BoltWire 7.06 released...

[Dan Vis]

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick note that I've released a new version of BoltWire. We've been running quite strong and quite stable for some time, so we seem to finally be past the bug fixing stage of version 7. And now we're into much more fun stuff, like adding new features and fine tuning the user experience.

Which is a huge part of what this release is about. Be sure to check out the release history to see all the goodies in this one...

https://www.boltwire.com/downloads 

Part of what's driving this current release is the fact I'm working with a small private group of ministries via our Launch Accelerator and upcoming webhosting services. This is giving me a lot of first hand experience coaching new users through the process of learning BoltWire, and testing lot's of things I might otherwise never notice. We just started the 12 week journey, so there will probably be lot's more releases over the next 3 months. But we'll end up with something super useful!

Thanks to all those new "pioneers". If you want to read more about what we're doing, you can read my latest blog post at BoltWire:

https://www.boltwire.com/blog/accelerator-hosting 

As usual, let me know if you have suggestions, bug reports, or feature requests. We're constantly trying to make BoltWire the best it can be!

Cheers,

Dan 

[mz]

Hi Dan!

I finally found time to check the new developments. It's ... impressive!

Thank you for all your hard work!

We've got so much BoltWire like never before.

No more fiddling with cleanURLs, docs updated, a huge list of free extensions ... fantastic.

The accelerator programme sounds compelling too getting your knowledge on how to build and to manage a community on the net. I put myself on the waiting list :-)

I look forward for more blog posts and improvements coming out of your experience with the programme. Thank you again!

Greetings, Martin

[Dan Vis]

Thanks Martin for taking the time to take a peek. I still need to write a script to update 6.xx sites, but there hasn't been much demand for that, so I haven't prioritized it. If you have a site you want to update using the standard 6.xx membership system, let me know... I can work with you on that.

And thanks for your interest in the accelerator program! We'll keep you posted. It's proving to be a lot of work, but hopefully will be worth it in terms of helping people do more good online. It's definitely giving me a chance to test out all the core systems in BoltWire several times over!

One thing I may need to do is move all the boltwire/shared stuff in the boltwire/system folder, so I can use the shared folder for the accelerator components. That streamlines my development process immensely. But it does have the disadvantage that under the current system an admin could disable all the shared resources by resetting the sharedpath somewhere else. If it's all merged together, that would be impossible. Meaning it would be difficult to disable features/pages/functionality you didn't want...

I guess there are other options also... Maybe a simple, free, streamlined trial download of the core for people to tinker with (ie, no extension), similar to what we used to have. A larger, version with all the free extensions, maybe available for those who have an account at BoltWire, to help grow our community. And finally the accelerator package which is for all our hosted plans and has all the pro modules--but could also be made available as a separate download. 

But either way, that causes me problems because I only have two code repositories really, in BoltWire. If I dump the extension pack into the system folder, I can't extract the core engine, and if I keep it in the shared folder, I can't separate it from the accelerator components. But by merging the extension stuff into the system folder, I can keep an empty shared folder for zipping up the core download. And then create an accelerator shared folder somewhere else for that program. 

So basically as I work on my various sites and tweak BoltWire, I can just zip up what I have and do a new release anytime. Not sure if you have any thoughts about the need to be able to disable the entire extensions pack for some reason... If not, I'll likely make that change in the next release--as I'm at the point where I need to start adding advanced code to the system for our accelerator clients. 

I'm probably over stressing the problem of not being able to easily disable features. After all, you can easily block pages and turn off automatic plugins, etc. Just thinking out loud. But seems that's the only way to go... Thoughts?

Cheers

Dan

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[mz]

I hope I get your thoughts right. You want to keep the shared folder clear for the accelerator stuff? And that is why you think that the existing extensions should go into the system folder?

I would vote for the option that encourage other users to put their proven solutions into additional extensions so that I can download and enable them as needed. That means your free extensions as well as the accelerator package as well as third party extensions. Therefore one version with a path to install and enable extensions.

Greetings, Martin

[Dan Vis]

Yes you understood the question right. Let me see if I understand your recommendation: you want a streamlined core download and make all the plugins, skins, language packs, etc separate downloads? So developers can pick and choose what they want? We had that before and it didn't work so well because 1) the core lacked a lot of cool bonus features, and 2) the plugins are hard to maintain when not in the core. I don't think that's the ideal solution. I'm not even sure I want to go back to having a download area...

The ideal solution for the user seems to be to keep the free extensions pack as is, either in the core (or conceivably as a single separate download)--so it can be used or turned off as a whole quite easily. Not easy if it's all mixed together. But that makes things difficult for me because I do my development by running off the core on my own server and then just zipping it up periodically as is. But if I put the accelerator stuff in, I have no way to separate it out (I can put my shared "accelerator" folder in a separate location and keep the default one empty, no problem). 

There are various workarounds, but basically, once I stop using a live code repository, I have problems with version control and that means there are always issues in the core that got fixed in my installation but not carried over to the core. That will impact code quality. I really don't want to break my workflow which has worked so well for me all these years...

Unfortunately I need to act on this right away because I have to start setting up accelerator code asap! 

Ultimately, I think I'll have to go with the merging option because 1) That's the easiest for me, and it's free software after all. 2) There are ways to turn off plugins or block pages easy enough in BoltWire. 3) It makes BoltWire a more complete package. 4) It's always seemed an artificial distinction between which pages and skins go in system and which in shared. 5) In the long run I think it's better to aim at making BoltWire a tighter, more complete, better integrated package. And 6) I'm probably not the only developer that has their own custom pages, skins, scripts they use on multiple sites. Keeping the shared folder empty allows all kinds of engines... I'm building another one for this fall, actually for a very different set of sites...

Yes, these arguments seem pretty convincing... It's kind of a one way decision but I don't see any other options. Will probably go this direction in the next release! Last call for input...

Cheers,

Dan

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