Since stabilization of the  JCal Pro® for Joomla 1.5 codebase, we have been busy behind the scenes working on JCal Pro® 2.0. If you've followed the forums, you have some idea of the changes that are coming. However, as we have actually started the programming, a few more things have materialized that look to now be part of JCal Pro® 2.0. 

 Before I get into the feature list, some background is prudent. One of the historical limitations of JCal Pro® has always been the way in which recurring events are stored in the database. Basically, a recurring event was stored as a single record. Each time a calendar view, module or plugin was called to display events, JCal would do the following tasks:

1. Query the events database table to find ALL (past and current) recurring events (important: ALL recurring events ever created had to be queried)
2. Based on the recurring events parameters, mathematically create an array of upcoming events
3. Assemble the recurring and static events and sort as required by the calendar view/module/plugin
4. Display output to user

 Any change in the calendar view (say for example browsing to the next month) triggered this process again. Not only was this method inefficient and slow, it meant that creating recurring event exceptions (i.e. deleting one instance of a recurring series of events) would require a new database table to store a list of exceptions which would then be used to modify the arrays of events created in step 2 (above). Some users may recall that we experimented with this system of event exceptions in the now deprecated JCal Pro® 1.6.x. In addition, adding new recurring event options like the 'third Saturday of each month' was a daunting task further complicating the mathematics required to accurately populate a calendar view with events

We are proud to announce that the first stable version of JCal Pro® for Joomla 1.5 is now available. With almost 200 resolved bugs on the tracker, JCal Pro® 1.5.13 Stable (Build 414) is a milestone for the development team, testers and community at large.

We have also begun work on JCal Pro® 2.0. The first new features will include an improved database structure which will make recurring events much more flexible. Multi-calendar support and improved menu selections are also planned for the initial release which has been tentatively scheduled for Dec. 31, 2008.

 Just a quick note to inform you all that Release Candidate 2 of JCal Pro® for Joomla 1.5 is now available in the downloads area.

This release includes a number of important bug fixes including recurrence dates showing one day early on event details view, toggling time display on the various calendar views and annual recurrences showing only for first occurrence. The complete changelog is available on the forum.

JCal Pro® MVC for Joomla 1.5 took a big step forward in the last few days as we released version 1.5.9 (build 383 and then build 384).

Together, these back-to-back releases contain fixes for what appear to be the last major bugs in the new Joomla 1.5-native codebase. These bugs deal with time zone managment for event display on the calendar as well as event submission/edition/deletion permissions on non-english sites as well as english-only sites running on PHP4.

While these issues are not security related, we recommend that all users upgrade to the most recent build. We are hoping to squash any  remaining bugs in the next few weeks so the codebase can be stabilized.

Discuss this item on the forum

As Joomla 1.5 continues to add new features and bug fixes to the codebase, it gets closer and closer to becoming a true, enterprise-class content management system. However, there are still some features absent from the core functionality which limit the widespread adoption of Joomla in large-scale, mission-critical environments. Perhaps the most obvious of these ‘killer features' are customizable access controls (i.e. advanced user/usergroup permissioning), nested content categories, customizable user registration and revision control. The latter is the management of multiple revisions or ‘versions' of the same unit of information. In colaborative environments, revision control is a mustr but even for the lone editor or content provider, revision control provides a very convenient content back-up solution for those times when you accidentally delete a few hours of writing. 

As a software developer, one way in which we promote our products if through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketting is esentially a link exchange program where the people who post links to your products (on their web sites or in their blogs, newsletters, etc...) get a commission of the sales generated from those links. In fact, you'll notice some of our own affiliate links on the left-hand side of this page under "Recommended Vendors". Of course, a software package tracks the affiliate traffic and a very popular version is called iDevAffiliate.

While recently configuring and testing iDevAffiliate for this web site (details coming soon), we noticed something peculiar. When an affiliate signs up for an account, they must provide a username and password and often tax information such as a SSN (USA) or VAT (Europe). In the case of iDevAffiliate, this sensitive password and tax information was being saved in plain text format. Although this is not an inherent security risk, it does increase vendor liability dramatically should a database be compromised and the affilaite details stolen.

It is my duty to announce that JCal Pro® v1.6.x has been officially deprecated. This Joomla! 1.0/1.5 hybrid was simply too unweildly and overly complicated, especially as we poured more-and-more resources into JCal Pro® 1.5.x MVC. However, we are committed to re-engineering many of the features in JCal Pro® 1.6 into JCal Pro® 1.5.x MVC for Joomla! 1.5.x. Our first priority will be to improve recurring event options and add recurring event exceptions.

In our ongoing efforts to make the forum more intuitive and easy to use, we have recently completed a major reshuffling of the Forums. The most striking difference is that a number of JCal Pro® boards have been locked and archived. All active threads for JCal Pro® are now restricted to 2 tracks: Joomla 1.0! and Joomla! 1.5.

We get many enquiries regarding how to stay up-to-date with JCal Pro® and our other extensions at Anything-Digital.com. Besides this newsletter, we recommend subscribing to a board on the Forum. To subscribe for board notifications, simply select a board on the forum such as the Announcements board and click the ‘Notify’ button at the top-right of the board index.

Back when JCal Pro® was born from the ashes of its predecessor, we built an infrastructure to support the installation and usage of themes. However, we soon found out that JCal Pro® themes were unnecessarily complicated with poor separation of style and content. Today we solve many of these problems with the official launch the JCal Pro® Theme Club (JPTC), the first theme club dedicated to a Joomla! extension.

Our initial offering includes 4 themes for Joomla 1.5.x designed by the renowned Joomla! template designed Casey Lee; Fire, Leaf, Ocean and Tree. You can view these themes on the live demo and immediately download these original Casey Lees.

Please be sure to read the membership terms.

After about 2 months of furious development and 8 beta versions, we are happy to announce the immediate availability of the first release candidate of JCal Pro® for Joomla! 1.5.

This version includes a totally re-vamped scheduling system for events and numerous bug fixes (way too many to list here) including issues with inserting images into the event description. A complete list of changes can be found on the Announcements board of the Forum.

I’d like to point out some changes and additions to our subscription plans. JCal Pro® subscriptions now start at $7 for a 48hr access window to the downloads section. Due to its popularity, the yearly JCal Pro® subscription, remains at the discounted rate of $20 until further notice. Note that JCal Pro® subscriptions include all existing versions of JCal Pro® for both the 1.0 and 1.5 flavors of Joomla!.

The Developer Special, which gives access to JCal Pro®, Advanced Search and the Expose suite, has also been extended indefinitely. This subscription is available for $36 and represents a 40% savings compared to purchasing the subscriptions individually.

In addition, we’ve added a new “Lifetime All Access Pass” to our subscription plans. This plan requires a one-time payment of $250 and provides unlimited access to ALL of our current and upcoming GPL-licensed extensions. The All Access Pass is a good value and is a great way to support open-source projects. If you are interested in this subscription, we will credit the cost any existing subscriptions to the All Access Pass. Simply contact us directly using the online contact form and let us know. Be sure to include your username so we can accurately process your request and invoice you for the updated costs.

Development of the ever-popular calendar solution JCal Pro® has been fast and furious of late with 5 releases in the last 5 weeks. Today marks the release of build 269 for Joomla! 1.5 (native) and includes for the first time plugins to accompany the component and modules.

The Search plugin allows JCal Pro® events to be returned in the Joomla! search results or even using the Advanced Search extension. The Latest Events plugin makes it easy to add a dynamic list of upcoming events to content items. This is very useful in places where a module is not appropriate or if you want a certain category of upcoming events to be indexed by google.

We expect JCal Pro® MVC for Joomla! 1.5 to change from a ‘beta' release to ‘release candidate' within the next few weeks.

We also did a small maintenance release of JCal Pro® recently to version 1.5.3.2 ‘Stable' to fix some annoying bug. As always, this version is exclusive for Joomla 1.0.x.

Today we make available the latest version of Advanced Search . This version now has native support for Joomla! 1.5 while retaining Joomla! 1.0 compatibility. In addition, the entire Advanced Search suite is now bundled into one easy installer.

This version is also the foundation for some exciting new features we have on the horizon, including better tighter control of search results filtering. Enjoy!

Related Items:

• Download Advanced Search
• Discuss Advanced Search on the forum

I just wanted to write a personal and public thank-you to the guys at Joomla! Chicago for hosting a superb and professional event. In particular, John and Linda Coonen and Mike Carson deserve due credit for pulling off the event without a hitch. Respect.

The community support for the meeting was overwhelming. Over 250 people from across the country and across the globe showed up and treated the keynote speakers like rock stars. Thanks so much ... hope we see you again at the next EXPO.

Anything Digital is proud to announce the first public beta of JCal Pro® 1.5 MVC for Joomla! 1.5. This version of JCal Pro® operates nativey in Joomla! 1.5.x and does not require legacy mode.

As a beta version, JCal Pro® 1.5 MVC should be thoroughly tested before deployment on production sites. Note that there is no official upgrade path from other JCal Pro® versions. Finally, all users are reminded to backup your site (files and database) prior to using JCal Pro®. As per the license:

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Here are some useful links:

• JCal Pro® License
• JCal Pro® Documentation
• JCal Pro® Forum/Board
• JCal Pro® 1.5 MVC for Joomla! 1.5 download area
• Anything Digital “Add Subscription” page

Enjoy!
Anything Digital Development Team