"Post Here" functionality created

I appreciate and respect your opinion, but I'd like to defend my patch:

I'm not going to apply this patch until this has been thumbed up (or requested) by other users/developers.
There were some people who thought this was a good idea when I originally proposed it: see here. I think more people would appreciate it if they saw it work... it's the kind of thing that seems obvious once it exists.

You might want to use tabs for these local 'post here' actions.
This is definitely an idea, however I have not used the CVS version with these tabs... I would definitely look into it when CVS is closer to completion. My patch works on 4.4.1, and currently the theme actually inserts the link, so as it stands, it is flexible.

When documenting a function, please use PHPDoc-style comments.
At this stage, pre-patch, my comments are intended to allow you guys, the patch reviewers, to follow my changes as closely as possible. My initials are in there only because I need a way internally to keep track of my modifications. If the code was to be approved for the core, I would certainly create better comments.

Some of the code/paramaters are awkward (eg. $boo_validtypefound).
Since this is my first patch, it may not be 100% consistent. The variable you mention is a boolean value (referenced one time), so I added boo_ to the name. However, there are very few (zero?) other times when I use this practice. I deviated from my personal coding style to try to be consistent with the core. You guys run this show, so I'm happy to hear your suggestions for improvements in this area.

My comments:

As I mentioned in the notes to my patch, adding it to the core doesn't change any functionality whatsoever. It only makes new functionality available. But it can only be utilized if the "Post Here" link is implemented by the theme (fortunately, a minor edit), and by the module which exposes the taxonomy view (another minor change, 2 lines?). Once it is in the core, it is like an API, modules could be developed to take further advantage of it (for example a graphical site map with a 'posthere' link at each taxonomy term)

This patch does not use much additional system resources. All parameters are passed through the URL. In fact, when used, it should reduce system load slightly, because it replaces recursive database lookups (required to create the taxonomy drop-down list) with a single query. (These may be cached, if so, then this would be incorrect)

PostHere may not look very important to a blogger or someone running a small site, which may only contain a dozen categories, or a site where experienced users only, who fully understand the taxonomy structure, are adding content.

Imagine a corporate site which may have taxonomy terms for dozens of departments in multiple cities. Or for a university site, with a taxonomy for every section of every class, plus groups, clubs, faculty, etc. It is not hard to imagine having hundreds of taxonomy terms in these situations. And 99% of the users won't have any idea about your site structure. Being able to just post directly to a category, instead of choosing from an incredibly long list, is essential.

The comments module lets you add a comment directly to the post you were reading. The forum module lets you add a new topic directly to the section you were reading. Users expect the ability to add a story to the category they were reading, not have to select it from a huge list. As developers, it is difficult "forget what we know" and to put ourselves in the shoes of novice users, but we have to, if we are to be effective.

Drupal is receiving a lot of interest right now from the first kind of site developers I mentioned... bloggers and small-site operators, coming over from MT and others. So the majority of feature requests have been for things these users want. Large-scale site developers are in the minority. But we are here, because Drupal has the power to handle these sites. MT and Blogger aren't even a consideration for us. But to fully realize the potential that Drupal has, it has to be as "friendly" to the needs of large-scale sites as to small ones. I truly believe that Drupal can get there, that is why I am using it and trying to improve it.

I might be mising something, but wouldn't it be possible to add the taxonomy term to add to as a GET variable?

That's exactly what this does. Instead of going to "node/add/story" , a new link directs you to "node/add/story/posthere/14" (with 14 as the taxonomy id), and then the taxonomy drop-down list is not rendered on the input form (a hidden input is rendered instead). It's all in the GET, no additional POST variables.

The patch as it is changes quite a lot in core so its chances aren't that good, I guess.

I don't think this is true. You could implement the changes in the core and see absolutely no difference, if you never added the "PostHere" feature to your theme or module. The extent of the changes to core modules are essentially just adding an optional parameter to some function calls.

Killes-

I do honestly appreciate you taking the time to consider this, and I respect the opinion of you and Dries, and the rest of the crew here. And I understand the problem of featur-itis. Believe me, if I could have implemented this as a totally separate module, I would have, however I don't think it is possible, at least not under the 4.4 version. As far as keeping things simple, I still think I have done that, the patch doesn't add any new functions/procedures, the most it does is require an extra, optional parameter on some (two?) calls.

I defer to you, since you have done an exceptional job so far. If you think it is too complex or intrusive, then it should not be in the core, no matter what I think.

However, I will re-iterate what I said earlier in this thread, that I believe Drupal has the power to do so much more than be a blog engine or tight community portal. It can run an entire school or corporate site, with hundreds of taxonomies. But it needs to be friendlier to novice users in these situations. Presenting a drop-down list with 200 or 400 taxonomy terms every time they post (or multiple drop-downs for multiple vocabularies), is not an acceptable situation. Anyway, thanks.

Wow... nice to see my idea revived from the dead :)

I understand the desire not to mess with core modules. I just don't see a way to prevent the rendering of the taxonomy selection input (actually, replacing it with a hidden input) without modifiying the core module.

But I am open to suggestions. Maybe 4.5 handles things like this differently?