ProcessWire Weekly #23

Latest core updates in the dev branch: new module configuration options

Module development is a key aspect of ProcessWire, and the built-in module system has been carefully crafted to be a simple and easy to learn as possible. Latest core updates attempt to make this process even easier by revising certain aspects of configurable modules.

In essence, ProcessWire 2.5.5 introduces updates to how module configuration settings are handled. There's a new abstract class called ModuleConfig that configurable modules can extend. After doing that, they can define default config values using getDefaults() method and setup config inputfields using getInputfields().

Another approach made possible by these new additions is defining module config settings as an array. Similar idea has been discussed before, so it's definitely a welcome addition. Say no to unnecessary boilerplate code!

As always, you'll find more details and usage examples from Ryan's latest blog post.

Page Bookmarks is a new module for effortlessly bookmarking pages

Page Bookmarks is another new module from Conclurer intended for bookmarking pages, plain and simple. The module provides an API for storing bookmarks per page, applying tags and description to each saved bookmark and fetching a list of bookmarks for given user (optionally grouped by tags).

Both logged in and guest users are supported. Bookmarks for logged in users get stored in the database, for guests they're stored in the session. Since there's no login required, you can actually see the module in action at the demo site.

Overall I'd say that this is rather extensive take on the bookmarking question and definitely something I'd recommend. Thanks to Conclurer for another awesome module – you guys rock!

Mobile Detect introduces a server-side method for detecting mobile devices

Mobile Detect, developed by Bea Dav, is a module that integrates lightweight PHP class Mobile_Detect into ProcessWire, providing the ability to detect mobile devices server-side. This includes details such as the type of the device, browser and operating system.

While in most cases responsive techniques or JavaScript device type (or, rather, screen size and feature) detection trumps server-side solutions, there are situations where you really do want to serve exactly the right content to right device. For those cases, this module is a real timesaver.

Markup Adaptive is a module for syncing media queries with JavaScript events

Markup Adaptive, a new module by Martijn Geerts, fires JavaScript events when the size of the browser window is changed. In the configuration screen of the module, you can define specific 'media queries' (or breakpoints) with their respective classnames, which you can then track using JavaScript.

While the demo site Martijn has set up demonstrates how this module can entirely replace CSS media queries, that's not it's primary goal or how it's intended to be used. What's really cool about this module is the way it allows media queries and JavaScript to work together.

Want to destroy an element when certain media query is triggered? Sure thing. Want to add a new element, perhaps fetching it first asynchronously? No problem. That's what this module is really all about; not replacing media queries, but rather extending them.

Thanks to Martijn for putting this together, I'm sure it'll come in handy in future projects!

ProcessWire resources of the week

Hand-picked topics, posts and resources you might want to check out, in no particular order:

• A while ago we featured Polish site hejtuje.com, a unique and provocative social network of sorts. English version of the site, titled hate.it, has just been released and looks absolutely gorgeous!
• Philipp has posted a tutorial post about optimizing your ProcessWire site. Definitely worth checking out, even if you're already confident in your optimization ninja skills. It's never too late to learn something new.
• "Why you and your clients will love ListerPro" is a very extensive look into the commercial module we introduced last week, ListerPro. Great read!
• "ProcessWire is a ball of clay, and you're the sculptor". That's a quote taken from the blog post outlining some of the reasons why ProcessWire is such a great system – or, as the author so modestly puts it, "the perfect CMS".

Site of the week: Muesli Café

Muesli Café has been one of the bright spots of the week, both the site and the story behind it. To summarize, Erika and Diogo of ED DESIGN have started a crowdfunding campaign to establish a breakfast place serving muesli in Porto, Portugal – and this is their campaign site.

The site has pretty unique vibe to it, with rather prominent expanding menu and a collection of colourful pictures of – you probably guessed it – all sorts of muesli. Also, the site works well in smaller sizes too, so no complaints there either.

Good luck with your campaign, Erika and Diogo – hope you achieve your goal!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's it for the week, thanks for reading! Our next issue will be out Saturday, 25th of October. In the meantime you might want to follow @processwire at Twitter and join the discussion at ProcessWire Support Forums.

Until next week – happy hacking with ProcessWire!