jReviews 2.0 finally released!

May 17, 2008 at 03:12 AM

I am very happy to announce the release of jReviews 2.0, which has been in the works for several months. I hope you like it :)

1) jReviews 2.0 is a complete re-write of jReviews 1.2.x using an MVC (model-view-controller) framework derived from CakePHP. The View and Controller functionality remains very similar to that of Cake, but the Model is not. For anyone wishing to get familiarized with the file structure and framework, the CakePHP website is a good resource.

2) The functionality, database and configuration remain the same as in jReviews 1.2.10, so upgrading to jReviews 2.0 is possible.

3) jReviews 2.0 is compatible with Joomla 1.0.x, Joomla 1.5 (natively and in legacy mode), Mambo 4.6.x.

4) The template system has been replaced with a php theme engine based on the MVC framework. This means none of the previous templates based on patTemplate will work with jReviews 2.0. Three themes are bundled with this version and one of them is for dark templates.

5) The urls generated by jReviews have changed to make them friendlier even without a SEF component and thus easier to convert to sef when a component is used. Integration with SEF components is still pending.

6) So far only the component and a listings and reviews module have been released. The rest of the modules, CB plugins and addons will be developed soon.

7) This is a beta version, not intended for production sites. If you use it in a production site it's at your own risk. I will fix bugs and do (6) as soon as possible, but I am not responsible for your production site. There will most likely be code changes before jReviews 2.0 becomes stable.

For now, jReviews 2.0 will only be available to paying customers. jReviews is a free upgrade as long as your upgrades package is active. Otherwise you need to review it to get access to the download. jReviews comes encoded in both ionCube and Zend, however the Zend version only works in php5 and with Zend Optimizer v3.3 and higher.

The jReviews 2.0 demo site is at http://demo2.reviewsforjoomla.com

May 17, 2008 at 03:13 AM