It's not 100% where we want it yet. Most notably the iframe is a bit jumpy as it resizes. But it is a much easier way to get your proofing pages to look like your main site if you're using WordPress.

Please remember though that this is considered a pre-release version and likely will have bugs pop up. My suggestion is for those that are interested in a test version to install it into a test directory and leave your current ProofBuddy active for your clients. That way they won't see any errors that come up in the test version.

What's New?
It's actually a pretty long list, and one that we haven't finished typing out yet. We should have a full release notes page out with the final released version of 2.1.

The most obvious change is that  admin menu is on the left side of the page rather than across the top. We did this so that if plugins add menus, it won't push the page width too wide to be visible.

Another major change is how uploading works. Biggest change for users is that there is now a Flash uploader rather than the 10 file boxes on the add image page. Files on server is still there; but we hope that with the ability to upload via Flash, the files on server option will not be necessary except for specific needs.

The upload process is also now more pluggable. What this means is that it's possible for a plugin author to insert a step into the image processing stack to do more with the images than ProofBuddy does by default. It was switching to this plugin architecture for image processing that consumed the bulk of the time between the release of 2.0.4 and this release.

Lite vs Pro?
ProofBuddy 2.1 is still split in to a free Lite version and a commercial Pro version, and the Pro version is still $149.95 as it was with 2.0.

The differences between the 2 versions - limit on active albums and number of images per album, along with Pro only features - are the same with one addition. The Lite version now includes a small advertisement on the bottom left corner of the page.

Upgrading from the 1.0 series to 2.1 will be the same $79.95 as it was to go from 1.0 to 2.0. Pro users who have already registered 2.0 will be able to upgrade to 2.1 Pro for free.

Can anyone be a tester?

Yes. Originally we were going to have a closed beta, but decided that we'd rather anyone who wants to kick the tires on the test version have that chance. If you feel up for helping out and being a tester, feel free to click the link below to download the first beta release.

Need Help?

We've got a board setup on our support forum specifically for the 2.1 beta testers.

Download

ProofBuddy 2.1 beta 1 download

Edit 1/29/12

Not a full plugin in that there's nothing admin side, but I just added a page to our documentation site on how to get ProofBuddy wrapped inside a WordPress site using a plugin I wrote.

So anyone out there who feels up to helping us test out the new version you can either put your name in the hat by commenting below or contacting us using the form on the right. We're looking for about 6 or 8 testers.  Either way, be sure to include an email address so we can be in touch.

For the Pro users, 2.1 will be a free upgrade from 2.0; but you will have to unregister and re-register to download a newer version of the Pro files.

What we've decided is to start using MediaWiki, the software that runs WikiPedia, for our documentation site. This should make it easier to create and edit pages and link between them.

One of the reasons we went with WordPress to start was to give everybody the ability to comment on pages and ask questions if needed. We'll be loading Disqus on to most of the wiki pages so the comments will still be there.

The new documentation site is still a bit light as we're in progress, and the documentation link on the top of this page still links to the old pages. But it will be switched over as soon as we get the pages moved over.

The new site lives at docs.proofbuddy.com

So the question for today is, if there were a WordPress plugin that interacted with ProofBuddy, what would you want it to do?

Here are my thoughts, roughly in order of likelihood. Let me know what you think in the comments if this is close to what you would like to see.

Shortcode for WP pages / posts
This is what I'm guessing most of the requests were after. Basically some way to insert a gallery from ProofBuddy in to a WordPress post. Maybe something along the lines of [ pbGallery passcode=123 ] that would pull a gallery out of the ProofBuddy database and insert it into a WordPress post.

Done correctly, this would allow you to basically wrap ProofBuddy inside of your WordPress theme and your visitors may not even have to know they're using ProofBuddy.

Dashboard widget
Possibly a dashboard widget for WordPress that displayed info about your ProofBuddy albums when you login to wp-admin. Something similar to what's in the ProofBuddy dashboard already where you could see sales, image counts, that sort of thing.

Insert Image
Some sort of interface that would let you insert an image that you've already loaded in to ProofBuddy without having to upload again.

Not sure how this one would work though.

Your thoughts?
Most of the really great features that have made their way in to ProofBuddy have started as a request from a user. Y'all are the ones using ProofBuddy every day with your clients and know all of those little nit picks that could make it better, and we truly appreciate any input you may have. 

ProofBuddy 2.0 is dependent on server settings on whether it can install plugins and themes automatically, and most hosts aren't setup to allow ProofBuddy to do what it needs to do. And they're setup the right way. While it would be nice for ProofBuddy to have access to write anywhere it needs to, it's generally safer for a host to not allow that to happen.

With ProofBuddy 2.1 we're adding the ability to upload themes and plugins using your FTP login information instead which should make it easier to add new plugins and themes. ProofBuddy will also occasionally check for new versions of any plugins and themes you have installed and let you update to the newest versions automatically as well.

The goal is for this also to allow you to update ProofBuddy through this same process.

And here's an obligatory screen shot of the first step to installing a new plugin via the new FTP uploaded.

The first step in uploading a plugin in ProofBuddy 2.1

Key word is "visibly" though. Version 2.1 is a major rewrite with more changes than when we went from 1.0 to 2.0, and that's why it's taking so long. It's just that they look and functionality isn't going to change much. The bulk of the changes relate to how themes and plugins are written.

When can I download it?

Guess we should get this one out of the way first.

We don't have a timeline on release yet.  We've got a list of stuff to add and get ready, and when that's done we'll release.

So what's different?

A couple months ago we had a post about the new admin look. The tabs have been moved from the top to the left side, similar to how WordPress looks. The idea is that as plugins add menu choices we didn't want them stretching the page too wide.

There will also be a Flash image uploader to take the place of the 10 little boxes on the current version, and hopefully that will be able to take the place for the Files on Server option. This is actually what I'm cleaning up right now, and it looks and works much better than the browser uploading in version 2.0.

And we're really putting a lot of time into making themes and plugins more powerful, and easier to write. Some of the functions have been moved around and rewritten to make it easier on theme and plugin authors to use. We have also spun off a site for hosting ProofBuddy plugins and themes along with documentation on how to create your own. Ultimately we'll use this site as a way to make it easier to keep your site themes and plugins updated with the latest version.

PHP 5.2

A few months ago we put out a survey to see what version of PHP everybody had running on their servers. With those results, along with the fact that PHP 4 is years out of date, we've decided to require at least PHP version 5.2 for ProofBuddy starting with version 2.1.

It wasn't a snap decision, but we feel the benefits far outweigh the cost for this requirement.

What's next?

After we get 2.1 done and out we have a list of plugins and themes to get together. They've been on the back burner while 2.1 is in development. We didn't want to get a theme or plugin working just right only to have it break with a change in 2.1.

Database ID

First thing you'll need is the database ID for the pricing item you're wanting to add, and this is admittedly will be the hardest part for most of y'all.

Somewhere within your hosting control panel - the place where you go to create email addresses and build databases - you should have a link to view your databases. On most hosts you can look for something named phpMyAdmin. If you're using cPanel, and most of y'all probably are, phpMyAdmin should be under the MySQL section. If you're using GoDaddy take a look at this article on how to find phpMyAdmin.

What we're looking for is a table that ends with _pricing. It's most likely named pb_pricing, but the pb may be different if you set a different prefix during setup.

Click on the Browse link next to the pb_pricing table. Depending on what version of phpMyAdmin is on your server it make be written out like the screen shot above or just an icon.

What you're looking for is the number in the ID column. It's 71 in the screen shot below. You can ignore the rest of the columns.

Building the Button

You've done the hard part. Now it's just a bit of HTML

You're going to add the following to your fullimage.tpl template file where ever you want your button to show up.

<form action="<?php echo $cProofBuddy->url; ?>/user/user-script-addtocart.php" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="item" value="THE ID NUMBER FROM ABOVE">
<input type="hidden" name="quantity" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="imageid" value="<?php echo $_GET['id']; ?>">
<input type="hidden" name="colortype" value="color">
<input type="hidden" name="albumid" value="<?php echo $_SESSION['currentalbum']; ?>">
<input type="submit" value="Add my special item to cart">
</form>

It appears to be an issue with security and cookies. What's happening is that the script that serves images doesn't know your visitor is logged in so it doesn't actually show the image.

Fortunately, it's an easy fix. Go to Options -> Images and clear the Check User Before Serving checkbox.