The next release is coming along very nicely. Many new small feature have been added and well as coding optimizations which reduce the memory requirements. There is one major downside. This next update will break any custom templates that directly accessed the data for addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, websites and social networks. This was a tough choice as I’ve tried very hard not to break functionality implemented in past versions. But it had to be done in order to reduce the memory overhead and to allow more flexibility when creating templates in the future as I expand that feature set. The good news is that if you created a custom template an you stuck with the documented template tags you should have no problems. If you had paid me to create a custom template for you I will be more than happy to update your template free of charge. Other, you have my sincerest apologies for any issues this may cause you. Keep in mind you can simply revert to the previous version of the plug-in until you can update your template.
Some of the features that will highlight the next release…
A template tag to show the list a categories that an entry is associated with. A very highly requested feature. This will of course be added to the default templates.
An attribute can be added the shortcode to show all entries that where the post has the same categories. For example, if a post has been assigned to ‘Category A’ and ‘Category B’, the entries that have been assigned to both the same categories will be shown.
The category shortcode attribute will now accept a comma delimited list of category ids.
For theme developers, I’ve added two theme template tags. One for calling the entry list and the other to call the upcoming list. Both tags support all the shortcode attributes passed as an associative array. These two theme template tags definitely opens up all sorts of interesting things that can be done dynamically.
When, you might ask? My to do list grows smaller daily, so I would say in the next couple weeks if all goes well.
I am really glad to hear about some of the new features coming up. With 3.0 already pretty stable, I had been working on building my own connections ‘post_type’, and it’s turned into quite a daunting task. Only now can I really appreciate the work that went behind this plugin.
Sure hoping it’s fully 3.0 compatible. If you need any testers, just let us know where to go. I downloaded the latest dev vs. today but it’s the same as stable, so I tried at least.
Interesting I’d love to see what your working on. The next version should be plenty compatible to 3.0. Depending on when you downloaded the dev version, you very well could have the latest version. I simply haven’t increased the version number in the dev version. The next version not only includes the features and fixes mentioned, it includes many, many optimizations which reduce the memory requirements and db access.
Excellent, excellent, excellent plugin!
We use Connections for our Musician and Band Directory in Windsor, Ontario Canada and plan to expand it for venue listings, an Artist directory and shop reviews.
One feature I would simply love to see would be a way for users to submit an entry, upload a photo and have that entry be put in a queue for approval.
Heck, if I can even sponsor that kind of a feature, let me know.
Simply the best, Steve!
WOW!
Love how you integrated it so seamlessly into your site! Excellent use of templates!
For others, here’s a link to their directory: http://windsorite.ca/music/directory/bands/
A front end form is in the plans and donations are always so very welcomed!
have been searching for this plugin and am so pleased to have found you did such a great job! we will be using it to add a small business directory to plugin.com
it would be great to have the features owen requested – we would love a way to let companies submit their information via a simple form and have it go into a que for spam checking!
love the work, just donated!!!
Is there a featured where you can rate each list in the directory?