EFx2Blogs Development Blog

Well I am finally getting around to picking up all the pieces after EFx2.com fell apart. I have spent more hours then I can count on getting things somewhat normal. It hasn't been easy but things are starting to feel like home.

I wanted to go over a few things. First I wanted to let everyone know I have separated my personal blog and my development stuff. Since we can do multiple blogs per user account I figured it would be best to create a development blog where I can post my development stuff and then I could keep my personal blog .. well personal. :)

Another thing I wanted to go over is the system we use. I know a lot of people want it to be like it was before and I can do that to a point but I have no plans on creating an exact copy of what we had before. So I wanted to clear a few things up with everyone so people can finally have some answers.

- Alerts - The alerts were always planned and the initial work is finished and the alerts are functional. I plan on doing some little extras to them but nothing major.

- Admin Menu/Recent Visitors/Custom Menus - These are planned but on hold because I want to test out making the menus widgets so we can easily control them. This also means a change to the design but should just a variable that needs to be added like before. Nothing has been written or tested for this yet but is next on my list. I can't promise this will work though .. if it ends up being to difficult we will have to stick to what we are using right now.

- Extra Pages - I know there is some who want the extra pages feature back and it will come back eventually but is not high on my list right now. I still have the content and will eventually make it viewable so people can get their content back for their own use .. but the actual extra pages feature will not be returning any time soon.

- Control Panel (Manager) - I have no plans in changing the way the control panel functions or looks so its best if people get used to it. I personally think it functions great and has a nice design layout that is easy to work with.

- Post Editor - I am not a big fan of the post editor .. even with all the nice features it comes with. It's nice to be able to post from it but I would rather have our old editor back which was simpler and easier to use. So I plan on replacing the existing one with the old one. Keep in mind only the post editor is being replaced .. not the rest of the post editing stuff.

- Gallery Stuff - I haven't even had a chance to get into the gallery stuff but from my initial experience with it I think it sucks. I know it's nice to have a built in gallery option but I was thinking of using a 3rd party script. I want to install Gallery 2 but waiting on Martin to make a change with the server so it can run but haven't heard back from him. Hopefully soon .. then we can use a real gallery without problems. :)

- Bug Fixes - I must say it was a little worrying at first when we went to this new system with all the bugs it had. I killed most of the bugs and haven't come across any major ones recently. If you do come across one please let me know.

- Comment Box On The Post Entry Page - I gave some instructions for this one in case some missed it. You can check out the post here. Basically these instructions tell you how you can have the comment form for adding new comments on the same page as your other comments - Default makes you go to a new page to create a new comment.

- Javascript - Javascript by default with BlogHoster is stripped from blog posts and designs. This doesn't mean that Javascript will never be used on EFx2Blogs but I have no plans on letting it be open to everyone for security reasons. I do plan on making some variables with setting options so we can add in some of the most common types. For example for lets say there is a Javascript code that a lot of people like. I will make the general variable for it and then create a settings page where you can enter in the needed information. Then you can go to your design and add in the variable. I don't mind working around the Javascript this way because then its controlled by me and I know exactly whats being used on our system.

- Main EFx2Blogs Page - I just did update the EFx2Blogs mainpage and gave it the same look as the old EFx2.com site. I updated it will all the new stuff and you can always see the latest posts from the community leaders and my dev blog on the right hand side menu as well as the newest members. The login box there works and will change once you are logged in. When logged in you can see your private message count as well as the alert counts. In the login box it will now show your username and a link to your control panel and a logout link. You will also see all the blogs you have access to which link back to those blogs as well as links to add new entries for those blogs. A lot of areas are still not finished though. I did add a page with the shoutbox really big which we can use for a live chat. :)

- Comment Spam - Akismet the Spam script I implemented into our blogging script is working great for me. I am getting a few spam comments everyday and it hasn't missed one yet. Nice to have a spam catcher so we can keep our comment sections clean. :)

- Multiple Designs and Design Sharing - This was something that wasn't exactly needed right away but was one of the few things that set us apart from the rest. So it was something I really wanted to focus on and got it done pretty quickly. There is still a lot I want to do with the sharing section but right now its fully functional and people are already sharing so be sure to check it out. :)

- Shoutbox - I have no plans on adding a shoutbox script. Some of the reasons for not adding a shoutbox is that it will cut down on resources, one less thing I need to do and I like the 3rd party shoutbox from Shoutmix. Using Shoutmix's shoutbox is great especially since it keeps your information in a cookie so your info is automatically added for all Shoutmix shoutboxes you come across. For example all the people who use a Shoutmix shoutbox on EFx2Blogs my info is already there and ready to go .. so all I have to do is add my message. It also comes with some nice styling features so you can easily match it to your design .. and the best of all .. you can use it on your other blogs. So if you have a blogspot account you can have your shoutbox on both blogs. :)

- All The Extras - All the extras like custom smilies and stuff are a ways away. I have no immediate plans for them but will keep them in mind when looking for stuff to add. Same goes for all the other things people might want.

Well thats about it for now. I just want people to understand that this is a new system and some things may never be like they were before and thats just something we will have to deal with. I am doing the best I can to get some of the functionality back and have already accomplished so much. :)