Community Builder 2.0 beta 4 is now available for Professional and Developer members to install on their testing environments.
Major refactoring has taken place and the usage of our new XML MVC AhaWow engine technology has drastically reduced the codebase of CB while adding many cool features at the same time.
CB 2.0 development is now shifting back to another round of frontend User Interface (UI) improvements. This will significantly enhance the look and feel of CB 2.0 user profile layouts and result in a smooth user-experience. By using bootstrap extensively, the site designer's task is simplified too. This is our last big task before the RC release.
For starters our very powerful CB Delimiter field has been renamed to a much deserved 'Custom HTML" CB field type. This way its new name does it justice.
Another powerful UI concept that has been introduced in CB 2.0 beta 4 is the new field layouts parameters. Every CB field now has four (4) layout parameters: 'Profile Value Layout', 'Profile Edit Value Layout', 'Userlist Value Layout' and 'Registration Value Layout'. Each one of these paramaters can be used to provide HTML code with supported CB field substitutions to render the field on a specific view.
These new field layout parameters open the door to many use case possibilities. Here are some examples:
- A CB integer field titled: 'Number of cats', can be configured to override the default display 'Number of cats: 5' and instead display 'I have 5 lovely cats' or even 'Hi, I am Susan and I have 5 cats'.
- A 'Gender' CB radio field that accepts 'Male' and 'Female' values can now be set to display a gender symbol (
or 
) instead of its value when included in a CB users list layout. - You can even combine multiple field values using CB substitutions to render any field layout. A really nice example is to render a users list with the profile image field displaying a gender symbol in the corner of the profile image (like in the screenshot above).
We are working on some even more exciting new profile layout concepts that we will be roling out in the next release of CB 2.0 which is currently anticipated to be CB 2.0 RC.
Joomla 3.3 is scheduled to be released next week on April 22nd, 2014. It is being refered to as the "Do more" release.
We have been testing Community Builder 1.9.1 against the latest available Joomla 3.3 Beta 2 release and our initial feedback is that there are no compatibility issues.
In addition to new features, Joomla 3.3 has an important security enhancement and a related technical requirement change: PHP 5.3.10 or newer is now required.
The main features/changes of Joomla 3.3 are:
- PHP 5.3.10 and above is now required
- stronger password hashing storage
- microdata implementation for Joomla content opens the door to better search engine experience
- Replaces MooTools based JavaScript with jQuery equivalents
- new cloud storage API
The Joomla community has created a cool 52 second video to promote Joomla 3.3.
Check it out here.
Community Builder 2.0 BETA 3 is now available for Professional and Developer members and it is awesomely responsive !
The CB 2.0 b3 administration is now powered by the XML MVC AhaWow engine technology and provides awesome responsive behavior and many built-in features (e.g., great new Search Tools).
CB 2.0 b3 is not for production sites. It can be installed on new or as an upgrade to cloned CB 1.9.1 sites for development, testing and feedback purposes only.
In addition to Developer members (that had access to previous CB 2.0 beta releases), Professional members are now also invited to download and test CB 2.0 beta 3.
This way as a Pro member you can help shape CB 2.0 and contribute to it with your feedback.
The following is a short-list of the many improvements and changes since CB 2.0 b2:
- All administration areas have been recoded using the XML MVC AhaWow engine technology
- Improved responsiveness in backend and frontend areas
- Bootstrap styling used in backend and frontend
- Support for Joomla 1.0 and 1.5 and Mambo dropped
- Legacy plugins removed (Yanc, Mamboblog)
- Forum integration plugin replaced in favor of CB Forums
- Author Content plugin replaced in favor of CB Articles
- Improved responsiveness for CB Blogs frontend views
- Terms and Conditions is now a core CB field and thus
- Smooth install over CB 1.9.1 will migrate configuration settings, remove/unpublish existing legacy plugins
With your help, feedback and contributions we are now full speed ahead for CB 2.0 RC and stable.
Joomla has released version 3.2.2 and 2.5.18 and you need to upgrade to Community Builder 1.9.1 in order to keep your CB sites compatible with the new password handling that has been included in Joomla 3.2 and now in Joomla 2.5.18.
Our latest stable Community Builder 1.9.1 is compatible with all Joomla versions and is a recommended free upgrade for everyone.
Community Builder 2.0 - the next generation - is getting closer with the release of CB 2.0 beta 2 !
Hundreds of awesome new features are being tested and fine-tuned by our Developer member community as the CB Team is pushing forward in full speed to implement even more innovative community building ideas.
The XML MVC AhaWow engine technology included in the new CBLib Library along with a powerful new imaging library provides the technical foundation for greatness.
CB 2.0 development effort will continue to improve and build upon this great new architecture but the benefits are already visible (click pictures to enlarge):
Our developer forge is on fire with hundreds of new features and many more planned for the next beta release.
Here is a - not so short - list of already implemented features:
- new look and feel everywhere with new styles and a clean and crisp user experience
- CB 2.0 core now includes the most popular (up to now) commercial add-ons
- 6 new core field-types: file, video, rating, points (substantially improved compared to existing add-ons), and brand new audio and date/time
- image field type now supports moderation and approval via CB Workflow module
- new built-in avatar gallery with full view and thumbnail view support
- 3 new core plugins: CB Articles, CB Blogs and CB Forums (re-written for new look and feel and performance improvements)
- CB Bootstrap template (previously commercial and also improved) is now included in core and is default for new installations
- all CB templates are now bootstrapped (default, winclassic, webfx, osx, dark, luna)
- HTML email support now added to all workflow email messages
- new administration module provides backend admin menu, CB news feed and CB plugin update feed
- enhancements to CB field manager with ability to copy fields and change field types
- CB fields can now be configured to turn-off profile editing (backend only editing)
- all CB fields now support profile value and userlist value flexible output configuration in addition to the traditional label: value layout
- tabbed and flat views can be applied to profile editing and registration forms
- optional public emailing to profile user
- new flexible layout types for user lists: grid and div
- user lists manager has been enhanced to allow copying of user lists
- improved SEO with new framework functions to add active menu item metadata to HTML header output and respect/use Joomla metadata on all CB landing pages
- new single Joomla package automatically installs everything for you and even publishes / pre-configures modules during first-time installation
As you can see we have been working to address community feedback between CB 2.0 b1 and CB 2.0 b2 and in parallel to providing an innovative new framework and library layer that will help us moving forward.
There are many more exciting improvements planned for next beta release, so stay tuned.
Developer members can download CB 2.0 beta 2 and start testing immediately (not for live site).
- Community Builder 2.0 b1 released!
- Joomla 3.2, 2.5.16 and CB 1.9.1 released!
- CB Auto 5.1.3 released with CRON job URLs and more actions!
- CB Query 3.0 released with 4 new field types
- CB Auto Actions 4.0 released!
- CB Antispam released with great protection tools
- CB Privacy 2.0 with new account removal feature released!
- CB Facebook and Twitter Connect 3.0 released!
- CB Connect 4.0 released!
- Joomla 3.1 beta 1 released and we are 100% ready!