News items tagged with "preview"

(Updated Dec 26th) As we prepare to enter 2014, Exponent CMS is growing stronger than ever.  2013 has seen the code migrating past the old 1.0 underpinnings and also added many new features!  So what will 2014 hold in store for this mighty CMS?

The next version (2.2.1) will be released by the end of July 2013.  In addition to all the fixes (and tweaks) already incorporated within v2.2.0 patch #5 (see at end of post), it includes the following new features:

Q: What do you get when you cross the Flowplayer module, the YouTube module, and HTML5 compatibility?  A: the new Media Player module!  We recently added a new module to the v2.2.0 pre-release code line called the Media Player module.  It is designed to display Audio (mp3) and Video (mp4, webm, ogv, flv, or f4v) files, and YouTube links in an HTML5 compliant manner (Flash player is not always required).  This is done by using the MediaElement.js library instead of Flowplayer and also using HTML5 audio/video tags.

(updated Feb 26th) If you wondering where the next 2.2.0 release is and why it wasn't released in conjunction with the 2.1.3 release, not to worry it's still on it's way.  We wanted to get the 2.1.3 bug fix release out quickly, but want to take a bit more time getting 2.2.0alpha3 polished.  The biggest fix in alpha 3 will be that migration once again works (and also clears up some lingering quirks), and the newest feature will be categories and some new views for the blog module, along with a second installation sample for a ready-to-run' blog site'.

You can expect to see v2.1.3 released in the next few days.  We've run across a few bugs that though not fatal (cause the site to crash), they do hinder some sites.  We have already implemented these fixes in the pre-release code, but want to wait (for additional reports from v2.1.2) before finalizing it.

You can expect to see version 2.1.2, 'Special Sweetheart' on or around Valentine's Day 2013.  Several non-fatal type issues have already been addressed which would normally result in an eventual 'patch' release.  However, since this will (likely) be the last 'old school' compatible release, it will not be left in a 'patched' (version) state.  Furthermore, there were some anomalies which cropped up within the v2.2.0alpha1 release which required us to slow down its development slightly to ensure they are fully eradicated before proceeding with an v2.2.0alpha2 release.  However, the alpha 2 release is now also planned for the same date.

Even though the next incremental version of Exponent (v2.1.1) hasn't hit the streets, we're pleased to announce plans for a major update!  Exponent v2.2 will leave the fetters of the old school (0.9x) behind and take a bold move forward.  While we've already upgraded from most of the old school code, we still have a major hurdle to cross and need to leave ancient stuff in the past.  Additionally, we'll sport an updated look by moving to Twitter-Bootstrap and jQuery as our primary libraries (though you can rest assured we'll still support YUI2/YUI3).  To help prepare the way, we'll release both a stable (v2.0/2.1) and unstable (v2.2) packages.  The v2.2 stuff will go through the same routine as was done leading up to the release of v2.0.0 stable (though in a much shorter time span).  In the meantime, v2.1.1 when released, will continue to be supported as THE stable release with updates and bug fixes as needed.  Details about the update and release strategy can be found in this blog post.

(updated 1/4/13, now slated for the next release!) Exponent CMS stands apart from most other Content Management Systems (CMS's) because the administration and management takes place on/in the frontend and not the backend.  For those not familiar with the frontend/backend disconnected nightmare; it is used in the more popular CMS's which have name letters of WP, Jmla, Drpl.  Because of this disconnect, the learning curve is pretty steep and makes a new user think they are in a separate program.  Recently, the WYSIWYG editor used in Exponent was upgraded to include an entirely new feature called 'inline editing' where you could click on the page and edit directly on the page without having to go to another view.  This feature could revolutionize the 'bread and butter' Text module which handles the site's static content!

(updated 1/25/13) As we look ahead to the coming months, we've already begun to add several features to Exponent which will appear in the next version sometime during the first quarter of 2013.  Here's some new features we've already begun integrating:

(updated 8 Nov) We thought we'd get out the first Black Friday 2012 ad on the internet!  This will be what every web site manager and maintainer will want for Christmas...ExponentCMS v2.1.0!  Here's what we're planning to incorporate in this next release: