GetSimple Next Version

[n00dles101]

What features / fixes do you want to see in the next version of GetSimple.

Do you think there are any plugins that are essential and should be made part of the core.

Please post your wish list for the next release here...

Already on the roadmap:

o - Better mobile support for administraton panel

o - Better user management capabilities without the need of a plugin. User tracking and usability including file locking

o - Making "Menu Manager" more robust in order to support the addition and deletion of menu items as well as changing their menu text.

o - Add Menu manager support for multiple menus, submneus and external links.

o - Cleaning up the CKEditor to remove all unneeded tabs & plugins. Doing a better job of integrating color scheme of GS into this CKEditor.

o - A new fluid layout and updated control panel theme.

[n00dles101]

Personally I'd like to see us move the development over to GitHub from Google Code.

I don't like the changes Google made recently to the project overview pages which makes it a lot harder to see code/issue updates easily.

A move to Github would make it easier for other to contribute to the code.

[shawn_a]

google code is nearly impossible to branch and merge contributions in

I think this is priority so we can better track issues and enhancements.

[shawn_a]

We have to get draft support added, which requires a thorough discussion on implementation and will probably need an experimental branch.

We should probably get ajax saving working for pages, components and theme editors.
Again experimental branch.

[datiswous]

More folder/file edit functions in the file uploader:

• delete multiple files (checkbox?)
  
• delete folder with files in it
  
• edit folder/file name
  
• moving files
  
• folder expand,collapse so folder contents can be shown
  
• Sorting options
  
• Maybe add function: enable-disable advanced file management
  

This can also be done via a plugin, but I think it should have some sort of high priority for compatibility with every release.

• edit button on every page in siteview when logged in
  
• Automatic backup site -> send to email
  
• If user adds images to page, via browse folder, fancybox (or similar) option is available. If more than one is added (ok this is another feature rq), automatic gallery creation. minimal aproach, can be extended via plugins.
  

[ChompDigital]

Yes more menu item options and user management for sure. I like Shawn's idea about the drafts, that would be a killer option to have.

I'm still very new to understanding GS but I'd really like to see or put together a nice theme options panel to integrate with custom theming. Something that's easy to integrate and more robust then what I've seen with Innovation or the Club theme settings. I'd like to see it packaged with the theme also instead of having it as a separate plugin.

Also I'd like to suggest making custom meta titles standard in the page options, this is a very valuable option to have for SEO and that's all that's left, everything else covered perfectly.

[Carlos]

I also would like to have custom meta title tags in the core. (If you're serious about SEO you don't want your index title tag to be like "Home - Site name..." so you have to change the template with some if... or use a plugin.)

Add a new template tag/function for this (to be used in new themes), and make get_page_clean_title() call that function for more-or-less backwards compatibility.

[Carlos]

Hooks or filters that allow processing/replacing (like the content filter) the output of at least these functions:
- get_page_clean_title
- get_page_title
- get_navigation
...

This way, plugins could modify/replace their output without requiring the user to change tags in the template.

[edit] I had suggested this previously (for this, and also for the sitemap): http://get-simple.info/forum/post/26247/#p26247

[Carlos]

Something should be done about the sitemap generation. See these threads:
http://get-simple.info/forum/topic/3783/...vesitemap/
http://get-simple.info/forum/topic/3194/...h-engines/

[Carlos]

I don't like the changes Google made recently to the project overview pages which makes it a lot harder to see code/issue updates easily.

Yeah, it's a shame, it was nice.
I subscribed to the 2 feeds for commits and issues to stay updated, but it's not the same...

[yojoe]

1. As it goes for seo, then an additional input for custom page header would be great.
If it stays empty, then get_page_title returns same value as now does.
While headers are shown in theme automatically, finding the right one to edit isn't an obvious thing.

2. external links in menu - if box is checked, js shows an input field for url

3. installation:
check if .htaccess file has been created during installation;
if not, GS shows a warning message informing to do it manually
There was couple things more to check during installation, especially if curl or simplexml are installed on server.

4. default language for backend login page (and admin panel) chosen during installation
this could be overrident by $lang var in gsconfig
It would also allow to set default website language in template file <html lang="$lang">

5. problems with date have been fixed ?

6. ckeditor: basic/advanced/full in gsconfig

7 all available functions should echo when calling function()/function(FALSE), and return when function(TRUE) - or vice versa.
Currently some template functions return values with TRUE parameter, other with FALSE.
This might interfere with existing themes if functions behaviour will be unified.

8. additional nodes in xml files:
modification date
last edited by
modify flag:
- rw - default flag
- r - no modifications allowed; for placeholder type of pages (like serps, news lists and so on) having no GS content
- 'w' - editable but not deletable (see p.11 - custom theme content)

9 more frequent backups of same file - maybe longer periods between backups, or if changes made were more significant (not only couple bytes of text)

10 components
- components stored in own files (see p.11 - custom theme content) - or possibility to load components from external files, while saving all components in 1 file
- don't delete component if it stays empty

11 themes:
additional file to store theme settings - allowing designers/coders w/o advanced php knowledge to add more theme customization options from within admin panel
This file would trigger a copy/install function of additional components and files (pages) stored in theme package (for custom content purposes)
installation

12 allow changing uploads path like it is with path to admin

[shawn_a]

Renaming uploads.

More image manipulation in image manager.
Cropping and scaling with all the typical options for thumb generation.

[Connie]

6. ckeditor: basic/advanced/full in gsconfig

I support that, I started a thread to collect whishes for the editor here:

http://get-simple.info/forum/topic/4714/...shes-here/

[ChriS]

Thank you for this thread; GS is great and still can make good progress!
My next version wishes comparing to GetSimple 3.1.2 (I hope nothing is already there):

Include a feature in the core that allows to define Custom Fields in a template, so that these fields show up in the page editor only when using a certain template. A bit different to the Custom Fields plugin where you define the fields for all pages in a backend-configuration; I have found just now Simple Input Tabs plugin which seems to do my wish, but I like to have it in the core and possibly with the field format options (name, description, field type, prefilled text/selections, etc.) of the Custom Fields plugin.

Add core support for simple chronological pages (news, simple blog, etc.) that are sortable by date or priority and the list order can be changed (backend, maybe also frontend). Extended features (WP like blog) should remain in a supported plugin.

Choose 5 to 10 plugins that receive maximum core support: included in pre-release testing, code optimization for best integration, long time support, etc. My proposals: I18N, I18N Custom Fields (only if core support like above is not integrated), I18N Gallery, p01-contact (needs update/optimization or substitution), I18N Search, Blog Plugin (News Manager?)
You can apply increased core support for a greater number of plugins (20?) in a similar way but doing the workflow only for major GS releases.
Best would be if you make a poll under the users for preselection of the most desired plugins.

Allow noindex, nofollow setting for a single page (maybe ON/OFF setting in gsconfig?) Link

Allow Change of default Link type in editor at least for Local page/URL maybe in gsconfig? Link

Already discussed, but I repeat to confirm my support:

WYSIWYG CKeditor: check if GS integration advantages vs. HTML5/CSS3 compatibility is still ok, allow easy customization and integration of other editors. Link

Increasing of Multi-User features. Please add also easy output options of names, times, etc. in the template.

[Timbow]

Good post Chris, I am totally with you. In fact I was composing a post along the lines of 'where GS needs to be going' myself because I don't know but it worries me that it is lacking a bit of direction atm. Aside from how 3.1.3 might fix bugs or even 3.2 be a bit better if there is no vision of how version 4 is going to blow your socks off and version 5 change the world then in the fast moving internet GS could quickly get overtaken and lost.

So: Chris's Mission Statement needs to be updated and reinterpreted, because most of that vision has already been acheived.
GetSimple needs to be 'Simple' in the sense of 'Simple to set up and use' and not in the sense of basic and lacking in features. In practice that means a new user should be able to access all the features of a modern website with a GS installation straight out of the box, and apply their chosen theme without complication including

• Blog
  
• Slider
  
• gallery
  
• Social buttons
  
• Contact Form
  
• Favicon
  
• Two /three/four/column content
  
• Custom titles
  

And theming needs to be worked on so that sample pages can be included with the theme. ATM the best themes are overloaded with instructions saying 'make three components, name them, install this plugin, alter the config file, upload an image..' and that is clumsy and complicated and should be Simple - it should just work.

Hope this helps.
Love the program and wish I could do more to help than talk about what I think someone else should do - LOL.

[shawn_a]

Blog
Slider
gallery

That sounds already not simple.
Somethings just shouldn't be in core of a CMS.

And themes that make you do stuff are shitty themes.

Although i do agree that component registration for themes and plugins is a good thing.
And plugin registration for a theme is a good thing as well.

[Timbow]

Blog
Slider
gallery

That sounds already not simple.

That's because you are a developer. If you are a user the opposite is true.

What do you have to do if you are a new user of GS to get a blog/news page on your site?

• Install GS
  
• Read the wiki
  
• Read the Forums
  
• search through Extend
  
• choose the plugin
  
• download
  
• unzip
  
• read instructions
  
• upload
  
• paste the php code in the page
  
• configure
  

When it could be:

• Install GS
  
• Activate the blog plugin
  

That would be really simple.

[Carlos]

@Timbow
It seems you'd like GS to be easy and full of features. I prefer it to be simple (yes, basic) but extensible.

(However I wouldn't mind if those features were added not to the core, but better as bundled plugins that can be disabled if you don't need them, or want to replace with another plugin.)

[shawn_a]

Blog
Slider
gallery

That sounds already not simple.

That's because you are a developer. If you are a user the opposite is true.

What do you have to do if you are a new user of GS to get a blog/news page on your site?

• Install GS
  
• Read the wiki
  
• Read the Forums
  
• search through Extend
  
• choose the plugin
  
• download
  
• unzip
  
• read instructions
  
• upload
  
• paste the php code in the page
  
• configure
  

When it could be:

• Install GS
  
• Activate the blog plugin
  

That would be really simple.

Its a CMS not a blog platform.
sooo....

[Timbow]

Its a CMS not a blog platform.
sooo....

Totally. And what would be the point of a new blogging platform anyway?

But what is GS for? and where is it going? I can only say where I would like it to be headed, and that is capable of making up-to-date websites full of dynamic and changing content with some very clear thinking about ease of use behind it's development.

[mvlcek]

@Timbow, @shawn_a, @Carlos:
I agree with shawn_a and Carlos that the GetSimple core should be as small as possible.
But I'd vote to include a plugin downloader in the core with the following functionality:

• search functionality - result shows at least title, version, downloads, rating and link to Extend for each found plugin
  
• each search result has also a "Get it" button, which will download and install the plugin
  

Additionally it should be possible to delete (not just deactivate) a plugin.
This way it would be easy to extend GetSimple to include all necessary functionality, but keep the core small.

BTW: showing downloads and rating in the list views in Extend is missing, too!

[Carlos]

@mvlcek

A WP-like integrated plugin downloader would be really great, but I think there could be trouble if some plugin breaks your site and you're not able to disable it. If you upload it by ftp (or with a cpanel file manager or whatever) at least you can delete it.

(A possible fix could be making the admin plugin management page run no hooks, so that you can disable non-working plugins... probably you'll come with a better idea)

[shawn_a]

I've thought about the whole plugin manager that doesnt load plugins.
It really is essential , or at least a control panel or the ability to sequester plugins if they cause fatal errors.

This can probably be done, but needs to be well thought out.

As far as a plugin browser and downloader, I would love to see that in core, but it also will have issues as it relies on a ziparchive library that many shared hosts do not support.

[datiswous]

Plugins:

Including an option at login to: login with plugins disabled?

If there's being an extend uploader implemented, I think plugins for a GS version prior to the one installed should not be listed in the extend uploader. If people still want to use these older plugins, they can, but have to manually update them via ftp. This also means less issues on the forum (I guess).

[shawn_a]

Actually plugins are no longer active on install so we can throw version checking and alerts before they get activated now. I probably need to sit down and do a brain dump one of these days.