Looking at riot.js as a useful web technology, I decided to investigate the option to embed it within wordpress using a header and footer scripts plugin. Adding some script tags to the footer (my Google Analytics tags went in the header), allows both less.js and riot.js to work within all page and post bodies. This might be useful to improve the basic wordpress theme, and even of use in the more expressive Divi theme. Just include the <my-custom> tags and the <script type="riot/tag" src="somewhere.on.github/my-custom.tag"> tags for the things you want to use, on the pages you want to use them on. CSS via less.js works too.
<script src="https://rawgit.com/jackokring/riot-embed/master/less.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://rawgit.com/jackokring/riot-embed/master/riot%2Bcompiler.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://rawgit.com/jackokring/riot-embed/master/underscore.min.js"></script>
<script>
riot.mount('*');
</script>
In order to support AJAX and a DB, a method of site specific access control is required. As the server receives the full URL request, then this could be used as a part key, along with an optional script embedded part key, to control access. But this would have the unfortunate hack of just requesting using the correct domain, from another domain. It has to be login specific to protect private data.
An end point token can be issued as a cookie, and activated using a password, generating a endpoint user token. Pay subscribed or higher qualification of the user tokens can be issued for higher features. A username can be added to allow end point user transfers.
#Compression
I'm building in compression to check out some new ideas on data backends. I decided to not go for jQuery (even though wordpress does include it in pages) as it's basically tart over function, where as underscore.js is quite functional, and reduces code size. It might not be the most efficient time execution wise, but it often has a time writing wise, and a definite space reduction in the long run. Some people prefer lodash.js, but it's almost the same, except the utility of _.reduce(y, function() { (var z = _(x)).filter(...) ...}, []); to save bytes (?), has been mangled for chaining calls.
The aim is to make the client the data processing centre, and to only load the server with essentials (such as sanity checking of database consistency). This is encouraged by moving to an ajax script model, where the server issues scripts, and not just static json. The fat clients (thin clients plus Moore's Law) which are coming won't have a problem with this arrangement, and the observation that processing is quite cheap compared to transmission in mass service paradigms makes this a good look see.
#QUnit Testing
I have made QUnit testing be available. To assist in stability the dependant js libraries have been copied to this repository. This can be located here for the whole project. The tests of the server side use K Ring Technologies Ltd. so don't run the tests without reason (they can generate server traffic), as they have been run already in development.
When you want to start developing your own tags, and you have no access to your wordpress server's file space except for the worpress administration interface, you have few options. The dbase.php file has to be placed in your wordpress install folder to access server side features. This could eventually be done via a wordpress plugin, but that is for later. As placing this file is a one off task, just ask an admin for help.
The client side JavaScript can be hosted on GitHub. It has a very nice code editor, and the site is easy to use without much of the hastle of command line tools. The suggest process is to join GitHub and clone this repository. You can then add more scripts or tags, and then also submit pull requests when you get to know how. rawgit.com can then serve files while in development, as the RAW option for viewing files using github.com will not work correctly. If your web traffic goes up to high levels, this service is not suitable.
If you get to that point, then clone the git repository onto a suitable server, and alter the https://rawgit.com/jackokring/riot-embed/master/ prefix in the above source which you placed in your wordpress footer, to the URL where you cloned the repository. The dynamic option to just have one path prefix to alter, has issues with page loading order. Another option is to use a CDN. So maxCDN can provide larger distribution facilitation. Check rawgit.com for details. There are also other CDNs which cache GitHub. CDNs do not poll for fresh copy, and free ones do not have a 100% uptime promise. This would then require usage of GitHub branches or tagging, which has complexity, when you change anything in a file, so CDNs are for production sites only.
Add the plugin into wordpress and in any post [sc name="riot" tag="whatever-custom"] with once in the shortcoder editor <%%tag%%></%%tag%%><script src="https://rawgit.com/jackokring/riot-embed/master/%%tag%%.tag" type="riot/tag"></script> and it also does not get deleted by the visual editor. There are many other great plugins to discover.
There are 4 objects added to to assist in riot app devekopment. They could also be used with other things.
__A libray for compressed IO and some transforms used. tool.js_$A keyed collection object. coll.js$_A collection filter for more complex operations. filt.js$$An adapter to perform collection joins and abstraction. adapt.js
These are enough to bring DB remote acces to riot, and kind of replace backbone.js in the development stack. _ underscore.js is included on _, and I think wordpress already includes jQuery seen as $ in code. Well at least it does with the Divi theme. Riot is then just dealing with the templating, with maybe a little assist from _.
The compression includes some of my ideas on the subject, and likely is not as fast as some would like. Some coding is used to keep bits off the wire and problems with the default setting of XmlHttpRequest in js. Usefully this also assists in turning Unicode into a more efficient 8 bit code (SUTF) which does help with the modified LZW compression (a pre BWT with implied context dictionary compaction and dictionary growth acceleration). SUTF also preserves all ASCII characters. Two special property tags on an object are not packed. These are for identifying the object and for passing auxilliary information.
_iThe ID of the object.__Anything else that might need to pass unpacked.
They are both for internal use, and you are told here so you don't overwrite them.