Over a series of 8 videos, watch and learn as Ryan builds an entire ExpressionEngine website from beginning to end. Get started now.
Leevi Graham’s video has been posted from EECI 2009. The talk goes into the subject of developing your own add-ons.
EECI2009 | Leevi Graham from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
Our compliments, as always, to Whoooz! Webmedia for doing such a fine job with this conference.
Posted on Nov 17, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Mr. Boyink presents his topic: “Quoting & Planning ExpressionEngine Projects” at EECI 2009:
EECI2009 | Michael Boyink from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
Thanks to Whooz! webmedia for allowing us to post this and all talks from EECI 2009.
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Here’s Brandon Kelly’s presentation titled “Making a Market Out of Our Community” from EECI 2009:
EECI2009 | Brandon Kelly from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Here is Veerle Pieters’s presentation “Designing and using the new EE 2.0 (beta) inteface”:
EECI2009 | Veerle Pieters from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
A great extension was just released called Google Analytics Panel. What does it do, you may ask?
The creatively-named Google Analytics Panel adds an overview of your site’s Google Analytics statistics to a panel on the ExpressionEngine control panel home screen. The panel displays quick stats for Today and Yesterday (visits, pageviews, average pageviews per visit, and average visit length), with increased stats for the past 31 days (visits, pageviews, average pageviews per visit, average visit length, bounce rate, percentage of new visits, top content and top referrers). The 31-day stats also include sparklines to visualize site activity. It’s all very pretty really.
I tried installing this on my personal site and the process was easy; the analytics display, beautiful. Also, it’s nice to see all 3 of you visiting my site regularly, every day when I login to my control panel.
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Every week we feature the latest addons added to Devot:ee, the best EE repository in the world.
Developers: Make sure you add you EE2 ready add-on to Devot:ee’s add-on list, please.
Posted on Nov 12, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
To compliment Travis’s excellent article on Structure yesterday. Jack McDade has posted a screencast on how to use it:
Building sites with Structure from Jack McDade on Vimeo.
Structure sells for $65 and is available here.
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Erik Reagan has released version one of his ER Developer Toolbar. What is it?
This is a tool that no ExpressionEngine developer should be without. ER Developer Toolbar creates a beautiful bridge between the front end of your ExpressionEngine site and the control panel with direct links for things like global variables, template editing, cache clearing and more. It is there when you need it and gets out of the way when you don’t.
Here it is in action:
ER Developer Toolbar Overview from Erik Reagan on Vimeo.
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Every EE developer’s favourite Canadian’s EECI speech is now available for your pleasure.
EECI2009 | Derek Allard from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
Thanks to Whoooz! Webmedia for letting us post this.
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Twobelowzero has released the TBZ Date extension plugin:
TBZ Date extension is a JQuery Datepicker field type for the FieldFrame framework.
This field type will allow you to add a datepicker as either its own entry field or to the FF Matrix.
Very cool. This is a datepicker fieldtype so it’s a little more elegant than EE’s built-in date field.
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Lodewijk Schutte was kind enough to post his add-on roadmap. The great news is that the majority of them are hitting December 1st. You may have to wait a month or two until the excellent Low NoSpam is available, however, as Low places that in January 2010.
As far as additional features, Low has only mentioned one:
I’m planning on adding Google Site Search to the Google Mini Plugin, hence the later date.
He also reports the add-ons he won’t be replacing, so be sure to check out his blog post for more information.
Posted on Nov 10, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Internet mogul Stephen Lewis has released Speakeasy the “anti-spam bot” extension. What does it do?
Speakeasy is a new ExpressionEngine extension and plugin to help in the ever-tedious fight against spambots.
It enables your visitors to self-moderate their comments via email, integrating seamlessly with ExpressionEngine’s built-in commenting system to defeat spam bots, and relieve the burden of clicking on all those viagra links.
This sounds like another great extension from one of the best developers in the community.
Posted on Nov 10, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
EECI 2009 is over, but the great material that sprang forth from the conference is just being released. Here’s Simon Collison, of world-famous Erskine Design, giving his presentation “Five Years of Quiet Revolution”:
EECI2009 | Simon Collison from EECI2009 on Vimeo.
A big thanks to Whoooz! Webmedia for letting us re-post this video and for just being wonderful people.
Posted on Nov 10, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Editor’s Note: Travis Schmeisser is one of the creators of the popular Structure module. Travis kindly agreed to write an article explaining how Structure came about and how it’s used.
Structure is an alternate method for building ExpressionEngine sites which focuses on pages to create hierarchy for your content. We recently released version 2.0, which is now a commercial module ($65 per site license) and includes several of the most highly requested features to date. There are tutorials and code samples for how to actually setup Structure at both Jambor-EE and the Structure site, but with this article I hope to explain some of the thinking behind the add-on and reveal why it can not only speed up your development, but make your client’s lives a lot easier.
Posted on Nov 10, 2009 by Travis Schmeisser
Ryan Masuga, frenemy of EE Insider, has written a great post on giving your client more control with a single-entry structure. The magic hidden within:
Make use of a “structural” weblog/channel that contains only one entry, where each custom field controls some aspect of the site. Then give your users easy access to these controls by linking directly to the entry from a link at the top of your control panel.
Our hats off to Ryan for another great article on Devot:ee, and also the recently launched events section: also well-done.
Posted on Nov 09, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Structure 2 has been released. Never heard of Structure? Here’s more:
Structure is a different way to build ExpressionEngine sites. It forgoes the current template_group/template setup and creates “static” and “listing” pages that are all editable through a tree sitemap view. Now, traditional page style content and multiple entry pages can live within the same area. Your clients & authors will rejoice.
Structure 2 costs $65 and is a major upgrade from the previous version. Huge congratulations to Travis and his team on getting this out.
We here at EE Insider know many of you use it, as it’s one of the more popular add-ons. But this commentator doesn’t quite yet understand it (having drank the template/template_group kool-aid). Please share how you use it in the comments!
Posted on Nov 09, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Ryan Irelan and Dan Benjamin have released episode 6 of The EE Podcast. Topics covered this week are:
- Round-up the EE 2.0 Week coverage at EE Insider at the ExpressionEngine Blog.
- EllisLab is soliciting contributions of default avatars for EE 2.0.
- Brandon Kelly publishes his EE 2.0 add-on conversion roadmap.
- More than one person expresses concern over the availability of EE 2.0 add-ons.
- If you still want to build add-ons for EE 1.6.x, Erik Reagan wrote a tutorial that documents the process.
Posted on Nov 05, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
We had sent out a set of interview questions that we weren’t sure we would receive for ExpressionEngine 2 Week. Derek Allard, one of EllisLab’s developers, was on vacation. Since he’d been slaving away for years on EE 2, we gave him a free pass. But Derek is what the kids call a “trooper” and he came back to us this week with the answers! It turned out to be a really great interview, timely due to the discussion and popularity of CodeIgniter and EE, and we got permission from the ‘Lab to post it. So, EE denizens, it’s my pleasure to give you our interview with the great Derek Allard:
Let’s start with a general question. Most readers of EE Insider know of CodeIgniter but not everyone may be aware what a PHP framework is, why it matters and how CodeIgniter fits in. Can you give a quick overview of what CodeIgniter is and why its been so popular among web developers?
No, let’s start with an apology. I know it was EE 2.0 week last week, but I was out at EECI, and then my wife and I took a week to tour around Holland - so sorry, hopefully it’s worth the wait. 
To the question; my favourite (editor’s note: Canadian) way of describing CodeIgniter is “It helps when you want help, and gets the hell out of your way when you don’t”.
CodeIgniter is a toolkit for PHP developers. It’s high quality code that helps you do your tasks, whether complex or menial, quicker and more predictably. It also offers a level of abstraction to your code, meaning it is more flexible and can be re-used easier, and conventions (that can be broken) to make things faster for you to develop a web application.
We all know EE 2.0 is built on top of the CodeIgniter framework. Why was this done and how did it impact CodeIgniter itself? Will CodeIgniter continue being an open source framework?
Easy question first; yes, absolutely CodeIgniter will remain Open Source.
Why was EE built on CodeIgniter? There are a number of advantages for us here, and I’ll outline a few in a moment, but in my mind the real answer is that we wanted to practice what we preached. We are committed to making CodeIgniter a fantastic framework with a fantastic community around it, and we wanted to prove it by building our flagship product on it. If EE 2.0 built on CI is not enough to convince people that CodeIgniter is a more then capable framework, there is nothing that will convince them.
On a technical level, here are a few of the notable advantages: database abstraction, strong, well-tested security, and powerful proven code libraries. If you are an ExpressionEngine Addon developer, these are pretty significant.
Also (and I know I’ve mentioned it already) there’s the CodeIgniter community, where you’ll find some of the sharpest coding brains I’ve ever met. At EllisLab we’re really spoiled, between the two (ExpressionEngine and now CodeIgniter) groups, we’ve got something really special. Everyone is committed to quality, helping and sharing. Best of all, as ExpressionEngine gets better then CodeIgniter gets better, and vice-versa.
So on a superficial level, we’re likely to see an infusion of developers; and on a deeper level, we’ve got 2 communities with similar “personalities” and values coming together. The possibilities for future development, Addons and extra functionalities is pretty cool. And as I once said , even if you are an EE developer who doesn’t do much coding; the nerds are excited, and you should be excited that the nerds are excited.
Can you name a few examples of CodeIgniter features that came out of implementing a feature in EE 2.0?
Oh boy, a lot. I’d say at somewhere around 75% of everything since 1.6 is directly attributable to EE development.
Now, before I continue, let’s be clear on something… asking me this question means that I’ll get into details that will have most of your readers rolling their eyes and moaning “BOOORIIIIIIIIIING” at their monitors. You’re setting me up to be the most boring interview ever aren’t you?
S’okay, I’m a nerd, let’s get into specifics.
The database stuff got a lot of attention. The entire database forge class that allows you to create, modify and delete tables and otherwise manipulate your database was added for ExpressionEngine 2. When I built it we didn’t know what to call it, so I suggested “DB Forge”, and Rick Ellis joked that we could only implement it if we called it “day-bay-for-jay”.
Active Record was also dramatically expanded to allow for all the complex SQL that ExpressionEngine used. For example where_in(), or_where_in() and the like. Also limiting on updates and deletes, and expanded functionalities like count_all_results(), and min, max, average and sum selection. These weren’t difficult queries to write manually, but we liked the idea of developers being able to pick Active Record and use it as much as possible. There are still some very complex queries that Active Record doesn’t handle well, and we’ve got some ideas for how to handle that for the purposes of database abstraction.
Oh yeah, and Active Record caching.
For the File Manager we needed some more information. Enter get_dir_file_info(), get_file_info(), get_mime_by_extension(), symbolic_permissions() and octal_permissions() to the File helper.
There were a bunch of general speed and security enhancements. The XSS protection is tighter, natively handles arrays, is more picky (ie: fewer false positives) and generally much snappier.
With EE 2.0 built on CodeIgniter, it seems that this will open up EE add-on development to an existing, vibrant community of developers. How will CodeIgniter impact add-on development for EE 2.0? Do I have to go back and relearn add-on development? Is it easier now that before?
Yeah, there are parts of Addon development that you’ll need to relearn, but you know, if you’re at a level where you’re writing Addons then nothing there will be confusing. Ultimately it’ll be much (much) nicer for you. Addons now have access to CodeIgniter resources and coding conventions. You’ve already posted some really informative articles about that topic, and I’d suggest people start there if they want to learn more.
Can you share any future additions to CodeIgniter that are in the works? Where do you see CodeIgniter 3-5 years from now?
Everything in CodeIgniter evolved out of a programming need. As I’m sure everyone knows, it is essentially an abstraction of the best parts of ExpressionEngine 1. So really, most of the new things added into CodeIgniter come from developer need, either our own need for our products, or the needs articulated (and often added) by the CodeIgniter community itself. CodeIgniter will continue to be driven by real-world needs and implications.
Thanks for the chance to share this with everyone. I just want to close by saying that if CodeIgniter sounds interesting to you, then get involved. CodeIgniter has changed the way I look at programming in the same way that ExpressionEngine changed the way I look at building websites.
Posted on Nov 05, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Derek Jones just moved in, and is sending a greeting card to developers on the EE Blog.
I wanted to take a moment today to acknowledge all of the hard working third party developers in our community, as well as draw attention to the growth spurt that we’ve seen in that area. In the last 18 months, perhaps two years, a major shift began taking place in the third party developer community.
Well, for my one addon DJ, you’re welcome!
Posted on Nov 05, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Every week we feature the latest addons added to Devot:ee, the best EE repository in the world.
Thanks as always to Mr. Masuga for compiling this list.
Posted on Nov 05, 2009 by Kenny Meyers
Add Your Comment
Share on Twitter