Episode 34
One week later than usual after the Easter break, but here we are again. The dev team is currently working hard preparing the new features for Kirby 3.2, our upcoming feature release. In the meantime, we published version 3.1.3 with important fixes, and Kirby 3.1.4-rc.1 is due next Tuesday.
Virtual Pages
Combine Kirby's file-based architecture with content from any source and edit it in the Panel. Read our new guide section about virtual pages that finally highlights this Kirby 3 feature the way it deserves.
Our cookbook also has some new tips and solutions, among them:
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Popular options for setting up a local development environment
Also, the cookbook section now has better filtering options which will hopefully make it easier for you to find what you need.
MeetUps
On Tuesday, Bastian presented Kirby at the Sketch MeetUp in Stuttgart. Next week, Bastian is going to be at the beyond tellerrand conference in DĂĽsseldorf, where he will host a Mini-MeetUp for all attendees on Monday (13.05.2019)
If you are interested in organizing a Kirby MeetUp or Kirby workshop in your city or at your company, please get in contact: support@getkirby.com We are more than happy to support you and come over for a demo if possible.
Kirby in the Wild
Kirby Plugins
Our plugin developers have been incredibly productive during the last few weeks. Here are only some of their contributions:
Resize images directly in the browser before they are uploaded to the server with Roman Steiner's Maxpixels plugin.
Custom fields in the "create page dialog" are now possible with Rico Steiner's Kirby plugin.
Matthias MĂĽller made a plugin that allows clipping images visually directly in the Panel.
Two new plugins allow you to manage language variables from the Panel. The Variables field plugin by Oblik Studio and Trevor View by Roman Steiner.
Online Shop
Create your own Kirby online shop with Merx, the e-commerce plugin (commercial license).
Always test third-party plugins thoroughly before using them in production.
CSS
Andy Bell put up an example utility how to create a responsive grid layout with CSS Grid and no media queries.
Chen Hui Jing explains CSS Grid placement through building a HTML periodical table (note the icon in the address bar).
HTML
Especially when reading online content with lots of annoying ads that distract me too much, I like switching to reader mode. If you have ever tried to build websites for reader mode or other reading apps, you know that this is not without pitfalls. Mandy Michael has some tips.
Tools
If you are like me and switched to VSCode a while ago but still feel you are missing out on some important stuff, Sebastian Andil's tips for using VSCode more efficiently might be for you.
Maizzle is an email framework based on Tailwind CSS that uses standard HTML and utility classes rather than custom tags for markup.
A11y
Fabian Michael got the accessibility blues when trying to add a print stylesheet to an upcoming website and testing it with Voice Over and a text browser.
Image alt text is often neglected–either left empty or filled with useless information. Daniel Göransson, himself a user of assistive technology, explains how to create meaningful alternative texts depending on context.
This & That
Well worth watching: Sarah Drasner's talk "SVG will save us" at the #PerfMatters Conference 2019.
Lazy loading images is currently done with JavaScript, but Chromium is coming with native lazy loading in the near future and this will open up new possibilities. Andrea Verlicchi shares how we can progressively enhance JS-based lazy loading with native lazy loading now.
Although "Lessons on Visualization from the Industrial Environment" focuses mainly on work environments, the articles has insights that are also useful in a broader context.
Bastian published a short forum post on how Kirby as a company tries to contribute its small part to fighting climate change. Join the discussion about what we as developers can do to reduce our carbon footprint and that of our clients, from using servers that are powered by renewable energy to reducing the size of webpages.