ProcessWire Weekly #53

Latest core development news

With the release of ProcessWire 2.6 right behind us, this week there are no major core-related news to share. This is a good thing, though, as it means that the stable 2.6 branch has been exactly as solid as we could've hoped for!

There are still some minor tweaks, improvements, and fixes to be made, and we'll be focusing on those for the time being. Either way, if you haven't tried our latest release yet, now would be a great time, and if you have tried it, please let us know if there are any issues or quirks. Issues can be reported either via GitHub or the ProcessWire support forum, whichever method you prefer.

Thanks for your continued support for the ProcessWire project, and please don't hesitate to send us any feature requests or suggestions either!

Introducing ProCache 3.0 and optimizing processwire.com for better performance

Ryan's latest processwire.com blog post focuses on the state of our beloved processwire.com, which has been under an increasing amount of traffic lately. While it's definitely a great thing that we're gaining traction on all fronts, it does indeed impose new kinds of expectations on us too.

Instead of taking the easy route and beefing up our hosting, Ryan has been on a mission to fix the problem by improving ProcessWire's ability to serve sites with downright extraordinary efficiency. Since the core package is already well optimized, this has resulted in a new version of the commercial ProCache module.

ProCache 3.0 is now available for all new and existing customers, and in addition to doing its existing ability to cache and serve your site to/from static HTML files, this version comes with a very impressive list of new and improved features:

• Seamless integration with content delivery networks (CDNs) with origin-pull support, such as Amazon CloudFront, in order to outsource all your static asset delivery needs.
• Extensive HTML (and inline CSS/JavaScript) minification features, written from scratch in order to provide great results without any unnecessary and harmful side-effects.
• Built-in and fully automated JavaScript and CSS minification, with configurable support for base64-encoding static assets (files and images) referenced within your CSS files.
• New "Tweaks" tab with instructions and examples on further optimizing your site with additional expires etc. settings in your .htaccess file.

For more details about ProCache 3.0, processwire.com optimization efforts, and some additional tips for optimizing ProcessWire sites without the use of any commercial modules, check out Ryan's latest processwire.com blog post!

New module: Page Field Edit Links

Page Field Edit Links is a collaborative project by @thetuningspoon and @macrura, and one of our latest modules directory entries. This module is best described by the screenshot in the support forum thread, but in a nutshell it adds an edit link next to ProcessWire's Page fields in the Admin.

Compatible with a wide range of inputfields from Select to PageListSelectMultiple, this is a very nice UI improvement, and in many cases provides an interesting alternative approach for native PageTable and Repeater fieldtypes. I for one am really looking forward to using this module in my future projects!

Thanks to @macrura for the original work, and @thetuningspoon for taking it even further and posting it to the modules directory – great work, both of you!

WireShell 0.4.0: impressive new features!

Version 0.4.0 of the WireShell ProcessWire command-line interface has just been released, and this CLI tool just keeps getting better and better. This release introduces a whole bunch of new and improved features:

• Support for downloading modules with the module:download command, or downloading and installing them with the module:enable command.
• Deleting, listing, and updating users with the user:delete, user:list, and user:update commands.
• Generating new module skeletons (templates, stubs, or whatever term rings a bell) with the module:generate command and some help from the modules.pw service.
• Brand new status command for displaying a wide range of environment details, consistent with the set of features provided by the ProcessDiagnostics module.

The all-new documentation microsite wireshell.pw provides more details about all the available options and their shortcuts, so head there if you're interested in learning what this awesome tool can already do for you!

We're also happy to see WireShell turning into a real community project, with some of the latest features and improvements contributed by Bea Dav, Nico Knoll, Horst Nogajski, and Camilo Castro. Keep up the good work, folks!

Site of the week: BrakhaX2

BrakhaX2 is the portfolio of the photographic-directional duo of artists, Moshe Brakha and Eddie Brakha. Based in Los Angeles, California the BrakhaX2 team offers a wide range of web, print, and TV design and production services.

The site makes use of a relatively straightforward gallery-style layout but does it well, and the quality of the work showcased on this site is absolutely stunning. No wonder their client list contains pretty impressive names, such as Electronic Arts, Martini, and Dockers.

Developed by Jonathan Lahijani, the BrakhaX2 site is a good example of a portfolio site with ProcessWire running as its core. Congratulations to all parties involved for doing a great job!

Stay tuned for our next issue

That's it for the 53rd issue of ProcessWire Weekly. We'll be back with more news, updates, and content next Saturday, 23rd of May. 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!