14

Mar

2014

IMPRESSPAGES 4.0 PRE-RELEASE

For three months we’ve been pushing and pulling to turn into an exceptional tool for creating and managing websites. Now we want you to get your hands on it - try out ImpressPages 4.0 preview: explore it by setting up a test site, give us feedback on how it works, get excited for the big release coming up.

ImpressPages 4.0 includes a suite full of new features that we’re eager to tell you about. For starters, shifting from CMS to framework was a crucial decision for us. We wanted to make coding fun again and felt this could only be achieved by giving developers free space and functionality provided by a framework. To prove we’re serious see all the new features listed below.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE CODE?

We can proudly say that our new version is a true ode for the code. It’s clean, simple and flexible, just how developers like it. With a new MVC engine you can make custom changes in no time; not to mention you can write your own plugins and themes.

MVC Framework

ImpressPages 4.0 has a lightweight and clean MVC Framework under the hood. You get MVC, routing, template helpers, url generation, DB layer (and PDO if you are friends). As most modern frameworks it uses PSR standards-compliant class naming and autoloader (like composer). Read more about it

Key-Value storage

At ImpressPages 4.0 it is conveniently provided by default. It is implemented in MySQL and can work on any shared hosting. But if you have a real Key-Value engine on your server, you can switch to it and improve the performance. The code on your side doesn’t change because of that. Read more about it

Grid

Create a database table and put nice CRUD interface for your models in minutes. You will be glad you don't have to write all that admin code yourself. Read more about it

Forms

ImpressPages includes form generation, validation (in PHP and JS) and ajax interactions between the form and controller. Use these functions and create cutting edge forms in minutes. As always, you are not forced to use them if you have your own way of doing things. Read more about it

Multi-language support and translations

ImpressPages 4.0 is multilingual by default. No hacking or plugins to make your website international. Read more about it

IDE autosuggestions always work

To make the coding experience even better we made sure that beautiful class structure and methods together with clean workflow in your IDE are all present at ImpressPages 4.0. IDE autosuggestions always work seamlessly and you’re just a simple ctrl+mouse click away from implementing the function you are curious about.

Uploaded assets repository

No more pain when controlling user-uploaded assets: use simple JavaScript method to invoke repository browser and get list of all the files selected by the user. ImpressPages 4.0 stores the originals; provides methods to get their resized/cropped versions; and removes unused files when the original file is removed. Creating thumbnails has never been easier!

Bootstrap CSS style

Nice and clean admin panel based on Bootstrap CSS style is available in the 4.0 release. This means you can code your own admin views without worrying about CSS. If you want you can use Bootstrap for your frontend as well.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE USER INTERFACE?

We’ve built everything around the magic word usability. So either you’re designing a website or managing its content, the admin panel is super easy to grasp and friendly to work with. Creatively speaking, we wanted to make rocket science easy. Thus, the whole package of neat features for content managers who are not so tech savvy.

True inline editing with drag&drop

Yup, we had that before but now it’s as good as IT gets. With one line of code you make page navigation and content editing easy. Edit pages as you see them, not from somewhere under the hood. Simply drag and drop pictures, videos, polls, menus, whatever you like. It’s time-saving and kind of addictive.

Start typing right away

Simply click on the text field you wish to edit and the system will do the rest: it will automatically add a new title and you only need to hit ‘enter’ to add the body text. Added another title underneath? It will be formatted as second level title by default, so creating hierarchy is a piece of cake.

New flat and crisp design

We said “no more clutter, please” so our designers gave 4.0 an extreme makeover and now it’s flat-ilicous! The new aesthetics embrace simplicity and visual clarity throughout both website layout and admin interface. Plus, icons make it easy to navigate.

Less buttons, more functionality

We rethought the whole page management interface to make it simple and direct. Different settings are handily grouped together and always easy to find. This makes the whole process of creating, managing and deleting pages easier than ever.

No need for a single column widget

Decided that your text needs some visual escort? Just drag and drop the desired widget to a side of another and voilà! This way you can easily create as many columns as you like and adjust their width accordingly.