ProcessWire Weekly #501

Latest core updates: ProcessWire 3.0.232

This week there are some pretty big news to share in terms of core development. First and foremost the dev branch has just been bumped to 3.0.232, with the PagesVersions module bundled in the core.

The story so far — what's this about versions?

If this is the first time you're hearing about PagesVersions, you should check out our previous issues, as well as weekly updates from Ryan in which he initially introduced the concept and later outlined the API and GUI of the PagesVersions module.

The long story short is that this module brings in core-level version control support, which is a major update, as it is a completely new feature that we've not had so far. Sure, there have been modules that have solved this in different ways for years, but having it as a core feature is big — really big.

Another big thing is that this approach is compatible with even the most complicated structures ProcessWire has to provide, and we're actually already almost at full core field support, with PageTable being the only remaining box to check.

Still remaining are PageTable (core) and Table (ProFields), both of which will need their own implementations for versions like Repeater and FieldsetPage needed. But following that, there won't be any unsupported fieldtypes to my knowledge.

— Ryan

PagesVersions and PagesVersionsPro

For an introduction to the PagesVersions API, check out the API docs, and feel free to give the module a try by updating to the latest dev version and installing the module. Please note, though, that it is currently considered a beta release, which means that there may be some quirks to iron out.

For those using commercial Pro modules, a companion module PagesVersionsPro has also been released. As Ryan explains in his post, this companion module — which will eventually replace or get merged to ProDrafts — gets all its behind the scenes features from the core, and essentially just adds an interactive GUI on top of it.

That's all for our core updates section this week. Be sure to also check out the weekly update from Ryan, and if you've got a (preferably non-production) site running on the latest dev branch version, feel free to give the PagesVersions module a try. Thanks!

Weekly forum highlights, tutorials, and other online resources

For this week we've gathered a list of support forum highlights and other useful and hopefully interesting resources. As always, please let us know if there's anything important we've missed, so that we can include it in one of our future issues.

• To get things started, there are a few new third party modules we'd like to share, and the first one of these is MakePDF. Created by Ivan Milincic, this module is a wrapper for the mPDF library with an easy to use API for creating and bundling PDF files.
• Another new module was created by BitPoet and is called DatePickerExclusions. This module adds new config options for excluded days to the jQuery datepicker in Inputfield Datetime. Please note, though, that DatePickerExclusions comes with some caveats and is currently considered to be a proof-of-concept.
• Next up we've got a markup module that adds support for components, known as MarkupComponents. Created at EPRC and inspired by the snippet helper for Kirby, this module integrates nicely with existing sites and makes it trivial to define and use components with separate back-end and front-end implementations.
• Moving on to existing modules, there are some updates we're really thrilled about, and the first one of these is a new feature for the Fluency translation module that makes it possible to translate any module in just a few clicks. Absolutely brilliant addition and a huge time-saver (even if manual proof-reading is recommended).
• Another major update is PAGEGRID 2.0, released back in October. PAGEGRID is the most advanced and flexible no-code solution for creating ProcessWire sites, and version 2.0 has a number of updates over previous iteration. Be sure to check out the demonstration videos available at the support forum for more details.
• Last but not least, we've got a new tutorial from Stefanowitsch, in which he shares a complete, ready to use (and customize) AJAX powered autocomplete search that makes use of vanilla JS. This is quite a well-thought-out solution, so again: be sure to check it out :)

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: Die Schwarz-Bunte — dein Freizeit Guide

Our latest site of the week is one called Die Schwarz-Bunte — an event guide for regions in south of Germany.

This site was created by Intermundia GmbH. It has several ways to search and filter suitable events; date ranges, categories (such as family or city life), participant age groups, and of course desired region (i.e. location). According to the sites directory entry for the project, events are submitted directly by the event hosts, or alternatively added via a central events API.

In terms of design this site has a very cozy, friendly vibe to it, and there are also some nice user-interface elements here, including the multi-select category filters and a list view accompanied by an integrated map that makes it easy to grasp where the events are held at.

As for behind the scenes details, the front-end of this site was built on the Bootstrap front-end framework, apparently with plenty of custom work involved. Some of the JS features include a layout powered by Masonry and an infinite scroll feature powered by... well, Infinite Scroll. As for ProcessWire side of things there's not a whole lot to go by, so we can only assume that much of it was custom-built as well.

Big thanks to the folks at Intermundia for sharing this project with us — it looks like a really nice way to find stuff to do for those living in or visiting southern Germany. Very nicely done!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's all for the 501st issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content Saturday, 23rd of December. 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!