Exponent's Latest News

Continuing our 2-week release cycle, we bring the next iteration on the road to a stable 2.2.0 release.  v2.2.0alpha3 not only incorporates all the 2.1.3 bug fixes, but adds several new features.  The biggest fix in alpha 3 is migration once again works (and also clears up some lingering quirks), and the newest feature is category support and some new views for the blog module, along with a second installation sample for a ready-to-run' blog site'.

The suite of exponentcms.org sites (www.exponentcms.org, docs.exponentcms.org, forums.exponentcms.org, api.exponentcms.org & testing1.exponentcms.org) have been migrated to a new server and are back up and running!  Access to those sites had been slow and intermittent (at best) for the past several months.  We apologize for the delay in solving this problem.

(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'.

In an effort to squash all bugs, v2.1.3 (Placid Precedent) has been released.  This release only fixes bugs found in the previous version, since new features are now destined for the v2.2 major version update.  Specific changes include:

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.

We've quickly pushed out another unstable release in the push toward the next major upgrade, v2.2.0.  The alpha 2 release addresses many anomalies, especially with nested containers. Furthermore it incorporates all the fixes found in the v2.1.2 release.  Though this release should be fairly stable, it will continue to be tagged as 'alpha' because we have a number a features we want to add before a stable v2.2.0 is released.

Even sweeter than Lucky Lemonade is a Special Sweetheart!  v2.1.2 fixes over a dozen issues found with the previous version, especially some bugs and usability issues in the new forms module.   Additionally, we now display file and image size in  the file manager tooltips.  There are no new features in this release.  This is expected to be the final version of the 2.0/2.1 codeline as we push into the next major upgrade v2.2.  v2.2 will be fully backwards compatible with all 2.x versions, but will deprecate all v0.9x support/compatibility, except for database migration.

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.

(Update: We've gotten over a 'speed bump' and things are progressing toward an alpha 2 release on Valentines Day 2013!)  As planned, we are also making a public 'unstable' version available.  This version is expected to be the next version of Exponent and will likely have a short test/release cycle.  For most applications, this alpha version is fully functional and can be installed like any upgrade version, but is being classified as 'unstable' and given an 'alpha' release type because:

Don't let the name fool you...the latest version of Exponent, v2.1.1 is out and is pretty sweet!  'Lucky Lemon' provides a wealth of new features...probably the largest set of visible changes since Exponent 2.x went stable.  And there's plenty of fixes and updates 'under the hood' or 'inside the peel' as it were.  Also, this is probably the last version of Exponent to support deprecated 0.9x/1.0 calls/formats (for those that haven't updated their themes or custom modules yet).  In fact, we're already preparing a fully 2.x major update (no old school), v2.2.0 which leaves 1.0-land in the past.  You can find additional details about the changes found in v2.1.1 here and here.  And there are details about v2.2.0 here and here.  Though 'Lucky Lemon' focuses on the new forms module and user interface improvements, here's a list of the biggest changes in v2.1.1: