Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

wet · 2012-04-07 08:28:01

On our road to Textpattern 4.5 we’ve will add a few pavers which will influence development practices. Most noteworthy is our decision to finally require PHP 5.2+.

Other items of note:

A new Validator class finds its first usage on the article tab. Currently, this class is in its infancy and I’m curiously awaiting your input. Plugins can listen for a callback to have their say on validation. Here’s a sample skeleton plugin.
The article tab employs AJAX for saving. The tab is logically divided into its “atomic” user interface elements aka partials. Each of these partials can either be “static” (i.e. drawn once when the whole tab is initially rendered), or “volatile” (i.e. redrawn any time the user submits the article form). Plugins can modify these meta definitions to render their own content in addition or as a replacement for partials. Here’s another sample plugin.

Thoughts?

Last edited by wet (2012-04-07 08:28:13)

philwareham · 2012-04-07 08:49:03

Can we also encourage plugin authors to read through the Creating Plugin Help Guidelines document.

Gocom · 2012-04-07 11:42:58

About the new classes, any change we could see them put in a other file than txplib_misc.php? The old man’s back is breaking. Carrying on all that weight for a decade. The file, txplib_misc.php, is getting very huge, and is even starting mildly effect my editor’s performance.

Could we see files as class.Validator.php and others, please?

Last edited by Gocom (2012-04-07 11:43:50)

wet · 2012-04-07 11:46:00

Of course. We will add additional files as soon as the class structure and naming has settled a bit.

rsilletti · 2012-04-22 20:15:34

I find it ironic to note that as of version 4.5 my web services are now obsolete for Textpattern on, of all names, Textdrive – with PHP 5.1.4 & Mysql 4.1.22 on a Mixed Grill account. It makes you wonder how many accounts may be impacted by that.

colak · 2012-04-23 04:34:50

rsilletti wrote:

I find it ironic to note that as of version 4.5 my web services are now obsolete for Textpattern on, of all names, Textdrive – with PHP 5.1.4 & Mysql 4.1.22 on a Mixed Grill account. It makes you wonder how many accounts may be impacted by that.

Mine are but I can/should be asking for the sites to be migrated to a newer server.

> Edited to add that the server specs is only part of the problem some of us will be facing. Plugins is another one. Especially those which are hardly supported such as mem_postmaster, upm_save_new, the_video, zem_redirect.

Having said that I can fully understand the devs decision to move on to newer specs.

Last edited by colak (2012-04-23 04:50:31)

Gocom · 2012-04-23 08:02:04

Well, sorry. None should be expected to support EOD products. PHP 5.2 was released in 2006. The final update to 5.2.x was released over a year ago.

Let’s not live in the past, ok? Cool.

Bloke · 2012-04-23 08:49:15

Chicken. Egg.

The more apps pander to lazy hosting by supporting obsolete / insecure versions of software, the less incentive there is for said hosters to upgrade because there’s no user pressure applied. Conversely, it’s tough for apps to break away because of the prevalence of places that run cpanel (for example) bundled with old software, which could alienate the app until hosters eventually upgrade. Given the relative size of Textpattern it’s a bold move because I can’t see many hosters solely using the Txp installed base as a business decision to upgrade their services.

But I’ve had success in the past with my host when I asked for mods or upgrades. They were slow at first, but have now got their act together and are quite amenable to switching things on and off as long as I have a good reason for doing so. They’re now running pretty recent versions of everything and keep stuff up-to-date.

Textpattern has a good standing with Textdrive. I’m sure if enough people raise tickets now, the infrastructure will be ready in time for launch. Or, as colak says, there are often (unadvertised) servers available with newer versions of software and all you need to do is ask to have your account migrated.

EDIT: zem_redirect, don’t worry about this one, I’ve got it covered with another plugin, although it’s still in alpha.

Last edited by Bloke (2012-04-23 08:52:28)

ruud · 2012-04-23 12:01:15

Gocom wrote:

Well, sorry. None should be expected to support EOD products. PHP 5.2 was released in 2006. The final update to 5.2.x was released over a year ago.

Even if you define “product” differently, that’s still true (mostly): Do people compile PHP themselves or do they rely on distributors to package it and backport security fixes to older versions of software:

Debian 5 (Lenny) => PHP 5.2.6 => EOL 2012-02-06 (last update: 2012-03-10)
Ubuntu 8.04.2 LTS (Hardy Heron) => PHP 5.2.4 => EOL April 2013 (server)

And then there’s Redhat:

Enterprise Linux 5 => PHP 5.1.6 => EOL 2017-03-31 (PHP 5.3.3 is available since the 5.6 release [2011-01-12] as a separate package php53, but it isn’t installed automatically during updates, as I understand it)
Enterprise Linux 4 => PHP 4.3.9 => EOL 2012-02-29, but you can pay for extended lifecycle support till 2015-02-28

Requiring PHP 5.2+ makes sense, I think. If you’re on a host that has an older PHP version, chances are they don’t do security updates regularly (unless it’s RedHat). Switch to different hosting if you want it to be secure.

wet · 2012-04-23 12:07:37

While opinions are nice, data is better.

There might be hosting companies who do not cater for this mass market and have no consumer-friendly upgrade path. But I think they are a very special minority.

reid · 2012-04-23 13:36:38

rsilletti wrote:

I find it ironic to note that as of version 4.5 my web services are now obsolete for Textpattern on, of all names, Textdrive – with PHP 5.1.4 & Mysql 4.1.22 on a Mixed Grill account. It makes you wonder how many accounts may be impacted by that.

You must have never migrated off of the original BSD servers. I have one of the first 200 accounts at Textdrive/Joyent, and I’ve got PHP 5.2.12 and MySQL 5.0.90

rsilletti · 2012-04-23 22:48:01

No, never did. Until now I’ve not had occasion to pursue it, which I now have.

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#1 2012-04-07 08:28:01

Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#2 2012-04-07 08:49:03

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#3 2012-04-07 11:42:58

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#4 2012-04-07 11:46:00

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#5 2012-04-22 20:15:34

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#6 2012-04-23 04:34:50

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#7 2012-04-23 08:02:04

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#8 2012-04-23 08:49:15

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#9 2012-04-23 12:01:15

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#10 2012-04-23 12:07:37

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#11 2012-04-23 13:36:38

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

#12 2012-04-23 22:48:01

Re: Early Textpattern 4.5 plugin authors feedback wanted

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