During this month and next (June/July 2015), Dev4Press website and all related websites (plugin micro sites, support, documentation) will be updated to what is internally version v5. But, due to the number of changes planned, it is important to outline what’s coming.
The whole process will take about one month, and the core changes will be launched on the same day, with more changes coming after that until the end of this month and some in July. On top of that, Dev4Press will get new premium plugin.
Plugins
- Dev4Press Updater 3.0 – new updater plugin is completely rewritten. With all the changes made to WordPress over the recent versions, it was important to hook Updater into WordPress updates. This means, that when you get update information, the update process will not go through WordPress Update. This will make it easier to update Dev4Press and other plugins from one central location and we will relying on WordPress more in the future. New plugin will use the same interface as all recent Dev4Press plugins. And it will still allow to install plugins and themes directly (based on your license) and it will allow you to buy plugins or themes from the plugin. New Updater will no longer display updates for old xScape Themes. New themes are coming based on xScape2 framework, and they will be visible from the new Updater. New translation file is added to the support forum, and if you want to translate it to your language, you can get POT file here.
- GD Knowledge Base 1.0 Pro – new plugin for creating knowledge base is completed, and it will be introduced when the new Dev4Press website launches. Plugin license will include plugin, one premium theme (new theme based on new xScape2 framework) with 2 child themes (one for the main theme and other for TwentyFifteen theme) and the dummy data file to get you started with setting up the knowledge base. This way you will get fully working examples on how to add theme templates for the knowledge base. This plugin will be used for the new Dev4Press documentation.
Here is the preview image for new Dev4Press Updater 3.0:
Themes
- xScape2 Theme Framework and themes – the new framework is completed and it will have own microsite to show off it’s features. And 5 themes are ready to go based on this new framework. New Dev4Press v5 will use the new framework and it will be based on the new themes. New framework and themes are very fast, much easier to customize, and generally big improvement over the old framework. As announced before new xScape2 is NOT compatible with the old framework, and same goes for themes.
- Retiring old xScape Framework and themes – with the new framework, the old one will be retired. And same goes for all themes made for it. There are no updates planned for them anymore, but as it stands, they are working fine with latest WordPress 4.2, and tested with early 4.3 (in development) so you can continue to use them as before. All users with xScape Theme Club license will get access to all new themes. And all users with single theme licenses, will get 50% discount for new themes or Themes Club licenses.
Websites
- Support Forum cleanup – all forums related to retired plugins will be archived. Some forums will be reorganized, all old topics closed for new replies (6 months or older). Widgets for forums and topics will be improved to include more links for relevant plugins and themes to make finding products information and documentation easier.
- Main Dev4Press website – the main website will focus on news and blog only. The user account dashboard will be moved to own subdomain that will deal with everything related to user accounts including downloads, licenses, contact forms and more. Plugins and themes both will get own subdomains too.
- Plugins micro websites – right now most plugins have an own domain and own micro website. While the idea of micro websites is good and useful, the problem is branding that is not directly related to Dev4Press. Now, all plugins will continue to have micro websites, but they will all be as subdomains on dev4press.com. Old domains will redirect to new subdomain structure.
- SMARTPlugins micro website – as you know, I have been developing some smaller plugins for sale on Envato CodeCanyon. Now, they will be better represented with the own micro website on dev4Press.com.
Here is a detail from new user dashboard on Dev4Press:
If everything goes as planned, most changes will be deployed by June 23, 2015. I don’t expect a lot of downtime during the deployment, and most things will be done behind the scenes without taking down Dev4Press websites. The only downtime is expected for Support website where some very complex changes will be made to merge with documentation. But, I will keep you posted about the progress in the next 2 weeks, and any downtime will be planned and announced.
