent) have three or more working computers. (Page 26)

Are Your Computers At Home Networked To Each Other?
Home networking of computers is a growing trend; 32 percent of respondents with two or more computers at home have networked them. (Page 27)

Non-Users: Why Not Online?
The 28.9 percent of Americans who did not use the Internet in 2002 express a range of reasons for not being online. The primary reason is lack of the technology; 31.9 percent of non-users say they either do not have a computer or their current computer is not adequate. (Page 28)

Electronic Dropouts: Why?
The primary reason given by "electronic dropouts" --Internet non-users who were once users -- for not currently being online is "no computer available." (Page 28)

Nearly half of electronic dropouts say they miss nothing by not having Internet access. (Page 29)

Non-Users: Will You Log On Soon?
The number of non-users who say they will go online within the next year has continued to grow in each successive year of the UCLA Internet Project. Of non-users in 2002, 47 percent said they are somewhat likely or very likely to go online next year. (Page 30)


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Media Use and Trust
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The Internet's Importance: Broadband Vs. Telephone Modem Users
The Internet's importance as a source of both information and entertainment is higher among those who access the Internet via broadband than those with telephone modems. (Page 37)

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Consumer Behavior
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Internet Purchasing: Do You Buy Online? How Much? How Often?
Fewer adults bought online in 2002 than in 2001 or 2000. (Page 40)

While the overall number of buyers in 2002 has declined, their average number of purchases increased substantially over 2001. (Page 40)

The average dollars spent by online buyers in 2002 also increased substantially over 2001, but is still lower than in 2000. (Page 41)

Internet Purchasing: Does It Affect Buying In Retail Stores?
In 2002, online buying replaced some purchasing in retail stores for many Internet users, and at higher levels than in 2001. (Page 43)

How Long Before Your First Online Purchase?
Many Internet users say they waited months or years before buying online. Almost half of Internet buyers (49.3 percent) waited more than two years after going online before making their first purchase. One-third waited more than three years. (Page 43)

Why Wait To Make The First Purchase?
For online buyers who waited several months or more after starting to use the Internet before making their first online purchase, concern about using a credit card online far outweighs any other reason. (Page 44).

Online Purchasing: Will It Increase?
A growing number of Internet purchasers in 2002 reported that their online buying is likely to increase; 71.2 percent of 2002 respondents agree that they will probably make more purchases online, compared to 66.1 percent in 2001 and 54.5 percent in 2000. (Page 46)

Are You Concerned About Your Privacy When Buying Online?
Responses to several questions in the 2002 UCLA Internet Project continued to show high levels of concern about the privacy of personal information when or if respondents buy online. Yet overall, concerns declined slightly in 2002 from 2001. (Page 48)

Concerns About Credit Card Information: A Continuing Major Problem
While worries about personal privacy online declined in 2002, concerns about credit card security on the Internet remain as high as ever. Overall, 92.4 percent of all respondents age 18 or over express some concern about the security of their credit card information if they ever buy online. (Page 50)

Very experienced users describe much lower - but still relatively high - levels of concern than do new users about credit card security on the Internet. (Page 50)

What Are Your Concerns About Using Credit Cards Online?
When asked about the specific reasons for their concerns about using credit cards online, respondents most frequently say that "hackers" are a reason for concern. "Too many unknowns" about online purchasing is the second most-cited reason. (Page 52)

Notably, 8.7 percent of respondents say they are extremely concerned because they know someone who has been a victim of credit card fraud. (Page 52)

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Communication Patterns
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Are Internet Users Communicating More With Family And Friends?
More than half of users in 2002 said that since starting to use the Internet, they increased the number of people with whom they stay in contact. (Page 55)

E-Mail Contact, Personal Contact
E-mail users maintain weekly online contact with an average of 8.7 correspondents. Of those people, e-mail users meet an average of 3.4 correspondents face-to-face. (Page 56)

Multiple E-Mail Addresses
While more than half of e-mail users (52.6 percent) say they only maintain one e-mail account, almost 20 percent (18.3 percent) say they maintain three or more accounts. (Page 57)

Why Multiple E-Mail Addresses?
E-mail users report a variety of reasons for maintaining multiple e-mail addresses. The most often cited reason is separating work e-mail from personal e-mail. (Page 57)

Opinions About The Value Of E-Mail
Large majorities of e-mail users say that online communication: does not require too much time; makes them more likely to keep in contact with other people with e-mail; and allows them to communicate with people they normally could not. (Page 59)

E-Mail At The Office: Business And Personal Use
Internet users continue to report high levels of e-mail access at work for both personal and professional use. More than 83 percent of those who use the Internet at work access business e-mail from work, slightly lower than 2001 but higher than 2000. (Page 73)

Screen Names: How Many Do You Maintain?
Many Internet users maintain more than one screen name that is used for e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, and other online communication. Internet users average 2.2 screen names. (Page 60)

Do You Use Multiple Screen Names With Different Personalities?
A small number of users across all age ranges report that they have multiple screen names, each of which is associated with its own personality. (Page 60)


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Social Effects
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Time With Family, Time With Friends
Most Internet users in 2002 continued to believe that the time they spend online has no influence on the amount of time they spend with their family, or time spent with friends. (Page 62)

Where Do Children Use The Internet?
Most children who use the Internet go online at home. Well over 80 percent of children who used the Internet in 2002 went online at home - a substantial increase from 2001 and 2000. (Page 65)

Nearly three-quarters of children who use the Internet go online at school, up from little more than half of children in 2000. (Page 65)

Children Online and Watching Television: The Right Amount Of Time?
44.9 percent of adults say that the children in their households spend too much time watching television, while far fewer (18.3 percent) say children spend too much time online. (Page 66)

A large but declining number of adults say the children in their household spend "about the right amount of time" or "too little time" online - 81.7 percent in 2002. (Page 66)

The number of adults who say that children spend too much time online has drifted upward over the three years of the UCLA Internet Project. (Page 66)

School Grades And The Internet
The Internet is not perceived by most users as having an effect on school grades; nearly three-quarters of adults in 2002 said that since their household acquired the Internet, the grades of children in their households have stayed the same. (Page 67)

Children, The Internet, And Interaction With Friends
Almost all adults say the Internet has no effect on children's interaction with friends. (Page 68)

Political Power And Influence
All three years of the UCLA Internet Project have found that going online can be an important resource for gathering information about political issues; however, relatively small numbers of users believe that the Internet gives them more political power, or helps them influence political decisions and government officials - and those numbers are declining. (Page 69)

The Internet At Work: Business And Personal Use
Internet users continue to report growing levels of online access at work for both personal and professional use. Of those who have Internet access at work, about 90 percent visit Web sites for business purposes; 60.5 percent visit Web sites for personal use while at work. (Page 72)

Do Employers Monitor E-Mail And Internet Use At Work?
About 45 percent of respondents who use e-mail at work in 2002 say their e-mail is monitored by their employers - about the same as in 2001. An almost identical percentage of respondents say their employers monitor their use of the Web either somewhat or closely. (Page 74)

Does The Internet Affect Productivity?
In 2002, nearly two-thirds of users (64.5 percent) said that access to the Internet at work makes them more productive - an increase over both 2001 and 2000. (Page 75)

Are Users Satisfied Or Dissatisfied With The Internet?
Overall, users of the Internet in 2002 were satisfied with online technology, rating satisfaction with the Internet at 4.0 on a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied). (Page 77)

Users are most satisfied with the ability to communicate with other people on the Internet. Users continue to be least satisfied with the speed of their connection to the Internet. (Page 77)
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Related Links
http://ccp.ucla.ed

Generated on February 4, 2003.

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