Toolset Update: Types 1.6, Views 1.6.2, CRED 1.3, Layouts 0.9.2, Access 1.2.2

   Amir

Announcements

August 20, 2014
36

After a pretty long and intensive development cycle, we are ready with a major update for all Toolset plugins. This update includes new features, better usability and, of course, more stability.

We already wrote a bit about this coming update. Here is the full list of changes to all Toolset components.

Layouts 0.9.2

The highlight in this Layouts release is much improved integration with Views. Now, you can create Content Templates and Views right from within the Layouts editor. We’ve also added new cells for theme integration, allowing theme authors to create custom cells for single ‘posts’ and the blog ‘loop’.

New Layouts features

  • Content Template cell (separate from Post Content cell)
  • Improved workflow for Views Content Grid cell
  • Automatically create a Content Template to use with a View
  • Post Loop cell for archive pages
  • Views Post Loop cell for archive pages
  • Layout Assignment method
  • Layouts can be assigned to archives
  • Layouts can be assigned to 404 page
  • Better organized Cell Select dialog
  • Callback for Post Content cell for theme integration
  • Callback for Post Loop cell for theme integration

Layouts bug fixes

  • Problems with Unicode in Layout name
  • Problems with Unicode when duplicating Layouts
  • CRED forms not working with Layouts
  • Grid size selector of 6
  • Remove calls to Multibyte string library

Views 1.6.2

This update of Views is mainly intended to allow the tight integration with Layouts. It also comes with a simplified ‘Embedded Mode’, which actually runs Views Embedded as a plugin. This way, you can install the Embedded Views onto client sites, without worrying about code updates or inflating your theme’s code.

New features and bug fixes in Views 1.6.2

  • Standalone plugin for Embedded Views
  • Read-only summary pages for every Views object, accessible when this new plugin is activated
  • Added an option to load all users, without filtering by role, in Views that query users
  • Added a filter by post author: set by the author of the current page
  • Added a filter before and after each element on a View loop
  • Improved the custom search:
    • Added counters to each option of each input based on a new format=”…” attribute using %%NAME%% and %%COUNT%% as placeholders
    • Removed one remove_filter call that broke dependency when the relevant View was not the first on a page
    • Fixed post status arguments: when querying inside an AJAX call, they should not return protected statuses by default
    • Now saving a meta_query filter when the filter by custom field uses the IN comparison and one of the passed values is empty (meaning we should return all results)
    • Fixed filters getting multiple values (multi-select and checkboxes) and AJAX pagination
    • Fixed filter by post relationship: sometimes, the default value is 0 and not array(0)
    • Fixed adding a filter by a custom field created outside Types
    • Fixed filters by a taxonomy on multisite
    • Stoping rollover if set when selecting an option of the form
    • Fixed nested Views
  • Fixed trashing-flow for Content Templates and WordPress Archives is cleaner and leaves no traces
  • Views Media Manager can now handle BMP and TIFF files
  • Several security fixes
  • Improved WPML compatibility by moving string registration to init
  • Removed a few calls to deprecated methods
  • Overall optimizations to JS in the Views editor
  • Updated Codemirror
  • Improved compatibility with WooCommerce AJAX operations
  • Added “limit” and “offset” Views shortcode attributes

Types 1.6

This version of Types looks the same as before and smells the same as before, so what’s changed? Besides a bunch of improvements and bug fixes, Types 1.6 comes with a new library of fields. This library lets us run the same code in Types and in CRED, offering much cleaner fields and completely consistent functionality in both the WordPress admin (Types) and in front-end forms (CRED).

  • Removed Zebra library and created new Toolset fields library
  • Added ability to add extra options by filter *wpt_field_options* to fields with “options”
  • Added ability to create custom post type with the same singular and plural name
  • Added ability to select menu icon for custom post type
  • Added an option to delete attached repetitive files
  • Added filter “wpcf_pr_belongs_post_status” that allows to change post_status for parent/child posts
  • Added sanitization for uploaded file names, to remove non-latin1 characters
  • Added debug page to help retrieving debug information
  • Fixed export problem if system temporary directory is not allowed to write by open_basedir restriction
  • Fixed export problem, when temporary directory is full or not available
  • Fixed import of slug for custom fields
  • Fixed problems with calling static method in PHP 5.2
  • Fixed problems with embedding scripts when WordPress works on non-standard port
  • Fixed problems with getting not existing array keys when register new post type
  • Fixed problems with manage more than one flat taxonomy on one CRED screen
  • Improved import button, which is disabled until user select a import file
  • Improved custom display logic UI for conditional display in custom fields edit screen
  • Prevent raising group chose overlay on “Custom Fields Control” screen if there is no group
  • Remove serialize/unserialize for exported relationships to avoid object injection
  • Tweak import/export screen when is something wrong with imported file
  • Fix several security issues
  • Add “required” validation to audio, file and video fields

CRED 1.3

When we started developing CRED, we made an important design decision, which had consequences that were not clear to us. To cut some development effort, we used the Zebraforms library, rather than developing our own. Don’t get me wrong. I think that Zebra is an excellent library. It’s rich, powerful and has some very smart features. Problem is, it’s not right for CRED.

Since CRED forms display in the front-end of your sites, you need to have complete control over the output. Unfortunately, Zebra outputs ‘heavy’ HTML and CSS and makes customizations very difficult.

Removing Zebra from CRED meant practically rebuilding it. So we did. The entire Toolset team was busy for several months recoding much of CRED’s code. In the process, we visited every corner in CRED code, improved hundreds of points and cleared more bugs than we wanted to see. Now CRED is super-stable and produces output which we hope you’ll like.

CRED 1.3 changes and fixes highlights

  • Removed Zebra Form and created new Toolset fields library
  • Use native WordPress tiny MCE editor for post content and WYSIWYG fields
  • Added Bootstrap support so that forms look great on both Bootstrap and non-Bootstrap themes
  • Added custom conditional for Types groups when creating scaffold
  • Add date localization
  • Add extended date handling
  • Added ability to turn off cred.css on frontend
  • Fixed post parent control in Auto-Generate Form for non-hierarchical post types
  • Improved messages when import forms
  • Fixed problems with change settings when import form
  • Added warning in notifications when mail subject is empty
  • Remove checkbox “Only if field value has change” from notification for new posts
  • Added “Settings saved” message on settings page
  • Output taxonomy checkboxes as unordered list for easier styling
  • Only show/hide popular button when there are existing taxonomy terms
  • Don’t show parents selector in hierarchical taxonomies when there are no taxonomy terms
  • Added validation to audio, video and image fields
  • Improve the ReCaptcha field when keys are missing
  • Remove multiple checkout messages in CRED Commerce
  • Added translation support for validation messages for generic fields
  • Added multiselect generic field
  • Fixed several minor issues for WP 4.0

Access 1.2.2

This Access update includes smaller changes and some fixes.

  • Improved function for load custom read errors
  • Improved Import/Export flow
  • Fixed permissions for media in admin
  • Added option ‘Read others preview’
  • Added ability to add custom caps
  • Added custom roles, custom caps to export/import
  • Allow set permissions for posts types where singular name=plural name

WordPress 4.0 Compatibility for Toolset Plugins

All Toolset plugins are now fully compatible with WordPress 4.0. If you are developing new sites, we encourage you to switch to the WordPress 4.0 beta and make sure that everything is working smoothly for you.

Download and Update

You can download all Toolset components from your wp-types.com account. If you are using CRED, please remember that the HTML output for fields has changed. If you used the Zebraforms classes for your design, these customizations will no longer have any effect, as CRED has stopped using the Zebra library. All your forms continue to work as before (and a lot better), but the HTML output will be simpler.

As this is a major upgrade, we recommend making backup first.

What’s Next for Toolset

The next major step for Toolset will be Layouts plugin, going out of beta. Much of our development for the next couple of months will be dedicated to reaching Layouts 1.0. To reach 1.0, we intend to have:

  • Full integration with WPML, making Layouts the first drag-and-drop editor for WordPress that supports multilingual sites
  • Usability and workflow improvements
  • A powerful library of building blocks, mostly implemented as Views and Content Templates
  • Even tighter integration with Views and complete integration with CRED
  • And, a whole bunch of small improvements, meant to make life better when using Layouts

BTW, Layouts 0.9.2 is a very stable and rich product. You will see it in action, next month, when we update our own wp-types.com with a new design implemented with our own Layouts plugin.

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Leave your feedback here and we’ll reply.

 

Comments 36 Responses

  1. Great to see the comprehensive update to Toolset. Looking forward to using the new versions.

    Any chance of more verbose explanations for the new features, in particular, does “Added a filter before and after each element on a View loop” mean grouping now exists in Views?

    Looking forward to the UI refresh as well. Timeline on that?

    • Hi Matt,

      The filters before and after each element in the loop are wpv-before-display-post and wpv-after-display-post. There’s also filters for taxonomy and users.

      They are documented in the Views Filters on the documentation pages.
      https://toolset.com/documentation/user-guides/views-filters/

      We’ve tried to keep our document up to date with the changes we have made. Please let me know if there’s anything else that’s not clear.

      The next major task in Toolset is Layouts 1.0. We’ll be working on this for the next couple of months. After that will be a UI refresh for Types.

      Best regards,
      Bruce

  2. Hi there,

    Great the new updates are there! Unfortunately I couldn’t find any notes regarding these CRED issues though:

    – custom field values inside evaluations not saved
    – custom field values missing in “When post status changes to” notification emails
    – highlighting/displaying taxonomy term hierarchy in select fields reliably on all major browsers

    Also is the expiring posts feature included in these releases…?

    Cheers,
    Thomas

    • Hi Thomas,

      This release of CRED was a major rewrite in many areas. We’ve addressed many issues so they might not all be listed in the release notes.

      Please download the latest version and see if your issues have been fixed. You can report any issues in our support forum and we’ll fix them immediately.

      The post expiration feature is included in CRED 1.3.

      Best regards,
      Bruce

  3. Celebration! 🙂

    Currently installing the new plugins, can’t wait to play with them!

    I will definitely use Layouts a lot to create my sites. It’s just brilliant

    Thank you so much!

    Peace

  4. I am looking forward to using the updates and appreciate your efforts. I hope that these changes are well documented in the documentation area with clear examples and up-to-date screen shots. If there is one major gripe I have about Toolset is the documentation. I look forward to renewing my license to lifetime very soon.

    Thank you again for your hard work.

  5. I have to say that this is the best buy I have ever made in any of the software I have bought, and I have bought a lot. You guys do things right. You constantly upgrade and improve all your products and your tech support is excellent and very responsive.

    Thanks for creating such a great product. It becoming more and more powerful with each release.

  6. Thanks for the great update, I’m especially grateful that CRED is no longer using Zebra.

    Is a more refined way of handling many to many relationships in the pipeline at all?

    Cheers, Mark

    • Yes, we’re planning to add nice many-to-many relationship to Types, which will be used by Views and CRED. It’s a big project and hasn’t started yet. In the next 3-4 weeks, we are planning to complete Layouts 1.0. Then, we want to include a few small things in Views for better usability. Then, we’re on Types.

      We found that assigning a large team of developers to one plugin at a time gets us results faster (and better).

      • That’s really cool. Looking forward to it. I really appreciate your approach to developing your software.

  7. First of all: Wow! Awesome new features in the recent updates of toolset. You rock!

    However: I am a bit worried about bootstrap and layouts -> will it still be possible to build toolset stuff WITHOUT bootstrap and Layouts?

    I don’t like bootstrap, I develop themes with SASS and Compass. And what I really love in wp-toolset is the ability to insert own HTML including CSS-Classes. That’s the best argument PRO toolset. You can build everything from scratch and don’t have to fix /rewrite predifined CSS, that comes from the plugin.

    Almost all CCKs have predifined CSS, that’s crap. Toolset doesn’t and this is what I love most on toolset. Please do never change this 🙂 Please integrate bootstrap and Layouts ONLY optional and not as the only way to use toolset in future.

    How are your plans with this?

    • Sure you can use Toolset plugins without Bootstrap CSS. The Layouts plugin uses Bootstrap, but for all other Toolset components, Bootstrap is merely an option. Now, there is tighter integration between Views and Layouts. However, Views works fine stand-alone. This release of Views improves a lot of things around parametric search and other areas not related to Layouts. Also, this version of CRED has a ton of improvements, having nothing to do with Layouts or Bootstrap.

      Our long-term plans are to make our Layouts plugin able to work with other CSS frameworks. This is still a while to the future. So, for now, if you don’t like Bootstrap CSS, Layouts isn’t much help to you.

      • Thank you Amir. That sounds good!

        And yeah, the update is awesome. Thanks for your continous efforts and work to improve toolset!

  8. This release enqueues some css and js in the frontend which has to do with jQuery UI tab functionality.
    The id for the css is ‘wptoolset-field-datepicker-css’. I guess in some situations the css has to be there for some date picker controls.
    As it stands I am not using those in my theme and the css overrules my own jQuery UI css tab classes, which breaks my site.

    The best way would be to load these front end snippets only when needed. In the meantime I am downgrading the plugin.

    • Thanks for reporting this. I’ve added to our issues queue for Types/CRED and we’ll get it fixed ASAP.

      • Hello Amir,

        Thanks for taking care. This is really critical as I’m not able to access my postypes in the admin area (I can access the postype listing page but if I click to open 1 partucular post, then, I’m getting the error message : Fatal error: Declaration of FormFactory::createForm() must be compatible with that of FormAbstract::createForm() !!!)
        It seems the issue is coming from the class.form_factory.php file, which is present in cred and types.
        Another point is that I have 1 site which is running well with th enew Toolset plugins and 2 that have the issue).
        Let me know.
        Regards
        Pat

        • Hi Pat,

          We’re in the process of fixing this. It only happens on some sites that have PHP strict mode enabled.

          Best regards,
          Bruce

          • Hello Bruce,
            Thanks for your return.
            What’s PHP strict mode for you and how can I change this to another mode ?
            Regards
            Pat

    • Can you report this in our forum and give some details. Please add the forum link here and we’ll look into it.

  11. Hi guys,

    I see WPML remove installer support and add new autoupdate embedded in the main plugin.
    Will it be the same for toolset?

    Thanks for your support
    Best regards
    Carlo

  12. Did the updates yesterday. Everything is working great! Had some “myzebra” custom css stuff on the cred forms, so I wanted to make sure I had the time to address the customizations on the cred forms while doing the updates.

    It was not a biggy, and since the css customizations are across the board on all of the forms, I moved the custom css to my size custom css file.

    Only weird glitch was with the taxonomy selectors. I had removed all “add” and “new” features from the taxonomies, and when I did the update, they were returned. Had to remove them all again.

    Good job!

  13. With the upgrade to Types 1.6, my conditional display fields are no longer displayed appropriately on the admin pages for editing an existing post or adding a new post. This was working before the upgrade. I have conditional fields saved that are displayed fine with my previously existing view templates. I tried to post in the Types Community support forum, but it keeps saying I need to be logged in to post even though I am. (Every time I click the log in link, it sends me to my account page where I am already logged in). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

    • SandyP, please clear all your browser history. It will clear cache, cookies etc. and then try again. You can also try to post it using another browser. If it doesn’t help, please let me know.

  14. Help!
    The update gives me massive warnings on every page I use types fields on
    Warning: addslashes() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /wp-content/plugins/types/embedded/frontend.php on line 264

    Al the fields display normal after all the warnings.

    The debug mode is on because I am still working on this site.

    How do I fix this?

  15. Indeed a great plugin and nice updates.
    But i still miss a sorting option switch for the parametric search.
    Website visitors expect to have a sorting option nowadays specialy on realestate websites.

    Do you guys have any update on this when this is going to be implemented in the plugin.
    And with a sorting option switch i mean a sorting switch on the frontend.

    Hope to hear something about this soon.

    • You are very right about this important feature. Today, sort order is hard-coded in the View and not available for visitors to choose. We plan to add it. At the moment this feature is not in development, so I can’t give you a schedule for it. We will write about it when it goes into development, so that we can get more feedback as it’s getting built.