FORWARD MODULE - README ______________________________________________________________________________ NAME: Forward AUTHORS: Sean Robertson Peter Feddo ______________________________________________________________________________ DESCRIPTION Adds a "forward this page" link to each node. This module allows users to forward a link to a specific node on your site to a friend. You can customize the default form field values and even view a running count of the emails sent so far using the forward module. INSTALLATION Step 1) Download latest release from http://drupal.org/project/forward Step 2) Extract the package into your 'modules' directory. Step 3) Enable the forward module. Go to "/admin/modules" and put a checkmark in the 'Enabled' column next to 'Forward'. Step 4) Go to "/admin/config/user-interface/forward" to configure the module. This path is also linked from the Configuration page and the Modules list page within site administration. If you wish to customize the emails, copy 'forward.tpl.php' into your theme directory. Then you can customize the function as needed and those changes will only appear went sent by a user using that theme. If you check the 'custom display' box on the configuration page, the Forward view mode which defines the fields that will be sent in Forward emails can be configured here: "/admin/structure/types/manage/[machine-name]/display/forward" where [machine-name] is replaced by the machine name of the content type being configured. For example, for articles, the full path to the link is: "/admin/structure/types/manage/article/display/forward" Step 5) Enable permissions appropriate to your site. Go to "/admin/people/permissions#module-forward" to configure permissions. This path is also linked from the Modules list page, click on the Permissions link next to Forward. The forward module provides several permissions: - 'access forward': allow user to forward pages. - 'access epostcard': allow user to send an epostcard. - 'override email address': allow logged in user to change sender address. - 'administer forward': allow user to configure forward. - 'override flood control': allow user to bypass flood control on send. Note that you need to enable 'access forward' for users who should be able to send emails using the forward module. Step 6) Go to "/admin/reports/forward" to view forward usage statistics. There is also a link on the Reports page within site administration. Statistics are captured when emails are sent and when recipients click on links within the sent emails. Step 7) If the Views module is enabled for your site, go to "admin/structure/views" to optionally enable and configure Forward related views. These views are available: forward_forwards - most popular nodes to forward forward_recent - recently forwarded nodes or pages forward_clickthroughs - forwarded nodes with most clicks from sent emails Step 8) Go to "admin/structure/block" to optionally enable and configure Forward blocks for your theme. Several blocks are available: Forward: Form - places the forward link or forward form in a block Forward: Statistics - most recently emailed or most emailed of all time If you enabled views in step 7, these blocks are also available: forward_forwards:Block - a Views list of most popular nodes to forward forward_recent:Block - a Views list of recently forwarded nodes or pages forward_clickthroughs:Block - a Views list of nodes with most clicks VIEWS INTEGRATION FOR DRUPAL 7 The Forward Log is now integrated with Views 3 for Drupal 7. You can create a view with log data including users who forwarded, the forwarded path, the data and time the forwarding occurred, and other information. DYNAMIC BLOCK ACCESS CONTROL The 7.x-1.3 release of the Forward module added a new security field for administators on the Forward configuration page named Dynamic Block Access Control. This field allows the administrator to control which permissions are used when Drupal applies access control checks to the nodes, comments or users listed in the Dynamic Block. Several access control options are available, including a bypass option. The bypass option allows the email recipient to possibly view node titles, comment titles, or user names that only privileged users should see. The bypass option should not normally be selected, but is provided for sites that used prior versions of Forward and rely on the access bypass to operate correctly. IMPORTANT: Because the default for the new field is to apply access control, administrators of sites that rely on the access bypass to operate correctly need to visit the Forward configuration page and explicitly select the bypass option after upgrading from versions of Forward prior to 7.x-1.3. CLICKTHROUGH COUNTER FLOOD CONTROL The Forward module tracks clicks from links in sent emails to determine which nodes get the most clickthroughs. The method used could allow someone to manipulate clickthrough counts via CSRF - for example, placing an image on a website with a src tag that points to the clickthrough counter link. The module uses flood control to limit the number of clickthroughs from a given IP address in a given time period to migitate this possibility. CREDITS & SUPPORT Special thanks to Jeff Miccolis of developmentseed.org for supplying the tracking features and various other edits. Thanks also to Nick White for his EmailPage module, some code from which was used in this module, as well as the numerous other users who have submitted issues and patches for forward. John Oltman of sitebasin.com assisted with development of the Drupal 7 version. All issues with this module should be reported via the following form: http://drupal.org/node/add/project_issue/forward ______________________________________________________________________________ http://www.ngpsystems.com