Red Hot Chilli Project

The next big release of arc_twitter (TXP Tweet) is really coming together now so I thought it was time to release an alpha version of the new plugin.

The focus for version 2 of arc_twitter is very much on the front-end side of things with the introduction of a load of new tags for your Textpattern templates. Most importantly the ability to retweet articles using the new Tweet button Twitter released the other week.

Discovered an interesting development over at the jQuery Project earlier today: jQuery Mobile. They're describing it as a touch-optimized web framework for smartphones and tablets.

jQuery has made putting together JavaScript so simple and compatible across browsers, so it is good to learn they're doing the same for the mobile web. The platform support looks very encouraging: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian and Palm to name a few.

Since Textpattern 4.2.0 there's been this slightly mysterious yield tag added to the menagerie of Textpattern tags. Its use and value seems to confuse a lot of people, and until recently I'd have included myself amongst them; but I've been converted — it is a truely useful tag.

Basically it works in unison with the output_form tag: you place a <txp:yield /> in a form and then whenever you use that form the contents wrapped in the output_form tag gets placed where the yield tag was.  I'll give some examples of this in a moment, but essentially the value of this is that you can use forms as flexible building blocks.  Each building block has a common structure, but individualised content.

The latest release of TXP Mobile (v0.3b) was released this morning and is definitely worth a look if you want to access Textpattern admin via a mobile.

This release has a simplified install process and more flexibility with themes ("the latest version does not force a theme selection anymore").

Drupal 6 permissions have a tendency to give me a real headache, in part because as a site grows in terms of modules so does the list of available permissions. However, perhaps far more frustrating is when a certain combination of permissions just don't work as you'd expect/want.

One case of this, that I regularly encounter, is when I want to allow different user roles to create and manage different content types.  This only seems to work when a particular role has been given the administer nodes permission, but this just overrides far too many permissions.

With mobile web predicted to overtake the standard browsing from a desktop within the next few years it was encouraging to learn of Oliver Ker's Textpattern project that provides a simple admin interface for Textpattern sites on a mobile.

(via johnmartz.com)

About to launch a website built using Textpattern? You'll want to make sure everything is fine and dandy before launching. It's so easy to get focused on the site specifics that a few basic must-dos can easily get missed, so hopefully the following checklist will be of use to you.

A lot has changed for me recently; last year I made the decision to stop pursuing a career in physics research and look for work in web development.  That all became a reality at the start of this year when I started working as a Drupal web developer (along with doing a load of HTML/CSS/jQuery/Java/PHP/etc).

The latest release of arc_twitter for Textpattern is out now - arc_twitter v1.0beta (TXP Tweet).  It's not rich in new features, but important changes have been made to the code that were required to take into account some changes being made by Twitter to their API.

The basic authentication previously used by arc_twitter will no longer work from June 30th. The latest release of arc_twitter is to take this into account; you will now be asked to connect the plugin to Twitter via the plugin's options screen. This should be more secure as your Twitter password will no longer be stored on your website's server.  As a side effect password entry on the Twitter tab and the password attribute for the arc_twitter tag have had to be removed (I suspect no one used these anyway).

If you're using arc_twitter v0.2.4 or older (basically any release of the plugin prior to today) then you will need to upgrade to the latest release ASAP!  You will also need to remember to connect the plugin to Twitter as if it were a new install as your previous user name/password will no longer work.

Here's a quick run-down of all the new features in arc_twitter v1.0beta:-

• Improved and more secure authentication process
• Is.gd URL shortner support in addition to TinyURL and smd_short_url
• Two new class attributes for the arc_twitter and arc_twitter_search tags: class_posted and class_user

Final comment: I appreciate that what with the June 30th deadline being very close I've not allowed much time for people to upgrade.  I'm really sorry about this, but it has been a real headache getting everything migrated over to the new system and finding the free time in order to do this.