An Update On SilverSmith: Translations, Template Genius, and more!
17 Nov
Got 20 minutes? Get all the goods in a new screencast
In the latest screencast on SilverSmith, we’ll detail several new features including Translations, the Template Genius, and more. We’ll walk through the construction of a basic site and demonstrate several ways to create a data-driven, dynamic website easily using SilverSmith’s powerful code generation tools. We’ll also discuss plans for a release schedule!
Otherwise, here’s the run-down of what you need to know:
Translation Editor: i18n Made _t(‘Facile!’)
SilverSmith now features an integrated editor for managing all your translation files. A majority of this utility is a port from the LangEditor module I released earlier this year. With the Translation Editor, you can create new translation files, and search, filter, and modify existing translations. The best part is that the Translations Editor is fully integrated with the Design and Code views, allowing you to create translations from within your templates and code, and automatically add them to your language file in a single click! Quelle facilité !
Template Genius: No code? No problem.
Coding is hard. Especially if you don’t know how to code. Fortunately, if you’re familiar with SilverStripe templating syntax, you’re halfway there, and Template Genius can do the rest.
Go ahead and add all the template variables and control blocks you want. Build the page you’re imagining, and don’t worry about the code. When you run the template through Template Genius, it will use a series of algorithms to make its best guess about how each variable should be represented in the database. It will confirm its findings with you, and when you click “Save and Build” you’ll have built out the PHP code for your page along with the appropriate YAML for the Project Builder. It couldn’t be easier!
Scope Awareness: Wherever you go, there you are.
Here’s a scenario for you. You’re working on a template, and you can’t remember what variables you have available.
Did I call it $StartDate or $DateStart?
Is it $Photo or $Image?
Regardless of where you are in your template, SilverSmith’s scope awareness will continuously update with every move of your cursor, letting you know what variables are available, so you don’t have to keep flipping over to your code. Further, in control blocks, SilverSmith will resolve the data relationship and show its available variables, and will even attempt to execute a custom function if the control block does not refer to a data relation. You’ll never get SilverStuck again.
Release Schedule: Right behind you, SS 3.0.
The most common question I’ve received about SilverSmith has been “When can I get my hands on this thing?” Today, I’m happy to finally be able to answer that question. The current plan is to follow the release schedule of SilverStripe 3.0, one cycle behind. That is, when SilverStripe 3.0 goes beta, SilverSmith will go alpha, and when SilverStripe 3.0 is stable, we’ll go beta.
The progress on SilverSmith has been a bit of feast-or-famine. It goes months without any updates, and then during weeks like this one, progress has been furious. I appreciate all of your patience and interest in SilverSmith!
WOW! This sounds epic!
Awesome keep up the great work! I look forward to using this and SS3 on an upcoming project of mine that is in the ‘giant map of objects and scribbles on paper’ phase.
Wow Aaron this looks incredible, not just for SilverStripe but what a powerful way to built sites. I’m sure if devs using other CMSs saw this it would make them seriously consider their choice of CMS in the future.
Thanks for building this and I look forward to beta testing it
Wow. Mind = Blown. Template Genius is genius. Can’t wait to give it a whirl! Thanks, Unclecheese
This all looks stunning and will really cut down on SilverStripe development time.
So one install runs on your server/localhost for many projects?
Hi, Stijn,
Good question. SilverSmith runs ONLY on localhost. If it detects a valid remote IP, it will shut down. As you can imagine, there are huge security concerns with leaving SilverSmith installed on a remote server. You would essentially be giving the world access to all of your source code. For that reason, it’s not worth taking any chances, and SilverSmith runs only on localhost. Running it remote is also very slow and ruins the whole feel of a desktop application, as well. The other advantage is that there is no need for authentication to use SilverSmith since it only runs locally.
So it is just useless for Companies with development server in a data center or a seperate server in local environment.
ok.
Well, useless by design. It would run fine on a remote server, but it’s just not ideal. SilverSmith is much closer to a tool like TextMate than it is a SilverStripe module, so running it remotely, while possible, isn’t a great idea, IMO.
Absolutely top banana, this is just gonna speed up the whole web building process and make my code look pretty
Can’t wait for go live.
Mick
This is such good news for silverstripe development, an application for ‘the rest of us’ – absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this.
Wow! This looks so good!
Can’t wait!
Oscar
Top work Uncle Cheese! Would love a Beta invite when you are ready to test
Thanks for building SilverSmith
très beau projet.
really looking forward to beta testing.
keep up the good work
à bientôt
Hey Aaron,
really awsome, it’s a gigantic improvement for the initiative steps of building projects and by speeding up the process it enables me to offer Silverstripe Projects to a greater range of customers.
Does it work with “older” projects too (2.4 or even 2.3?)
I would like to apply for Beta Tester!!!
Thanks & Greeting,
Hendrik
Hi, Hendrik,
Really good question. Right now the best fit for a SilverSmith project is a fresh install, however the idea of retrofitting an existing project has always been a top priority. It would be a bit challenging — we’d have to strip the important parts of the code out and push them into the designated SilverSmith code area, but I think it could be done. The UI would make the user aware that a given PHP file is not under management of the Project Builder and allow you to run an “import”, effectively.
This is fantastic. Thank you.
Hooray for Uncle Cheese! Amazing work.
me = betatester 1
Ummmmm, not even sure what to say. Silversmith. Looks. Amazing.
Thanks for all the hard work you’ve put into the current modules as well. They have saved me time, pain and effort numerous projects.
Holy shit. That is all.
UC, you have made Silverstripe a small step for me thanks to your great modules. Silversmith is a giant leap for man kind.
You really created an awesome product that will headstart 80 to 90% of the projects built in Silverstripe. I’d love to get my hands on this. Will wait patiently
Is there a way to build an international site with the YAML in the “Architecture and content” tab, or is this something that is too hard to build this way ?
Keep up the good work. This will be very big for the silverstripe cms !
Hi, Max,
Can you explain what you mean by an international site? What about the current Architecture module makes you think an international site would be a problem?
Hi Aaron,
In what way can you specify the languagetype for the specified page? Do you build the site-layout with multiple trees, or do you assign the language as extra option ?
You just use i18n::set_locale($locale). How you determine the locale is up to you — I usually look at the subdomain, but there’s all kinds of ways to approach i18n. The Translatable extension is a good place too look for an all-inclusive solution.
looks wicked. cant wait to have a close look!
thanks a lot
Hi Aaron, good work! When can i use silversmith?
That’s all explained in the blog post and in the screencast!
This looks so cool
I really think this will be a timesaver, and also something that can attract attention to SilverStripe.
Keep up the good work – very impressive!
This looks really amazing. Thank u so much for all the work you’re doing for us , SilverStripers.
This will be a real masterpeace.
Concerning Beta testing; I’m by no means a php expert, but i’ve published some Silverstripe sites on a few INTRAnets. and they all turned out well. I think i would be a usefull Beta tester since i could find out how the SilverSmith would work out for someone not so experienced
This is incredible and after watching your screen-cast I’ll be eagerly awaiting the release. I know it will make writing page code and SS template structures much faster!!
That is awesome!
I can’t wait to try silversmith
With desire I try the beta version:)
Am keenly waiting to try it out in BETA. Awesome work as awlays Aaron.
This is probably the single most significant thing to ever happen to SS development… looking forward to seeing how it shapes the community.
Keep up the great work!
Hey so SilverStripe 3.0 is in beta…
How’s that alpha looking!
I have got one idea for your site. It appears like right now there are a couple of cascading stylesheet troubles when launching a selection of webpages in google chrome as well as opera. It is running okay in internet explorer. Possibly you can double check this.
Glad I dug deeper into SilverStripe. SilverStripe 3 combined with SilverSmith are by far the greatest tools a developer/designer can ask for. Leaves most of the other CMSes on the market way behind. Keep up the magic work!