Calendar version 1.2.2 has been released. You can download it from WordPress or from my own site. Thanks to all who helped with testing and especially to those who offered solutions to discovered issues.

Keen eyes will notice that 1.2.2 supports WordPress 2.8 but the latest stable version of WordPress is 2.7.1. All this means is that I have tested compatibility with the latest 2.8 beta in readiness for it’s stable release date.

Six years ago I wrote the Halifax College website when I sat on the college committee. Since then, I have left the University of York and gained a degree at another university but throughout that time my old website has been kept in use, different content, different webmaster, but still the same design and code.

This week sees the launch of a new site in it’s entirety, code, design the works. The site is still hosted on my server which is why you will see a link to this blog on the bottom of the site but apart from that it’s now entirely out of my hands.

In some way I’m sad to see it change but 6 years is a very good run for a site design/back-end without any changes and it was only right that full control should pass from the hands of an old alumni into fresh ownership, after all I think you’ll agree that the new look is rather pleasing to the eye.

Anyone interested in what the site used to look like when I ran it, can check it’s internet archive entry.

Halifax Online is dead, long live Halifax Online!

As promised in my post just a day or two ago, Calendar for WordPress 1.2.2 has now been released in beta. You can download it here.

In addition to the promised new features and bug fixes detailed in the last post, the following have also been squeezed in.

• Corrected a couple of spelling mistakes in the default English language text
• Fixed a Calendar admin panel issue where URLs would grow in length if certain options were chosen consecutively
• Ensured that, should an error be thrown due to problematic user entry, the entered data would remain on screen for easy correction

As always, please be aware that this is beta software. It might have bugs or errors and using it on a live site would be unwise. If you are tech-savvy and wish to test this release then I would be most grateful for your feedback and bug reports in the comments on this post. If not then the non-beta full release will be made available when WordPress 2.8 comes out of beta which looks to be any day now.

As an aside, it seems fitting that a new version of Calendar is being released now as the total number of Calendar downloads has recently exceeded 30,000!

I’m currently working on an interim release of calendar, version 1.2.2. This should be ready by the start of next week. I say interim because this is simply a precursor to a brand new release, 1.3, which will be packed with new and requested features. This bumper new version should grace the internet with it’s presence in August.

As usual I will be looking for beta testers for the new release so for everyone who is interested in testing this, please keep an eye on my blog for the release announcement next week.

Features and bug fixes being added in the 1.2.2 version include:

• Full gettext language support
• Fixed bug with subscribers permissions variable
• Improved README and FAQ
• Changed link back to point here instead of old business site
• Fixed bug with function call to capture blog URL
• Neatened some rough edges in the back-end styles
• Fully tested WPMU support
• Support for WordPress 2.8
• Improved error catching
• Fix implemented for ambiguous error messages
• Improved widget behaviour by abstracting legacy calls from widget calls

I hope you will enjoy the new release and would, at this stage, like to thank all those who have reported bugs. I do listen, even if I don’t reply and I hope this list of fixes shows that this is the case. As above, testers be sure to keep a look out for the beta version!

I was in a sweet shop in York last weekend (I have a sweet tooth, I just can’t resist) and I overheard someone say that the traditional sherbet fountains are going to be removed from sale in the near future for “health and safety reasons”. This is apparently despite acknowledgements from all parties concerned that no harm has ever come to anyone through the fact the liquorice is open to the air.

Day by day I hear of more ludicrous actions being taken in the name of health and safety which merely seem to reduce our enjoyment of life. Sherbet fountains have been around my entire life and I remember buying them as a child. Not only that but my parents remember buying them as children. Bureaucrats and paranoid health officials shouldn’t be allowed to meddle.

Anyone unacquainted with my views on health and safety and it’s run-away tendency to mess with every part of our lives in ways that spoil our freedom and enjoyment should consult one of my past articles, “Health & Safety rules must die”