[2/3.0 TIP] How to use Ning's User Profile Variable

[Elson Tan]

Hi there,

Yep, I've been M.I.A from some time now, yet again, due to my work and college stuff. So, today, I will be sharing on how can we use the ning.CurrenProfile variable.

The Wonders of User Profile Variable

You can see these variables popping out here and there in scripts made by others. But what exactly are they and how can we utilize it?

They are what we called Javascript associative array which holds information of  a user, they store:

Your Ning ID, name, gender, location, country, profile photo, profile url and age.

For example, this is mine:

"CurrentProfile":{"id":"18abpibelhnjw","profileUrl":"http:\/\/creators.ning.com\/profile\/ElsonTan","location":"","age":17,"gender":"m","fullName":"Elson Tan","photoUrl":"http:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/963872840?profile=original%3A1","country":"MY"}

You can see yours by view sourcing any page on Ning network, and search for "CurrentProfile".

How do we use this?

We can access it using javascript for example:

<script>

alert("This is my name! " + ning.CurrentProfile.fullName);

</script>

Here's the list of the variables we can access to:

Full Name : ning.CurrentProfile.fullName

Ning ID : ning.CurrentProfile.id

Profile URL: ning.CurrentProfile.profileUrl

Location(state, if provided): ning.CurrentProfile.location

Country: ning.CurrentProfile.country

Age: ning.CurrentProfile.age

Photo URL: ning.CurrentProfile.photoUrl

Gender: ning.CurrentProfile.gender

Usage

1. Restricting access to certain pages by determining their age group

<script>

if(ning.CurrentProfile.age < 18){

    window.location.href = '/'; //redirect to home page
}

</script>

(P/S: Samething with ning.CurrentProfile.gender, just use == 'm' or == 'f'

2. Welcome the user

Place this html inside a textbox on home page:

Welcome, <div class="thisusername"></div>.

And, place this script into your custom code(below):

<script>

x$('.thisusername').html(ning.CurrentProfile.fullName);

</script>

3. The above example shows user's name, but what about their photo too?

Same as above, put this into any place you want their thumbnail to show up, HTML:

<div class="userthumb"></div>

Script:

<script>

var sizeofthumb = 50;

x$('.userthumb').html('<img src="'+ ning.CurrentProfile.photoUrl +'&width='+ sizeofthumb +'">');

</script>

This will produce:

<div class="userthumb"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11390430?profile=original"></div>

Produces a thumbnail with size of 50x50px

4. Determine if current user is a guest/member

<script>

if(ning.CurrentProfile === null){

alert('you are guest');

} else {

alert('you are user');

}

</script>

5. Create user profile link

HTML:

<a href="#" class="userprofilelink">My Profile</a>

Script:

<script>

x$('a.userprofilelink').attr('href', ning.CurrentProfile.profileUrl);

</script>

That's it, there are still more ways to use these guys, its all based on your ideas. 

Happy Coding. 

[Kos]

Hey Elson, great to see you!  Hope everything's going well with your studies.  It's not easy but definitely worth the effort in the long run and we'll say "we knew him when....".  LOL  So help a non--coder like myself:  Where will this data appear?  In our Google analytics or in our member data?  My caffeine hasn't quite kicked in yet so I'm a little fuzzy.

[Elson Tan]

Hi Kos,

these are all javascript variables, you can access them via javascript code in your custom code area. Just try our the scripts(put them into your custom code[below] box)provided you will understand how it works. ;)

P/S for those which has HTML, just place it in a custom textbox anywhere on your network.

Enjoy.

[⚡JFarrow⌁]

ok.. here's an idea....just thinkin out loud.. how might I add the users location from profile beside their name on photo uploads? 

I was considering injecting something like this through language editor:

<div class="thatuserlocation"></div>

<script>

x$('.thatuserlocation').html(ning.CurrentProfile.location);

</script>

would this work?

[⚡JFarrow⌁]

i guess not..

[Kos]

oops ok I somehow copied a period . that I didn't need.  ok here's how it looks. 

[Denis]

You rock Elson. Thanks man. I am still waiting for somebig news from your end. (Erewards for Ning3.0).

[Denis]

You rock Elson. Thanks man. I am still waiting for somebig news from your end. (Erewards for Ning3.0).

[⚡JFarrow⌁]

this is a wonderful tip Elson!  It makes me wonder if something similar might be accomplished with a member map (ie. pulling in profile photo to fusion table).. hmmm

any thoughts?

[Matthew Aukai Wright]

This code is not working for me. Can you or somebody please help me :) I will love to put this in a profile block. 

[Kyryl_Ning_Support]

Hi there!

There are several codes presented in teh tip, which one are you trying to use?

Best wishes,

Ning Team.

[Matthew Aukai Wright]

Hi there Kyryl. I am not sure which code. I wanted it to look like this though with their avatar picture inside a block on a page besides the main page.