Freedom Controller - new release - v0.7.6

[Dave Jones]

Server ops can go ahead and upgrade.  The release notes are here.

The upgrade command is:  sudo /opt/cartulary/bin/upgrade.sh

The primary focus of this release is on improvements and new features in the editor.  Also Ubuntu 18 LTS install support.

The big new feature is editor "templating". Adam and I hashed out the basics of how it works, and I think it's a solid foundation to do some truly amazing stuff.  You can use placeholder variables in your outline and then save it as a template. Then , you can use that template to generate dynamic outlines where the content of the variables changes based on the values you input as they get mutated by the variable modifiers. It's got the beginnings of a nice language going.  You can use modifiers on your variables like ++, --, jpg256, gif128, currently to make those variables expand to new values.  Every time you generate an outline from a template, the values you used get saved.  So, the next time you go to generate another outline from that template, the values will be pre-filled for you.  This is powerful stuff for podcast shownotes, blogging, etc.

I made a demo video showing basic template usage:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwwq_VPyRaE

I took a class from a physics professor in college who said that eventually all physicists become astrophysicists because those are the hardest, most fascinating problems to solve.  I think a similar thing could be said about web content projects.  Eventually all web projects become CMS's.

We're also now compatible with Ubuntu 18, which was a major pain. Supporting 14, 16 and 18 simultaneously blows.  Ubuntu 14 LTS rolls off this month, so hopefully this will get easier going forward.  Although, the php7.2 transition is still going to be a major undertaking.

If you are on Ubuntu 14 I highly suggest you export your mysql database, roll an 18 server, re-install FC and re-import your database.  It really shouldn't take but a few minutes.