MySource Matrix Developer

MySource Matrix Developer Newsletter Issue 8
Friday 28th January 2005

covers versions 3.2.1 stable, 3.3.1 beta, 3.5.0 development

News

Change To Release Schedule

The current release schedule indicates that a new branch and beta version of MySource Matrix will be released with each release candidate. Going by this release schedule means that when 3.4.0 RC1 is released next month, a new 3.5.0 beta will also be released. Due to the fact that a release candidate is not yet considered stable, we would have 3.2.2 stable, 3.4.0 RC1, 3.5.0 beta and a dev version floating around.

The release schedule has been changed so that MySource Matrix is only branched when a stable version is released. Going by this schedule, a beta version of the current development stream will be released on March 7th at the earliest.

New Features

Public User Asset

Added to: 3.5.0 development

A new system asset has been added to MySource Matrix, the Public User asset. The Public User represents all users, both frontend and backend, who are not logged in. Having a public user allows you to give the non logged in users access to various areas of the site, as you can now, as well as including them in specific groups. This allows for a group based (or role based) approach to permissions if required.

The most powerful thing you will be able to do with public users is yet to come. A new feature is currently in development that will allow you to restrict group membership based on an IP range, or other show_if style condition. You will be able to use the public user with this new feature to gain greater control over permissions. For example, you could grant all site visitors access to a specific part of your site if they come from a defined IP address or range.

Hard Set Positioning In Asset Listing

Added to: 3.5.0 development

The Asset Listing now has the ability to hard set the position of assets in certain positions in the listing, even if they would not normally be placed there. For example, you can configure asset #123 to always be in position 2 of the asset listing, no matter what the sorting or other settings are defined as. Even if asset #123 would not normally be returned (perhaps because it is not under the root node) it will still appear in position number 2.

The Whats New asset also allows for this functionality. You could have a Whats New page display the 10 most recently updated pages in the system, but decide that an old page (that has not actually been updated) should also appear in the list because you want to direct traffic there again. You could configure the Whats New page to place this asset in the list in one of those 10 positions.

Sorted Urls

Added to: 3.5.0 development

Some assets are shared amongst several sites, or even in multiple locations within the one site. This can lead to quite a long list of URLs on the Web Paths screen. Previously, these URLs were not sorted in any way. The URLs are now sorted to make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Invisible Screens

Added to: 3.5.0 development

A new option has been added for asset screens that allow them to be hidden from the screen drop down menu. The only place this is likely to be used is when an asset requires a custom create interface. The create interface pulls elements from other screens instead of defining its own, so you can create a screen that has the create interface on it, make it hidden, and then pull the interface onto the create screen. The screen is hidden so it wonÕt appear in the screen drop down.

New Bugs Added To Bug Tracker

New Feature Requests Added To Bug Tracker

No new feature requests were added to the MySource Matrix bug tracker.

Bugs Fixed In The Bug Tracker

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