Outlook on the future of WoltLab Community Framework 2.2
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WoltLab -
October 4, 2015 at 4:03 PM -
155,021 Views -
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We decided that it is finally the framework's time to shine and launched the project "Lantia": Embedding an entire CMS directly into the core, eventually granting users the ability to build their entire website without the need of poorly integrating 3rd party applications for instance having issues with shared logins, layouts barely in sync and other differences harming the user experience.
CMS
Creating pages will take place using Redactor's full HTML mode without the limitations of bbcodes. Each page can be built completely from the ground up or using a placeholder-powered template. This does not only allow less experienced users to create and maintain appealing and complex pages (e.g. woltlab.com), but also allows for more advanced scenarios such as nested pages (e.g. a documentation).
Pages allow for a whole range of customization options starting with simple meta tags up until full URL customization. Following our tradition all pages can be optionally set to be available in different languages, with each version being independently configurable. Pages are backed with a box-like system similar to the already known dashboard-box-system, easily creating reusable and complex content, and an exhaustive media management system.
Styles
Great CMS are not only defined by their ability to easily manage content but also their overall flexibility when it comes to visual customization. People often tend to see the visual appearance as some sort of eye candy, but this completely misses the point of having visual guidance and recognition through unique designs. Given this background we have to make a whole bunch of changes to the entire style system and the HTML source to provide these abilities, eventually sacrificing backward compatibility wherever necessary, despite this will render most styles incompatible or at least requiring some work to get them running again.
We consider this to be an opportunity to tackle and resolve certain short-comings of the current style system. The style editor will undergo a huge overhaul process to push the limits of visual customization and typography even further, ultimately easing the creation of unique and appealing styles as well as adding a proper and reliable update mechanism for styles.
Future Development
Upcoming changes and additions will be announced much earlier and more frequently, granting a better insight into the evolution of our products. Community Framework 2.2 and Burning Board 4.2 will be released together.
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