About 2 weeks have passed now since my last blog post with the announcement of an alpha release. And here is, well, half of it. Kyle decided last minute that it isn't really ready to be shown in full just yet. So at least we'll give you an update on the progress and reveal the backend live and in action. Before I get into the details, here are some screenshots:

I've got some minor bugfixes for the Community Builder/Jomsocial integration and the File manager pro for you guys. I also have good news for everyone who's eager to know more about the Projectfork 4.0 development progress: We're approaching the first alpha release with some things for you to explore and toy with early next month (in 1-2 weeks)!

To tell you the truth, I've spent a lot of time researching the Joomla framework and not so much writing actual code for Projectfork. A lot of times I went back and forth with the code until I had it working "the Joomla way".

The times where I have to check the documentation or delve into the framework code gets less and less frequent and I am confident that I finally focus on building up the component with actual features. More news with the alpha release. Stay tuned!

I'm extremely pleased to share the all new upcoming versions of the Projectfork Joomla templates! Notice I said "Joomla templates" and not "Projectfork themes" there. As previously discussed in the 4.0 roadmap, Projectfork 4.0 will be completely native, which means no more cramming extra frameworks and themes into the component, and using the native Joomla framework and templates. The best part about these new templates: since they're native templates you can choose to use them for your entire Joomla site, say if you have a portal or intranet. If you just want to use them for Projectfork, you just use Joomla's built-in feature to attach a template to a particular menu item.

This is a follow-up to Kyle's previous announcement "Projectfork 4.0 Roadmap Planning".

During my visit to Austin (TX), Kyle and I went back to the drawing board for Projectfork 4.0 and the goal was clear right from the start: A major reset of...everything. New code, new visuals and a refined concept of how Projectfork is meant to be used (user experience, workflows, features and behaviors).

So instead of trying to squeeze the current concept of Projectfork into the Joomla framework, we came to the conclusion that it would be better to free ourselves from the past and start anew, creating a native Joomla component.

Normally we release a patch every month, but with the development of Projectfork 4.0, we are slowing down our 3.0 maintenance to a 2-3 months patch release cycle.

Changelog

• Fixed: Use of directory separator constant preventing Mods to install correctly on Windows servers /Kon
• Fixed: Undefined index in tasks section using SEF URLs /Kon
• Fixed: SQL error when re-ordering extension tables by field "enabled" in the config section
• Fixed: Permissions not loaded properly when changing the default section under J 1.6/1.7
• Fixed: Undefined object PHP notice when creating a new milestone
• Fixed: Wrong order of elements in the file manager pathway

• Download Projectfork 3.0.9
• How to update

If you follow Projectfork, you may be wondering why we haven't progressed beyond Projectfork 3.1 Alpha 1. It's because we came to an impasse.

Tobias and I came to the realization that it's time for Projectfork to really leverage the latest Joomla framework.

To effectively lay out PF 4, Tobias will be travelling from Germany to Austin next week (just in time for JDay Austin). We'll pow-wow for 2 weeks where PF will be going in the next year.

Updates for Design Review and File Manager Pro are now available.

Design Review 1.1.1

• Fixed: Javascript error when user is not allowed to upload designs

• How to install
• How to update

File Manager Pro 1.6.0

• Fixed: Updating files via the html input field results in mySQL error
• Changed: File Browser now shows the Modified date instead of the Creation date
• Added: Option to disable Check-in/Check-out feature

• How to install
• How to update