New web-based Milonic admin system

A Windows application for making menus
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lsalsich
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New web-based Milonic admin system

Post by lsalsich »

Hi All,

(I posted this in the 'news' forum, but then saw that this forum might be a better place for it)

I wanted to let you all know that after a long time in development my php-mysql admin system for Milonic is now in 'beta' and ready for some testing.

A quick overview (more on my site):

1) I built a custom demo feature on our site (http://www.groupzero.net) which allows each tester to have their very own demo for 24 hours. This is a fully-functional install of the system - just on my server. Get your personal demo here http://www.groupzero.net/index.php?opt ... Itemid=37

From the 'Release Notes':
“PHPMadmin” Beta Demo Release Notes – V 0.9 May, 2006
PHPMadmin is primarily a PHP administration system for the Milonic Menu. It does not modify the core files of Milonic Menu and requires that users still obtain Milonic licenses, etc. Contact the lead developer (Luke Salsich) for more information at luke AT groupzero.net
Highlights of the system are:

1) Ease of use – PHPMadmin is a simple interface that allows any website admin to build and maintain Milonic menus of any kind.

2) Portability – Site admins can easily insert a menu from PHPMadmin into ANY page within their site using one small line of PHP code. No complicated integration with PHPMadmin is required for use. Menus can be inserted into CMS systems, plain HTML pages and PHP pages.

3) Speed – PHPMadmin uses data caching so that your pages don’t have to process all the menu data on each load. PHPMadmin will only load the menus from the database when you have made a change to the database. Otherwise, the menu data is loaded from cached files that greatly speed the menu load times.

4) Search-Engine friendly – PHPMadmin has a built-in function that can insert ALL links contained in the database into hidden fields within each web page. This allows search engines to follow the links, but also maximizes your page rank since all pages contain all links.

5) Easy to customize – PHPMadmin uses the Smarty Templating Engine to separate the PHP code from the HTML display. This allows admins to embed the PHPMadmin management system into their sites very quickly without needing to understand how it is programmed, while preserving the look of their individual sites.

6) Flexibility – PHPMadmin allows you to show the same menu using different styles, orientation, etc WITHOUT having to rename the menu or create a duplicate. (The menu on the left of the Demo is the same as ‘Menu #1 sub’ – but it’s been forced to use new parameters).
lsalsich
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requested feature

Post by lsalsich »

I had a request to allow users to use groupzero.net to build menus and then download the javascript - as an alternative to installing the PHPMadmin admin system itself into their websites (when its available for install, that is).

This would be faily easy to do since the demo system I built creates entirely new installs of the PHPMadmin system for you AND because the PHPMadmin system creates cached menu files to speed up page loads. I could just give users a 'download JS' button on the demos to allow them to grab the menu code they have created.

Would this be a feature people would use? I'm thinking this might be helpful for users without PHP, MySQL, etc or those who just want a quick way to grab some custom menu code. (of course, Milonic licensing still applies!)

Luke
lsalsich
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update

Post by lsalsich »

Hey all,

This product is ready to go. I just need some 3-5 volunteers who might want to help me do the last bit of Beta testing. anyone who takes the time to test this application will get the final version for free - and my great appreciation.

I am currently completing PHPMadmin in three different offerings:

1) a download which users can install on their systems and use to manage their Milonic code.

2) a hosted version of the same application. This will be the same as the current 'demo' version - so check it out if you haven't yet. http://www.groupzero.net/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=37. This install will be hosted on GroupZero servers and allow users to download the menu code they develop.

3) a free, hosted version. This will also be hosted on Groupzero servers, but will be at no charge. This version of the application will be able to build basic menus and styles and download the code. Just giving back in the ways I can :D

Assuming the final Beta test go well and go quickly, this should be available for use later this month.

check out the latest documentation on PHPMadmin. http://www.groupzero.net/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=48

Thanks, and anyone interested in helping me Beta test, please send me an email at Luke AT groupzero DOT net.

Cheers!

Luke

P.S. anyone on the Milonic team who is interested in testing this application is obviously welcome to it. I would be very glad for your opinions and insight. contact me at the above email.
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Application is complete

Post by lsalsich »

For those interested, version 1.0 of our web-based user interface for Milonic menu is now released. For more details and to create a custom demo of the full application, go to http://www.groupzero.net

I would encourage you to check out the demo if yo havent seen the latest version - it's very different then earlier Beta releases.

In the 6 weeks since the Beta release we've added several major new features that users had asked for during Beta testing:

1)'Developer mode' - When developing menus and menu styles, you may save as many as you want in PHPMadmin, switching between them as needed. This allows 'developers' (people who may need to work on more than one menu at a time) to store all their menus and styles in one central location - easily applying them to projects as needed.

2) Menu code is exportable - admins can now download the selected menu code they have developed. PHPMadmin will build the necessary JavaScript files and bundle them along with the menu images - everything needed to manually add the menu to a web page.

In the end it turned out to be a complicated user interface that is pretty simple to use. In fact, we use PHPMadmin on our site at Groupzero.net.

We decided to offer three application 'versions':

1) you can purchase and download the application code to install on your website.

2) You can purchase a customized install of the full version of PHPMadmin - hosted on our servers.

3) a free version of PHPMAdmin hosted on our servers. This is a limited version of the application, but still very usable. This is our way of making this application available to everyone who wants to build Milonic menus, but doesn't need all of the features of the full version.

Luke
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