implement a simple inbox with notifications in yii

Question

I want to implement a simple inbox in yii. it reads messages from a database table and show it.

but i don't know how i should show read and unread messages in different styles and how i can implement a notification for new messages.

i searched a lot but only found some extensions and i don't want to use them.

it is so important to find how i can show unread messages in a different way

any initial idea would help me a part of mailbox extension code :

public function actionInbox($ajax=null)
{
    $this->module->registerConfig($this->getAction()->getId());
    $cs =& $this->module->getClientScript();
    $cs->registerScriptFile($this->module->getAssetsUrl().'/js/mailbox.js',CClientScript::POS_END);
    //$js = '$("#mailbox-list").yiiMailboxList('.$this->module->getOptions().');console.log(1)';

    //$cs->registerScript('mailbox-js',$js,CClientScript::POS_READY);


    if(isset($_POST['convs']))
    {
        $this->buttonAction('inbox');
    }
    $dataProvider = new CActiveDataProvider( Mailbox::model()->inbox($this->module->getUserId()) );
    if(isset($ajax))
        $this->renderPartial('_mailbox',array('dataProvider'=>$dataProvider));
    else{
        if(!isset($_GET['Mailbox_sort']))
            $_GET['Mailbox_sort'] = 'modified.desc';

        $this->render('mailbox',array('dataProvider'=>$dataProvider));
    }
}

Answer 1

First of all the scripts things should be in the view. For you problem I would do something like

In the controller

$mailbox = Mailbox::model()->inbox($this->module->getUserId()); //I assume this returns the mailbox from that user? 

$this->renderPartial('_mailbox',compact('mailbox ')); //compact is the same as array('mailbox'=>$mailbox) so use whatever you prefer.

In the view I would simply do something like this

<?php foreach($mailbox->messages as $message):
     $class = ''; //order unread if you want to give both a different class name 
     if($message->read): //if this is true 
           $class = 'read'; 
     endif; ?>
     <div id='<?= $message->id ?>'class='message $class'> <!-- insert whatever info from the message --></div>
<?php endforeach; ?>

So now it will add the class read to every message that has been read. Then in CSS you can simply change it style. I hope this is enough information? I use foreach(): endforeach; and if(): endif; in the view files, but you could use foreach() {}, but I prefer foreach, as it looks better combined with HTML.

EDIT about you second question, how do they become read. This you could do with JQUERY. example.

$(".message").on("click", function() {
    var id = $(this).attr('id');
    $.ajax {
        type:"POST",
        url: "controller/action/"+id; //the controller action that fetches the message, the Id is the action variable (ex: public function actionGetMessage($id) {})
        completed: function(data) {
            //data = the message information, you might do type: 'JSON' instead. Use it however you want it. 
            if(!$(this).hasClass("read"))
                $(this).addClass("read"); //give it the class read if it does not have it already
        }
    }
});

This simply gives the div the class read and it should look like the other items with the class read.