Feature request: logged in block UI configuration options

Preamble

I do understand that no more work is being done on the Drupal 6 version of this module, but as it's Drupal 6 I'm using and I know lots of people still use it, I've made some enhancements which I thought I'd share.

I know there must be a lot of people out there who don't like to go near PHP or jQuery - or whatever else - and who consider themselves "designers". Although I've written these changes (with a little help), I like to configure a Drupal site as much as possible without touching code, because generally I don't understand where to start.

These enhancements were made with easier theming in mind. I looked at the provided block and thought it was handy, but could do with some more (classes, links, options etc.). I also realise from looking at the .MODULE file that hook_theme was implemented to allow the presentation to be move to the template and rewritten. But, again, for people who shy away from that, I thought this might make things a lot easier to theme - now you just have to set these options and amend CSS.

So for those people who want point-and-click options to configure their Drupal site, and want to configure more in the LoginToboggan Logged In Block than just a username and logout link, this might be for you...

Summary of changes

To be honest, if like me, you don't know how to apply a patch, then I've provided just the modified files. The modified files are (zipped, for your pleasure):

1. logintoboggan.INSTALL (changed to include the new database variables for a clean uninstall)
2. logintoboggan.MODULE (functional changes to the block configuration page)
3. logintoboggan_block_settings.js (some small jQuery to make the UI experience all-the-more usable)

I suppose I should mention these changes were made against LoginToboggan 6.x-1.9! Just move them straight into your "logintoboggan" module directory. Nothing else is required.

So what does this bring to the table?

What's new

If you now go to the administer blocks screen /admin/build/block and configure the "LoginToboggan logged in block" you'll see the following (all-new) options:

• Radio buttons: Elect to use the logged in username (default) or your own replacement text for the account in the block.
  • Checkbox: If you use the account name this allows you to optionally hyperlink the username to their account page.
  • Textbox: Enter the replacement text (default "My account", without quotes).
• Radio buttons: Select the list style of the links, either inline (default) or as an unordered list.
  • Textarea: For inline presentation, configure the delimiter between the two links (default "|", without quotes).
  • Checkbox: For an unordered list, this applies class="menu" to the <ul> so it can be styled easily along with Drupal menus.

I've also added some classes into the code that make it easier to style "out-of-the-box" with CSS.

Drupal 7

After writing these changes, I installed Drupal 7 and the corresponding module and took a look at that, and was considering writing the same changes to offer at the same time. I can still do this if people like what they see and would like the options, but I considered it wasn't worth doing on the basis that Drupal 7 already provides pretty much all this functionality already in different ways.

For example, LT for D7 already links the username to their account page (I realise it's not optional) and D7's Bartik theme already has "My account" and "Logout" links which can be copied for theming. There's also a User menu which provides the same functionality in an unordered list, so there are lots of possibilities, and theming would generally take care of the rest.

In short, it's all there if you look for it. As I say, if you'd like this presented neatly in one easy-to-configure point-and-click place then I'll happily have a stab at it!

In conclusion...

Anyway, I just wrote this to make things easier for designers and themers who don't like to touch code. By all means - use it or not. If you have any useful suggestions, I'll have a shot at including them.

(I was going to attach a patch file, but I haven't worked out how to create one yet, and to be honest, drupal.org/patch is no help to me - I figured the people that would benefit from this would, like me, likely not know how to apply a patch anyway - but if I can work it out, or someone else would like to explain/do it then go for it!)