If you have been with us during the whole journey to the much loved SP Page Builder 2.0, you know the development timeline of this long awaited upgrade. There was only one RC (Release Candidate) scheduled on the timeline. Now we want to offer you a bonus RC version and an update to the development timeline.
We have two messages to you. The first one will make you happy, and the second one will prolong your wait time by a few days.
Today we are releasing another RC version of the SP Page Builder 2.0. On October 20, we’ve released the first RC of the tool. Although an RC 2 was not in our development timeline, yet we are doing this solely for a stabler final version.
You are invited to try this RC version, but DON’T use it on a production/live site.
According to the SP Page Builder 2.0 original development timeline, the stable (final) version release date was October 30. Through our total development process, now we are realizing that we have a few areas that could be better than the current build. So we’ve decided to postpone the final release and take a few days more to make the tool stabler.
We will release the final stable version of SP Page Builder 2.0 on 04 November 2016. In the meantime, you are invited to try the latest RC build and convey us your feedback.
What’s new inside the RC 2?
The SP Page Builder 2.0 RC 2 has a lot of usability improvements and also comes with some bug-fixes. Let’s take a brief look at them.
JCE Editor Support
In the SP Page Builder 2.0 RC 2, we’ve added JCE editor support. If you don’t want to use TyneMCE editor with the page builder, now you can use JCE for the similar purposes.
Attach Files to Buttons
Now you can convert any Page Builder button to a 'Download Now' button. Simply use the 'Upload an attachment' option or place the attachment file link on the button settings window. Save changes.
Supported attachment types include document formats like MS Word, MS Excel, PDF, ZIP etc. When a user will click that button, the download will be started right away.
Page Builder Module
This RC version of SP Page Builder has expanded its support to module positions. So now you can use page builder addons on Joomla module positions. It lets you make your site more beautiful and code even less.
Heading Addon
A new addon ‘Heading’ has been added to the SP Page Builder 2.0 RC 2. You can use it to place stunning feature areas based on texts. More addons are coming in near future.
Central Google Maps API Configuration
The SP Page Builder 2.0 RC 2 comes with an absolutely useful feature that will let you embed Google Maps frames on your Joomla site very easily. Previously you were required to apply Google Maps API credentials each time on each addon in order to embed a map frame on the site. But starting from the latest Page Builder RC version, you can set the Google Maps API globally (centrally) for your site, and then you can use it to embed maps on anywhere of your site without providing Maps API credentials every time for each addon. Use Page Builder's Global Configuration to set the API.
Box Layout Confusion Removed
We always value your opinions and try to make our products user-friendly. That’s why removed the box layout confusion starting from this version. Box layout issue will be now smartly handled by the latest version of our Helix 3 framework.
We hope you will enjoy the second Release Candidate of SP Page Builder 2.0. Now let’s look at the modified development timeline.
- 09 September 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 Alpha 1
- 28 September 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 Alpha 2 (Joomla article support + Extensibility)
- 10 October 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 Beta (Frontend editing)
- 20 October 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 RC (Bug fix + K2 Integration)
- 28 October 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 RC 2 (Bug fix + New features + Feature improvements)
- 04 November 2016 → SP Page Builder 2.0 stable
So, try it today on your experimental site and also don’t forget to give us feedback to help make it even better.
Installation Tip/Warning
This version of SP Page Builder 2.0 (RC 2) will work ONLY on fresh Joomla installations. So your test ground site must have a fresh Joomla instance. Don’t update from a previous version of SP Page Builder to this RC version of the component.
I swear I will not use it on a production/live website.
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