Changing compliments?

A Former User

I am totally new to the programming world and was wondering if I could get some instruction on how to change the compliments module to reflect personalized statements. Do I have to change the .css file? How is this done? Also do/can I change the config.js.sample file to reflect these changes for future installations?

bhepler

@artworks79 Sure, no problem.
For starters, you probably copied the config.js.sample file to config.js to get you started. That’s great, as the config.js file is what the Magic Mirror software reads in order to arrange and configure the various modules. For future installations, I recommend making a local copy of the config.js file and then dropping that in your new mirrors.

In the config.js file, you’ll see an entry for the compliments module that tells the system which module to load (compliments), where to place it and what configuration values to pass into the module (config: {...}). This part of the config.js file modifies how the Magic Mirror software treats the compliments module.

Inside that config section, you can modify the behavior of the module itself. You can change the update interval or change the compliments themselves. Here’s the one pulled from my config.js.

{
        module: 'compliments',
        position: 'bottom_center',
        config: {
                updateInterval: 30000,
                compliments: {
                        morning: [
                        "Good morning, sunshine!"
                                        ],
                        afternoon: [
                        "It's a pretty day outside. Go play in it!"
                                        ],
                        evening: [
                                "Wasn't the sunset beautiful?",
                                "Wasn't the day just spectacular?"
                                ]
                        }
                }
        },

Inside the config: {...} section there is a variable called compliments. The value of this variable must be an array, as specified by the morning: structure. Please note that arrays require square brackets. Each compliment must be enclosed in double quotes " and each compliment is separated by a comma. You can have as many compliments as you like in each array. In the compliments:{...} variable you are allowed a morning array, an afternoon array and an evening array. No other array names will have any effect.

A Former User

@bhepler Thanks for the assistance. When I get a chance I will definitely give it a try.

VirtualLeonard

@bhepler I have hade a lot of trouble getting compliments to work correctly on my mirror. I then simply copy and pasted your code into my config.js file and I am still having the same issue. When I run Magic Mirror (even when using your exact code) the module only shows “compliments” in a larger font then “module_2_compliments” underneath. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, is this an easy fix?

MichMich

@VirtualLeonard You probably modified the compliments module. Which is something you shouldn’t do. I suggest you backup you config and reinstall the mirror.

All customisations should be done using the config.js, you should never need to modify a default module.

bhepler

@VirtualLeonard Hmm. Give @MichMich 's suggestion a try. Don’t forget that after you reinstall the mirror software you drop your config.js file back into its proper place.

If that still doesn’t work, either post your config.js file here and let us take a look at it or upload it somewhere such as dropbox so we can try to drop it into our mirrors.

AAPS

What exactly should the config.js file look like when I try to change the compliments?

bhepler

@AAPS See my post in this thread from November 4th. If you compare the code I included to the default entry for the compliments module, it should get you started. The default code is only this:

{
    module: 'compliments',
    position: 'bottom_center'
},

Basically, everything I included in the config section on Nov 4th is new code that will modify how the module behaves.

matic55maci

hello,

this helped me a lot. I only have one problem left and that’s when I tried to put more than 3 compliments for each part of a day, the mirror didn’t want to show any of compliments. Is there a ways to change the amount of compliments for each part or is it limited to only 3?

Thank you

Mykle1

@matic55maci

I think it’s likely that there is an error in the way you added the compliments (formatting?). Post your config for compliments in a code block

Algl

Hello
is there an option to define compliments in languages other than English ?
thanks.

Mykle1

@algl

You can simply add your own compliments in any language you want and they will appear as you enter them.

orbezo

@mykle1 Would you happen to know about special characters?
In the Spanish language, we “open” exclamation and interrogation marks (¡Text! ¿Text?), I’ve typed those characters directly, and they end up as a weird symbol once I run MM, then I tried specifying the encoding table (ISO-8859-1 and/or UTF-8) and it seems I missplaced the code, as MM told me there was no config.js file, then I tried using common HTML code using & # 1 6 1 ; (without spaces) for the “inverted” exclamation mark, and didn’t work either (I got the full “& # 1 6 1 ;” string displaced preceding the compliment’s normal text.

Mykle1

@orbezo

Sorry, but I don’t know what special characters are available within MM. Perhaps someone else will chime in on that.

However, if you have a font that has those special characters, you might then assign that font to the compliments module through your custom.css file.

A Former User

@orbezo I think that might be caused by missing characters in Roboto fonts. As I know, Roboto font set with MM is not complete. There are some missed characters. You should install supplements by yourself.

A Former User

@orbezo
See this;
https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/5406/issue-with-polish-letters-font-missing-diacritical-marks/8

orbezo

Thanks everyone for your answers, will read them carefully and follow your advice, will post back soon.