Pulse CMS v5.4.0 Beta 2 Released 💖

We are pleased to release PulseCMS 5.4.0 beta version 2!

All paying customers can download it from their dashboard. If you have trouble, contact support or reply here.

Take a look at a "live" version of 5.4.0 beta:
https://www.pulsecms.com/samples/grandescape-basic/

Instructions on getting started with the new version 5.4.0 Beta 2:
https://docs.pulsecms.com/1.0/getting-started/get-started-with-5-dot-4-dot-0-beta

Our goals for this update were simple:

  1. Make future updates much easier. We improved the Updater functionality in the Admin panel. Numerous improvements and fixes, see below.

  2. Make a new beautiful theme. The Grand Escape theme is in beta. We hope this lets you make simple customer sites with this beautiful theme. We will still fully support other themes. There are a few features not yet implemented on the theme, which are listed here.

CURRENTLY IN BETA

NEW

  • Alpha release of Grand Escape theme.
  • Major improvements with PulseCMS updater. This makes it easier to upgrade going forward.
    Call for Feature Ideas

IMPROVEMENTS

  • After this version, you can pick and choose what files to update during an install.
  • Upload an update with the browser, or point to an existing ZIP file that you uploaded via FTP.
  • On update, files will be scanned for changes with a checksum. This lets you avoid overwriting files you have customized.
  • Progress bar fixes during an update.
  • Templates: Added $template_folder variable to allow templates to be more flexible and "pastable".
  • Navigation tag allows sending custom classes to make templating easier.

FIXES

  • Fixed "No content found" bug when trying to update. Added various fixes to updater compatibility.
  • Fixed blog search. Some templates have weak UX, but blog search functionally does work.
  • Minor fix which affected some blog images, so they will show properly.
3 Likes

Great, look forward to trying it out next week, thanks.

Templates: Added $template_folder variable to allow templates to be more flexible and "pastable".

Can you say more about this and what it means?

Good question. It's for more technical builders who will change a template.

In short, you can now use the $template_folder variable when making templates rather than $path. Example from file /templates/grand-escape-landing/layout.php:

<link href="<?php echo $template_folder; ?>/css/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />

Why is it helpful?
In the past, you only had $path, which would go to the install path of PulseCMS.... Result: You needed to "hard code" the folder to your template...

Ex: Old way to add a CSS file:
<link href="<?php echo $path ?>/template/grand-escape-landing/css/styles.css" rel="stylesheet">

(Notice how you had to type the whole path in that old version example- /template/grand-escape-landing.)

This old method broke your template if you copied the template to a new folder. (Perhaps to make a new version.) Because the hard coded folder paths would be wrong.

Therefore, we added the $template_folder variable. It lets you build templates that won't break, which you can easily copy-and-paste to new versions, in order to experiment or edit.

1 Like

Oh I see, yes indeed thanks. Makes sense. I have been caught out myself in the past when I made a new template and associated files in its own folder, then forgot to change the path in and was frustrated why it didnt work.
This is a very neat change. Much appreciated.

In the next version, 5.4.1, likely about 45 days away, we will add "shortcut tags" so that its even easier:
{{template_folder}} will output the template folder.
Ex: <img src="{{template_folder}}/template-images/my-image.png">

{{website_path}} will output the root path to the website (formerly $path).
Ex: <img src="{{website_path}}/global-images/my-image.png">

We want to eliminate or vastly reduce the need for PHP knowledge, so a web designer or IT person can make a template. (Of course, it is reverse compatible and you can always insert PHP the old way, if you want to.)

The next version with this is already in beta testing, so if you want to try it, please message me.

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

Following up that this "shortcuts tags" feature is now available on request, in beta: