We publish here the chat log from our last "Ask The Joomla Team" Session.

Next Session will be happen on 26th May 2010 20 UTC with Mark Dexter and Steve Burge.

How Can You Join Ask the Joomla Team

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One very easy way to join is to visit this link: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#joomla-ask-the-team

Chat log

• rdeutz

  welcome all :-)

• Marcos

  Bon appétit & hello world

• louislandry

  waves

• rdeutz

  ok, here we go, please only one tomato at time

• Marcos

  @rdeutz first the flowers and congrats for the beta release + all efforts going on lately (people, ...)

• rdeutz

  thanks, have not done so much to make it happen

• Marcos

  congrats to the team as a whole, Louis did a bit afaik

• rdeutz

  I guess ;-)

• Marcos

  I have a question about the issues with 1.6.17, is it going to be reverted to 1.5.15 or what's the status?

• louislandry

  I participated... a lot of people did.... Hackwar is due a great deal of gratitude and thanks as well

• Hackwar

  thx ;-)

• Marcos

  1.5.17 of course

• louislandry

  We have a rough goal of having 1.5.18 released this weekend or possibly beginning of next week

• Marcos

  @Louis, cool thx for that

• rdeutz

  next question

• Little^John

  i have a few in 10 mins

  sry for delay :P

• rdeutz

  it is called askTheTeam and not be silent with the team

• Marcos

  well I don't want to fire all the questions :)

• jconsultingza

  @ Louis: How easy or difficult will it be for extension developers to get their software 1.6 compatible?

• Hackwar

  hey, just go ahead ;-)

• Little^John

  So, whens the 1.6 coming out? :>>

• louislandry

  jconsultingza: That will depend on how complex the extension is, and how closely they follow the 1.5 APIs

• louislandry

  I would think most extensions that actually follow the 1.5 APIs and methodologies should only take a few hours to have updated

• louislandry

  Obviously a very complex component is a different thing than a simple plugin

  so there isn't a very simple answer to that

  but I don't expect a great deal of pain, and we have a mailing list where people can ask questions and we can all help each other

• rdeutz

  ok, should w go to the next question?

• louislandry

  Little^John: 1.6 is coming out once we have fixed all the issues listed at priority 1-3 in the tracker

• Little^John

  hehe, what a diplomatic correct answer ;)

• Marcos

  what about the Mootools 1.2 and JQuery thing in 1.6? I got lost in translation on that one

• louislandry

  I'm not sure waht the "thing" is you mean?

  As of right now, 1.6 has Mootools 1.2 in it (I believe it is all using the "no-conflict" mode.

• louislandry

  We will soon be looking to update that to Mootools 1.3

• louislandry

  still using the no-conflict mode

• Little^John

  I had a little talk with ian_mac yesterday about the com_contacts. Are there any plans to extend the user profile (either in 1.6 or later)? (dynamic profilefields? users can specify details? etc?)

• Marcos

  well, there was an issue raised about if you could choose your JS framework, but the non-conflict helps , thx

• louislandry

  We do'nt have plans to ship any other javascript frameworks

• JulioPontes

  louislandry, the new emerging solutions/extensions like K2, ZOO 2.0, Nooku framework and more.. these can influence on next joomla versions?

• louislandry

  There was quite a fuss about doing jquery work and getting a plugin done, but the people who had said they wanted to step up and do the work never followeed through

  Little^John: using plugins and JForm one can extend the user profile in 1.6 today (programmatically), but I do imagine that people will work on ways to do it with a slick UI and thats something we'll be looking to bring into the core at some point in the future.... hard to see in my crystal ball though right now :)

• hils

  Hello :) Just saw the new video http://vimeo.com/11806817 - is this as a result of our new PR Company? (Good work Jen and all!)

• jools

  Title: JoomlaNH User Group on Vimeo (at vimeo.com)

• Little^John

  okay

• JulioPontes

  louislandry, on 1.6 we can install new framework libraries to use on development of new extensions? what do you feel about this?

• louislandry

  JulioPontes: absolutely! so much of the innovation that happens in the Joomla world happens in extensions and that is fantastic... and those almost always influence the direction and content of the core. I don't expect that to change in the future

• Hackwar

  after 1.6 we are going to start with a new release style and make releases every 6 months. that said, I doubt that we will be adding the slick UI for field management in 1.7, but I think we will see big usability improvements in the next version

• louislandry

  hils: http://goo.gl/7dUd is more of a result from the pr company .... that video is justa great example of awesome stuff coming out of our community

• jools

  Title: Joomla! Upgrade - Pros and Cons - Google News (at goo.gl)

• hils

  good link! thank you

• voland

  Did anyone announced 1.6 compatible extensions and how soon this will be able in JED?

• louislandry

  heh :)

  I doubt that will be looked at seriously until an RC is released

  at least from the JED, but we'd have to ask the JED editors what their thoughts are

• Little^John

  Have you sorted out the issues with the acl? (there were some comments on it not being complete from a melbourne video iirc)

• louislandry

  Kunena has announced that the next version they release will be 1.6 compatible and I know they have been putting some work into that.

  that's the only one I am aware of

• voland

  thnks

• JoomlaCorner

  Who can explain about xx-XX.localise.php ? or the new JDate way for localise in 1.6.

• louislandry

  There are still some issues with the ACL widget, but they should get knocked out pretty soon. Generally speaking its working well, just needs as you put it ... a little more completion :)

  :) doesn't someone want to ask Robert something ?

• Little^John

  Nice. :P louislandry, Are there any docs yet on how to use it in components?

• louislandry

  JoomlaCorner: let me look real quick

• rdeutz

  oh i am feeling very well in my situation :-)

• Little^John

  heh

  rdeutz, Are there plans to include more default templates or some clever "template browser"`?

• rdeutz

  i think the last question was about "xx-XX.localise.php ? or the new JDate way for localise in 1.6"

• louislandry

  JoomlaCorner: the localise file is not something I specifically have worked on, but it contains a class with some rules for processing text in the given language... such as pluralization of language strings, etc

  the xx-XX language in the core right now is for testing purposes

• voland

  I tested a little 1.6 beta yesterday and today and found a lot of little js bugs in admin-part, some bugs in registration system and ACL.

  What`s your opinion about date of getting out version that could be used for real sites (not testing) - and what it could be (RC, RC2 or may be 1.6.8)

• louislandry

  and gives us a separate language we can use to catch differences and mistakes in the overarching systems

  As for JDate, it should mostly behave the same for 3pd as it did in 1.5 as far as localisation unless I am misunderstanding the question

• JulioPontes

  louislandry, about Joomla! 1.6 framework, what most important features/improvements have on this new version for extension developers?

• rdeutz

  Little^John: I hope we have more then one but my last state is that no other template are ready

• JoomlaCorner

  coz. can't read the text in array TH. and the the function sample xx-XX.localise.php not the same as xx-xx.date.php in 1.5.

• louislandry

  I would say ask that question on the CMS mailing list and I will make sure you get an answer

• JoomlaCorner

  Louislandry : thank you for explain. I will try to improve it.

• stream

  Hello Louis, hello Robert :) About usability. Means this also any plans for a new (easier to understand, means less deep structure) backend? Some of my clients find it to hard. And how fast / slow it will be compared with version 1.5?

• louislandry

  Christophe and Andrew are much more informed in answering those questions JoomlaCorner

• Little^John

  rdeutz, okay. Just a thought... It would really be nice with an official skeleton to use for template builders and examples. I might have missed such a thing, but it would be a real cool thing to include as a basic template. :)

• louislandry

  Little^John: On the documentation: https://docs.joomla.org/ACL_Tutorial_for_Joomla_1.6 exists, but I don't know of a page that specifically goes through the steps from a lines of code perspective, though I know it is on the radar to get written.

• jools

  Title: ACL Tutorial for Joomla 1.6 - Joomla! Documentation (at docs.joomla.org)

• rdeutz

  Little^John I think we have a very simple template in the package

• ian_mac

  atomic

• rdeutz

  atomic

  stream: the backend is to complicated, really ?

• louislandry

  voland: I would say that for early adopters 1.6 RC1 is time you can use it in a production environment, but for most people the formal release of 1.6.0 would be when I would recommend.

  I don't know what date that would be on, but it will be after we have fixed all of the issues in our tracker at a priority level of 1-3

• rdeutz

  i think the joomla backend is compared to other cms the simplest I saw

• voland

  louislandry: good. I`ll be waiting :-)

• stream

  rdeutz: My clients used Wordpress and Typolight. I am a developer so I love it (it's between Typo and WP) but my opinion is not relevant.

• Little^John

  louislandry, ty for the link. It wasnt exactly what I was hoping for, but Ill have look around ;)

• rdeutz

  I try to let the users only on the frontend, that is ok for the most things a client must do

• louislandry

  JulioPontes: I am biased, but I think the most powerful advances in the framework for this release are in the form package and the access control stuff :) I am also a big fan of the simplification of JRegistry.

• rdeutz

  or give them only a manager account

• Marcos

  @rdeutz but with the ACL it will be easier for us to 'restrain' users to some parts of the backend right?

• louislandry

  stream: I don't think there are any specific plans as of right now, but that doesn't preclude it from happening .... especially if people like you want to jump in and do the work to make it happen

  :) OK, I think I am caught up

• stream

  Clients want to have full access to save money even for updating stuff. But thanks for your answer. I'll look for atomic and try to make it flavorsome for them.

• AmyStephen

  as an FYI re: jQuery conflicts - there are a few very good plugins that address the jQuery/Mootools conflict http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/scripts/7230 and http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/site-management/site-performance/10236 are good choices available for awhile

• jools

  Title: SC jQuery - Joomla! Extensions Directory (at extensions.joomla.org)

• Little^John

  louislandry, You had some news about how to raise funding for developing some time ago on the blog. Any news on that?

• louislandry

  i had a blog on that?

• rdeutz

  Marcos, I don't know exactly, but I think not with 1.6

• Little^John

  louislandry, wasnt you sry, but soemone from the core team.. Will try and find it, 2 sec

  maybe you knew about it :)

• louislandry

  Actually I am pretty sure you will be able to turn things off in the admin using ACL

  thus *simplifying* it

  to some extent

• rdeutz

  the problem atm is to find the switch to turn things off ;-)

• Marcos

  @rdeutz too bad, that would have been an asset imho, see if I assign manager role to an user then he can't ..; say clean the cache or 'unlock' locked articles, so some admin tools are necessary

  @rdeutz exactly

• louislandry

  more of a documentation issue at the moment

  I'm sure we will get to it

• rdeutz

  but we have the tools for that so it is only something we have to do

• Marcos

  @louis thx, to some extent :)

• louislandry

  heh

  well played :)

• Marcos

  ;)

• rdeutz

  so friends 15 minutes left

  all questions answered ?

• ivo

  <Little^John> louislandry, You had some news about how to raise funding for developing some time ago on the blog. Any news on that?

• Marcos

  Mine yes thank you for time & availability guys

• louislandry

  He was getting a link IIRC

  I am pretty sure I didn't write the blog in question

• Little^John

  louislandry, it was an entry from Elin and about how it could be done (how others does it) so I guess it doesnt matter. Was just curious if funding became possible as it would have some positive impact on the # of workhours

• louislandry

  and that isn't my area of the project :)

• Little^John

  https://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1117-how-open-source-development-is-funded.html

• AmyStephen

  hey - congrats on beta! - that's really great!

• jools

  Title: How Open Source Development is Funded (at community.joomla.org)

• louislandry

  Ah...

• rdeutz

  we have some sponsors for dev time

• louislandry

  I think that would be a great question for Ryan or Elin to answer given their involvement in that part of the project

  and Robert can take a crack at it too

• Marcos

  Before leaving I'd like to thank you again not only for the beta release but for the 'wind of changes' that are blowing, I sense good vibes all over Joomla lately, feels *good*

• louislandry

  :) me too Marcos ... me too

• AmyStephen

  agree Marcos

  louis - what are the language improvements - the language switcher?

• rdeutz

  as i said we have some companies that sponsor time but we are happy if we get more and more

• Little^John

  rdeutz, allright. But there is no actual plan for funding/going commercial?

• louislandry

  Joomla is NOT going commercial

• AmyStephen

  rdeutz- also happy to get more and more community stepping up, getting involved, which was a point raised in that blog, too

• rdeutz

  this wasn't the plan at any time and will never be a plan for joomla !

• AmyStephen

  if community gets involved, that helps address those needs to get work done

• louislandry

  community *is* involved

  and the notion that it isn't is insulting to those that are

• AmyStephen

  not according to that blog

  i agree on that point tho

• louislandry

  your takeaway from that blog doesn't necessarily equate to everyone's takeaway

• AmyStephen

  how about the language switcher? could you explain a bit on that?

• louislandry

  regardless

  OK

• Little^John

  I agree too, but the blog raised some questions (and there was never an update on the analysis she made)

• louislandry

  The idea with respect to the language switcher is that content items can be "tagged" with a specific language

  and the "switcher" essentially provides a filter mechanism

  so if a specific language is chosen

  then the models will then return only items that are tagged with that language

• Marcos

  @louis all this with Joomfish in mind?

• louislandry

  I honestly don't think Joomfish was in mind with it.

• AmyStephen

  louis - +++++ very very good, thank you.

• louislandry

  It is something that JM and Christophe had worked on

  and was requested by a large number of the translation teams IIUC

  its a simplistic way of solving a broad problem, I don't think its intention is to fully replace Joomfish

• AmyStephen

  it's not implemented fully, is that correct? just the underpinnings are in place?

• JulioPontes

  louislandry, Joomla 1.6 has a solution for multi-language sites? because in some extensions I discover a new field to record a language of content(for example) so if we have a site on en-GB and pt-BR. Joomla will be display data results depending of my language of my user?

• Little^John

  rdeutz, louislandry, thx for the answer. I'll save the blogpost for further comments from Elin if opportunity comes. :)

• Marcos

  louisnot what I meant,

• louislandry

  Little^John: I would urge you to come to one of these when Elin is around and ask her

  I am sure she'd LOVE to comment on it

• Marcos

  sorry typo

• louislandry

  ok... can you maybe try to explain what you meant

  i'd like to be able to answer you intelligently :)

• Marcos

  @louis I meant integrating nicely with Joomfish, but that's a question for Alex and co I guess :)

• louislandry

  ah

  yes

  well he has certainly been aware of the changes so I would imaging he has something in the works with integration

  and i know he was involved some in the discussions

  I suspect they will find several good integration points

• rdeutz

  one last question

• Little^John

  To Both: What do you, yourself, fancy the most in 1.6?

• rdeutz

  the new output

• louislandry

  Mine is tangential to the software.... but the new release cycle is what I fancy the most

• Little^John

  Cool. :)

• louislandry

  It gives me the most opportunity into the future :)

• AmyStephen

  i am excited for the new release cycle too - very good

• rdeutz

  ok, thanks to everyone it was nice to be here

• louislandry

  yes great as always :) thanks to all who came

• AmyStephen

  very good - thanks robert and louis!

• Marcos

  Thank you all, nice chat, chao chao ...see you in 10 days!!!

• Little^John

  Nice to have this opportunity for us "normal people". Thank you for all the answers. Take care! :)