Static is Back

The latest development build of Breadcrumb NavXT now fully supports static front pages. Currently only the official WordPress method of defining a static front page is supported (using the options in Options>Reading). This was made possible thanks to some new conditional tags in WordPress 2.5. Thus, Breadcrumb NavXT 2.1 will require WordPress 2.5.

Next on deck is allowing breadcrumbs by tag or category. Categories would retain their current functionality, but tags will do what categories did in Breadcrumb Navigation XT. After that I’ll look into creating a widget for it. That will be the cutoff for 2.1, and I’ll do some code reduction as WordPress 2.5 will be a requirement so some old hacks can be removed. These are mainly located within the api file and only affect the administrative interface.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT Core Changes

Version 2.1 will contain some major changes to the internal structure of the breadcrumb data object. Most of the API is not changing, and the changes are transparent for users of the administrative interface. Those who directly access the breadcrumb class will need to make sure to call assemble(); before display();. Failure to do so will result in unexpected behavior. These changes should be taken note of if using the latest SVN build of Breadcrumb NavXT, as it will be updated almost daily until things are ready.

Once the currently known bugs are worked out, which for the most part they are, the next order of business is getting things working correctly for static front pages. Static front pages will be supported via only one method of implementation for the time being. That method involves using the built in WordPress triggers, setting a page named home and setting the appropriate options in the administration panel under Options > Reading.

Even though 2.0.3 should have fixed the little PHP warning, it seems to not have. Fear not, this has been fixed in the SVN trunk. The other bug, which reveals it’s hideous head when activating the plug-in may be fixed as well. The error no longer gets thrown on the testbed, and it had to do with using require_once(); or include();. If anyone still receives either of these errors with the testing build please report it.

As an aside, Attachment NavXT won’t be developed. Later this month I’ll release the old code, but with the release of WordPress 2.5 it is no longer needed. In WordPress 2.5 there are some gallery functions that work with attachments, which is exactly what Attachment NavXT does.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT and WordPress 2.5

A new version of WordPress is coming, and some big changes are in store for the administrative interface. This change makes some formerly good looking administrative interfaces look out of place in 2.5. On my testbed I installed the latest SVN version of WordPres, as of Sunday at 2:00PM CDT. Then I proceeded to test the latest trunk build of Breadcrumb NavXT. Beyond a doubt, everything works as it did in 2.0.0. Some things that were fixed in 2.0.2 have regressed, specifically on install no settings get set. I then went on testing Tom’s modified Administrative interface that he made look good in 2.5. The good news is that I can reproduce the odd bcn_security() can not be redefined error. The bad news is that I get that error. I’m not exactly sure how I got it to happen, but it may have to do with not disabling Breadcrumb NavXT and changing it’s files. Known things that won’t resolve the issue include:

  1. Regressing to the old file.
  2. Restarting Apache/MySQL.
  3. Commenting out the “bad” code.

I’m going to get phpMyAdmin up and running this evening and hopefully see if WordPress is doing any caching of the code or not in SQL (I hope they aren’t). Restarting Apache should have cleared any code cache PHP would have setup, but I’ll do a grep for the code to see if it’s still magically hidden somewhere. Oddly enough the plug-in is seen by WordPress as activated, and going to the administration panel for it yields the first section (fieldset) and a half of options. However these are from the old code that no longer resides on the server. What’s also odd is that PHP claims that the function is defined at the opening brace and then complains that I tried to redefine it at the closing brace.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT 2.0.3

Available immediately for public consumption is Breadcrumb NavXT 2.0.3. This is the third, and final, bug fix release for 2.0.x, next up for release is 2.1.0. In this version, some CSS code that was used for the administrative interface was removed as it also affected other aspects of the administration panel. Specifically, the “Write” tab was the one with the most visible problems. The code affecting the saving of the settings from the administrative interface has been tweaked, hopefully eliminating the

"Warning: strpos() [function.strpos]: Offset not contained in string. in …/breadcrumb_navxt_api.php on line 77"

bug. Finally, a variable dump of $usermeta is done when the “API Malfunction” error is triggered. Hopefully that will allow some additional insight as to a possible workaround to the problem. The cause of the malfunction is known but an automated workaround isn’t obvious at this time.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT 2.1 Discussion

As March approaches and the release of WordPress 2.5 nears, development on Breadcrumb NavXT 2.1 begins. Right now in the SVN, the trunk received a minor update that won’t be tagged, though it’s version happens to be 2.0.3. The trunk SVN in never stable unless immediately following a tagged release. Version 2.1 will feature:

  • A newly revamped Administrative interface. Complies with the WordPress 2.5 guidelines, even though they recommend using tables in ways that they shouldn’t be.
  • Smarter method for trimming the title to stay within the maximum length while not cutting off in the middle word.
  • Reimplement static front pages.
  • Allowing post breadcrumb organization by category or tags.
  • A widgetized version. (May or may not make it in this version, not sure if it is appropriate for this plug-in.)

Hopefully, the current problems that some are experiencing when enabling the Administrative interface can be resolved in an elegant manor. One cause of this is known and an appropriate error message with instructions on how to resolve the issue will be given to the user.

-John Havlik

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