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

Primarily a maintenance release, 2.0.4 fixes several issues that have come up since the release of 2.0.3.  Most of the issues, listed below, are browser specific and would not have affected all users.

Issues addressed

• 714 - Some links not clickable in Safari. 
• 713 - Order status page not showing images
• 712 - View cart table was linking to the wrong URL for images inside of a package
• 710 - Certain characters (?, #, or &) in the MySQL password would cause the setup not to be able to connect to the database
• 707 - Child albums not showing images (Pro only)
• 711 - Query order when submitting a cart from the admin side. 
• 708 - Existing albums that were set to a default pricing set were not updated when upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0
• 706 - IE7 not correctly allowing editing of album and image fields
• 704 - Quote characters and multiline note fields on images and albums causing issues when editing
• 709 - Active carts now show the image title as well as the pricing description

Issues Addressed

• 702 - Administration pages having problems with IE7.  Any of the screens that used the YUI Panel to display information (edit album, edit order, add images to cart) were not displaying the panel correctly due to a JavaScript / CSS issue with IE7 combined with a bug on our part.
• 697 - Error on the next image link if there's only one image in an album
• 696 - servpic.php was not checking to make sure the user was logged in, even when the check user before serving image option was selected.
• 703 - Disabled pricing still showing

Issues addressed

• 693 - Advanced pricing pop-up blank (Pro only)
• 684 - Paypal return to merchant link displaying error, not marking order as paid, and not recording the payment
• 694 - Select box initially blank when adding a new pricing set
• 690 - Problem in theme browser when a theme description has a line break in it
• 690 - Folders in theme zips not unzipping if there aren't any files in them
• 687 - Watermarking even if the option is turned off.  Pro only. 
• 685 - Unable to add users admin side
• 695 - split() is deprecated on servers running PHP version >= 5.3

Issues addressed in this release

• 684 - Paypal return script displaying error, not updating order to paid, and not recording the payment
• 690 / 689 - Invalid theme errors
• 687 - (PRO ONLY) Watermarking even if the option is turned off.  This wasn't specifically fixed in this release.  It involves a new set of pro files that you'll need to re-enter your registration key to download.
• 685 - Unable to add albums to users either when creating them or on the edit page

The new version fixes broken links, adds support for child albums, and adds support for categorized pricing.

Download

The theme browser has been updated with the new version.  If permissions on your server do not allow installation through the theme browser you can also click on the download link below and upload using your favorite FTP program.

What’s New?

Plugins

Plugins are the cause of the time delay between ProofBuddy 1.0 and 2.0. We went back and started almost from square one with ProofBuddy 2.0. The entire system had to be rewritten to support plugins, even though for 95% of the users it will look much the same.

Where the power of the plugin system comes in is that we, along with anyone who can program in PHP, can add additional tabs, menus, reports, etc, to ProofBuddy without having to touch the underlying code.

During testing we created a small handful of plugins to test the system which are available now. You can get to them through the Plugin Browser under the Options menu or through the Plugins link over to the right of this page. More plugins will be available as they are developed.

Theme & Plugin Browser

Following from the plugin system, we created a plugin browser that will allow you to connect to our site from within ProofBuddy and view the available plugins. Depending on the permissions set on your webserver you may also be able to directly download, all without leaving ProofBuddy. If your webserver doesn’t allow direct installs, you’re still able to download the plugin from within ProofBuddy. You’ll just need to upload it manually using an FTP program.

Ajax

Most of the admin pages now use Ajax scripts to make it easier to get your work done. For example, sorting of pricing items is now done with Ajax instead of clicking on arrows. Dragging a pricing item up puts it in the new order.

Pricing Categories

A very popular request, we’ve added pricing categories to the Pro version of ProofBuddy. Now you’ll be able to break your pricing down into categories like “Small Prints”, “Canvas Prints”, “Novelty Items”; or whatever works best for your business.

And you’ll be able to sort the categories as well as the individual pricing items within each category.

One note about pricing categories: if you are using a theme developed using ProofBuddy 1.0 you may need to upgrade the fullimage.tpl to support categories. The variable <!--addtocart--> needs to be replaced with <!--addToCartCategories-->. The themes that use a table instead of a drop down list will use <!--addToCartCategoriesTable-->. Our publically available themes are currently being updated to use the new variables.

Payment history

You can now attach payment history to an order. With this you’ll be able to see when and how they paid.

This allows for a new coupon type, the prepayment. With this you can accept payments prior to the order and create a prepayment coupon. When your client enters the code for the coupon the amount they’ve already paid will be automatically deducted.

Prepayment coupons also allow for a registry where family members can purchase prepayment coupons for your client. The ability to have a registry of sorts has been an often-requested feature.

Custom Fields

Following the lead of WordPress, custom data can now be added to almost anything. This will allow for you to add any type of information to just about anything in ProofBuddy. A few things that will be possible using custom fields:

• Adding paper type to items ordered
• Adding custom fields to the order checkout process
• Collecting additional information from your clients like postal codes instead of zip codes or adding a home number and work number field

Customization

Most of the admin pages can now be customized to fit the way you work. Sections can be rearranged and minimized so that the information that’s important to you is right where you want it. And these boxes are customizable using the plugin system. Plugin authors will be able to add boxes to admin pages with a little PHP coding.

Installing & Upgrading

If you are installing a ProofBuddy for the first time you only need to go through steps 2 and 3. Users upgrading from ProofBuddy 1.0 will go through all 5 steps.

1 - Backing up

The upgrade process was designed to be as easy and safe as possible. Unfortunately, there is nothing that’s 100% safe for everybody with all of the combinations of servers, web hosts, and operating systems. We do not know of any issues where data has been lost during the upgrade process, but it is always a better bet to be safe and make a backup first.

First, you will make a backup of your database. If you are using ProofBuddy 1.0 or later you should see a backup icon on the Admin -> Tools menu. Click this and you will be prompted to save a backup of your database as a SQL file. You can also do the same process through phpMyAdmin or something similar on your web host.

Next, as well as last, you will need to connect to your site with an FTP client like FileZilla and download your copy of ProofBuddy. Put it somewhere safe on your computer just in case something happens during the upgrade. This will give you a copy of all of the images that you’ve uploaded. Note that this may be a very large collection of files depending on how many images you have online.

2 - Downloading and unzipping ProofBuddy

Now you’ll need to download a copy of ProofBuddy 2.0 to your computer. You’ll also need to unzip the download file to a folder on your computer.

3 - Uploading ProofBuddy

Next you’ll take the files that you unzipped and upload them on top of the existing ProofBuddy folder on your server using your FTP program. Note that this will not affect any image files you’ve uploaded. The only possible customized files that may be affected is if you’ve edited files in either the basic_white or basic_black theme folders. If your theme is in a separate folder it is safe.

4 - Upgrading

And last you’ll need to visit your ProofBuddy site to complete the upgrade. The first time you visit ProofBuddy will catch that it needs to be upgraded and prompt for an admin login to continue. If you have more than one admin login, any will work.

Once you enter your login ProofBuddy will go through an upgrade process that updates the database and changes the file name format of the stored images. None of this will affect how ProofBuddy works or your existing data; although again we are recommending that you have a backup from before you started upgrading.

5 - Upgrading your theme

If you’ve customized your theme off of either the Basic White or Basic Black theme it should work with very little modification. There are two additional variables that may be useful to you if you’re using the Professional version of 2.0. The <--addtocart--> variable has been replaced by . This will allow you to display your pricing items in categories instead of a simple list. There is also a new variable that will create a link back to the main index when your visitor is in a child album.

Currently the only two themes that we have updated to be 100% compatible with ProofBuddy 2.0 are the Basic White and Basic Black. Our next step after this release is to go through and get each of the publically available themes updated and ready for 2.0. We’ll post to the news feed that you see on your admin dashboard as they’re updated. Registrations and Upgrades Like version 1.0, ProofBuddy 2.0 Lite continues to be free. We know that when you’re starting out with your photography business finances can be tight but you still need a professional option for online proofing. ProofBuddy Pro adds features to the Lite version, most notably packages and digital downloads, and is $149.95. Themes and plugins work with both versions. Users that have registered version 1.0 will be able to upgrade to 2.0 for $49.95 through March 15, 2010. After March 15 the upgrade will be $79.95. To upgrade fill out the form on the Register tab just like you were registering a new copy. Our server should pick up your domain name and tie it to your previous registration giving you the upgrade price. If it does not, please contact us and let us know.

Fixes and Updates

The following is only a partial list that contains fixes and updates between release candidate 2 and the final release of ProofBuddy 2.0. A full list of updates between 1.0 and 2.0 would be several pages long and honestly probably wouldn’t interest all that many of our users. The blog posts announcing each of the public pre-releases do list the individual issues fixed if you’re interested.

• 684 - paypal.php displaying error and not updating payment status of order
• 683 - ImageMagick path setting not saving in the correct location
• 682 - Error viewing favorites when logged into a user account when favorites are tagged from multiple albums
• 679 - Deprecated errors displaying on servers with PHP >=5.3
• 672 - Timezone error on servers with PHP >=5.3 and that are not correctly setup
• 670 - Digital downloads not functioning correctly
• 669 - Order status emails not listing correct number of items in packages
• 668 - Empty child albums don't show up in the view album page
• 681 - Comment script redirecting to wrong page
• 678 - Undefined error in the update check script
• 676 - Pricing items with quotes not adding to cart
• 674 - Wrong items in favorites
• 677 - Added option to customize the payment type list

Download

Click on the link below to download ProofBuddy 2.0

And please note that some of the remaining issues you may be seeing are likely related to the theme not being updated for version 2.0.  Currently only the Basic White and Basic Black themes are 100% ready for ProofBuddy 2.0.  Tomorrow we are starting on updating our free themes to work with 2.0.  Most of them should mostly work with 2.0 now, but there may be a few hitches.

Issues addressed in this release

• 666 - User system emails (new user sign up and password reset) will use both an HTML and text template like the order status emails instead of just a text template.
• 665 / 663 - Deprecated function errors on servers with PHP 5.3.0 and higher.  (663 is a duplicate of 665)
• 661 - Error on return from PayPal site
• 659 - User page (my settings, new user, password reset, order history, order status) not parsing variables correctly.
• 657 - Coupon calculations for flat valued coupons incorrect
• 652 - Ampersand in buyer's name causing issues on order list page
• 651 - View errors window on failed image adds unable to close
• 646 - Expiration message not showing on expired albums
• 645 - servpic.php error handling more in line with the main error handler
• 637 - Default pricing only taking the first default.  This is an issue with upgrades from version 1.0.
• 667 - Now able to customize email subjects
• 664 - Not logged in error on vCard
• 662 - Basic White template files copied to Basic Black
• 654 - Sort child albums
• 638 - Ajax error viewing favorites
• 660 - Error page links to correct URI for support forum
• 658 - file_put_contents() error in theme editor

Fixes / Issues

• 641 - Scrollbars on help pop-ups during setup
• 643 - Spacing on all but first page of order PDF
• 642 - Errors on servpic.php will now display the error message as a graphic whenever possible rather than a red x.
• 639 - Custom pages without having to put them in as a plugin
• 644 - Order page on admin side showing only color images regardless of image type ordered
• 640 - Added themeFileExists() function for plugin / theme authors

Fixes

• 632 - Order status page showing wrong images
• 629 - Watermarking not working.  This also clears up the issue with the transparent overlay not working.
• 625 - Cannot add image from server in IE7
• 624 - JS right click blocking not working
• 622 - Delete user 'must be logged in' error
• 621 - basic white theme had a red background.  (Internal issue that didn't affect users)
• 618 - Favorites showing wrong images
• 627 - 'Unable to clear existing company info' error during setup
• 617 - next / previous links causing errors on albums with a single image
• 615 - Ampersands causing errors on Files on Server option
• 636 - Added unregister tool to Admin -> Tools
• 635 - <!--count--> in expire_countdown not working
• 634 - PayPal script redirecting to site root
• 623 - Redirect from old query string formats to new for themes that were designed for 1.0
• 620 - Old links in default theme readme files
• 619 - Link to readme files in themes and plugins if they exist
• 616 - Use "custom fields" instead of "meta data"

Known open issues
These are issues that have been reported, but we have not been able to replicate.  We didn't want to delay this release for these issues but are still committed to getting them closed.

• 628 - Unable to add client notes.  When clicking save the field blanks out.
• 630 - <!--addToCartCategorizedTable--> not showing category titles. 
• 626 - Unable to delete carts other than 1 day old