APF Bridge Demo And Development Site

APF Bridge Home arrow Developer's Blog arrow New Version - tentatively - out now

New Version - tentatively - out now

Following a somewhat extended absence from development of Amazon products Feed Bridge - just when I was on the cusp of releasing a new version - I am now back at the helm.

I have spent the last twenty four hours tidying up a couple of minor matters - mainly documentation related and feel that the result is worthy of release. This was to be a significant step on the road to a version 1.0 stable release - I've had a few distractions and a few other issues and whilst the release numbering still reflects this position things are perhaps not as solid as the numbering might suggest.

Please read on for some important information about this 'release'.

I must confess that due to some bad practises on my part I confused myself and misplaced the 'latest and greatest' version I was working on. I have had to piece things together from a few other test versions. The upshot is that I believe this new release contains all the code I have introduced in the interim period - but it is not as thoroughly tested as I would have liked.

I therefore have decided to confess to my troubles and advise that the new release only be taken up by those who can afford a little experimentation. I assure all concerned that the script can do absolutely no damage to your sites - my caution in just to prevent people installing the component anywhere 'mission critical'.

New and improved features in this version:

Improved handling of integration of the output of MrRat's APF script - I have tried to make this as near bullet proof as I can. The last release of MrRat's script changed a few things in the <head> ... </head> section of the APF output - this had the effect that some instances of APF Bridge were embedding full html pages within their Joomla pages. This *should* now be history.

Improved handling of MrRat's <style>... </style> block. In previous versions I assumed that people would customise the default template within APF's /templates/default/page.template file to remove the style block and place the styles into an external .css file which would then be imported into their Joomla template. I discovered that most people did not in fact do this - and the styles were lost when the <head>...</head> of the APF output was stripped.

Improved documentation - including enabling of back end /administrator/ access to the documentation.

Links in the footer - and the 'money' issue. 

You may also notice that I have added a couple of links to the footer of the component - alongside MrRat's link. I am not actually a fan of this sort of thing - but I think that the links are discreet and sit alongside what was already there. I have taken this step because I want to be able to continue development of the component but feel that at present the component takes a disproportionate amount of my time to develop  whilst not contributing to my own income. Perhaps the inbound links will help. I hope that this will remind people that this development takes time and effort and perhaps spur a few more people to donate.
 I don't mean to be too pushy on the donations matter - but this component generates a revenue stream for those who utilise it - I just want to prick your conscience to encourage you to 'share the love' with myself and my friend MrRat.

Unbranded version of script 

If there are enough people looking to remove the footer links I *may* consider supplying an 'unbranded' version of the script in return for a donation over an as yet unset threshold. I may also sweeten the deal and throw in one or more of my APF Mods (plugins for the APF script itself) which change some functionality within the APF script.  None of this removes any of your rights under the GPL - the component is 'Open Source' if you have the skills and inclination (and don't want to 'donate' in exchange for footer link removal) you can alter the code to suit your needs.

APF Bridge and Joomla 1.5

It is my belief that this component will work with Joomla 1.5 as long as the backward compatibility plugin (formerly mambot) is published. I have yet to make a firm decision on whether or not the component take-up justifies the time and effort a full Joomla 1.5 development cycle might require.

 

Gratuitous Plug One: Hacker Beware Joomla Security Script

Over on the main DeanMarshall.co.uk we are about to release a new security enhancement to harden the protection of Joomla powered sites. The script enforces a 'one strike and you are out' policy on Joomla hackers. One attempt to exploit and your are banned - permanently. At present Joomla's security - where enabled - only blocks identified malicious page requests. The person who made the attempt can carry on accessing your site  until he finds a hack that works. Well, that stops now!

Read more about 'Hacker Beware!'

 

 Gratuitous  Plug Two: Comin Soon JoomlaMonkey.com

        http://www.JoomlaMonkey.com/

My pal George fancies learning about Joomla. I have a
little experience in such matters so I'm going to teach
him and we are going to document as much of the process
as possible - including as many of his 'newbie' (beginner)
questions and my answers as we can.

Why 'JoomlaMonkey' - well when I was learning this web
stuff there was (and indeed still is) a site called
WebMonkey, which itself took its name from the tradition
of calling mechanics 'grease monkeys' or 'spanner monkeys'.

So as a Joomla technician I suppose Joomla Monkey works.
Additionally we are going to have some fun and play around
a bit - monkeying around you might say - pushing a few
boundaries, and discussing matters perhaps not directly
Joomla related but that a beginner to maintaining Joomla
sites should know.

Oh and the final reason - equally important I suppose:
    My friend George is a MONKEY.

Join us over at http://www.JoomlaMonkey.com/ and see how we get
on.

 
< Prev   Next >

Bulletproof Themes Bulletproof Themes UK Dean Marshall Mambo and Joomla Consultant | Joomla and Mambo consultants Joomla Amazon Component British English crossword and anagram solver British English crossword and anagram solver Professional Researcher Professional Researcher
The JoomlaSphere | The JoomlaSphere | The JoomlaSphere | The JoomlaSphere JoomlaMonkey | JoomlaMonkey | UK Joomla Consultancy Services Joomla Consultancy Services UK Joomla Consultancy Services Joomla Consultancy Services
Buy gifts for women UK Buy gifts for men UK find gifts for men UK Buy gifts for women UK Buy gadgets Buy gifts for gays UK Buy gifts for gays UK Buy toys in the UK
The Mambo Foundation Mambo Tracker Mambo Foundation Membership Mambo Foundation Home Download The Source Forum Donate Newsroom Mambo Love Mambo Documentation Alternative documentation Software Forge Bug Tracker SVN Instructions Mambo on the Forge Joint Commercial Developers Extensions for Joomla and Mambo Amazon Products Feed Bridge Joomla Amazon Components - Amazon Products Feed Bridge Million Dollar Pet Pix - Make your pet a star