devot:eeDevoted to ExpressionEngine

This Week in devot:ee #2 - January 26, 2012

January 26, 2012
by Ryan Masuga

We had a busy week working on a number of fronts. We completed a move from Beanstalk to DeployHQ for deployment. We already had our devot:ee repo at Github and love it, but we were double-deploying to Github/Beanstalk for a long time for no reason. DeployHQ deploys our work directly from Github, so we can just take Beanstalk out of the picture.

Recently Rolled Out

Gifting Add-ons

Developers can now give away free licenses themselves. If you're a developer, you will see a link for gifting add-ons in your members area. After clicking the link, you will see a list of your commercial add-ons. Select any or all add-ons, and then search for the members you would like to give the licenses to (we're using a Chosen field for the member search). You can then add a note that will be attached to the add-on license (the recipient can later change this) and optionally send an email notification.

Developer Notification of Returns

Developers can now opt in to be notified when items are returned. There is a setting in your member area right next to the opt-in selection for add-on sales. Customers who return things don't always include a reason, but if one is supplied, it will be in the email.

Condensed Sales Emails for Developers

We optimized sales emails to group items per developer. The way it was before, a developer would get multiple emails per order if they sold more than one thing on a single order. Now your sales for an order are grouped together into a single email. We hope this helps you keep your emails from us at reasonable levels!

New Add-on Gallery; Videos and Photos in One Place

This week we finally rolled out our new add-on gallery area, which was probably one of our longest standing feature requests. Videos and photos are integrated here in whatever order you choose. We went from using Safecracker File in a Matrix field to using Channel Images for this area.

Some points about the new gallery:

• Video and images are in one place, keeping pags cleaner
• You can now page through items when in the lightbox; no more clicking out and back in (and you can navigate with your keyboard)
• Videos can be viewed at a larger size in the lightbox
• Max height of this area is now 480 pixels, so content won't be pushed extremely far down like it could have been in the past

For an example of how this is done right, see NavEE which mixes images and videos together. Michael made nice thumbnails for each video in the carousel. Their page is now a lot shorter, letting you see the reviews without having to scroll a mile.

In Progress

We're currently redoing the whole way we do advertisements on the site, from how they're sold to how they're output on the templates. One bonus for everyone, whether you're an advertiser or not: we'll be getting rid of two embeds on almost every page, which can only help speed up the site. Our overhaul will take place starting in March. We will send out an email to all current advertisers outlining any changes that are coming up so the migration to our new "system" will be as seamless as possible.

This Week in Add-ons

• AJAX Mailinglist ($, for EE1 & EE2) by Laisvunas
  This plugin allows you to display mailinglist form in ExpressionEngine's templates and submit it without reloading of the page. This add-on has been designed to be fully compatible with AJAX Form Validator http://devot-ee.com/add-ons/ajax-form-validator.
• Encaf Structure First (for EE2) by Chad Crowell (Encaffeinated)
  Add a Structure tab to the CP Main Menu in the first position (to the right of the Home icon) for all users.
• Pic Puller for Instagram ($, for EE2) by John Morton (SuperGeekery)
  Pic Puller is an Expression Engine Add on that integrates Instagram into any Expression Engine installation, version 2.3.1+. Pic Puller walks you through setting up an account with Instagram, creating an app, and integrating it into your own EE site.
• TGL Instagram (for EE2) by Bryant Hughes (The Good Lab)
  This is an ExpressionEngine 2 module for interacting with the Instagram API and can be used to display instagram pictures and data in your templates. Currently, the module only retrieves information from the authenticated user's feed and a specified user's feed. The module has a CP backend, which directs the user through the oAuth process.
• Local Calendar ($, for EE2) by Biber Ltd. (Can Berkol)
  LocalCalendar fieldtype is datepicker plugin that currently supports a datepicker for both Gregorian and Hijri calendars. The fieldtype also supports conversions of dates of the two calendar types. The plugin provides the same conversion functionalities. Out of the box, LocalCalendar does support Arabic, English, and Turkish languages and it provides integration with our Multi Language Support Extension.
• Field Editor ($, for EE2) by Chris Newton (BarrettNewton.com)
  Breathe new life into EE's channel fields editor! Adding & editing fields won't be a chore anymore. Field Editor adds powerful features to EE's standard field editor interface. Rather than laboriously clicking and editing each and every channel field or clicking and clicking and clicking to add new fields to a channel, you can now add, delete, re-order and manipulate your custom fields all in one simple interface.
• AB Pagination Developer Licence ($, for EE2) by Bjorn Borresen
  AB Pagination developer license, allows you to use it on unlimited websites.
• Responsive CP (for EE2) by PutYourLightsOn (Ben Croker)
  Responsive CP is a custom ExpressionEngine theme that makes your control panel work better with mobile devices as well as look more professional. It also allows you to easily add your logo to the bottom of the control panel (good for branding client sites).