This release contains mostly backend changes and improvements in preparation for an exciting upcoming feature. It also contains several bugfixes and a few other minor improvements.
Bugfixes
- Bug #3171 - "Image Properties" & "Link" dialogs automatically close when switching tabs when using the WYSIWYG editor
- Bug #3237 - Unneccessarily prompted to save changes when closing datastores and templates after updating and saving changes to fields
- Bug #3292, #3306 - Unsetting fields with default values reverts to the default value
- Bug #3295 - Deleted users are still displayed under site users
- Bug #3296 - Misaligned options when editing user roles
- Bug #3298 - "Confirm Site" button during site creation not showing in Edge
- Bug #3301 - Previously selected trashed items are returned in the next trash action
- Bug #3308 - Import Error
Enhancements
- The live edit link will now remain at the top of the page when scrolling instead of scrolling with the rest of the page. We also pro-actively changed the way that cookies are handled so that a future release of Chrome will not disable the live edit link on all sites.
- Further simplified adding domains to sites, including during site creation, by 1) adding the ability to create a development domain for new sites without leaving the new site wizard, and 2) reducing the confusion between adding "existing" domains and adding "used" domains by combining the two lists - if the domain is already used on another site it will simply be inactive when added.
- Added a close button to the site selector next to the search box - which more closely aligns the design and functionality of the site selector with the rest of the Marketpath CMS management interface
Future Release - Package Manager
Much of the development effort in this release was geared towards preparing for the future public release of an exciting new feature we have been slaving to bring you - package manager!
What is Package Manager?
Package Manager is our version of plugins or extensions in other content management systems. Except that, instead of allowing you to change the core functionality of the CMS, packages make it easy for you to share content - including templates, custom site settings, and other development assets - across sites.
The principles of Package Manager are fairly simple:
- A developer builds a site - or at least parts of a site - which they want to share with other developers and/or site administrators.
- The developer creates a package with the assets that they wish to share
- The same developer, or other site administrators, add that package to their site
- All of the assets are copied to the new site
- Future updates to the original package may optionally be automatically or manually copied to the new site as well
The details get a little more complex, but we are working to make them as transparent and intuitive to end users as possible. As part of its initial release Package Manager will additionally come with proper access control, public and private repositories, repository sharing, simple user agreements, package versioning, package dependencies, asset mapping, automatic updates, and more!
Who is it for?
Initially package manager will be most useful for site developers. It lends itself perfectly to the task of creating and sharing templates, javascript, and stylesheets across sites.
Assets are not merely limited to developer assets, though. Agencies will also be able to use package manager to create and maintain entire site themes across their organization and for all of their clients. This will make templated and themed sites much simpler and we should see a steadily growing library of themes available to start from.
We do also anticipate this to be useful for maintaining data across sites - such as lists of store locations or other similar information that will be displayed on multiple sites.
One of our future plans for Package Manager will be to create basic form and gallery template packages which should make it easier to create different types of forms and galleries without having to dive deep into how they work.
Another near-term plan for Package Manager is to utilize it for site themes during site creation. While we already have a mechanism for themed site creation, Package Manager will be superior in several ways - including the ability to continue providing updates to the theme after the site has been created.
In short, we anticipate that virtually all new sites will uses packages in the future.
When is it coming?
While the public release of Package Manager is at least a few weeks away we are incredibly encouraged by our progress on it so far and are optimistic about its pending debut.
To make sure that the release of Package Manager meets our quality and functional requirements we have already been testing it internally with consistently promising results. However, we do not want to release a premature product; so we are taking the time necessary to make sure that we have worked out as many potential issues as possible first.
Bear in mind that while the principles of Package Manager are fairly simple, the actual application and details of it are fairly complex. We have been working on Package Manager in one capacity or another for a long time now - which makes a few weeks feel very close.
Keep your eyes open for the exciting and long-awaited Package Manager release announcement soon!
