Internet Explorer Issues with yesterdays release
It appears that the release yesterday of the new versions of Tags, KB, and forms created issues for Internet Explorer users – this problem was restricted to the admin console and not the public facing parts of the applications.
The root cause was the code that we created to create JCE Compatibiltiy required a javascript “for each” statement. Well thats ok as that is supported in JavaScript 1.6 – but guess what – all major browsers EXCEPT Internet Explorer support this in their Javascript versions – but not IE.
Techie bit: jQuery to the rescue! jQuery allowed me to rewrite this “foreach” using jQuery.each function
New downloads now available from myJoomla.com for existing customers.
JCE Editor Compatibility
We are pleased to announce that from bfFramework 3.1 you can now use the JCE Editor with our extensions! (KB, Tags and Forms)
At the moment only bfForms is shipping with bfFramework 3.x but as soon as I get a chance I’ll repackage KB and Tags so that we can update those too.
This has been a very requested feature 
and we have listened and completed the task (Its not an easy task as we dont “draw” a webpage like other do, we use ajax and needed to find a way to inject and destroy the editor windows at will without redrawing the whole page!)
(bfFramework is just a collection of classes that we re-use for all our extensions, it allows us to quickly build new applications, and once we change something in the framework it is then available to ALL our extensions and applications — So if you are a bfForms customer you will be the first to be able to use JCE in KB, Tags and Forms as bfForms will install the latest framework and ALL our bfApps (KB.,Tags.,bfForms) will use it! cool eh?)
Blue Flame Forms Beta – Now available
Now Available For Existing Customers Only
The long awaited beta version of bfForms, the next generation forms extension
I am pleased to announce the beta program for the next version of our forms application.
Firstly, we are rebranding Joomla Forms to become Blue Flame Forms (bfForms). This is primarily because of the trademark of the word Joomla! in certain countries.
As already blogged, I’m on holiday next week, and so I wanted to leave something for you to play with while I am away.
There have been some huge changes to bfForms since the last version back in June 2008, and therefore I want to run a beta before replacing the current version.
To get access to the beta, you need to be an existing Joomla Forms/bfForms customer, login to myJoomla.com and you will see a new download available called “ Blue Flame Forms (bfForms) BETA – NOT FOR USE ON LIVE SITES” (just to ram home the message that this is a beta and should not be used on live sites!)
For the week long beta we invite ALL FEEDBACK relating to bfForms Beta Version to be EMAILED ONLY to the dedicated email address beta@phil-taylor.com – you most probably will not get a reply, I’m on holiday and only working 1 hour a day, but be assured we will read your emails. To log bug reports please also use this method. We will attempt to fix bugs asap on our return from holiday and release as soon as we can after that.
****NO Help or Support will be available for the beta until it is released as stable.****
Sing with me:
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!
Please also read the following blog posts as they also contain very important information:
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/26/joomla-forms-release-plans/
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/24/on-holiday-2-10-march-2009/
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/15/joomla-forms-an-update/
This PRE RELEASE of the beta version is only available to EXISTING CUSTOMERS of Joomla Forms.
To download, go to myJoomla.com, login to your account and you will see the new item in your purchases, you can download from there.
DO NOT USE THE BETA ON A LIVE SITE – THIS IS A PREVIEW RELEASE FOR TESTING ONLY – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
If you are running an older version of Joomla forms, uninstall it (The forms and data are not deleted) and then install bfForms Beta and follow the prompts, your database schema will be automatically upgraded.
A list of known issues will be posted here:
http://www.joomla-forms.com/beta-known-issues
Thanks for taking this for a test drive – be sure to provide feedback – remember this is a BETA and not meant for live site use
Phil.
Joomla Forms Release Plans
Its almost here… 
Firstly, we are rebranding Joomla Forms to become Blue Flame Forms (bfForms). This is primarily because of the trademark of the word Joomla! in certain countries.
As already blogged, I’m on holiday next week, and so I wanted to leave something for you to play with while I am away.
There have been some huge changes to bfForms since the last version back in June 2008, and therefore I want to run a beta before replacing the current version. The beta of bfForms will be made before I go on holiday (I leave on Monday morning!), it may be sooner, possibly tomorrow!
To get access to the beta, you need to be an existing Joomla Forms/bfForms customer, login to myJoomla.com and you will see a new download available called “bfForms BETA – NOT FOR USE ON LIVE SITES” (just to ram home the message that this is a beta and should not be used on live sites!) Once the beta is released, and added to existing customers accounts, I’ll write a new note here on the blog – ITS NOT AVAILABLE YET.
For the week long beta we invite ALL FEEDBACK relating to bfForms Beta Version to be EMAILED ONLY to the dedicated email address beta@phil-taylor.com – you most probably will not get a reply, I’m on holiday and only working 1 hour a day, but be assured we will read your emails. To log bug reports please also use this method. We will attempt to fix bugs asap on our return from holiday and release as soon as we can after that. NO Help or Support will be available for the beta until it is released as stable.
Sing with me:
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!
I’ll post upgrade instructions in my next announcement too.
So, remember I AM ON HOLIDAY, and so ENJOY while I am away, and I’ll pick up the issues on my return.
Joomla Forms – An update
I had a worrying email this morning, someone thought I had abandoned Joomla Forms! Well I know its been a long time since the first release of Joomla Forms was made but really I apologize for the long time between releases, however Christmas, New Year, Wife separation, Kids etc all got/get in the way..
I’m working very hard on the code base for forms, along with a rebrand to a new name (Blue Flame Forms (bfForms)) and wanted to blog about the upcoming release as a taster for those waiting (patiently – Eighteen 5 STAR Reviews) and those critics that leave negative reviews (One person!).
So what has been acheived so far:
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Manual resize of textareas when submitting forms
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Automatic resize of textareas when submitting forms
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Fancy Multiple Select Alternative
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Redirect Browser with POST/GET of submitted data
+ NEW FEATURE !! – sh404SEF SEF Extension, now all urls to forms are SEF
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Automatically Generate the content of the emails send – ONE CLICK!
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Ability to set the default checked checkboxes and radioboxes
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Ability to copy form elements and have them actually work
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Integration with ListMessenger to subscribe/unsubscribe behind the scenes
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Execute ANY PHP script on form submission – thanks Kenneth
And the number one requested feature:
+ NEW FEATURE !! -Ability to embed forms in module areas or content items!
Along with this over 50 bugs have been identified, researched, fixed and are awaiting this next release. We have also made some sweeping changes to our own framework so that the overall speed of the application has increased, making creating great forms with Joomla even faster!
However, with all these changes we have had some regressions, in-particular the handling of validations has had to be completely overhauled to make it work under the new framework, and as a solution we are implementing a brand new way of displaying the validation errors This will all improve the ability for YOU to modify the layout and style of the validation errors (yeah we admit it looked rubbish in the first release )
When can you get the next version?
Again, I’m sorry its taking so long, but I will get there and release when I am happy of the quality of the product and its new features, and not before.
Thanks for all your support, for a tiny sum that most of you paid for this application (Only £9.99) I think you are getting a lot more than your moneys worth
Update: WOW It was 12 July 2008 when I last released forms! Sorry about the delay – it seems a long long time ago because it is…
Red Flag Green Flag Cross Tick
This article applies to the latest versions of Joomla Forms, Joomla Knowledgebase and Joomla Tags extensions.
It came to our attention some time ago that using green 
and red flags 
to indicate published/unpublished states was not very easy on the eyes, and especially for those people who have trouble with colour-blindness or other disabilities.
Therefore we have a hidden tweak in the above extensions If you would prefer tick 
and cross 
icons instead of the flags you need to edit the file:
/plugins/system/blueflame/bfTweaks.php
And change the line that says this:
define ( 'bf_useflags', true ); // DEFAULT: true
to this:
define ( 'bf_useflags', false ); // DEFAULT: true
job Done
Fireboard Conflict With JoomlaKB and JoomlaTags
We have become aware this week of a minor conflict between Fireboard and JoomlaKB & JoomlaTags (Well any component running through our bfFramework) when running both in Joomla 1.0.x (i.e. NOT Joomla 1.5)
We have identified the conflict and have found a very simple solution, we are busy automating the process of fixing this conflict so that it is easy to fix on your sites.
The error is:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function jimport() in components/com_fireboard/fireboard.php on line 204
The root cause is that our bfFramework is designed to work on Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5.x platforms with the same files, to do this we confuse our code into knowing what version of Joomla it is hosted within. The problem is that the way we do this confuses Fireboard into thinking it is actually in Joomla 1.5.x and therefore fireboard gives an error saying it cannot call function “jImport” (Which is a Joomla 1.5.x function).
The quick fix for this is to force fireboard into knowing it is in Joomla 1.0.x
Here is the patched Fireboard File
Download this file, extract the zip, and upload the fireboard.php to /components/com_fireboard/fireboard.php
Amazing – they said it could not be done – we did it!
We are happy to report that Joomla Tags will soon be compatible with Joom!Fish v1.7 !
We spent some time with the core developer of Joom!fish who commented that our bfFramework was “ahead of its time” which was a nice comment from such a noble developer himself He also believed that we would not get Joom!fish working with Joomla Tags/bfFramework
Well we accepted the challenge and thanks to some great code from Alex in JF and from the fantastic bfFramework we are pleased to announce (beta) support for Joom!fish v1.7 in Joomla Tags and all other bfFramework components – soon!
We have done the work and want to test it fully before releasing it – but we wanted to share with you our excitement!
New Joomla Tags Component – Compatibility
Dear All.
We are pleased to announce the release of Joomla Tags v0.1.586 which is a stability and compatibility release.
There are no database changes – only code changes.
Joomla Tags v0.1.586 addresses conflicts with the following components:
- Fireboard Forum
- SMF Bridge
- A few other minor components…
New features include the ability to specify the default layout templates…
In order to provide this unprecedented level of complex compatibility you will need to upgrade the xAJAX system mambot and follow the prompts on Joomla Tags installation.
Here is the upgrade proceedure from any earlier version of Joomla Tags to v1.0.586:
- If you have modified the layout templates then BACKUP the files in /components/com_tag/view/front/user_templates – If you dont THEY WILL BE LOST!
- Uninstall Joomla Tags.
- Uninstall the XAJAX SYSTEM MAMBOT <–VERY IMPORTANT
- Install Joomla Tags latest version
- Follow the onscreen prompts to
- Reinstall xAJAX
- Upgrade bfFramework
- Patch for SMF Bridge(If needed)
- Restore user_templates (Optional)
Your tags and tag mappings are not lost when you uninstall Joomla Tags.
Have Fun.
Phil.
Joomla Tags FAQ
Q. What’s the difference between this new “Joomla Tags” and the existing “Tags Component” ?
A. Well the “Tags component” was released in March 2006 and was compatible with Joomla 1.0.x only. “Joomla Tags” is a brand new component that happens to do the same thing – but with much more powerful features! “Joomla Tags” has been written from scratch on the Blue Flame Framework (bfFramework – A 100% Ajax Admin framework with a MVC Programming interface which allows us to rapidly develop Applications for Joomla. bfFramework applications such as “Joomla Tags” will work with the xAJAX Plugin for Joomla to provide a
solution for both Joomla 1.0.12 AND Joomla 1.5 without ANY changes to the component! That’s Truly Amazing! ).
Q. What happens to my”Tags Component”?
A. Well you can continue to run this component on your site, or if you purchased after 1st November 2006 you are entitled to a free copy of
“Joomla Tags” as per our published policy. The two components have VERY different database tables but we have aimed to make migration
of data as simple as possible.
Q. So everyone who bought “Tags component” can get a free copy of “Joomla Tags”?
A. No. We have stated our policy clearly. Inline with all our public policies on our website there is no automatic entitlement that requires
us to give free copies of this new application to customers who have purchased the older “Tags component”
Q. What about Lifetime Upgrades – haven’t I been mislead.
A. Not at all. Our policy for lifetime upgrades does not conflict here. “Tags component” and “Joomla Tags” are two totally different Joomla components with different code and different features. Both will be further developed, in the case of the “Tags Component” only security and bug fixes will be applied.
Q. Can I upgrade from “Tags Component” to “Joomla Tags”?
A. There is not an upgrade – but a migration. We will publish full details once they are finalised, but it should be very easy and
probably automated
Q. What happens when you release “Joomla Forms”? Will that replace Phil-a-form?
A. The same policies stated above will all still apply. Phil-a-form will still be developed and Phil-a-form customers have no automatic entitlement to a free copy of “Joomla Forms”. We have made this perfectly clear in our communication for over a year now.
Q. What other Joomla Components are you releasing on the bfFramework?
A. We would not like to tell you all of them for commercial reasons.
However we have already committed to the following Joomla
Extensions that will work in both Joomla 1.0.12 and Joomla 1.5