Episode 88
In Germany, the Easter holidays are over, so here we are again with a new Kosmos issue.
Apart from a new Kirby version (Kirby 4.2.0, see below), we also relaunched our live demo at https://trykirby.com/. There are also quite a few interesting new plugins, and the second quarter of the year starts with a new round of meetups. But read on…
Kirby 4.2.0
Today we are releasing Kirby 4.2.0. The focus of this release is on enhancements and fixes. But we also sneaked in a new feature: A new api option for sections to define API endpoints just like for fields.
For all long-term Kirby users: A 4.x release corresponds with 3.x.x releases. They are about stability and enhancements and do not come with breaking changes (or lots of new features). This also means that you should be able to install 4.2.0 without any problems. If you run into any nonetheless, please let us know!
Kirby Demo
We relaunched our Kirby Online Demo last week. In addition to some UX improvements (such as a pre-filled Panel login form) and many technical improvements under the hood, we have finally set up the hosting setup to allow multiple demo servers around the world. This will give your clients who are trying out Kirby for the first time a much more realistic feel for Kirby's editing performance.
We also used the opportunity to refactor and improve our open-source Demo Manager software that handles the creation and automatic deletion of personal demo instances. There is now finally a complete documentation about it so you can self-host it if you want.
Kirby in the wild
Kirby learning
Since our last Kosmos issue, Bastian recorded four new screencasts for you:
In A closer look at the blocks field, you learn how to fine-tune the HTML for Kirby's built-in blocks.
The Block Plugin Crash Course: A comprehensive tutorial about how to create a block preview plugin. It also covers a lot of basics for Panel plugins in general.
Want to build a custom field instead? Then the comprehensive Field Plugin Crash Course is right for you.
And last but not least: In Where to put your helpers, Bastian shows you how you can create custom helper functions by creating a very simple Kirby plugin.
Kirby meetups
Berlin, Germany 📍
Wednesday, April 24, 2024, 19:00 PM (CEST)
Munich, Germany 📍
Thursday, April 25, 2024, 18:00 PM (CEST)
Düsseldorf, Germany 📍
Monday, May 13, 2024, 18:00 PM (CEST)
Kirby Meeting at beyond tellerand
Kirby plugins
Kirby Dream Form is the form builder plugin that "makes forms just work like magic". Build single or multi-step forms in the Panel, create Zapier-like submission workflows with actions or extend it with the powerful API.
With Kirby Klub your customers become members of your website. It is a flexible toolkit that allows you to add member-exclusive content and enable one-time and recurring payments via Stripe.
The Live Preview plugin shows how your page will look with unsaved changes. It's the plugin content editors and clients have been waiting for.
Auto File Templates: Automatically assign file blueprints depending on file type.
Kirby devutils is a set of command line tools to help you manage your Kirby CMS project.
Kirby cosmos
Elliot Jay Stocks shares how he and Keir Whitaker integrated Elliot's fantastic Buttondown newsletter for type fans into his Kirby site.
This & That
Laravel launched the Windows version of Laravel Herd, an easy-to-use local development environment. Note that there's also a video on how to install Kirby with Laravel Herd.
Open Source is rewarding, but it can also be exhausting. There is now a nice badge for your open-source projects that you have created as one-off projects and no longer want to maintain.
A tribute to view source, a feature introduced in web browsers in the mid-90s and one that makes working with HTML special to this day.
Evan Boehs collected his personal notes how to improve website speed. A topic that cannot be addressed often enough.
Ahmad Shadeed created an extensive guide to CSS :has() selector.
Using pseudo classes to make forms accessible.
Looking for a "green" hosting service? Check out the Greenweb directory.
The New CSS Math: pow(), sqrt(), and exponential friends.
Iterator helpers in JavaScript. A collection of new methods on the Iterator prototype that help in general use of iterators.