Since the last blog, despite thinking there would be a good sized break, I went full coding over the holidays. Since then it has calmed down a bit, but flared back up. Right now we’re a good two months ahead of schedule – it could release today and would have plenty of done, but instead we’ll take the time to do more research on the bigger items and hopefully get some big stuff done for the first public beta.
The only bad news to report is that, for now, there is no upgrade from 2.0.4 to beta nor when the final is released. (that could change) The reason is that the SQL is almost completely different, different hashed passwords, completely different templating language and template setup. But we’ll wait and see.
For now though, check inside to see a few of the cool new things that we finished recently for the Beta and stay tuned for updates!
Plugins and API
First I want to start off with one of the most improved features. Previous versions of adapt have plugins and that’s all there is to it. With this big version, we are going all out. The AdaptCMS.com website will have an API section where you can view/find/filter plugins and themes, downloading and installing a plugin will be very easy.
Even more, it will be very flexible and easy for developers to use the system. There are configuration options that will run SQL, show any install text docs that devs include and API requests to the official site are made to let you know if your plugins are up to date and if not, a link to get the newest one.
The API also is in for version checking. The API side of things for themes isn’t fully done, but is configured for those two main features as well as hopefully more stuff in the future.
Message and Search
Neither of these two are new, but since it’s fresh in my head, figured I would talk about them. Both features are kept fairly simply, but kind of an extra layer compared to previous CMS versions. The Message feature is kind of like an instant messenger/messages type hybrid – posting a reply to a message is done with AJAX, labels on the message thread posts let you know if a message is new, if it hasn’t been read and if you archived it. In the next version of it we plan on live notifications of new messages while in the area, as well as the message thread auto-updating if someone posts – so if you do want a quick, live, conversation – you can do it.
Search is pretty straightforward, but very flexible. There is an advanced and simple search that you can include anywhere on your site. Currently, the advanced is just a search input/submit and a selection to choose which feature to filter by (such as Articles) or all features that are in the system as searchable. This is another Plugin-capable feature, just requiring a simple line of code in the plugin configuration file before installation. And the basic is the same, but searches for articles only.
The nifty thing about search is several things – for the user side of things, it’s AJAX enabled so you can quickly navigate to what you were looking for. For developers, you can set additional conditions for features/plugins as well as having complete control over the results. There is a Search folder in “Elements” (same with plugins) that loads up the model name (such as Article) template and you have control over how the results look.
Files and Images
This is already done, but as a few select features have gotten, this one received a significant facelift. Here’s the big things:
- Image Watermark
- Multi Upload
- File Naming (this appends the ID, prevents againt duplicate file names, appends a hash if it finds a match)
- Link Media Libraries (when uploading image(s) or editing one, you can assign multiple media libraries)
- Basic Image Resize
- Random Filename Option
The best thing is the multi upload. This is similar to 2.0.4, but is better and more options – being able to assign media libraries when uploading is useful. The rest was more of a “catching up” to previous Adapt versions, but Files will definitely see more attention in the future – but at the moment it is one of most stable and useable.
Conclusion
A lot more got done, a considerable amount in the background. AdaptCMS.com’s new site received a lot of work – the first beta of the API is done and the beta version of the site is nearly complete. That’s what will likely get the next post – some early pictures and details on the new site.
Either way, exciting times. The first public beta is expected to be March 30th – but we will have updates before then.
