CMSMS 2.0 Update

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calguy1000
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CMSMS 2.0 Update

Post by calguy1000 »

Though there have been a few blurbs on various social media outlets. It has been a while since I posted anything about CMSMS 2.0 officially on this forum. So I thought it was time for an update.

We have been working very hard on CMSMS 2.0. Some of the things we've done are:

Create a brand new phar based installer
Though it was dropped, one of us managed to find some time to pick this up again.

The idea is this: Download a single file, upload it to your server (one command if you have ssh access to your server). And browse to the file. It will guide you through the installation an upgrading process.
It will check for:
- An existing CMSMS install of a suitable version (if so, you'll be taken through the upgrade process)
-- The installer knows what versions it can upgrade from. If your CMSMS is too old you have to upgrade the old way till you reach a compatible version)
- An existing CMSMS install of the same version (if so you'll be taken through the freshen process to remake the config file, re-copy files etc).
-- A renamed admin directory (you have to reset this back before continuing)
- An empty directory (for a fresh installation)
-- The installer checks for CMSMS tables in the database and wont let you continue. Infact it checks for any existing tables in the specified directory and asks you to confirm the installation.
- Basic compatibility
- Filesystem Permissions
- More

Testing
The dev team spent a few days reviewing 2.0, finding and fixing bugs and usability isues. Generally though the issues were minor and the review process great. We expect there to be considerably more issues and questions during the beta process.

API Documentation
We decided that since we have broken stuff AND we want module developers to test and fix their modules during the beta process that the API documentation should be as complete as reasonably possible.

This was a HUGE task, and still not 100% complete. It involved creating a new template for the API documentation and updating each and every php file in the core.

What's New
The dev team recently voted on and decided that we won't support unsupported versions of PHP in major releases. Therefore CMSMS 2.0 will require a minimum of PHP 5.4

So, What is left to do:
Though some things won't hold the beta up there are one or two more tasks that need to be finished before we announce the beta.
1. Finish the installer/upgrader and test with upgrades
There are still some things to do in the installer. Some of them will take a few days of effort (finding those few days is the problem).

2. Finish the API documentation stuff
Though there are some styling and functionality issues with the output APIDOC html files those issues won't hold up the beta. However, there are a handful of php files still to update, then a general review of the output. Hopefully we will have that done in the next day or two.

So when does beta start:
Although we hoped to have the beta be released in the first quarter of 2014 that time has come and gone. Hopefully we can get the above tasks wrapped up somewhat before the next dev team meeting, at which time we'll discuss the issue.

About the beta process
The CMSMS 2.0 beta process will likely run a few months. In which time we will expect active participation from our user community, and in particular from module developers.
There will be a separate forum board (or two) created for beta bug reports, questions, and solutions.

About the upgrade process
The upgrade process converts stylesheets, GCB's (which are actually templates) and stylesheets in the core, and in core modules (third party modules templates are not affected) into the new scheme. It deletes some events, and creates new ones. and it touches each and every content page to add the new design level attributes.

Warning: For many sites the upgrade process will not be seamless. Particularly if specifying template names inside templates (for core modules). i.e: {News summarytemplate='foo'} or {include file='some_db_resource'}. Or using some of the funkier third party modules. Everybody WILL need to make a backup of their system AND should do the upgrade process on a development copy of the site.

About support for 1.11.x
Just a reminder, that the dev team will support the 1.11.x series for one year (365 days) from the release of CMSMS 2.0. This includes security fixes and critical bug fixes.

In summary
We are so close to beta that we can taste it. CMSMS 2.0 is definitely not fictional softare and will be a dramatic step forward for all users.... Though the process for existing sites will be a hurdle.

Stay tuned people, it is coming!
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