Projectfork Team

I wanted to let everyone know that we've made some awesome progress in the past weeks and you can except the beta to be released in the next 10/15 days. We've received a lot of questions via email where you could download the stable release and if a subscription is required. I want to say it again: ProjectFork is a free open-source extension for Joomla...no subscription/payment or whatsoever required at all! The stable release can be expected this November and will be announced here. Another thing I would like to mention - and I know many people who come here are looking for this - is that along with the beta release, an online demo will be available! The demo will be available to all the lazy people who don't want to download and install ProjectFork just to see what it does and if it suits their needs. However, the demo will have a few restrictions for security reasons.

It's time for our monthly update! I actually intended to release the beta version today,
but I didn't make it that far. So you'll have to wait until next month, sorry :)
Nevertheless I have tons of new features and improvements in this updated alpha release for you:

• Proper install/uninstall of sections, panels and themes
• Added XML Parameters to sections and panels
• Set custom color scheme per project
• Upload custom logo per project
• Modular project details page
• Reworked project list page
• Reworked task list page
• Configurable task milestones
• Added customizable ordering to tasks
• News panel for the controlpanel
• Workspace panel for the controlpanel
• Upload multiple files in the file manager
• "Documents" have been renamed to "notes"
• Content editor can be enabled/disabled individually for each section

I finally managed to publish two first tutorials on the website. The first tutorial explains how to create your own language package, and the second one shows you how to use the theme override feature (very similar to the Joomla template override). I know I promised to release something last week but my right hand has been sabotaged by a ton of mosquitos...and it still hurts a lot.

Anyway, you can access the documentation by clicking on the new menu item in the right menu (or just click here). Of course this is not everything - there are more tutorials in the pipeline but not yet ready. If you have any questions regarding the documentation, please post them in our documentation forum.

 

- Tobias

I wanted to share with you the final result of our last poll "Do you need a ProjectFork 0.6.7 - 2.0 converter". The majority of people wanted us to focus on the current development and so we did. However, quite a few people are asking for a tool to convert the data from ProjectFork 0.6.7 to the next version. So I've made the decision to create this converter after the release of ProjectFork 2.0. Unfortunately I cannot tell how exact the data can be converted to 2.0 at this point, because both systems and the database structure are very different. But I will find a way :)

 

If any one asks for tutorials, there's something coming out this weekend!

 

- Tobias

After weeks of hard work I'm happy to announce a new release of ProjectFork! I actually had something released yesterday night, unfortunately it contained a critical bug which has been fixed in today's re-release. So if you have downloaded the 2.0 Alpha yesterday or today before this message, please uninstall and download again.

What's new in 2.0 Alpha?

I'm sure that some of you are probably confused about the difference between this alpha release and the previous pre-alpha release. Our development process simply follows the standard software release life cycle as described on wikipedia.

When working on big projects like ProjectFork, I always think of them as a big puzzle.You start with laying out the frame and then add piece by piece until you get the final picture. So what you see in this release is an almost finished picture of the final product. Some functionalities and the behavior of the system may be confusing which is because of the missing puzzle pieces. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the way this is all going and that you begin to see the full picture.

This time I've focused a lot on the config section where you can manage/install and uninstall all the different extension types of ProjectFork. As I've mentioned in my last blog entry, ProjectFork is now a modular system comparable to Joomla. So the config section is actually the interface to the heart of ProjectFork.

Please note that this release is still unstable and you should not attempt to uninstall any of the extensions that come with the current release. It would most likely knock out the entire system. You can however unpublish or publish the different extensions.

Project Workspace

Another new feature I've added is the "project workspace". Think of it as a permanent project filter which allows you to quickly switch between different projects and project related information. The feature is still in an experimental stage and will likely change until the final release.

Roll your own!

At this point it is possible for you to create your own extensions for ProjectFork. And if you would like translate ProjectFork, you can simply create an install-package and distribute it on your website or send an email to support@joomlapraise and we will publish it here. Unfortunately I had no time to prepare any documentation for you guys so far, but I promise to present you some first examples and tutorials next week. If you can't wait to get started, I recommend that you explore the code of the existing extensions that come shipped with this release.

Download ProjectFork 2.0 Alpha

- Tobias

Just a quick information for our german speaking visitors:

If you're looking for a german version of ProjectFork, joomlanews.ch is offering an exclusive translated version of the current pre-alpha 2.

Check it out: [Download]

- Tobias

Hi everyone,

It's time for our big monthly update!
I'm very proud to present to you the second pre-alpha release which contains the missing sections from the first pre-alpha.The sections are:

• Filemanager
• Profile
• Calendar

The sections "Controlpanel" and "Config" will be added in the process
of our next big phase, which starts now.

Phase 2

Our goal for the pre-alpha releases was to create a solid code base on which we can develop advanced features and functionality.
And I think we have have achieved that goal pretty good. So now we want to start implenting new features and improve features we had in the previous versions.

 

How does the new ProjectFork work?

I have promised to tell you more about the new technology we have going on for ProjectFork 2.0. So here is an overview on what you can expect and already see today (at some point): The good old ProjectFork 0.6.x series was a "linear" component where the code was all mixed together which then produced the final output/result.

 

Now in ProjectFork 2.0, we have a structure very similar to Joomla. The code and all the parts of the component are properly separated into sections, panels, processes and mods.

Sections

The biggest parts of the system are called sections. They act just like components in Joomla. Sections can include panels, processes and mods though certain interfaces.

 

Panels

The smaller parts of our system are called panels. These panels can render small bits of information or interfaces, such as the navigation.

 

Processes

Processes act like plugins in joomla. They usually don't render information or interfaces. Instead, they can change the behavior of a certain part of the system or a section if activated.

 

Mods

Mods are replacing existing code and files of any section, panel or process IF ACTIVATED. This new breed of plugin allows you to alter the entire system without actually changing or hacking the original files. The big advantage here is that you can activate or deactivate the mod at any time. You can even redistribute it as an installable package.

 

How you can benefit from this system

As a normal user you will certainly benefit from this new architecture because it allows you to change almost every aspect of ProjectFork. You can install new extensions or disable features you dont need. Programmers are given the possibility to create and distribute extensions of all kind to the community.

But you can expect even more from the new ProjectFork:
We also get a brand new User Access Control system and you can use ProjectFork for your company, personal stuff AND - that's new:
offer it as a service (like joomlacode.org). So you can basically allow people to manage and create their own project on YOUR website! But I'll talk about that later, I'll let you chew on that for a while now :)

Now go and download the latest pre-alpha:
[ Download ]

- Tobias

Joomla!'s best project management component is back and better than ever! Project Fork 2.0 is totally new from the ground, up and boasts a brand new framework which will allow Project Fork to be extended with new modules. Project Fork is also now Joomla! 1.5 Native and will have no 1.0.x version.

The goal of the pre-alpha release is to preview the new framework and functionality. This release is not intended for production usage. We encourage users to test the new package, give us feedback, and report bugs to assist with a speedy stable release. This release includes Users, Groups, Projects, and Tasks.

Project Fork lead developer Tobias Kuhn is now joined by the JoomlaPraise team and now resides on www.joomlapraise.com The previous 0.67 release is now defunct and support of the 2.0 release will move to its new location on PixelPraise forums.

Why the jump from 0.67 to 2.0? The previous 0.67 version was working towards a stable 1.0 release. The new version is a major release that shares absolutely no code. You might also notice we've rebranded. The original Project Fork logo was and is a great logo, but didn't match the brand of the JoomlaPraise extensions. We also wanted to make a clear division with the previous release and support. Many thanks to Fabrice Michaut, the original logo designer.

Original Project Fork Logo

What are you waiting for? Download the pre-alpha and give it a test drive! We want your feedback and feature requests.

Project Fork remains free to use under the GNU/LGPL Open Source License.