Simple Support Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Steps to First Use

1. Installation

   composer require nikservik/simple-support
   php artisan vendor:publish --tag="simple-support-migrations"
   php artisan vendor:publish --tag="simple-support-config"
   php artisan migrate
   

2. Publish Config Edit config/simple-support.php to enable features (e.g., 'user-can-send-message').

3. First Use Case: Sending a System-Wide Notification

   use Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Facades\Support;
   
   // Send a broadcast message to all users
   Support::notifyAll('System Maintenance', 'The site will be down for 1 hour.');
   

4. First Use Case: User Support Dialog

   // Start a conversation with a user (assuming User model has `supportConversations()`)
   $conversation = auth()->user()->supportConversations()->create([
       'subject' => 'Technical Issue',
       'message' => 'My app is crashing.'
   ]);
   

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflows

1. User-Initiated Support Requests

   • Extend the Supportable trait to users/models needing support access.
   • Use the hasSupportConversations() relationship in your User model:

     public function supportConversations()
     {
         return $this->hasMany(\Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Models\Conversation::class);
     }
     

2. Admin Dashboard Integration

   • Publish the admin views (if available) via:

     php artisan vendor:publish --tag="simple-support-views"
     

   • Integrate routes (check routes/simple-support.php after publishing).

3. Broadcast Notifications

   • Use Support::notifyAll() for system-wide alerts:

     Support::notifyAll('News', 'Check out our new feature!', ['url' => '/new-feature']);
     

   • Customize notification templates in resources/views/vendor/simple-support/.

4. API Endpoints

   • Leverage the built-in API routes for:
     • Fetching user conversations: GET /api/support/conversations.
     • Sending replies: POST /api/support/conversations/{id}/replies.

Integration Tips

• Middleware: Protect support routes with auth or custom middleware:

  Route::middleware(['auth', 'can:access-support'])->group(function () {
      // Support routes
  });
  

• Events: Listen for SupportConversationCreated or SupportMessageSent events:

  event(new SupportConversationCreated($conversation));
  

• Notifications: Extend the SupportNotification class to customize email/SMS templates.

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Migration Conflicts

   • If autoload-migrations is enabled in config, ensure no duplicate tables exist (e.g., conversations, messages).
   • Fix: Manually check database/migrations/ for conflicts before running migrate.

2. Feature Flags

   • Disabling features (e.g., 'user-can-send-message') requires commenting out the line in config/simple-support.php. Uncommenting re-enables it.
   • Tip: Use environment variables for dynamic toggling:

     'features' => [
         env('SUPPORT_USER_MESSAGES', 'user-can-send-message'),
     ],
     

3. GitHub OAuth Misconfiguration

   • The github-oauth config in composer.json is unused in the package (likely a leftover). Ignore it unless the package evolves to use GitHub auth.

4. Translation Strings

   • Default translations may be missing. Publish them first:

     php artisan vendor:publish --tag="simple-support-translations"
     

   • Tip: Override translations in resources/lang/en/simple-support.php.

Debugging

• Logs: Enable debug mode in config/simple-support.php:

  'debug' => env('APP_DEBUG', false),
  

  Logs appear in storage/logs/laravel.log.

• Database Issues:

  • Run php artisan db:seed --class=SupportTableSeeder if test data is missing.
  • Tip: Use Tinker to inspect conversations:

    php artisan tinker
    >>> \Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Models\Conversation::all();
    

Extension Points

1. Custom Models

   • Override default models by binding them in AppServiceProvider:

     $this->app->bind(
         \Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Models\Conversation::class,
         \App\Models\CustomConversation::class
     );
     

2. API Responses

   • Extend the SupportController to modify responses:

     use Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Http\Controllers\SupportController as BaseController;
     
     class CustomSupportController extends BaseController {
         public function showConversation($id) {
             $data = parent::showConversation($id);
             $data['custom_field'] = 'value';
             return response()->json($data);
         }
     }
     

3. Webhooks

   • Listen for SupportMessageSent events to trigger external actions (e.g., Slack):

     SupportMessageSent::subscribe(function ($event) {
         // Send to Slack/other service
     });
     

4. Rate Limiting

   • Add rate limiting to API routes in app/Http/Kernel.php:

     'api' => [
         \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ThrottleRequests::class.':api',
         \Nikservik\SimpleSupport\Http\Middleware\LimitSupportRequests::class,
     ],