There are two major reasons why future versions of Phoca Gallery will change significantly:

1) Joomla! 4
2) Output modernization

Joomla! 4

All Phoca extensions are written directly for Joomla! CMS and if the Joomla! CMS changes, the extensions must also change. Therefore, Phoca Gallery is gradually being rewritten so that it would work in Joomla! 4.

Output modernization

Unfortunately, it is not possible to do design output changes in minor versions because of backward compatibility and override features. Such changes must be made in major versions. Therefore, it sometimes takes longer to implement a modern look. Such a change is now planned.

So now there will be three directions instead of two directions, if we are talking about the development of Phoca gallery:

1) Phoca Gallery 4.4.0 - it includes minimum design changes. This version is intended for existing users and the existing Joomla! 3.9 version.

2) Phoca Gallery 4.5.0 - in this version, support for responsive display will be extended. This means that most non-responsive popup libraries and all that are built on the Mootools library will be removed. Parameters which can be moved to CSS will be also removed. Float box based output will be changed to Flexbox based output. HTML output will be simplified. This version of Phoca Gallery will be designed primarily for Joomla! 4.

3) Phoca Photo 4.0.0 - Phoca Photo is a Bootstrap responsive alternative for Phoca Gallery. Just like in Joomla! 3, Phoca Photo will add the ability to view Phoca Gallery output using the Bootstrap library in Joomla! 4.

 

Phoca Gallery version 4.4.0 Beta can be tested now. Be aware, it is a development version and should be used for testing only. Download it on Phoca Gallery download page.

Phoca Cart is a part of Joomla! system. Such robust system can negatively affect audits on your site. For example audits made by Lighthouse Audits. Joomla! system is composed of many parts like templates, modules, plugins, components, etc. Such parts can load a lot of libraries, some of them can be obsolete and all this can have negative impact on audit results.

See example: Joomla! Templates Directory

This website has the following audit results:

  • Accessibility: 100%
  • Best Practices: 100%
  • SEO: 100%

Phoca Cart - Audit

 

HTML output of Phoca Cart tries to follow audit advices regarding accessibility, best practices and SEO. But in order to achieve such good results, it is necessary to install Phoca Upgrade System plugin, which will help us manage loading of some problematic Javascript libraries.

Following parameters can be set in this plugin:

Remove Obsolete Bootstrap Javascript - removes the old version of Bootstrap Javascript, for example, if your template is loading modern Bootstrap version (version 3 or 4), you can remove version 2 (which is a part of Joomla! 3.x) with this plugin.

Remove Mootools Javascript - removes the Mootools library because it also loads occasionally in Joomla! system

Remove jQuery Migrate Javascript - removes jQuery Migrate library - this is useful if you use the Enable New jQuery Version parameter

Enable New jQuery Version - replaces the outdated jQuery library used in Joomla! for newest version

Remove Front Editing Javascript - if you are not using frontend editing, you can also remove this library.

Of course, you have to check the Javascript console, because some extensions, for example, may not be able to work with the latest jQuery version. But if you have an extension that can work with it, modern jQuery means extra points in the audit because the outdated jQuery library loaded in Joomla! subtracts some points from the audit. All this is important if your website emphasizes accessibility, best practices and SEO.

Main function of Phoca Upgrade System plugin is replacing obsolete Bootstrap 2 code with newest Bootstrap code. This is helpful when your template uses Bootstrap 3 or 4 for rendering HTML output but Joomla! 3.x output is still rendered with obsolete Bootstrap 2 library.

 

 

 

Phoca Cart 3.4.0 Beta has been released. It is Beta version - development version, so it should not be installed and tested on production site. Please, test only on development websites.

What is new and what needs to be tested in Phoca Cart 3.4.0?

1) Product administration was completely overwritten and now Joomla! subforms are used for additional images, attributes, options, specifications, discounts, additional download files and price history items. This means that now all these items can be ordered by drag and drop function.

Additional Images:

Additional Images

Attributes and options:

 Attributes and options

Specifications:

Specifications

 

Discounts:

Discounts

 

Additional Download Files:

Additional Download Files

 

Price History:

Price History

 

 2) There is new feature regarding product downloadable files. Now you can set more than one download file for product.

 

Additional Download Files - Orders

 Such files can be downloaded by users in frontend in download area or per token links (guest users).

 

Download area - frontend

 

3) There is new parameter: File To Play. A file to play can be displayed and played in frontend in item view.

 

File To Play

4) Just like the frontend, even administration now includes RTL CSS file.

5) Ask a question form can be sent to more email accounts.

6) Labels and tags can be displayed on the same place

Labels and tags

Please test only on development websites and if you find any bug, please report it to Phoca Forum. Thank you.

Download Phoca Cart 3.4.0 Beta: Phoca Cart download website.

 

There are different map types and different ways how to display maps on website. The most common types of maps are:

  • Google Maps
  • OpenStreetMap

Google Maps

You can add Google Maps into your website directly (Google Maps API is needed) or embed into your website e.g. per iframe solution. To display Google Maps on your Joomla! website, just download and install Phoca Maps component and Phoca Maps plugin.

With help of Phoca Maps component you can display the map directly when you create a menu link to map. With help of Phoca Maps plugin you can display the map inside your article on position you will define. You can even display such map in module position. For both methods you need to have Google Maps API key.

But in case of plugin, there is an alternative to add the map without API key - per embed function.

See example:

OpenStreetMap

With help of OpenStreetMap you can even display the map in component, articles or modules. There are different OpenStreetMap map types. Some of them require API key, some can display maps without any API key. In Phoca Maps you can display following OpenStreetMap map types:

  • OpenStreetMap
  • OpenStreetMap (Black and White)
  • OpenStreetMap (Germany)
  • OpenStreetMap (France)
  • Humanitarian OpenStreetMap
  • Thunderforest (API key needed)
  • Mapbox (API key needed)
  • OpenTopoMap
  • Wikipedia Maps

For more information about how to display maps with help of Phoca Maps see:

As you probably know, this Friday and this Saturday JoomlaDay Austria took place in Vienna. One of the interesting things was that an almost complete Joomla! 4 backend template development team was present. Members of this team presented news in this area at the end of the meeting. And although it was mainly small details, I was very pleasantly surprised.

So let's have a look at some details:

1) Login page

The login page now includes a left side panel to display any module. This can be very interesting for webdesigners when they create a special login page for their clients or special administration.

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2) Dashboard

In addition to earlier drafts, link to plugins appears next to link to modules in dashboard. In the left menu you can see that even each main menu item can have its own dashboard. This will probably be used most for components. The last great thing is that you can insert a custom module on this dashboard, which will be appreciated by web designers who can create a personalized dashboard for their clients - exactly as the client needs..

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3) Menu link - new item

A new icon - the plus icon - appears in the link menu to add a new item. So, for example, in the article menu it is a shortcut for adding a new article. Right from the menu, you don't have to navigate anywhere.

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4) Responsive design - display in mobile phones

A lot of changes have been made in this area, so that the administration displayed on the mobile device will follow new trends.

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5) Buttons

It may seem funny, but the buttons and their layout are among the most discussed topics regarding administration. There are likely to be changes here.

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6) The smallest details

Compared to the previous versions, it will also delight the smallest details, such as displaying icons when loading background data, or changing the logo when resizing the box menu.

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7) Changing the color scheme now very easily

You can simply change the template's color scheme in the template settings. This setting conceals a certain amount of intelligence, whereby there is always a certain contrast between the background and the font color. So that everything is readable. The webdesigner can easily create a color scheme for a particular customer. In addition, Joomla! logo can be change to customer logo.

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Of course, the latest features can be tried out, the development version of the template is available on GitHub:

http://joom.la/admintemplate

The development version of the template can be installed for testing purposes as follows:

https://docs.joomla.org/J4.x:Setting_Up_Your_Local_Environment

If someone is following the discussions about Joomla! 4 administration template development, then he/she knows that the administration template is currently being intensively worked on and every detail is discussed in detail from all sides. Personally, I can confirm that although I am a supporter of the top menu (which no longer exists in Joomla! 4), I like the current status of administration in Joomla! 4. And even when using Joomla! 3 I miss some elements I learned to use in Joomla! 4.

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