ProcessWire Weekly #170

Latest core updates: ProcessWire 3.0.71 adds the Page Export/Import module to the core

In the latest post at the processwire.com blog, Ryan walks us through the latest core updates, which – most notably – add the Page Export/Import feature to the core. This versatile tool is something we've been talking a lot about lately, and it is now finally available for testing purposes via the development branch of ProcessWire.

Here's what's new in the Page Export/Import tool this week:

• Support for multi-language page names, the published status, and almost all of the core Fieldtypes – including multi-language ones. Comments, Repeater, and PageTable are not yet supported, but these are on Ryan's to-do list already.

• File and image import support to JSON imports. These were previously supported in ZIP files only. Since files aren't technically part of the export data, they must be HTTP accessible when using the JSON format.

• The ability to select alternative fields and templates during import in case that the target system lacks a field or template present in the import data.

• The ability specify a custom parent page for imported pages, and either keep the page structure as-is (per import data) or flatten it out, making all imported pages direct children of the selected parent.

The to-do list for the Page Export/Import feature consists of support for the remaining core fields, support for ProFields, ZIP file export and import support, and support for paginated exports/imports for processing really large amounts of data.

For more details about the export/import feature, including detailed lists of new and upcoming features and installation instructions, don't forget to check Ryan's weekly post at the processwire.com blog. Thanks!

New module: OAuth2Login

OAuth2Login is a new module by community member flydev. In a nutshell this module integrates the OAuth2-Client library from the PHP League to ProcessWire and adds the ability for existing users to log in using an external OAuth provider, such as Facebook, GitHub, LinkedIn, or Google.

The module compares various local (ProcessWire) and external (OAuth provider) details of the user – specifically first and last names and the email address – and logs her in if those details are a match. Each external provider must be manually activated by a call to composer require league/oauth2-[provider-name-here].

Note that though the module currently requires local users to exist, registration support is planned for a future release of the module. It's also worth mentioning that, in order to install and use this module, you may have to set up Composer first.

For more details about OAuth2Login and particularly getting it up and running check out the OAuth2Login support forum thread. Installing and setting this module up requires some extra steps, but none of those are terribly complicated.

Big thanks to flydev for sharing this module with us!

New module: DropboxAPI

DropboxAPI is one of the most recent ProcessWire modules available, and kind of like the OAuth2Login module introduced earlier in this issue, it also depends on a third party PHP library to work: the Dropbox PHP SDK from Kunal Varma.

This module was developed by Clip Magic and, in a nutshell, makes it not just possible but also really easy to set up a system that uploads files into a specific Dropbox folder. The original use case, as explained on the support forum thread, was uploading PDF files generated by a combination of FormBuilder and Pages2Pdf to a Dropbox folder.

After installing this module you'll need to set up a Dropbox app and input the details provided by Dropbox into the module's config settings. Since the module won't know what you want to upload and where, you'll have to trigger an upload manually via the API in one of your template files, in ready.php – or whatever suits your needs best.

For more details and usage examples for the DropboxAPI module, please check out the dedicated support forum thread. All in all using this module is quite easy, but since it works via the API, it requires a few lines of code in order to actually do something.

Big thanks to Clip Magic Web Design for sharing this very useful module with us!

Site of the week: Superbude Hamburg

Our latest site of the week belongs to Superbude – an edgy company providing absolutely stunning hostel / hotel rooms at the heart of Hamburg. Two locations, really fancy rooms, and just about all the services available that one could ask for: breakfast, cocktail bar, self-service drinks, and also a shared lobby with a multitude of ways to kick back and relax on rainy days.

The multi-language, responsive site of Superbude was crafted by xport communication GmbH. In addition to numerous layouts and content blocks, just about everything from regular content to forms and maps are customized to perfection. The design is modern and quite fancy in itself, yet still very much usable; neat-looking parallax effects, fun little SVG button styles, and big and bold hero images all work together to give this website an unique and stylish look and feel.

Behind the scenes the Superbude site makes use of the ProCache module, JavaScript libraries used on the front-end include the likes of jQuery and Owl Carousel, and the site is also integrated to external services such as Apple Wallet, the lead-generation tool OptinMonster, and an event database Ask Helmut. All in all there's a lot going on here, and it would be really interesting to see a proper case study for this site.

Here's what the creators of the site had to say about why they chose ProcessWire:

We chose your open source cms Processwire, because of his excellent architecture, modular extensibility and the internal API. The cms offers the necessary flexibility and performance for such a complex website like superbude.de. Processwire offers options that are only available for larger systems, such as Drupal, and allows a much slimmer development process.

Big thanks to xport communication GmbH for sharing this wonderful site with us, and congratulations to the client, Superbude – I for one will definitely keep your hostels in mind the next time I'm traveling anywhere near Hamburg!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's it for the 170th issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content Saturday, 19th of August. As always, ProcessWire newsletter subscribers will get our updates a few days later.

Thanks for staying with us, once again. Hope you've had a great and productive week, and don't forget to check out the ProcessWire forums for more interesting topics. Until next week, happy hacking with ProcessWire!