Thoughts on the ExpressionEngine 2.0 Sneak Peek
For me, one of the most anticipated panels this year as SXSWi was EllisLabs’ ExpressionEngine (EE) 2.0 preview. After having our team’s flight delayed due to weather, we finally managed to make the last of three panels where EllisLabs revealed what they have been working on so diligently for months now. In my opinion, they didn’t disappoint.
I’ve been an EE user for more than a year now and have quickly grown to love it. The flexibility it offers is far superior to most every other CMS (Content Management System) on the market. But as in every great product, it’s not without quirks. What is encouraging to me is that it seems EllisLabs has really made an attempt to tackle most of these issues head-on, having taken the user’s feedback into account for their next release.
Here’s a list of some notable things mentioned:
2.0 will now run off of CodeIgniter, their open source PHP framework
While I don’t fully comprehend the intricacies of this announcement, I can understand its benefits. CodeIgniter will now be an open-source project giving PHP gurus the chance to submit patches and make updates. This, much like most open sources projects, creates a more stable and community-driven/backed project. EllisLabs’ Derek Allard also mentioned features such as abstract querying, better session support, html, and form generation.
2.0 will now have jQuery built in. (my personal favorite, w00t!)
When this new feature was announced, I actually cheered. (I’m such a dork). I was encouraged because I’m a huge jQuery advocate, so the possibilities here are endless. Much like the way Rails seamlessly works with Prototype and Scriptaculous, we’ll now be able to create complex jQuery actions, both visual (DHTML effects) and functional (Ajax), with a few simple lines of code. jQuery will also be fully supported inside the control panel, enabling geeks like to me to customize their experiences by writing plugins. I also assume that they’ve cleaned up a lot of the extraneous JavaScript that currently clogs processor power, slowing your CP loading times. Once 2.0 is released, I’m certain it will only be a matter of time before we see some extremely innovative plugins and extensions leveraging the power of jQuery.
2.0 will include a brand new control panel (CP) interface and layout
The majority of the preview time was dedicated to showing users around the new control panel. This included some very dramatic and much needed changes. It’s apparent in the redesign that EllisLabs is very concerned with streamlining some of its time consuming actions. This includes things like sorting, searching, and custom field creation. Actions that now use ajax, meaning no long page loads? Sweet!
My only criticism is about the design and layout of the control panel. (The official screen shots have generated some heated conversations). I think the design should be more neutral and utilitarian than its new playful self. I was a bit surprised that EllisLabs hadn’t given the CP redesign to Jesse of 31Three, who designed the current EE site. His talent in wireframing and architecting complex data is evident. I would think hiring him for this redesign would be a natural extension of the great work he has already done for EllisLabs.
With that said, Rick Ellis, the CEO, had a great response to some of the criticism the design has received. This is _just_ a preview after all and I’m sure we’ll see numerous custom themes before long. Maybe even one from Jesse?
All-in-all, I’m stoked for the 2.0 release. EllisLabs has addressed flaws in EE and is moving forward. I can’t wait to see what else they’ve got in the pipeline.
Those were pretty much my exact thoughts. I wasn’t actually at SxSW this year, but I followed what was going on with the EE 2.0 preview pretty closely. I too was overjoyed about the addition of jQuery to the package… and am personally liking the fact/rumor that they are dropping the term “weblog” from the system’s taxonomy. Now as long as we can get a “real” pages module… it’ll be perfect.
Haha… I AGREE. I assume and hope that a new pages module, or whatever they’re gonna call it, will be part of 2.0. And I can’t believe I forgot to mention the decision to drop the term ‘weblog.’ Thanks for the reminder!
The fact that it’ll use CodeIgniter is really exciting. CI’s a great framework for designing web apps (I use it for many of my personal projects) and it hasn’t been getting as much love lately. Having EE built on it will really help it regain momentum.
My biggest complaint - actually, my only one - is also the new interface. It feels dated and it’s not even on the market yet. The current 1.6+ interface uses classic lines and has stood the test of time, not bowing into the trend of big and bubbly.
Hey I just noticed the Viget sub-sites, when did you launch all these, love the layout for the Inspire section.
Added the feed to my feed reader already.
I’ld toss this site in the SG gallery, if I hadn’t sworn off writing reviews (need my own site).
About the jQuery - w00t, w00t.
I had thought that the jQuery was mostly just for the control panel, but you are mentioning dhtml effects, w0wie.
Kinda funny how people were jumping on the look of the CP, when it’s got nothing so much to do with the look as it does all the new technology/functions and previewing that.
The orange & lime candy interface was just about right for now.
It was all about adding CSS handles to customize the crap out of the CP anyways, I think.
See ya around Rob-0 :)
note: the term weblog is a fluffie thing, that can be changed in the current version control panel, some like section, and the demo used collections. Here’s a thought maybe they’re working on tiered weblog sections or something? It takes some informationArchitect (IA) skills to make the best use of unlimited blogs and fields. Who’s the specialist on that at Viget?
Like Clinton, I’m most excited about the CodeIgniter bit. Since it’s an MVC framework with a great community, it not only gives it wings among that audience, but it also allows other folks familiar with MVC frameworks and PHP to dive into a platform that has a great CMS backing it. It kinda puts it up against something like Django, even though python > php.
I haven’t been keeping up very well with EE 2.0 development, but am super-glad to see it all moving forward. Has there been any mention at SXSW (or elsewhere) of intended improvements for the creation/integration of member templates? I’ve only created a members area for one site thus far, but it was a nightmare (and I’m not alone in that thought). The member templates (currently) are almost entirely removed from the functionality/styling of the rest of the site, and as such require separate approaches toward many EE tags, separate style sheets, and the stripping out of lots of needless (table-filled) code.
@Peyton - Good question! I haven’t actually worked within the member templates myself but I’ve heard that sentiment echoed from other users. During the panel someone asked that exact question and they responded very vaguely to it. It sounded like they were still working on that piece and would have a more concrete answer later. I sure hope they integrate member templates into the CP though.
Interesting thoughts on the Member management/community features. Maybe if those were to become part of the core/free version you would see more rapid and innovative development by the EE community, not that the license isn’t a fair price, but I hadn’t heard the critiques of these member features. When the user-mangement features are mostly backend, and you are talking about the Control Panel design and layout, it isn’t hard to see how it’s hard to keep everything cohesive design wise.
Considerable emphasis was placed on redesigning the CP maybe this will help with designing a front end and back end that is better integrated.
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