ProcessWire Weekly #512

Latest core updates

As Ryan explains in his latest weekly update at the ProcessWire support forum, this week has been somewhat quiet in terms of core development. A few updates were committed to the dev branch at GitHub, but they were all either relatively minor, or very specific to some (rarer) use cases.

Anyway, here's a brief summary of what's new since last week:

• The match query part of Fieldtype Toggle was refactored, adding support for some new use cases, and also resolving an issue where querying pages with a selector such as toggle_field!=1 wouldn't match pages that didn't include said toggle field.
• Built-in support for separate read/write database connections was updated to work properly with queries that make use of locking reads, supported by the InnoDB storage engine.
• Core PageFinder class was updated so that fieldtypes can now specify the type of join that should be used (e.g. "join" or "left join").
• Core PagesVersions module was updated to force singular mode, making sure that only one instance of said module is active.
• Minor, behind the scenes updates were made for the admin live search and the modules section of admin, simplifying ID based queries for the search and improving README URL generation for the modules section.

Remember that invoicing site profile we covered a while ago?

If not, don't worry — it was indeed introduced quite a while ago, so there's a chance that you haven't even heard of it yet, or have already forgotten. Either way, Ryan is now back to working on said project, and that is very good news for those that have been waiting to get their hands on it.

According to Ryan he's been using the invoicing profile for around a year already, and is hoping to release it very soon, possibly as soon as next week, as a free site profile. It is going to be intentionally simple and unopinionated, but that doesn't make it any less useful; quite the contrary, really, as it means that it'll be much easier to customize.

Even in its relatively simple state, it suits my own needs well. And I think if it gets more complex, then people are less likely to explore and modify it, making it less useful as a site profile.

— Ryan

The invoicing site profile is a project that looked very promising last time we saw it, so we're absolutely thrilled to finally get our hands on it.

That's all for our core updates section this week, but be sure to check out the weekly update from Ryan for more details. Thanks!

New commercial module: MembersMessaging

MembersMessaging is a brand-new commercial ProcessWire module developed by Ben Byford. As Ben explains in the forum thread introducing the module, what it does is that it adds the ability for site users to send messages to other users. In other words: MembersMessaging is a built-in, full-featured messaging system.

To use this module, you'll need to set up a page on your site for it and call the module's methods to render the messaging GUI. There are numerous configuration settings for modifying the behaviour of the module, such as whether to allow threads to be created for guest users, what kind of input is used for typing in usernames, how notification emails should work, whether messages should be encrypted before storage, and so on. You can also view a summary of messaging status or delete messages — and view messages, unless encrypted — in the admin interface.

If MembersMessaging sounds like something you'd like to try, visit the Gumroad shop for more details and purchase options. The shop page also covers current roadmap for the module, with various planned features, such as user flagging system, group messaging, responding to messagse via email, and so on.

Thanks to Ben Byford for developing this module and sharing it with us!

Site of the week: KONKAT Studio

Our latest site of the week is that of KONKAT Studio — a Hamburg based agency founded by designer Jan Ploch and developer Diogo Oliveira. Both Jan and Diogo are long time ProcessWire users and members of the community, and as KONKAT they provide a full range of services for customers looking for a combination of great design and quality web development.

We treat each project as an ongoing conversation, offering a holistic approach that merges art direction, brand design and custom web development.

— KONKAT Studio

There are a couple of things that make the KONKAT website special, and one of those is the design, as is obvious for anyone visiting the site. It is definitely something you don't come across too often: not only is the visual style striking and bold, but the user experience is also unique, combining side-scrolling action with imaginative animated effects. All in all the whole experience feels informative, intuitive, and also just plain fun.

Another thing that sets this site apart from many other projects is that it was actually created using the ProcessWire powered page builder PAGEGRID. PAGEGRID is a brilliant tool that combines the strengths of ProcessWire with all the power and flexibility you'd expect from a full-featured page builder. Since PAGEGRID was created by one of the authors behind the site, Jan Ploch, it makes a lot of sense for it to be used to power this website.

Thanks to Jan and Diogo for sharing their new website with us, and our congratulations for both their new business and website!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's it for the 512th issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content Saturday, 9th 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!