Weekly update – 16 April 2021

[ryan]

This week I didn't get as much time as I'd hoped to work on the core, but still managed to get a few things done. I did get some small core updates in place, but not enough for a version bump, and got the second covid vaccine, kids back to in-person school (3 hours a day, after a year of being away), and a couple more major module upgrades released. In last week's post, someone asked for an update to the ProcessWireUpgrade module, and I had a look and a realized it was long overdue for one, so I tried to cover a lot of ground there. The new version is now out and improved throughout. Grab this latest version of ProcessWireUpgrade if you are interested. It's always been pretty useful, but it's even more so now. I've also updated the modules directory feed so that it can let you know when Pro module upgrades are available as well (as requested). The ProcessWireUpgrade module reports this Pro module information in a clear manner too. Some improvements have also been made to the core version updating features as well. 

The other module updated was FieldtypeEvents, a module that demonstrates how to create simple a Fieldtype+Inputfield module pair that has repeatable rows of multiple columns. The last version was made for PW 2.x, so I largely rewrote the module while updating it for PW 3.x. It's been simplified quite a bit so that it can be even more clear how to adapt it to create your own custom module. Being PW 3.x exclusive also opened more doors in keeping it simple but powerful. If you don't mind doing a little customization in adapting the code for your purposes, this module can be every bit as powerful in solving custom needs as Repeaters, but without Repeater overhead. I updated this module because another ProcessWire user was asking about how to store multiple columns of repeatable data for 20-million pages. Repeaters would be too much overhead at that scale, though FieldtypeTable could fit the bill. But at such a large scale, I thought a custom Fieldtype would be even better. So FieldtypeEvents shows you how to do it, and it's [hopefully] simpler than you might think.

This has nothing to do with PW, but to follow up from last week, that second dose of the covid vaccine was an interesting experience. I got the shot (jab?) and strangely didn't feel a thing. I walked home and took the band-aid off my arm and noticed there was no sign of anything, no little pin prick or red spot, and a completely clean band-aid. I started to wonder if I'd been fooled or something. If someone sticks a needle in your arm, you should feel it right? And there should be some evidence of it? Well there wasn't (and no I didn't watch the needle, who would do that?). They also told me I'd feel ill for a day or two, and I felt completely fine even the next morning. But then 10 am rolled around and my arm started feeling sore and I was suddenly very tired. So tired that it was laborious to walk, sit at the computer, or do anything other than chill on the couch. That might sound undesirable, but it wasn't uncomfortable, and it was kind of funny being so ridiculously tired, but also really relieved. It meant it was working and my body was getting a download on how to battle covid, and putting all its resources into taking it seriously. It was fascinating, so I just crashed on the couch, relaxed and let it do its thing. By the next day, full energy was back, batteries recharged, upgrades installed. From what I understand, some people have no side effects, but I was one of those that did. Though if anything I enjoyed the different experience for a day, and the comfort of clear evidence it was working. 
 

[adrian]

@ryan - just an FYI that the Events module directory entry has a forum/support button, but it has no link so it's a bit confusing. Not sure if this is an indication of a bug in the module's directory in general, or is somehow specific to this module.

[adrian]

@ryan - wondering if you could perhaps start providing a changelog for pro modules. I know this request might seem a bit OT here, but I am a huge fan of @netcarver's ModuleReleaseNotes module with the way it integrates into the module update process. It shows the git commits and the contents on a CHANGELOG file if it exists. I know that because these aren't hosted on publicly accessible repos, this might be difficult, but it would be really helpful because I always like to review what has changed about a module before updating in case it looks like there might be something that needs testing and also just to know what new features I should look out for.

[szabesz]

4 hours ago, adrian said:

start providing a changelog for pro modules

+1
I always read changelogs as well. Well, when one is provided...

Side-note : ModuleReleaseNotes is great, the second non-core module I always install right after Tracy. As a companion module to ProcessWireUpgrade these two modules make the upgrade experience very pleasant. So if Pro modules also provided change logs then that would be great.

This is an example form AdminOnSteriods:
https://github.com/rolandtoth/AdminOnSteroids/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
Rendered like this:

[MrSnoozles]

Haven't heard about ModuleReleaseNotes until now. It looks incredibly useful.

A bug I noticed in the PW API variables documentation: The flash icon is not displayed anymore for hookable methods (or is it just my pc?). If that has to be touched it would also be useful if a unicode character (e.g. ?, ♆, ★, ⚓ or ⚡) would be used instead of the SVG icon, so people can ctrl + f for hookable methods.

[HMCB]

On 4/16/2021 at 4:28 PM, ryan said:

The other module updated was FieldtypeEvents, a module that demonstrates how to create simple a Fieldtype+Inputfield module pair that has repeatable rows of multiple columns.

@ryan are the columns hard coded or are we able to dictate are own names and add more fields as needed?

[Robin S]

@ryan, regarding the update to ProcessWireUpgrade, could you please add an option to skip this interstitial screen?

Because it doesn't add much value and just requires an extra click. If you are visiting the Upgrades page it already implies that you want to load the latest core and module versions to check if there are any upgrades available and the few seconds needed isn't going to be a big deal to you.

Thanks.