Well “Form” is the extremely creatively named add on for Connections that adds the very often requested feature; a front end form to allow users to submit entries for approval. Yep, I said it! Finally a front end form for Connections.

I do have to warn you, this is not a final release version. I’ve been encouraged by many users to early release a beta. Well, that’s what this is, a beta release. And for a limited time it’s for sale at half price.

Now, don’t let the “beta” word scare you off. It’s only being called a beta because it’s not feature complete. Many hours have been devoted to the design and testing so it is considered it to be pretty stable. Some great features are already done such as being able to selectively enable/disable data field types and being fully AJAX driven, meaning no page refresh once a user submits an entry. The features not yet implemented are custom field names [change the labels of the various input fields], custom ordering of the data field types, custom required fields and internationalization.

Want it? Here’s where to get it: http://connections-pro.com/pro-module/form/

DEMO

I did slip in a couple new features. One being the oft requested icons for the social media networks. There’s nothing to be done to take advantage of the icons, they’ll be displayed rather than the text links.

Another feature that I think many of you will like, the ability to associate a link with the image and logo. You’ll find two new radio options in the link metabox. Take a look at the screen capture. I think the usage is pretty straight forward but I’ll give you a quick run down how this works.

Lets say you have an entry with two links and you’re using a template that shows both the image [photo] and logo. Now, you want to assign the “Website” link to the logo and the “Blog” link to the photo. Edit the entry as you normally would and scroll to the Links section. Simply click the “Assign link to the logo.” radio option for the “Website” link and click “Assign link to the image.” radio option for the “Blog” link and click “Update” to save the entry. Now go to your directory page where that entry shows up. You’ll find that both the image and logo are now links.

Well, that’s about it. Here’s the change log with the detail of the other changes:

0.7.2.3 01/01/12

• FEATURE: Added TripAdvisor to the social media networks per user request.
• BUG: Fixed critical table creation error for the links table on new installs. Upgrades are ok.
• BUG: Fixed bug in getWebsiteBlock(). Would not return entries with the legacy type of ‘personal’.
• BUG: Make sure a boolean can not be passed to the opendir() function in class.template.php.
• OTHER: If critical Connections folders are not writable, attempt to increment permissions until they are writable. NOTE: This occurs only during plugin activation and upgrading from a previous version.
• OTHER: Update the default templates to use the new output methods.
• OTHER: Removed the unused code in cnEntry::getLinks() to convert a string to an array. It was being done twice, two differnet ways.
• OTHER: Increase the TimThumb FILE_CACHE_MAX_FILE_AGE to 7 days.
• OTHER: Add an “Add New” button next to the H2 on the Connections : Manage admin page.
• OTHER: Add FULLTEXT to several of the Connections tables.
• OTHER: Add a secondary LIKE search if the FULLTEXT search returns no results OR for when the users DB does not support FULLTEXT.
• OTHER: Update the iTunes icons with a better version which also has a more permissive lisense.

0.7.2.2 12/25/11

• FEATURE: Added option to the links to be able to assign them to either the image or logo.
• FEATURE: Social media networks now default to having an icon rather than the text link.
• BUG: Add missing style for the cn-list-head so the alphaindex will be positioned correctly.
• BUG: Create the required folders in wp_content as part of the db upgrade process.
• BUG: Add the style sheet for Chosen to the Connections admin pages.
• BUG: Check for the Chosen jQuery plugin before calling in the admin.
• BUG: Initialize the $visibility array in cnRetrieve::recordCount so the implode doesn’t thow a PHP error.
• BUG: Alter the query in cnRetrieve::entry to use $wpdb->prepare.
• BUG: Fix a bug in the max Google Static Map width and height logic. The max setting will be 640x640px instead of the default setting of 400x400px.
• BUG: When an entry is assigned to multiple categories and when using the order_by=’id|RANDOM’ option that entry would display once for each category it was assigned.
• OTHER: Remove the “Call-time pass-by-reference” from the upcoming list shortcode attributes.

If you’re stoping by to see what’s new, please see these posts. There is just too much to put in a single blog post.

• Feature Preview: Search
• Feature Preview: Visibility
• Feature Preview: Dashboard
• Feature Preview: Links
• Feature Preview: Addresses

http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/connections.zip

RC 1 should be fully compatible with WordPress 3.1.x through 3.3.

It is strongly advised that you backup the current four Connections tables in the db before the upgrade because the db structure has been changed significantly.

After the upgrade is completed, validate the data for as many entries as you feel appropriate. The suggested method is, while on the Connections : Manage admin page, click “Show Details” for an entry and then click “Edit” to make sure that data is exactly as expected on both the “Show Details” and the “Edit” page. Why? The data on the “Edit” page is pulled from the new db tables whereas the data shown on the Manage page and the front end is pulled from a cache which stored with the entry specific details. These two sources are kept in sync when edits are made. The reason for this data structure is so that a large amount of entries can be displayed without bombarding the db with queries.

At this time, there are no known bugs, but if you find one, please submit it here:

http://connections-pro.com/trac/

Probably the best feature is that all who have already purchased the template, this will be a free upgrade.

Search; pretty self explanatory.

The category drop down has received a major enhancement courtesy of the jQuery plugin Chosen. When the drop down is opened, a user can now search the categories rather than having to scroll through them to find the one they are looking for. It’s pretty neat, I’ve already become quite spoiled by this feature.

The pagination has been completely re-worked too. Currently, all the pages list in order, which is fine if you only have a few pages, but when you have 20+ pages, it becomes a mess, visually. The new layout mimics the style and functionality of the pagination used on the WordPress admin posts page. Definitely a lot less cluttered and nicer looking, while providing a familiar user experience.

Lastly, templates now can be programmed so they can hook into the Connections shortcode. Basically, what this means is that it is far easier to configure the template options. Currently, if you want to customize any of the template options, you have to locate and edit the functions.php file. And when you make changes, they are global, meaning every time you used the template, even on different pages, you have to use the same settings. Now, since cMap has been updated to hook into the Connections shortcode, you can set the template options from right within the shortcode. No more having to muck around with FTP and editing PHP code! Another great thing-now you can use cMap on different pages configured completely differently. Here’s a sample shortcode that can be used for cMap that changes the number of entries displayed per page, sets the pagination to be displayed at the bottom of the list and hides both the anniversary and birthday fields.

[connections template='cmap' cmap_page_limit='32' cmap_pagination_position='after' cmap_show_birthday='FALSE' cmap_show_anniversary='FALSE']

Here’s a list of options that are currently available with their default settings. This list will actually be expanded when the updated cMap template is released. As you see, templates are almost plugins on their own.

• cmap_enable_search = TRUE
• cmap_enable_pagination = TRUE
• cmap_page_limit = 20
• cmap_pagination_position = ‘before’
• cmap_enable_category_select = TRUE
• cmap_show_empty_categories = TRUE
• cmap_show_category_count = FALSE
• cmap_category_select_position = ‘before’
• cmap_enable_category_by_root_parent = FALSE
• cmap_enable_map = TRUE
• cmap_enable_bio = TRUE
• cmap_enable_bio_head = TRUE
• cmap_enable_note = TRUE
• cmap_enable_note_head = TRUE
• cmap_enable_website_link = TRUE
• cmap_show_addresses = TRUE
• cmap_show_phone_numbers = TRUE
• cmap_show_email = TRUE
• cmap_show_im = TRUE
• cmap_show_social_media = TRUE
• cmap_show_birthday = TRUE
• cmap_show_anniversary = TRUE
• cmap_map_type = ‘ROADMAP’
• cmap_map_zoom = 13
• cmap_map_frame_height = 400
• cmap_str_select = ‘Select Category’
• cmap_str_select_all = ‘Show All Categories’
• cmap_str_map_show = ‘Show Map’
• cmap_str_map_hide = ‘Close Map’
• cmap_str_bio_head = ‘Biography’
• cmap_str_bio_show = ‘Show Bio’
• cmap_str_bio_hide = ‘Close Bio’
• cmap_str_note_head = ‘Notes’
• cmap_str_note_show = ‘Show Notes’
• cmap_str_note_hide = ‘Close Notes’
• cmap_str_home_phone = ‘Home Phone’
• cmap_str_home_fax = ‘Home Fax’
• cmap_str_cell_phone = ‘Cell Phone’
• cmap_str_work_phone = ‘Work Phone’
• cmap_str_work_fax = ‘Work Fax’
• cmap_str_personal_email = ‘Personal Email’
• cmap_str_work_email = ‘Work Email’
• cmap_str_visit_website = ‘Visit Website’

Now, the really good news;  I need beta testers. Even though the version is a small bump in the version number, the changes are very significant. So if you know how to backup tables in your WordPress install and you wish to beta test, let me know in the comments and I’ll get you hooked up. Oh, this is important, there are no critical bugs that I’m aware of. The most annoying bug is that pagination in the admin may not always work as expected.

For the curious here’s just a small list of changes:

• FEATURE: Search.
• FEATURE: Added a Dashboard page in the admin.
• FEATURE: Added a Today’s Birthdays admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Upcoming Birthdays admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Today’s Anniversaries admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Upcoming Anniversaries admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Recently Added dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Recently Modified admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Connections News admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Template Update News admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a Pro Module New admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: Added a System Info / Configuration admin dashboard widget.
• FEATURE: New role capabilities that allow add and edit moderation.
• FEATURE: Added more actions/filters to hook into.
• FEATURE: Added hooks to allow templates o be configured via the shortcode so the template’s funcions.php file does not need edited.
• FEATURE: Collapsible and sortable addresses and ect., when adding or editing an address and ect.
• FEATURE: Added ICQ as a messenger type.
• FEATURE: Added Google+ to the social networks.
• BUG: The view_public capability was being removed when role capabilities were being reset.
• BUG: Fix many/most/all warnings and such reported when WP_DEBUG is TRUE.
• BUG: Remove the connections_view_entry_list role as it is no longer needed.
• BUG: Use gmmktime() instead of mktime() when working with the birthday and anniversary so dates are output showing the current date.
• BUG: Fixed a bug with applying the cn_list_before filter causing the template CSS to output twice.
• BUG: Fixed an issue with getAddressBlock() showing only the last input address.
• BUG: Removed the Screen Options tab from the Connections Manage page unless an action was being performed on an entry such as edit/copy.
• BUG: Fixed some minor bugs in the upgrade function.
• BUG: Fixed malformed vCard when Department was entered without and organization name.
• OTHER: Remove the meta Connections version from the head as it failed HTML5 validation. Added to the connections div as an HTML5 data attribute.
• OTHER: Disabled JavaScript compression on the Add/Edit Entry page. When enabled the RTE wouldn’t load to JS errors.
• OTHER: Update Roles and Capabilities page to use the metabox visual styles.
• OTHER: Updated the help page. Fixing typos and adding more info.
• OTHER: Update the settings page to match the WordPress setting page styles for better integration.
• OTHER: Update the categories page style to match the WordPress categories page styles for better integration.
• OTHER: Update the role page style to use the post metabox style for better integration.
• OTHER: All processes are now handled by a pocess method rather than hooking into the current page for better role capability support.
• OTHER: Remove the Donate link from the meta links on the Plugins page.
• OTHER: Added a entry meta table for future support for custom entry details.
• OTHER: Tweaked the header of the Manage / Copy / Edit screen.
• OTHER: Added a cache folder during activation for TimThumb.
• OTHER: Removed ‘Select’ from the address type select to force user selection.
• OTHER: Set the ‘Member’ template as a ‘family’ template type.
• OTHER: Set the ‘Single Entry Card’ template as a ‘individual’ template type.
• OTHER: Greatly improved support for using the shortcode multiple times on the same page.
• OTHER: Improved the pagination support on the Manage page. The limit is now user adjustable.
• OTHER: Completely revamped the db structure. Using the original table columns for addresses, ect., for an object to keep db queries to a minimum.
• OTHER: Added support for WP 3.3.
• OTHER: Use wp_editor when user is running WP 3.3+.
• OTHER: Moved the filters to be part of the entry retrieve query. Made possible by the new db structure.
• OTHER: Moved the order by option to be part of the entry retrieve query. Made possible by the new db structure.
• OTHER: Upgrade the class.php.upload class to .31
• OTHER: Added debug logging and display for image uploads.
• OTHER: Reworked just about every method in the cnOutput() class to remove all inline styles.
• OTHER: All styles have been moved to an external CSS file.
• OTHER: Completely restructured the Connections shortcode logic.
• OTHER: The output of the IM networks now conform to the hCard spec.
• OTHER: Added the missing contact first and last name template tag.
• OTHER: Enable shortcode use in the bio and notes fields.

Search is incorporated into the Connections : Manage admin page and it will be available as a standard feature in the admin. However, search on the front end will only be incorporated as a feature in the premium templates.

Here’s a list of fields that will be searched for matches:

• family_name
• first_name
• middle_name
• last_name
• title
• organization
• department
• contact_first_name
• contact_last_name
• bio
• notes
• line_1
• line_2
• line_3
• city
• state
• zip code
• country

I decided not to include links, email addresses and social media IDs as the results could get less useful do to partial string matching when the search is being performed.