RM 1.1 Resource Icons and Featured Resources

Today, we're continuing on with our look at some of the new features coming in the 1.1 release of the XenForo Resource Manager. Up next are 2 of the most common requests.

Note that as before, we're not running RM 1.1 here yet so you can't play with these just yet.

Resource Icons

In the current RM release, the icon that is displayed with a resource has simply been the avatar of the author. This has been used in resource lists and next to the title when viewing the resource itself. In 1.1, administrators can choose to let users upload unique icons for each resource instead, similar to what you might find in various app stores. The icon allows resource authors to have a space to add a quick, unique identifying element to their resource. This is particularly useful for resources that have a significant visual component, though most of the demonstration and information about a resource will still be found in the resource description and the attached screenshots.

Resource icons are controlled by an option that covers the entire resource manager, not category-by-category. This was done to ensure consistent display and expectations across categories.

The icon that is being uploaded should be 96x96 (the same size as medium avatars), or at least square so we can resize it. Note that in the standard list, we shrink the icon, but the featured resource list does use the full size.

Here's what a resource list item looks like with icons enabled:

ss-2013-09-24_15-02-37.webp


(It seems the burger wasn't that good based on the 2 star review... ;))

Similar to threads, we still display the creator's avatar to help you identify authors at a quick glance. If a user does not upload a unique icon, a standard placeholder will be used (like with avatars).

You can also see one of the indications of a featured resource here.

When viewing a resource, we focus on the icon:

ss-2013-09-24_15-05-04.webp


When you create a resource, you will have the option to upload an icon in a separate step. You can then also update that icon at any time via a link on the sidebar. Staff with the appropriate permissions will be able to manage resource icons as well.

Featured Resources

In RM 1.1, staff with the appropriate permissions will be able to mark specific resources as featured. A limited number of featured resources will then be automatically put above the standard resource list:

ss-2013-09-24_15-12-40.webp


The resources that are displayed in this list varies based on context. For example, on the main resource page, they will be displayed from all categories. Within a category, the featured resources will only come from that category or any children. By default, the featured resources are only displayed when viewing the "default" list (e.g., not sorting by different criteria).

Featured resources are currently ordered based on when they became featured; the most recently featured will be displayed first in this list.

The featured resource list is currently height-limited to one row, as to not push the standard list down too far. Older featured resources can be viewed by clicking the "view all" link which takes you to a standard resource list-style page.

The screenshot in the resource icon section also shows the "featured" indication in the resource list. There is also a small indication of this when viewing the resource:

ss-2013-09-24_15-16-53.webp





Come back next time for more new features coming in the XenForo Resource Manager 1.1.
 
Loving the new look of RM!

Just one thing: Would it be possible we can have an option in configuring the Resources list so that:
we'll be able to switch the author/date line with the Resource description line, then stick the author's avatar to the beginning of the author/date line - instead of putting avatar at the bottom right corner of each Resource's icon?

I don't have a graphic tool to mock up this at present, but hopefully you get what I meant...

im interested in this, please get a mock up if possible!
 
Loving the new look of RM!

Just one thing: Would it be possible we can have an option in configuring the Resources list so that:
we'll be able to switch the author/date line with the Resource description line, then stick the author's avatar to the beginning of the author/date line - instead of putting avatar at the bottom right corner of each Resource's icon?

I don't have a graphic tool to mock up this at present, but hopefully you get what I meant...


Just tried to make this idea clearer with a mock up:

RM_listing_mockup.webp


The avatar could use a little more precision to align the bottom of it to the bottom of the icon.
Also, of course, the icon should have the rounded pretty corners as usual ( yet I don't know how to make that happen :p).

Not sure if @Mike could make something like this as an option in the look of RM listings? Thanks!!
 
There isn't an option to change this.

The filename is the ID of the resource so that can't be changed. The filepath can be changed via the config.php file, but that will just change the path of the data directory where attachment thumbnails and avatars (and others) are stored.

Any particular reason for needing to change it?
 
I am using a different directory for rest of the style images and would like to serve this from that directory.
I am using a cookie free domain to serve them.


Thanks
 
The icon should already respect your "Path to Images" setting.
Thank you for the reply but I guess I wasn't clear

My current path is /x-default/
Resource icon loads from /x-default/xenresource/resource-icon.png
I need to change the part /x-default/*/*.png

During upgrade the xenresource was not created in the path to images set but instead it was created in default path to images which is /default/xenresource/resource-icon.png
 
You need to put the image in the expected location. It's not really different than the default avatars, for example. The path can only be modified by the code being edited.

We can obviously only ship images in the default directory. If you have changed your image path, you'll need to manually bring over any new images. You would have had to do this if you upgraded from 1.1. to 1.2, for example.
 
As far as I'm aware, no, that isn't an option (but I haven't seen the code or actual update yet). Should be fairly easy via CSS.
Could you please tell me the CSS to use to hide the mini avatar on top of the resource's icon? I'd really appreciate it - haven't been able to figure it out. Thanks in advance!
 
You can see featured resources on our resource home page, here:
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/

They are also showed at the top of each category, too, if there are featured resources in the category:
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/categories/xenforo-tips-guides.34/

And here's a list of all featured resources:
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/featured

It's simply a way of "promoting" your resources which may attract more attention to the resources which are more important.
 
As Paul said, its in the side bar. I've made a suggestion to make it more intuitive and more in line with avatars and the edit process of those.
A shame that hasn't happened. I couldn't find it, and had to come here and search for the answer.
 
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