vBa Dynamics (fka Blogicles) Beta 3

[Brian]

vBadvanced Dynamics (fka Blogicles) is currently undergoing private beta testing. Since we know some customers who are not a part of the test are still following the product, we will still be posting announcements regarding new releases publically.

vBadvanced is proud to announce the release of vBadvanced Dynamics v1.0 Beta 3. One of the changes to the product that you have probably already noticed is that is has been renamed from "Blogicles" to "Dynamics". We feel this name better fits the software, and this will be the software's new, official, and permanent title.

The other changes since 1.0 Beta 2 are as follows:

• General Entry Adding/Editing
  • New option to allow multi-paged entries, along with other features to allow the management of these additional pages.
  • The "Submit Entry" process has been modified to remove the initial page to choose a category. In place of this, some AJAX has been added to automatically update custom fields, attachment options, icons, and etc when a new category is chosen from the select box.
  • Delayed Publishing. When an entry is saved as a draft, you may now select a specific date and time to automatically publish the entry.
  • View All Option for categories, allowing you to view all entries within that category and any child categories.
  • Soft delete functions for entries and posts.
  • "My Entries" link will now show a user any entries they have submitted that are awaiting moderation.
  • New usergroup permission to allow users to open/close their own entries
  • If an error occurs when submitting an entry, the field where the error occurred is now marked in red.
  • "Select" and "Multiple Select" custom field types may now have a width specified, allowing you to control the width for the select box.
  • When submitting an entry, required custom fields are now marked with a *.
  
  
• New Modules
  • Guest book module allowing each of your users to have their own guest book with their entries. Includes new permission settings for you to control what usergroups may view, reply to, and edit guest book posts.
  • Featured Entries module - Allows you to mark certain entries as "Featured" and have them displayed anywhere this module is active. Includes usergroup permissions to control what groups can feature entries.
  • Category Listing module - Displays a more condensed version of your categories anywhere the module is active.
  
  
• Existing Modules Changes
  • New setting added to the What's New, Random Entries, and My Favorites module that allows you to control the maximum number of characters a single word in the title may contain. This helps to prevent entries with extremely long words in their titles from stretching out the page when one of these modules is enabled in a narrow column.
  • Links added in the "Additional Links" setting for the "Quick Navigation" module will now accept PHP code and variables (useful to allow you to prefix forum links with {$vbulletin->options[bburl]}, or other variables).
  • Option for the What's New and Random Entries modules to only pull entries submitted by that user if enabled on a user's pages.
  • The "Templates Used" setting for PHP file modules now requires templates to be separated by a carriage return (new line) instead of commas.
  • RSS link added About Me module.
  • New option with the About Me module to allow you to display the member's profile picture.
  • The My Buddies module will no longer show the "[My Entries]" link if the user has not submitted any entries.
  • "Additional Custom Links" setting for the Quick Navigation module now has an 'Add More' link using javascript to easily allow you to add more inputs without having to save your settings first.
  • The Search module now has the ability to also include custom fields with it, allowing searches from that module to be further limited based on your custom fields if desired.
  • Dynamic template selection options added to the What's New, Random Entries, and My Favorites modules. This allows these modules to automatically switch to the 'lean' version of the template if the module is enabled in a narrow column.
  
  
• Attachment Options
  • New "Attachment Permissions" section allowing you to further limit what groups have what type of access to specific attachment extensions.
  • Attachment limit "status bar" added to the "New Attachment" page to show users how close they are to their limit for attachments.
  • Attachment uploads via HTTP - Users may now upload attachments by entering a URL to the file they wish to upload.
  • New permissions setting to allow/deny the ability to view thumbnails.
  • "Display Order" setting with attachment extensions, allowing you to specify what order attachments will appear in based on their extension.
  • Option to open attachments in new/same window.
  • New attachment location setting to position attachments between the message and replies. (Below Message, Above Replies)
  
  
• Other Miscellaneous Options/Changes
  • The module positioning system has been completely redone to be more user friendly and incorporate AJAX technology. (for an example, go to our demo, click on the "My Entries" link from the "My Stuff" menu, and then click "Edit Modules On This Page")
  • Options to display custom fields while browsing categories (browsecategory.php).
  • Option to order replies to entries by oldest or newest first.
  • New tool in the maintenance section to cancel member e-mail subscriptions.
  • RSS Feed Link added within <head> tags of categories.
  • New usergroup permission to allow users to edit the date/time of posts the same way you can with entries.
  • Maintenance tool to rebuild attachment counts.

Current Beta Testers:
Beta 3 may be found in the Members' Area, and full upgrade instructions may be found in the readme.html file that comes with the download package. Please be sure to follow the upgrade instructions carefully as there are a couple of atypical upgrade steps (especially for those running multiple instances) that will be required due to the name change, and thus, the prefix of the product changing throughout.
If you have any problems or questions during the upgrade, please post in the Dynamics forum.


For those who are following the product and anticipating it's public release, we're almost there! Beta 3 was the last version in which any major new features will be added during the beta testing process. Assuming that all goes well with Beta 3, we expect to release the first public version (1.0 RC1) by the middle of August.

[phoenixdown]

The name is a great change.

[Luke86]

A release mid August would be around my birthday, ill thankyou in advance

[Ohiosweetheart]

Originally Posted by phoenixdown

The name is a great change.

I agree, it really is.


May I ask - is this blog platform going to offer users the ability to customize the look of their blogs? As in CSS, colors, skin, etc.

Or - will it afford admins the ability to offer their members a set of pre-made skins to choose from, apart from the forum skins?

[ang2el]

vbulletin is coming up with its own blog system and social networking will it be more powerful than that?

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Ohiosweetheart

May I ask - is this blog platform going to offer users the ability to customize the look of their blogs? As in CSS, colors, skin, etc.

Or - will it afford admins the ability to offer their members a set of pre-made skins to choose from, apart from the forum skins?

We do have plans to impliment more control for skins, custom CSS, and etc. That will probably be a few versions down the line right now though.

Originally Posted by ang2el

vbulletin is coming up with its own blog system and social networking will it be more powerful than that?

I suppose that's mostly a matter of personal opinion. Most of the feedback I've seen though favors vBa Dynamics over vB's blog system.

[ang2el]

Thanks Brain.

[Xil Ze]

i noticed on the demo page that you imported threads. is that a feature?

[garcia vega]

cant wait!

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Xil Ze

i noticed on the demo page that you imported threads. is that a feature?

I don't know if I would call it a feature technically. We do have an import script that will allow you to import threads from your forum into vBa Dynamics though.

[griffin80]

How does the guest book module work with Dynamics?

Im currently updating my clients web site which uses Dynamics, he wants to use the guest book feature in Dynamics but i cant seem to be able to figure out how it works? i have it enabled but i dont see it? maybe im too tired lol

http://www.tleetop.net/TLEEZWINDOW/

[Brian]

You would need to login to their account and post in the appropriate Dynamics forum.

*Closes this thread since RC1 has been released since*