ProcessWire Weekly #306

Latest core updates: ProcessWire 3.0.153

In the processwire.com blog this week Ryan introduced ProcessWire 3.0.153. This is the latest dev version of ProcessWire, and contains a set of new API methods — as well as major update for the comments feature (which were also discussed in our last issue, ProcessWire Weekly #305).

$pages API variable and Template class additions

ProcessWire 3.0.153 adds one new method for the $pages API variable, and a bunch of new methods to the Template class:

• $pages->has('selector'): this method checks if a page matching given selector exists — and if it does, the ID of the page is returned. This is more efficient than $pages->count('selector') or $pages->get('selector'), as it doesn't have to load page objects.
• $template->allowNewPages(): returns true if the template in question can be used for new pages, and false if not.
• $template->childTemplates(): returns a WireArray containing templates allowed as children of the template in question. Doubles as a setter´ if provided with a WireArray of Template objects as an argument.
• $template->parentTemplates(): returns a WireArray containing templates allowed as parents of the template in question. Also doubles as a setter if provided with a WireArray of Template objects.

Major updates to comments support

The updates to the built-in comments support include new methods (as detailed in our previous issue, ProcessWire Weekly #305) and two all-new classes: CommentsListCustom and CommentsFormCustom.

While there were no breaking changes among these updates, interacting with comments (via the API) is now a bit easier. and the new classes open up plenty of options when it comes to customizing the entire commenting experience for end users.

That's it for the core updates this week. For more details regarding ProcessWire 3.0.153 and the updates mentioned above, be sure to check out the weekly processwire.com blog post by Ryan. Thanks!

New module: Image Crop Ratios

Image Crop Ratios is a brand new module by Robin Sallis. Inspired by a recent question at our support forum, this module allows defining preset aspect ratios for the built-in image cropping tool in Admin. The GUI of the module is simple: it adds a new select menu for crop ratios, and selecting one of those will enable it right away.

The configuration options for this module allow you to define global crop ratios, and you can also define crop ratios per image field, and even override them in Template context settings. You can also enforce a crop ratio selection — in fact unless you specifically add an empty option (by inserting a hyphen as an option), one of the settings will always be enabled.

Huge thanks to Robin for yet another useful contribution, stunning work as always!

Recently updated third party modules

There have been quite a few module updates recently, and we wanted to highlight some of those for you folks. Some of these updates are major ones, while others are general housekeeping and resolving raised issues:

• Our first update is a big one indeed: Horst is working on a new major version of CroppableImage, adding WebP support among other things. CroppableImage4 is now available for beta testers!
• Another module currently looking for testers is Cache Control, which now includes experimental support for ProCache. On related news a new master version of this module (0.5.0) has also just been released.
• Next up is Hanna Code Dialog 0.3.0. Latest version of this Hanna Code companion module for CKEditor users adds support for new inputfield types — including PageAutocomplete — which will open up new possibilities for advanced GUIs.
• Latest update for the Mystique inputfield/fieldtype module adds support for easy value setting and saving: $page->setAndSave('mystique_field', ['key' => 'value']).
• Finally, the beta version of ModulesManager2 is now available for easy installation through the built-in modules manager in Admin. If you get the chance to give this ambitious Vue.js powered module a try, be sure to leave some feedback as well!

If you're interested in ProcessWire news, discussions, and updates, there's always something going on at the support forum. Since we're only able to include a tiny selection of all that in our weekly updates, head down to the forum for more.

Site of the week: Goldkinder Psychotherapie

Our latest site of the week belongs to Goldkinder Psychotherapie — the website of Mönchengladbach, Germany based child and youth psychotherapist Heike Maßen (and her therapy dog Nala).

This single page website was designed by Uta Hugenbruch and developed by Horst Nogajski. Despite being a single-pager, this site contains plenty of information regarding the Goldkinder Psychotherapie practice, their personnel, location and contact details, and services provided.

The design of the site is light and refreshingly "airy", boasting a minimalist design, with very few unnecessary elements, beautiful typography, and a number of photographs all in the same, distinctive style. Overall the design of this site feels like a breath of fresh air, and that's very much what made it catch our attention as well.

Regarding what's going on behind the scenes here, we really can't say much — as far as we can tell there's no full-blown front-end framework here, and also no instantly identifiable third party modules. Either way the site works well and seems reasonably fast, so no complaints here either.

Big thanks to Horst for sharing this project with us, and congratulations to Goldkinder Psychotherapie for their new website — great job from everyone involved in this project!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's all for the 306th issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content Saturday, 28th of March. 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!