Can anyone help with PHP?

Hello, I have purchased a module which for the life of me i cannot get to work. (This module installs a "pre set" database of x number of members - ideally so a start up site is not empty) and unfortunately the seller is not replying at all so here I am...

The module runs a PHP script which during its installation pulls the members information from a .csv file (each column with respective fields information etc) however while the members do appear after install their pictures do not - so I have a fairly large number of members but without pictures...

The PHP script wont work if the photo's directory isnt present or is renamed so clearly it knows the file is there but for some reason will not/ cannot attach said pictures to said profiles.

Here is the relevant PHP script; (the part in question anyway).

bx_import('BxDolModuleDb');

$Module = new BxDolModuleDb();

echo "<BR><h2 style='color:green'><< 3K Member DB Installation >></h2>";

if(!$Module->isModule("photos") || !$Module->isModule("avatar")){

die("<h3 style='color:red;'>Oops!!! You havent installed Avatar and Photos Modules</h3>");

}

$source = $dir['root']."3KMembers/MemPics";

if(!file_exists($source)){

die("<h3 style='color:red;'>Oops! Directory MemPics does not exist. Please check the Instructions or contact the Moder</h3>");

}

if(!file_exists($source."/1.jpg")){

die ("<h3 style='color:red;'>File 1.jpg is not found in MemPics directory.</h3>");

}

$fh = fopen("MemData.csv", "r") or die ("Unable to open file");

echo "<h3>*** Installation may take several minutes ( 25 - 35 Mins), DO NOT interrupt the script.</h3>";

flush();

if(!db_value("SELECT id FROM sys_cron_jobs WHERE name='MemOnlineCron'")){

$sql = "INSERT INTO `sys_cron_jobs` ( `name`,`time`, `class`,`file`) VALUES ('MemOnlineCron', '*/16 * * * *', 'MemOnlineCron', 'MemOnlineCron.php')";

db_res($sql); @unlink($dir['cache']."db_sys_cron_jobs.php");

}

$oAvatar = BxDolModule::getInstance('BxAvaModule');

$oPC= new BxDolProfilesController();

$PP= new BxPhotosUploader();

$ii= 0;

while ($line = fgetcsv($fh, 1000, ",")) 

{

$aProfile1 = array(

"NickName" => $line[0],

"FirstName" => $line[1],

"LastName" => $line[2],

"Email" => $line[0]."@test3K.com",

"Password" => "testuser",

"Sex" => $line[3],

"EmailNotify" => 0,

"UpdateMatch" => 0,

"DateOfBirth" => $line[4],

"Country" => $line[5],

"City" => $line[6],

"zip" => $line[7],

"LookingFor" => array( "0" => ($line[3] == 'female') ? 'male' : 'female'),

"ProfilePhoto" =>$line[9],

);

list($iId1, $sStatus1) = $oPC->createProfile($aProfile1,false);

if($iId1)

{

 wow ... you still actually have some hair after working through issues ?!

It sounds like you are using fake profiles mod to make it seem as if there is people at your site ... is it really a good idea? I'm personally against such tactics as after a short time any real members you have will realize the other members are not real and it will potentially scare the real members away etc.

I think its better to have a 'few' real members and work on getting more real members than employing the method you have to gain some attention.

I agree.  There was another poster that got someone to load 45,000 fake profiles to their site and it created a big mess.  I tried to get the person to just redo the site but he wouldn't listen.  The company created a big mess and all the person could give me was an email address that was not answered.

Get a few friends to join; offer free memberships to the first x number of users.  Promote your site where you can and forget about the fake members.

Whilst I do completely agree with both of you and have had the exact same argument with myself for some time in my mind it boiled down to one question....

Would I (or anyone else for that matter) join a dating site with little or no members? 

My own answer (and everyone else I asked) was an outright no...I am currently running a "free for March" campaign but I haven't been advertising it because of this issue. 

As I have little to no funding for advertising left it seemed this was the best option I had but I will rethink this now on your advice :-)

(It is worth mentioning however that nearly all of the "big players" in the dating industry have played the same trick - not that it's justified by any means of course).

Thank you for your advice :-)

Obviously the previous 3 posts had absolutely nothing to do with the question at hand....

 Most of the big players started out by buying out other dating sites. That's a bit different than using a database that was created with totally made up information and pictures that someone stole from Facebook and Myspace.

Is your dolphin site setup to require admin approval of the photos? Have you checked in admin to see of the photos are wating for your approval?

Also i do not see a area in the code where status is set. If your dolphin site is also requiring approval of accounts or verification of email then photo import will not work at all. Photos cannot be imported into inactive accounts.

So if your requiring all of that, you will most likely find you need to set everything to auto approval like a open free system for this to work properly and re-adjust everything after.

However, it's most likely to late now. You would have to delete all those imported members to be able to try again.

Well, for starters, I would get with the module creator and see if they can assist you. They would know more about their module and how to make changes than any one else.

As a sidenote. I understand your pain in regards to getting others to join a site with only a few members. But every big site started with nothing. Even in the case where a company purchases an already active site, that site had to start from somewhere.

That being said, have faith in yourself and what you are offering. In our case, our niche is mental health doctors and specialists. we have a total of 7 actual members, and they all helped to put things together. Once I have finished all the tweaking our next big problem is getting new members. Over the years we have collected over 4k email addresses from various persons at conventions and such. We have sent out emails to half of them in order to scrub and see which emails actually exist and are being used. out of that 2k emails, only 38 have responded.

It is no easy feat getting users to your site. We are going to offer a promotion - although I do not totally agree with it - that should help increase our members. First off, we have 2 /3 different memberships. 2 actual membership types, but 3 different timeframe options. Membership A - $30/yr, limited access to the site. Membership B - complete access to site: $35/month or $350/yr.

If you refer a member (we are using modzz Ultimate Referrals to keep track) who ultimately purchases a membership, you will receive cash back each month you and that member remain as members. $5/month for each $35/month membership your referral purchases, or $50/yr for each yearly membership that your referrals purchase, as long as both of you are members. We are hoping this will encourage others to refer and become members, as they can make a good decent bit of money doing so.

I am trying to save OP the embarrassment and time of putting thousands of fake profiles on his site!

We have all had to start from the ground up and those of us more experienced will no there is no benefits to having fake profiles >>> real people see through it especially when all these profiles has no site activity OR for example when it shows 100 people online BUT no one in chat rooms and no spy activity ?! There are too many giveaways that normal people will pick on let alone anyone experienced looking at his site.

 This post ^^^^ has nothing to do with the question at hand either :)

Thank you all again for your views & help on this topic, I am a very firm believer the two heads are better than one and three better than two etc etc therefore your views make it much easier to make an informed decision on what is evidently a controversial subject.

This might be a long shot, but did you try entering the Path on this line like this instead.

$source = $dir['root']."../3KMembers/MemPics";

 RE:

 Although Zarcon has declared that my posts, which he hid, have nothing to do with your original post, I would have to disagree with his assessment.   I expect Zarcon just doesn't like my tendency to be blunt.  The fact is, half of the 100,000 + members on this site, are building a great new dating site, and many of them are filling them up with fake profiles.  My comments were intended to trigger a "Hmmmmm....... maybe I should try something new and refreshing" response.

Yes.... three heads are better than one.... even if some of them are telling you things you don't want to hear.