ProcessWire Weekly #519

Latest core updates: ProcessWire 3.0.238

In his latest weekly update, Ryan covers the updates included in the latest development version of ProcessWire, 3.0.238. Compared to previous release this version includes a total of 17 new commits, which include both new features and bugfixes.

What's new in ProcessWire 3.0.238?

Some of the highlights from this version, as outlined by Ryan in his weekly update post, include...

• Improvements to ProcessPageClone, which include some new options, such as an option to automatically set all children of cloned pages unpublished (or not)
• A new date/time API method $datetime->strtodate($date, $format), which can be used to convert any PHP date string to given new format
• Two new methods for inputfields: $inputfield->setLanguageValue($language, $value) and $inputfield->getLanguageValue($language)
• New "expire" option for ProcessWire.alert() JavaScript method that automatically closes the alert box after set amount of seconds
• A total of seven new interactively configurable settings for jQuery UI datepicker used by the datetime inputfield, as well as added API support for specifying or overriding any jQuery UI datepicker option via PHP or JavaScript

Additionally this release includes some updates for PHPDoc comments in the core, new instructions for the empty trash feature, improvements for WireArray and PageArray toString() methods, and improvements to the ProcessWire installer (preventing duplicate configuration settings from appearing when installing a site profile).

That's all for our core updates section this week. For more details, be sure to check out the weekly update from Ryan, and if you're really curious about the details, feel free to also check out the dev branch commit log at GitHub. Thanks!

New module: RockForms

RockForms is a new commercial ProcessWire module created by Bernhard Baumrock. In a nutshell it is a tool for creating forms programmatically, utilizing Nette Forms behind the scenes. In terms of developer experience RockForms provides a fluent API, one that ProcessWire developers should feel right at home with:

$form
    ->addText("forename", "Enter your first name")
    ->setRequired("We need your first name to show it!");
$form
    ->addText("surname", "Enter your given name");
$form
    ->addSubmit("submit", "Submit your name");

You can find live examples of RockForms from the official documentation, along with instructions for setting up basic forms, processing form input, handling spam, and integrating RockForms with RockFrontend and HTMX — among other things.

Unlike the Form Builder module, RockForms forms are created programmatically, which of course means it's more developer oriented. That being said, while forms are defined using the API, there is a GUI for setting up new forms using a boilerplate form file and viewing submitted entries in the admin.

If you'd like to give this module a try, RockForms is currently available either as a stand-alone purchase from Baumrock.com, or as a part of the RockSuite module bundle, which also includes RockIcons, RockPageBuilder, RockPdf, and RockSettings.

Thanks to Bernhard for creating this module and sharing it with us!

Site of the week: Magic Eventtechnik & Medientechnik

Our latest site of the week belongs to a Maisach, Germany based company called Magic Eventtechnik & Medientechnik, who specialize in event and media technology. They are a full-service company designing, organizing, planning, implementing, and managing on-site the full spectrum of tech that a well managed event might require, from lighting, sound, video, and stage technology to special effects and live streaming — just to mention a few of their services.

Created by typneun Designagentur, the Magic Eventtechnik & Medientechnik website is a splendid showcase of the company's work, provides plenty of insight into the services they provide, covers the history of the company, and introduces the team that potential customers can expect to work with. All in all it is a gorgeous website chock-full of useful information, laid out in a way that makes the whole experience enjoyable for the visitor.

As for behind the scenes details, the front-end of this site is largely custom-built, likely based on an in-house framework by typneun. Some of the JavaScript components used to add interactivity include jQuery, PhotoSwipe, and Slick, while the one and only non-core ProcessWire module we could spot in action is FormBuilder; with a custom design that has been heavily customized to fit the overall look and feel of the site.

As always thanks to typneun Designagentur for sharing this project with us, and our congratulations to Magic Eventtechnik & Medientechnik for their new, ProcessWire powered website!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's all for the 519th issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content Saturday, 27th of April. 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!