Dev Diary: Admin Panel Changes

Greetings and welcome back to the Dev Diary!

Last time around Emil was kind enough to walk the community through Oxwall’s general plans for the year (check it out if you need a refresher), and of course everyone is now clamoring the details. Well, that’s what Dev Diary is for, so let’s get right down to business. Today we’ll take a look at the Admin Panel and what we’ve been doing to it lately.

Navigation

One of the things that bothered us for a while in regards to the current Admin Panel is rather obvious – a lot of space is used irrationally, including –

  • notifications cluttering up the top of every page;
  • a multi-level horizontal menu absorbing quite an area;
  • gradual accumulation of system settings (sometimes found in unexpected or not obvious places).

Apart from the visual aesthetics problem, the aforementioned issues can potentially disorient you or negatively impact your performance.

Oxwall Navigation

To fix that and optimize your work we decided to create a more user-friendly environment right in the heart of your site. To do so we’ll introduce a new vertical menu, and also restructure the settings. This allowed us to move all notification to the console and bunch them up under a single icon. Now you can access all available updates or necessary system settings at any moment on any page.

Oxwall NavigationDashboard

It’s been our goal for a while now to give all admins some sort of work areas. Think individual space to shape it up to your liking, where you can manage all the necessary site information in the most accessible form.

That idea was implemented as Admin Dashboard – a widget page with purpose-built stat tools like User Statistics (Registrations, Online), Content Statistics, Moderation Tools, etc. Most of the data is supplemented with accompanying graphs for your convenience. Meanwhile, third-party developers will be welcome to introduce their own Admin Dashboard widgets.

Oxwall DashboardResponsive

Finally, the next ambitious step we took was the adptation of the current Admin Panel for the work on tablets. Without giving too much away, we can reveal that this segment is indeed important for us, and we are already hard at work on a brand new responsive theme. That, however, is a topic for an entirely new Dev Diary post.

Subscribe to our social media feeds and never miss an announcement. See you next time!

 

Moving forward

Hi all. With the successful release of Oxwall 1.6 we wanted to express our appreciation for your passion, assistance, valuable feedback, and patience. All we aim for is to give you the best product, while remaining committed to the constant improvement.

It is no secret to anyone that mobile is the future. Thus it’s quite satisfying for us to finally make the first all-important step in this direction, and give you the long-awaited mobile platform. This is just the beginning, with plenty of new features forthcoming, in addition to all kinds of mods for the already present ones.

Excited and full of energy, we are moving on with our other development plans. Check out our Roadmap. It’s gonna be cool, so make sure to stay tuned! Once again, thank you!

Oxwall plugin development examples + public repository

While the product team is deep in Oxwall 1.6, we have an idea of what third party developers could do in the meantime.

Oxwall plugin skeleton

Newbie in Oxwall development? We were thinking of you. Today we want to introduce probably the easiest and fastest way for you to start and get up to speed with the platform. Experienced Oxwall developer will also find it useful to complete and refine their knowledge.

Here goes Oxwall plugin skeleton. Its name speaks for itself — this plugin implements a carcass for real world plugins, demonstrating working examples of various pieces of Oxwall functionality. It tackles:

  • File structure
  • Developer Tools
  • plugin.xml
  • Routing
  • Localization
  • Forms
  • Database
  • File storage
  • Sending email
  • Notifications
  • Newsfeed
  • Floatbox
  • Widgets
  • Access Level
  • Profile Questions
  • Cron jobs
  • Ping
  • Plugin installation/activation

As you can see, the range of functionality is extensive. It should help you create plugins of any levels of complexity — all with the best practices from the Oxwall dev team. Benefits? Better compatibility, less inter-plugin conflicts, faster store review times, and ultimately, better user experience.

How to start:

  1. Download and install the plugin on a test setup (not on your live site!);
  2. Sign in as admin, open mysite.com/skeleton URL;
  3. Find what you are interested in, say Database;
  4. View how the example works, and find listed code files implementing the example. All of this Oxwall plugin sample code is self-explanatory. Non-intuitive situations are commented along right in the code.

Development for Oxwall can be easier and/or trickier than you think. See how we do it, do it with us, and create new plugins for the Oxwall Store!

Oxwall public repository

Apart from your own Oxwall plugins, this new knowledge can also have a good use.
From now on, developers can submit patches to the stable branch, if they find bugs, inconsistencies, or optimization opportunities.

Repository URL: https://bitbucket.org/oxwall/public

So, developers, we are waiting for your contributions. Oh, and don’t forget about Oxwall coding standards while creating your patches and plugins.

As a real open source project, we are gradually opening up and stepping towards decentralization. So, we think it’s crucial to enhance and maintain communication with developers through code. Exciting times to be a part of Oxwall movement!

Thank you,
Emil
Oxwall Foundation team

There won’t be Oxwall 1.5.4

… because there will be Oxwall 1.6.

Per our stated schedule, at this moment we should be preparing Oxwall 1.5.4 – a minor maintenance build with a few bugfixes. We decided to not release it and continue working on more important things. By skipping what can wait, we will not be distracted from what cannot wait at all – Oxwall 1.6.

Why is Oxwall 1.6 so important? It will have the long-awaited mobile browser version.

fb

Like our facebook page or follow us on Twitter to be among the first to know.

At first, in Oxwall 1.6 only the platform and critical native plugins (newsfeed, photo, blogs, and such) will support mobile browsing. Other plugins come later. Third party developers and designers will be able to implement mobile support in their plugins and themes, too.

So, Oxwall 1.6 is expected to land in June. The exact release date will be announced later.

Show me preview!

Hold horses, buddy! Are you a fan of movie spoilers? Really? We suggest everyone to be as patient as we are, so it gets handsomely rewarded in the end.

We are really excited how mobile Oxwall is turning out, and we can’t wait to share it with you. As you know, mobile browsing already overtook desktop in some parts of the world, and is quickly moving to be the primary way to surf the web worldwide. We are very aware about the importance of superior Oxwall experience on mobile devices, so we are doing our best with it. This is why it’s taking so long. For good.

We hope to impress you with our work again. It’s a real pleasure to observe the growth of the project, the number of users, store items, and finally, high quality websites powered by Oxwall. This is what keeps us going day in, day out.

Thank you,

Emil, Oxwall team

Oxwall 1.4.0: New Photo Viewer, Google Contacts Importer, Improvements and Fixes

Hey guys, remember when we promised you a hot summer ahead? Well, the time has come, and we are ready to roll out the next eagerly anticipated update! By now you’ve seen bits and snippets of it everywhere, but here’s the real deal: Oxwall 1.4.0 is finally here. Before you get to it, though, don’t forget to

BACK UP YOUR SITE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE!

Seriously, this will save you a lot of headache if something goes wrong, although, nothing really should. Anyway, just follow these simple steps and you’ll be fine:

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes;

Also, don’t forget that you don’t have to do a thing manually. Just wait for the AUTO UPDATE BUTTON, pressing which will do the trick. The button will appear in the Admin Area within 24 hours after the launch of the update.

So, let’s get down to business and see what’s inside Oxwall 1.4.0:

PHOTO

  • Completely redesigned photo browsing;
  • Private photos: fixed display in top rated list;
  • New design element, Context Action: currently on photo view only;

INVITE FRIENDS

  • Google Contact Import is back and improved;

QUICK LINKS

  • New dashboard widget Quick Links, instead of separate plugin widgets;

NEWSFEED

  • Profile Newsfeed: new ability for others to post;
  • Main  Newsfeed enhanced;

FORUM

  • Added search results order by date and relevance;
  • Form buttons location redesign;

COMMENTS

  • Ability to choose preview images for posted URLs;

VIDEO

  • Long titles and descriptions are now truncated;

GIFTS

  • Fixed a bug with “&” symbol in personal messages;

GROUP LISTS

  • Fixed double paging;

VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS AND FIXES

  • Birthday fields (date/month/day) can be translated via Language section;
  • Fixed online user display in case of “me only” mode;
  • Flagging now works without page reload;
  • Moderators now can see private content for moderation;
  • Various language strings fixed;

So now you can see where our excitement came from. We hope you like the update, and if you do, tell us about it in the comments. The forum is the place if you encounter any problems. Enjoy the update and don’t forget to check our blog for more exiting news about future released.

Oxwall: 100,000 Downloads and Counting

Oxwall: 100,000 Downloads and Counting

Dear friends,

As many of you have noticed, we have climbed over another impressive milestone. Ladies and gentlemen, as of last week Oxwall Software has been downloaded over 100,000 times since first becoming publicly available! These are the numbers straight from our site, so the final figure is even bigger once auto-installer downloads are counted in.

We take this as great encouragement and a sign that we took the right development trajectory. In a few days we will give you Oxwall 1.4, and with the next programming cycle around the corner, we are already working on even more impressive features.

Indeed, we have a pretty hot summer ahead, with plenty of tasty delights coming your way pretty soon. Here is a sneak peek at what to expect in the nearest future:

  • New default theme
  • New real-time notification system
  • New member console
  • More professional themes
  • Store improvements
  • Mobile version
  • New CMS functions

As you can see, we are keeping quite busy to make sure all people downloading our software are not disappointed. Expect some of the listed features this coming season.

We would like to thank the entire Oxwall community for making this breakthrough a reality.

Oxwall Team.

Oxwall 1.3.2: User and Admin Improvements, Minor Bug Fixes

OXWALL 1.3.2

Following the completion of quality and beta testing we are ready to present you Oxwall 1.3.2. The new release fixes several minor bugs, and also introduces User and Admin improvements among other things.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR SITE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE

Just follow these simple steps while bringing your software up to date, to avoid possible future issues:

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes;
  5. Enjoy the new version;
AUTO UPDATE BUTTON

The Auto Update button will appear in your website’s admin area within 24 hours after the release of the update.

WHAT’S NEW IN OXWALL 1.3.2

Platform

  • Cron setup changed (now uses HTTP);
  • Default user role is now impossible to remove;
  • Fixed the bug with the number of pics for WYSIWYG gallery;
  • Notifications “Someone posts a wall comment in a group I participate in”, “Someone invites me to a group”, etc., enabled by default;
  • Additional admin now cannot delete the super admin profile;
  • XSS vulnerability in the update script fixed;
  • Added file_get_contents check on server;
  • While editing a custom page it’s no longer possible to enter existing pages’ URLs.
  • Added rel=”nofollow” for auto-linking and WYSIWYG;
  • Changed buttons for group actions on profile lists in admin area;
  • Removed Exception message that happened while approving an already approved member;
  • Changed the order of displaying CSS graphics in the admin area;
  • Multiple language entries corrected;

Blogs

  • Post tags are now added to meta keywords;
  • Added messages about successful post creation and editing;

Friends

  • Fixed friend request template;
  • With friend request a user automatically follows another user;

Instant Chat

  • Fixed ‘OW Debug’ error message when admins deactivated ‘Friends’ plugin;
  • Fixed ‘last activity 42 years ago’ bug;
  • Removed switching ‘for all’ and ‘friends only’ modes, making it dependent on the ‘Friends’ plugin;

Links

  • ‘More’ button does not stick to the last letter any more;
  • Links now open in the new window;

Forum

  • ‘Ghost’ topics now removed in five days after the original topic move;
  • User no longer redirected to a new forum section after moving a topic;
  • Fixed ‘Latest Reply’ field when author profile deleted;

Video

  • Fixed Flash object overlap;

Advertisement

  • Now more than 14 banners can be added to one ad place;
  • Added the ‘Hide Ads’ authorization action for user roles;

Events

  • New events are now at the top of the list;
  • Long event locations now stay within widget;
  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated you can invite all site users (who were not invited yet and are not registered for event);
  • Invite interface now shows all site users (up to 100) if ‘Friends’ plugin is inactive;
  • Added ‘Accept/Decline’ buttons to event invitations;
  • Event notification now disappears after visiting event page;

Mailbox

  • Fixed avatar while sending private messages from profile;

Privacy

  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated all ‘Friends Only’ settings change to ‘Only Me’;

Groups

  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated you can now invite all site users (up to 100);
  • Group listings changed;
  • Invite notifications now disappear after visiting invitation list or group pages;

Newsfeed

  • Redesigned group activity display;
  • Individual pages for every newsfeed item;
  • New option to choose preview picture for attached URLs;

Birthdays

  • E-mail notifications about new comments or likes for birthday items;

Enjoy the new release and feel free to drop us a line if you encounter any problems with it. Thank you for being such a great community!

Oxwall: The Progress

Oxwall: The ProgressLadies and gentlemen,

Today we would like to share some great news with you. Oxwall Foundation has reached several important milestones, which prove that we are moving in the right direction, steadily giving the community tools necessary for our common success.

First of all, Oxwall Software now boasts over 71000 source lines of code. Compare that with 64000 of the very first Oxwall iteration released in August 2010. Not bad, considering that this metric is a very important indicator of a project’s size, and shows the effort the development team puts behind it.

Now, that was the platform itself. Even more impressive is the rapid increase in the number of source lines of code for plugins developed by the Oxwall Foundation. Altogether they now take over 64000 LOC (30% growth from the times of Oxwall 1.0.1), which is really impressive, when you take into account the time-frame and the relatively small team size.

All of that, coupled with the success of the recently released Oxwall 1.3 helped to boost the platform downloads from the 250 per day average in 2011, all the way up to 350 at the start of 2012.

Finally, Oxwall Store also witnesses some stable evolution since its full-scale launch a mere year ago. By now, the gradually growing number of published items have passed 100, adding even more to the progress of the entire project.

With our joint efforts and great input from the international Oxwall community, these achievements have been reached in just under two years. This is the programming productivity and expansion rates we are quite content with, although we’ll be obviously looking to build on this success even further in the near future.

UPDATE

An unfortunate slip made its way into the above text. Of course we meant the DAILY download average (not monthly) in the fourth paragraph. So, the daily platform download average in 2011 was 250, boosted up to 350 since the release of Oxwall 1.3.

 

 

Oxwall 1.3: Private Groups, User Block, Invite Friends, etc.

The long awaited Oxwall 1.3.0 is finally here after extensive quality and beta testing. A huge thank you goes to all the testers for their participation.

Don’t forget to BACK UP YOUR SITE before starting the update. This essential step could save you serious headache in case anything goes wrong. Once again, these are the steps required for a proper update:

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes;
  5. Enjoy the new version;

New Features

Private Groups (as suggested by users)
This new plugin allows users to create Private Groups, invisible to others. New members can be invited either by admins or by other group members.


Private Forum
Admins and Moderators can now create Private Forums for specific User Roles.

Block Users (as suggested by users)
Users can now block each other. Once blocked, a user will no longer be able to send IM/PM, become friends, follow and add comments to content of the block initiator. Blocking a user will immediately sever all Friendship and Follow links.

Major Improvements

Invite Friends
We’ve completely revamped Invite Friends feature, which is now compatible with new Facebook and Google APIs.

Mass Mailing
User roles can now be selected for mass mailing.

WYSISYG Editor
WYSISYG editor was replaced by simple text area for mobile devices.

Enhancements and Bugfixes

Unsubscribe
We’ve added an additional step to confirm unsubscription.

Maintenance Page
Maintenance Page login link was added for easier Admin access in case the page needs disabling.

Verification Mail
The system no longer sends two emails at once – instead it sends a Verification Letter first, and then a Welcome Letter after the verification.

Google Chrome Attachments
Issue with incorrectly displaying full-size attached pictures in Google Chrome fixed.

Events Improved
Events End Date completely reworked to appear after check-box is ticked.

Mass Mailing Variables
Variables can be added to the Subject now.

User Profile and Dashboard Pages
Minor improvements for these pages management through the Admin Area.

Privacy Improvements
Private album bug fixed.

To prevent any questions regarding the Auto Update – it will appear in your Admin Area within 24 hours after the launch of the update. We hope you like the new release. Do tell us what you think in the forum or in the comments bellow.