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GSOC Interview: John Pritchard
(News)
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2. What attracted you to the Google Summer of Code as a programme, and PostNuke as a project?
I was attracted to GSoC because I enjoy coding and I thought that I could do with some experience before I actually get a job and I can also help out the community while I'm at it :). I chose PostNuke in particular because php is the language I have the most experience with, I made countless websites through my teenage years and I also spent a lot of time modifying PHP-Nuke to suit my needs (although the code I used is probably buried somewhere now), so I thought it'd be the project that would benefit the most from me and it'd be the one I'd be most comfortable doing.
3. Tell us about your project, and how you hope it can benefit PostNuke?
I'm going to be doing an overhaul of the categories system in PostNuke. I hope it will benefit PostNuke by increasing the usability and efficiency of the categories system.
4. What do you personally hope to gain from participating in the Summer of Code with PostNuke?
Experience and something to put on my CV :)
The satisfaction of doing something productive in the community.
Money - I'm a broke student, so it has to be said :P.
5. Can you see yourself contributing your talents to Open Source projects following the SoC? Will you continue to work with PostNuke in some capacity after the programme has ended?
Depends on time constraints really, I'd definately consider it if I had quite a bit of free time but at the moment I'm pretty swamped with work, I have a few projects of my own that I've had to put on the backburner =\.
7. Is there anything else you’d like to say now, as the programme begins?
I wish everyone good luck with their respective projects and I hope to speak to you all soon :)...Oh and "hey mum, I'm on the internet!" :P.
Lastly, thanks for your time – we in the PostNuke team are excited about the Summer of Code, so thank you for taking part and choosing PostNuke!
I'm excited too, thanks for choosing me!
Generated on April 25, 2008.
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MediaAttach RC 1 released
(News)
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Functional features
With the display and delete hooks file uploads become possible in all hook-capable modules.
Many different file types are supported (images, music, videos, archives, documents, ...)
The most formats can be displayed embedded.
Enhanced file information like for example ID3 tags are read and cached with pnRender.
Also emedding external videos (e.g. YouTube, Google or Dailymotion) is possible.
Users can send files to themselves in mails.
Security
Files can be stored outside the web root, which is advisable absolutely.
If this is not possible, a .htaccess file can be created automatically for protecting direct access.
Therefore all access is handled by module functions and permissions.
A quota support cares for bounded storage limits.
Integration
Users can manage their own files in the profile.
With a Scribite plugin for Xinha media can be inserted in the editor easily.
A support for needles in the MultiHook also provides possibilities to include files in other content.
A Guppy plugin for Pagesetter is enclosed as well to be able to define MediaAttach fields.
Also the Content module is being supported by a flexible plugin.
More profound integration possibilities for special modules exist with create and update hooks.
Migration
An import from the file system is possible.
Moreover import options for Downloads 2, Mediashare, PhotoGallery and pnUpper are ready.
Comfort
Direct support for Categories.
Images can be scaled down.
Space-saving multi uploader if JavaScript is available.
Thumbnails can be cut out individually if desired.
The new search functionality is being supported.
The creation of bit torrents for files is possible.
Comprehensive PDF manual.
MediaAttach can be used as easy as every other display hook module (for example EZComments). But if one engages in it, he quickly perceives that the strengths of this module are it's flexibility and it's adaptability. It not only unifies file management and media integration, but can also be used as a gallery for example. Different annexed template sets illustrate several possible applications.
Also interesting is that one can activate MediaAttach also for MediaAttach itself which leads amongst others to the possibility to attach media to other media items.
The module offers concluding dozens possibilities which can all be used, but may not. For this reason it is excellently suited for being employed in project-specific areas and is furthermore in line with our framework idea why it is going to constitute an enrichment certainly.
Links
Download
Bugtracker
Patches
Feature Requests
Have fun with testing and giving feedback :)
Generated on March 7, 2008.
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PostNuke 0.8 RC3 Released
(News)
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PostNuke 0.8 RC3 Upgrade Pack Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 02629a822154f9f88a72ebea7f562470
SHA-1: 7ca9de7e7285778122e3d711c1b48f9ee4342396
Download (TAR.GZ)
MD5: eaf730995aec0acebca26f62a9f5ec98
SHA-1: 2245191875cb66d4c2cbda769321b3f0ccb7dc33
PostNuke 0.800 RC3 Core Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 95000958fa40f442a40282db5aae1799
SHA-1: aaa57406204bdc1220a6768d6de2021736ffe1cc
Download (TAR.GZ)
MD5: e563098769d0ce448c31a39a92f9b0ab
SHA-1: 5fe83c58707de118a28ba0dd8c72138706d90388
PostNuke 0.800 RC3 ValueAddons Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 195a63ac59c1ddce7507ad50b21032d1
SHA-1: 8f64584642ea3959b13a98b1649dfe50921ffa31
Download (TAR.GZ)
MD5: f7436f01187f81f34eb80c4959d46d37
SHA-1: 5ebce8c82fa1599ad81b3bce771d418b6e496329
Release Highlights
There are a number of improvements in RC3 over RC2, these include an enhanced upgrade script, the new Tour module and some last minute categories module improvements.
New Upgrade Script
The two upgrade scripts, upgrade76.php and upgrade.php have now been combined into a single file. In addition to this, a number of interface improvements have been made to make the process of upgrading your .7x series websites simpler and more reliable. The new script also solves some long standing bugs with the update proceedure, so we invite anyone who had problems with the upgrade proceedure previously to try again with this new version.
Tour Module
In an attempt to reduce the learning curve when first starting with PostNuke, a new module has been developed to introduce you to this new release of PostNuke. It provides a first time tour of PostNuke, introducing you to common terms like block, module and theme with which new users may not be familiar and also gives some basic hints and tips on where to start.
For more experienced users, there is a 'New In PostNuke 0.8' section, where you can discover more about this release of PostNuke, and a distribution tour, where authors of distributions can describe the purpose of their package and how it benefits you as a site administrator. The distribution tour page is stored in docs/distribution/tour_page1.htm, and an example is included in this release. This file is not intended to be viewed outside the Tour module, as the Tour module adds navigational elements around the page.
Finally, module and theme developers can include tours for their module, to introduce users to key features, or help them familiarise themselves with the basics. It is intended to serve as a crash course for all modules - be they complicated (such as pagesetter) or more simple (such as the Pages module). Certain modules have hidden features about which a user may not necessarily be aware, and we hope that the tour module will allow module developers to better promote the features their modules contain.
The tour module supports multipage tours for all modules - simply store tour_page1.htm and any subseqeuent pages in modules/yourmodule/pndocs/, or themes/yourtheme/docs.
Categories Improvements
The categories module received a few last minute improvements in SVN just before the release of RC3. These improvements are aimed at developers using categories in their modules, and especially multiple categorisation scenarios. Further details will be available shortly, but those interested
Generated on February 20, 2008.
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Postnuke .8 RC2
(News)
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The release candidate is the current state of the SVN and contains compared to RC1 a lot of bug fixes, a rewritten and simplified categories module and an improved upgrade for users of Postnuke .764.
Downloads
There are 3 packages available:
The core pack contains only the bare system and no content modules. It's supposed to serve as the basis for a new site. So you only have to upload all the modules you personally need.
.zip
.tar.gz
The value addons contain all the content modules from .7x in their latest version fit for .8. So if you need Quotes or FAQ for your site, this is the place to find them.
.zip
.tar.gz
The upgrade pack contains everything you need to update an existing .764 site. It is the core pack and the value addons in one package. Please note: DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR LIVE SITE.
This is still not a final release and is not supposed to be used in live enviroments. If you intend to upgrade your site with the final version you should test the upgrade with the RC2 and a
local copy of your .764 site.
.zip
.tar.gz
Please test!. The more you test now with the RC2 and the more bugs you report, the less trouble you will have with the final version.
Checksums
MD5 Checksums
6cf82ee1883136c4c0bf69e13f1d91ba PostNuke-0.800-RC2-FULL.tar.gz
dd7f4b50e4ddfdbd3d96b017287f1a7c PostNuke-0.800-RC2-FULL.zip
6ebf2a51234a6401b7c96c89781d7165 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-CORE.tar.gz
14e65ef97d88470e0080c8e9538c9147 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-CORE.zip
89a6d51fa3f10286b09c29ea312ff7c9 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-ValueAddons.tar.gz
e06a81aec7e50292dfd63fd40a7c88b9 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-ValueAddons.zip
SHA1 Checksums
dd75378f3fa87df7b4b827e74adc0e162c29e861 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-FULL.tar.gz
2de3a2132265b920ab5333f6d2ec692e1c3061e1 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-FULL.zip
90ee7897b7abf29a4a136029823cb8a337a4076f PostNuke-0.800-RC2-CORE.tar.gz
376ae9f296c2533965d95972ddf05937a9cae4b4 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-CORE.zip
de878d7472ae9d2fc54bcf7322cbd5e8df015e32 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-ValueAddons.tar.gz
78ba886356e44da4798abf9577ab45b68756c741 PostNuke-0.800-RC2-ValueAddons.zip
Notice
The upgrade will only work for .764 sites. If your site is based on an older version this is the time to start your upgrade. If you have any questions about the update, visit the forums.
There will be no major changes from RC2 to the final release. The RC is bug fix only. If you intend to write modules, themes
Generated on December 12, 2007.
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Extensions Database Categories
(News)
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Generated on October 21, 2007.
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News from "Behind the Scenes"
(News)
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Rebranding
The new name and the logo have been chosen, now the lawyers have to do their work in claiming the necessary trademarks. This is more important for Europe as it is for the US. but we will get the trademark worldwide to avoid any future problems. But, as usual, the administrative mills are working slowly, so this needs some more time. As soon as this process has been finished we will decide about announcing the new name, either immediately or together with the final release of .8 (which will in this case be renamed to $newname 1.0).
EasyDist and the extension database
Axel and Simon have written a concept paper of how to connect the EasyDist module (see [url]http://modulestudio.de[/url]) to the extension database on this site. Necessary changes on both sides are identified and will be done in the next weeks. The plan is to have this working together with the release of $newname 1.0. Among other things EasyDist will be enabled to get the latest module or theme information from the database to create up-to-date packages whenever a new version of a module or theme has been released, an admin interaction will not be required.
Release Manager
Although the EasyDist module will become a very powerful tool we still have to supply the usual download packages. For this we need someone to create, validate, upload etc. those packages. In the future this task will be done by Patrick Cornelissen (patrick.c). He will also maintain the SVN module that is internally used on this site to create the daily snapshots for the core and selected modules. Thanks to Patrick for accepting this task.
New Subdomains on postnuke.com
Postnuke.com will get two new subdomains:
- devs.postnuke.com for devs and team members to post tips, news, information etc. This is the official replacement for the old pndevs.com site. Moving this site to a postnuke.com subdomain was planned from the very beginning.
- demo.postnuke.com will be a demo installation of .8 with working admin part, including some selected modules (not yet defined). This will be almost the same as http://pn8.pn-cms.de where the database is rebuilt from a backup every night via a cron job or manually throughout the day if needed.
Both sites will be installed and maintained by Philipp Niethammer (philipp.ni) and Gabriel Freinbichler (gf).
Documentation
We know that .8 is lacking a real documentation and we want to change this. Therefore a group of interested users will be built until beginning of November to take over this part. The Steering Committee will then decide about the project leader for this and ask him or her to work on a proposal for a manual, online help, and wiki structure which should all fit together (this also includes the tools needed to do the job) until mid of December latest (earlier if possible). When this has been accepted, we will talk about an exact time frame for finally writing the docs. Here everyones input is appreciated of course!
The project leader will have to submit a regular report about the proceedings to the SC.
Bug fixing weekend
As already announced in [url]http://community.postnuke.com/Article2862.htm[/url] the bug fixing weekend will start on Saturday, 6th. Mark and Robert also want to join us (virtually) to squish out some nasty bugs, Roberts main target will be the categories module.
Interested users can also join us using Skype. If you are interested, please send me your screen name via mail or private message so that we can invite you.
As you can see, the project is active although some might have thought the opposite. We delegated or will delegate some tasks to users who are able and ready to contribute to PostNuke. If you also want to participate, please contact us, there is always something YOU can do.
If you think you have something that is worth to be spoken about in the next chats, please tell us.
Generated on October 5, 2007.
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That Scary Categories Module in Postnuke .8
(News)
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The .7 news module had it's own categories - there were hacks that added subcategories to it. And there were hacks that added subsection to the sections module aso.
Every module had to have it's own categories. But implementing a system of unlimited subcategories is not a too easy task - that is why many modules didn't have subcategories. I always depended on the coding skill of the module developer.
The .8 categories module will solve this problem. It is most of all an internal categories system - the administration you see is only the interface. But do you want to first add a new category there and then add your article in the news administration? That is certainly not what you call usability.
The categories are supposed to be used by the module developers via the API - they can use it any way they want but they only have to throw the name of the new category into the db and won't have to care about the way it's stored there.
AFAIK the Quotes module is the only module that already uses the Category API. But Robert Gasch - the maintainer of the categories system - will write some documentation for module developers soon. There will also be some snippets includes that you can make fit for your modules.
How should the handling of the categories look like in your opinion? We need you "end user input" on that, so that Robert perhaps could make the snippets match your needs
Generated on September 17, 2007.
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pnMeeting 2007: Robert Gasch on CategoryUtil
(News)
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contained. He explained the various fields that you find in the category administration an how you can use them in your own module.
The system was considered quite complex by the audience but Mark West and Robert assured that this will be taken care of. The use of basic categories will be as easy as possible.
But first of all the system works and can be used by the module developers. It is also their duty to create intelligent user interfaces for the categories in their modules.
There are basic plugins available that display category lists aso. Further plugin can be developed on demand of the community. So if you feel there's something missing - make it a feature request in the NOC.
During the discussion various ideas for simplification came up and will certainly be implemented among of which were the security domain, the custom data fields and the needed -1 value for main categories.
Robert also explained that it is also possible to put for example one article into several categories
Generated on September 8, 2007.
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Jørn Wildt Proposes New Content Module
(News)
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For the discussion see: http://community.postnuke.com/module-Forum-viewtopic-topic-53152-start-0.htm
Here is what Jørn has in mind:
[quote=Jørn Wildt]Dear PostNuke community
One of the things that always comes up when comparing PostNuke to other Content Management Systems is its lack of real content management. All we have is some old News, Pages and FAQ (and some more) management modules - nothing really fancy. You can add fancy modules like PagEd, Pagesetter, pnWiki and others but somehow they all lack, well, something - something which I find rather difficult to pinpoint. They are either too complex, too simple, impossible to extend and do not integrate well with each other.
I have been doing some thinking about this issue and would like to present some ideas for a new Content system in PostNuke. A framework that newbies can work with right out of the box, an extensible framework, and a framework with well integrated components that are aware of each other. My ideas are by no means rocket science and most, if not all, have been implemented else where - just not in PostNuke.
If you ask me then PostNuke is going to dwindle away unless something serious is done to add a good content framework. Here is my suggestion.
[b]Content Types[/b]
The core component is the "Content Type". For those of you that knows Pagesetter this is exactly the same as Pagesetter's Publication Type. This will be a separate module that takes care of defining content types, editing and displaying content items - but without user navigation! Think of an Article, with it's title, lead-in text, main text and image, as a content item of the type "Article". The type specifies the fields that are available for a single instance of the type - a single content item - a single Article.
Content Types are management by the site administrator (but can also be created by other modules). The admin can choose from an extensible (through plugins) list of field types. Here are some examples (mostly copied from Pagesetter):
- String (one line text), Text (non-HTML), HTML (using Scribite!)
- Number, checkbox, date
- Media files (using Mediashare)
- File uploads
- URL, email
- Computer code (text displayed with line numbers in mono spaced font)
- Category (using PN .8 categories), both single and multiple select.
Now you can create an article as a title (string), lead-in (text), main text (html) - and many other types of content. But there is still no navigation - neither on the admin side nor the user side. All you have is a Content module that allows you to create content types, content items and then display these - assuming you now the URLs. Navigation is delegated to other modules - more on that later on.
The core framework does also handle input form generation: it will auto-generate input forms (using pnForms in PN .8). These can then be copied to another location and re-designed using the standard Smarty templating system.
The core content module handles a few other things: for instance revision history (who changed what and when).
[b]Content Management[/b]
So far there's nothing new compared to Pagesetter. So lets take a look at the admin side of navigation - how to store and locate your content items. I suggest that all content items are stored in a folder structure identically to your standard disk drive. On the harddisk you manage folders and store files in them. In the CMS you also manage folders - but now you store content items in them - indifferently of the content type.
The first challenge is how to handle user contributed content since normal users don't have access to the administrative folder system. Now remember that the core Content system allows anyone (with the right permissions) to add content, but where should it be stored? I suggest a standard "incoming" folder is created for this purpose (much like your mail system). The editors can then keep an eye on this folder and move new content to the right folders.
Actually there should be one "incoming" folder for each content type and it should be possible to specify which it is. In addition to this the system should have a flexible workflow system a'la Pagesetter (now already in the .8 core). So that different editors and authors and admins can be notified when new submissions arrive.
[b]Content Structure[/b]
But there's still not much difference from Pagesetter. So what's the point? Well, enter CoType - this little module, which I'm rather proud of, has some nice layout features that I would like to copy. First of all you have Boxes - elements that can be floated left/right/top/bottom relative to the current content. In CoType you have boxes for media items, program examples, and general text. I would like to extend this so that you can put any content item inside a box. So you can display and Article and put one or more Media type items in boxes as illustrations.
Another thing to copy from CoType is the use of nested content - sections in sections. This concept should be extended, just like the boxes, with the ability nest any content item inside another item. The only problem here is how nested content should be displayed? In CoType you always have sections in sections (in a document) - and there's a well defined standard way to display this. But what happens if you sudden nest a Music album inside a FAQ inside a Media item ... and then box it? Well, that will have to be solved as we go.
I suggest the Content Type configuration lets the admin specify which types of content you can nest inside another.
The system could also enable boxing of other modules contents - assuming some kind of API/interface the external modules have to implement (just like PostNuke's search API).
[b]Content Layout[/b]
The proposed layout scheme is so far rather fixed - something like this:
- Top content item title is displayed inside ... tags.
- Nested content title is displayed in ... (and so on for further nesting).
- All nested content is displayed on one page.
- A small table-of-content is displayed at the top (linking to sub-content anchors).
- Each (nested) content item is displayed with a standard auto-generated template.
- Boxes floated to the left/right are displayed in 50% width (like CoType)
- Top/bottom boxes are displayed in 100% width (like CoType)
This will allow newbies to quick and easy created new content without having to also design their own templates. Assuming of course that the system comes with a suitable default set of content items.
Experienced users can edit and change the auto-generated templates. But these will be recreated everytime the administrator changes the Content Type configuration. So experienced users must copy the templates to another location and then edit them to fit their own needs.
[b]Navigation[/b]
So far I have ignored the concept of navigation between different content items completely. This is because it can be done in so many different ways - and this is mostly where the different types of PostNuke modules distinguish themselves. A media gallery has a completely different navigation paradigme than a News list, a Wiki and a Weblink collection.
So I propose to delegate navigation to other modules. This has already been done with success with a calendar (pgcalendar) and a news archive (pgarchive) for Pagesetter. These two modules takes a specific Content Type and displays it's items a calendar view and a monthly listing view. This combination is extremely strong - you can add all the fields you want on a Calendar item - and still display it using the standard calendar view. Throw in the nested content and the boxing ability and you get an extremely flexible and yet simple Content Management System.
[b]List Navigation[/b]
The basic navigation is simple a pageable list of items ordered by some criteria. You create different lists and then refer these in the URL. For each list you configure which content type(s) to include, the default sorting order, the display template to use for each item - probably more. Including more than one content type gives some problem with respect to sorting.
This implements the typical News list on the frontpage.
[b]Catalog Navigation (collections)[/b]
This is the typical Weblink and File Up/Download navigation through a collection. The hierarchy is mirrored directly from the content folders.
[b]Calendar Navigation[/b]
Displays content items by date in a calendar (see for instance [url=http://www.fgc.dk/index.php?module=pgcalendar&tid=40]http://www.fgc.dk/index.php?module=pgcalendar&tid=40[/url]). You need to specify which date fields to use as start/end date of the entries.
[b]Archive Navigation[/b]
Displays content in lists organized by month (see for instance [url=http://www.fjeldgruppen.dk/arkiv.html]http://www.fjeldgruppen.dk/arkiv.html[/url]).
[b]Menu Navigation[/b]
On thing that frustrates me with PostNuke is the horrible way you edit menus through the Block interface. No - lets allocate a complete module for menu editing and then just select which menu to display in which box (I believe Content Express does this). With the integrated content framework you can now let the editor select content items from dropdown lists or similar - and avoid having to copy/paste raw URLs into the menu editor (this has always been a intellectual bottleneck for the people I have created websites for).
I would also like to see editing of the menu directly in the front-end. The editor should always have an "add current page to menu" icon in the menu. He should also be able to drag and drop menu items without having to jump to the admin interface.
[b]Frontpage Setup[/b]
This is just another idea of what you can do - not necessarily something to actually implement. But the frontpage need not necessarily be a list of latest items as on most portal websites. It might also be a fixed setup based on a grid where you can assign different content items to different locations. For instance Articles to the left, Banners to the right, and a few images at the bottom.
[b]Where to go now?[/b]
Now who's going to implement all this? Good question considering the speed of the core development. I would love to be on the team (and will be) but my time is restricted (especially now that I got my first kid) so I work rather slowly.
Any volunteers?
There's also the question of organizing the code - we cannot have much more than one or maybe two developers on the core Content module. But as soon as that is ready we can take more people in - one for each kind of navigational scheme. Other people can then work on the default content types.
We also need to consider how a system like this fits into the PostNuke distribution. Does it have it's own release cycle? Is it integrated with the core?
Enjoy 8-)
/Jørn[/quote]
Generated on September 4, 2007.
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PostNuke .8 RC1 Released
(News)
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PostNuke 0.800 RC1 Core Only Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 17d7f2eb16bf4dd886695adefab0e1f5
SHA-1: 624dcb1b29c17150e341878c727ddac83fadeb54
Download (TAR.GZ)
MD5: 9807fe2f3e0ef9f7fa88a3bbb0426815
SHA-1: 354edfc9eff87f77713bc1750cdc77144fcf0bff
PostNuke 0.800 RC1 Full Package Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 15718c1d68223bf5fc69b144666741f8
SHA-1: e1901b3d06dce1b82f2dfcde4d2da74e7afb9cf8
Download (TAR.GZ)
MD5: 1d983e5fd18907022fbec598c4ae7111
SHA-1: afb25ef625ce6e1564c40faf1cb29b3c1ea0ee13
PostNuke 0.800 RC1 ValueAddons Download
Download (ZIP)
MD5: 38879b481640289b7b6a605af41638a1
SHA-1: aa10e8f79d038b667aa8638347d3d12a999d8e99
Download (TGZ)
MD5: 4adc34945ae0cf42b3f96408bd21d17c
SHA-1: d4f80e0478bef1721eb29484024a9ed7a1a2e025
Please feel free to use the article below to publicise PostNuke in any web development communities you belong to. It is also published here on community.postnuke.com.
Simon BirtwistleHammerHead
About PostNuke
The PostNuke Application Framework provides a high performance, secure and feature complete framework which both website administrators and web developers can use to great effect in creating unique and attractive websites. PostNuke can be used as a CMS, adapted to blogging, ecommerce or community websites, or for more abstract tasks. It is easily adaptible, extensible and can handle situations in which performance and security are paramount. In this way, PostNuke is a reliable and robust choice for any website administrator.
The most recent version of PostNuke is 0.8 RC1, which represents a feature complete 0.8 version. Once the release candidates have undergone full testing and any remaining bugs are fixed a full release will be made available. This release will be suitable for live websites, however in the meantime RC1 is suitable for testing and development work.
Highlights For Website Administrators
The 0.8 release is more polished and up to date than ever before. With the new libraries for developers, new features should be faster and simpler to develop, reducing deployment costs. PostNuke 0.8 can be adapted to almost any need, from blogs to community websites and new third party modules are being developed all the time, constantly improving what PostNuke has to offer.
Additionally PostNuke 0.8 has a focus on the latest standards: XHTML compliance, Section 508 and Accessibility, and further enahncements have been made to both security, performance and usability.
With all core modules now templated, PostNuke 0.8 is designed to be cached, providing a huge performance boost over dynamically generating every page. Furthermore, with the templating system applied to all core modules designers will find it easier than ever to create a unique look to their websites. Gone are the days of standard 3 column layouts - PostNuke 0.8 includes new themes which are CSS, and not table, based. The new Xanthia theme engine is easier to use and performs better than ever before, while including an upgrade feature making it easy to import Xanthia themes from previous PostNuke versions.
For website administrators, this is the best PostNuke release yet, combining compliance with the latest standards and constantly improving features.
Highlights For Web Developers
The 0.8 release provides an Application Framework to allow rapid development of web solutions using the now stable PostNuke core. This allows third party developers to use the wide range of included API and utility libraries to create their own modules and extend the feature set PostNuke already provides.
Of these libraries, one of the most substantial is DBUtil, providing a cross compatible interface to the database. Selecting, updating and deleting data can all be achieved in one line, and DBUtil, combined with ADOdb will automatically create a cross compatible query for whatever database system is in use. PostNuke .8 has been tested with PostGreSQL, and further databases will be supported in future versions.
Other key features are site wide categories, supported through integration with DBUtil, the PostNuke Forms Framework for HTML forms, and other object based APIs. All of these are new since the 0.7x series and ensure third party development is both quicker and easier, and that compatibility with future versions is maintained.
For web developers, PostNuke will provide an attractive option when searching for a framework upon which complex web solutions can be built quickly, easily and with a minimum of effort. This applies even with normally time consuming tasks such as categories implementations, as the PostNuke core already handles many common requirements of web solution.
Generated on July 17, 2007.