Bloo version 1.32 has been released. You can download it here.

Below are the significant features and bug fixes in this release:

• Added the BlooStats package, which keeps statistical counts on posts and thus aids in the performance of the blog
• Fixed a problem with the dates on draft posts, which were not advancing to the current date when the post was made public
• Was unable to delete comments on blogs that had Bloo Wiki enabled. This has been fixed
• Notification settings for new comments/new posts for a sub-blog were being sent to users of the main blog as well. Fixed this
• Fixed a none-too-friendly error message when bloo.config.php is missing.
• For users of Bloo version 1.30, there is now a quick upgrade option.

Bloo version 1.31 (release candidate for version 1.32) is being rolled out to several blogs for testing. If all goes well, version 1.32 should be available to the public in a few days.

More info coming soon . . .

Bloo version 1.30 has been released. You can download it here.

Below are the significant features and bug fixes in this release:

• Posters can now alter the date and time on a post
• BlooNews is now available. BlooNews allows for blogs to subscribe to Bloo news from the Bloo Development blog (devblog.outofthebloo.com). This extension also allows a blog to become a news publisher
• Added an RSS feed for Post Categories
• Community blogs can now be set as public/private. Only public blogs will be displayed on the front page of a community blog.
• Added profile settings to provide for email notification to a user if a new post and/or comment is created on the blog. If you want to be notified anytime another poster creates a post on your blog, or anytime someone comments on a post written by another poster, turn these settings on in your profile (obviously, this mainly applies to group blogs)
• Fixed a problem with decomposing ampersand entities in posts and pages.
• There was a problem logging in; if the server didn't have a valid domain name it wasn't saving the cookie. There were also problems related to logging out that have been fixed. Some of these problems were related to how the unique "blog signature" was being created. This root cause has been fixed.
• Foxed a problem with the RSS feed, which often did not work in bloglines.
• Fixed slashes/magic quote processing. Improper handling was causing slashes to appear in notification emails, for instance.
• The guest account was logging in to no specified administrative panel. Now is taken to the My Profile panel
• Fixed a problem that was discovered in the upgrade program when upgrading from a 1.10 blog.
• Generalized the RSS Collector, to allow it to be used for multiple types of RSS feeds
• Added the PhooCheckBox class to the Phoo Phramework
• Parameters can now be passed to a SnapOn

The next version of Bloo is now being tested on some key blogs and will be released for general consumption sometime in the next week or two.

More information coming. The Bloo New Year's Resolution is to have more frequent releases!

Bloo version 1.25 has not been released for public consumption yet, but the development blog has been upgraded to it so that it can start doling out Bloo News, using the new Bloo News extension. This is the first news post.

Once this version is fully vetted and rolled out, anyone who upgrades to it will have a much more direct way of being notified of new Bloo releases and other Bloo doings.

There are some new themes coming soon as well.

Today Bloo version 1.22 was released. You can download it here. This release is primarily a bug-fix release, with specific attention toward fixing theme problems that manifest in earlier versions of IE.

Bugs Fixed

• Fixed the Pre Render event, which was not working on menu items. Fixed
• In IE, when logged into a community blog, the front page of the blog did not acknowledge the login. This has been fixed.
  
• Fixed problems with the base three column theme - had a fat-fingered style
  
• Fixed some themes that were not rendering in earlier versions of IE. Included in this were the Bloo Clouds theme, Red Train, Camera, Jill, Field of Dreams and Pure. These themes can be found at the Bloo Themes site.
  
• Bloogroll Posts description was incorrect. It needed to reference the RSS Collector which was established in version 1.20. This is fixed.

Bloo version 1.20 is released! You can download it here.

In many ways, Bloo 1.20 will look a whole lot like Bloo 1.10. But it contains some pretty significant feature additions, and represents a real firming up of the underlying Bloo architecture as it's always been envisioned (but not quite implemented, until now):

Below are the major features and bug-fixes included in this release:

• Bloo Community - this one is pretty huge. Bloo Community is an extension SnapOn included in the core release that allows you to, on the fly, create sub-blogs off your main blog. Each sub-blog is a full-blow Bloo release, but entirely segregated from the content on your main blog. You can even open up things so that guests can request a sub-blog under your main blog (you have full control over accepting or rejecting that request, and also you can suspend or delete sub-blogs that don't behave). You can read more about Bloo Community on the Bloo Wiki, here.
• RSS caching and collection is now centralized and part of the core release. You can read more about this on the Bloo Wiki here
• Added About Me link to the Sidebar
• Provides for version checking on snapOns
• Cleaner error messages
• Created new Wrapper styles for themes - this gives more flexibility on how themes behave. You can read about the changes to themes in 1.20 on the Bloo Wiki, here (and if you've created your own theme in Bloo, you really need to read that to help convert your theme)
  
• Removed some old core themes. So there are less themes delivered with Bloo, but the ones that were removed were pretty cr@ptastic anyway. You can find more themes for Bloo on the Bloo Themes Site.
• Add more base themes for sidebar right, sidebar left, and three column. All Bloo themes at this point cascade from one of these three.
  
• Added the BlooWiki SnapOn to the release. Using this extension SnapOn, you can now easily turn your blog into a WIKI (our own Bloo WIKI is built off of this).
• Fixed a problem with localhost login (for people testing Bloo locally)
• Fixed a problem with trackback and comments links when title permalinks are enabled.
• Improved the RSS Feed
• Fixed a problem with the FavoritePosts extension SnapOn that made it not work if permalinks not set to title
• Fixed a problem with Theme Preview - Stop Preview wasn't working

Although originally scheduled for November, obviously 1.20 was not released at that time ;-) - some features were added, and a lot of work has gone into just getting it as ready as possible for public consumption. One big change was in how themes are handled; some style changes were made to the base themes to make them more flexible, and this delayed things a bit.

It's the stretch run now. The pre-release versions are being tested on several different sites, and final bugs and features are being resolved and coded. In addtion, work is ramping up on Bloo Community (more on that soon).

Thanks for your patience!

. . . hopefully in November.

Version 1.20 introduces some significant structural changes, although the blog will, for the most part, behave as before.

The biggest new feature in version 1.20 will be Bloo Community, which will allow Bloo bloggers to open  up their blog space for the registration of sub-blogs. It's kind of like setting up your own private MySpace (or Idaho, or whatever) community. The main Bloo site (http://outofthebloo.com) will be opening up for community blog registrations soon, meaning you can become a Bloo blogger without having to download and install the code in your own webspace. Lots more coming on this.

Following 1.20, a lot more attention will be paid to the development of themes and extension SnapOns.

There is a patch for Bloo version 1.10 that fixes a problem in the post category administration that is preventing the creation or editing of categories. When these operations are attempted, the web-page just times out.

You can download the patch here.

Once downloaded, do the following:

1. Upload the bloo.install.command.overlays.xml file to your blog's "install" directory
   
   
2. Upload the post.command.overlays.xml file to your blog's "core" subdirectory:
   
   
3. Once that's done, go to your administrative panel,
   a. select Lists and Settings  
   b. select Post categories  
   c. Click the "edit" link next to the General category  
   d. Edit it (if desired - but if not, still go through this process) and press Save
   

There is a patch for Bloo version 1.10 that is necessary if you are getting nasty errors when upgrading from Bloo version 1.00 to 1.10. Basically, the patch fixes a problem that occurs for webhosts that do not have gpc magic quotes turned on by default.

You'll know you have the error if you get something that looks like this when you run the upgrade program:

SQL Error: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that
corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near
''Page.sidebar'' at line 6:select o.overlay_id ,o.syntax from vl_overlay
o where o.syntax like '%Post.form.search%' and deleted_flag = 'N' and
o.name = 'Page.sidebar'

Bloo version 1.10 is (finally) released! It includes some nice improvements over 1.00. You can download it here.

Below are the main features and fixes included in this release

• New and improved install and upgrade programs
• Title-based permalinks are now available. In other words, instead of your post permalink appearing as http://myblog/post_id=1, your permalink can look like http://myblog/posts/out-of-the-bloo-a-blog
• Beefed up security layers to protect against hacks.
  
• Searches now work for static pages as well as posts
• Improved the emails sent on comments and trackbacks
• Linefeed to BR tag replacements for posts and pages are now smarter. They won't add BR tags within TABLE, OL or UL tags
• General improvements in sidebar styles and organization
  
• Fixed a problem with the published date in the Comments RSS feed
• Fixed a problem with the Recent Comments link, which was preventing it from working
• Fixed a problem with the upgrade/install Ping that caused some blogs to hang on install
  

Bloo version 1.00 Patch 2 has been released to resolve some known security holes in Bloo. If you are a Bloo version 1.00 user, this patch is highly recommended (note: it is only for version 1.00). You can download the patch, in either zip or tgz format, here. Just click on bloo.v.1.00.patch02.zip or bloo.v.1.00.patch02.tgz.

(for more information on the already-released patch01, click here)

In other news, work on Bloo version 1.1 is movin' right along. Expect the new version to be released soon!

An error was found in the default Page.sidebar overlay that comes with version 1.00 of Bloo. The fix for this is trivial, and there is now a patch available (bloo.v.1.00.patch01) that will fix it, here.

Note: If you are an upgrader who has already customized Page.sidebar, most likely you already have a good View Recent Comments link in your sidebar, so you may not need the patch. For new installers, the patch is necessary; you can also just customize your sidebar and fix the View Recent Comments link manually (go to Look and Feel, Overlays, and find and edit Page.sidebar in the Custom category) rather than bothering to download and install the patch.

The problem was due to some quotes in the href for that link that were inadvertently left as html entities in the overlay.

Also in the patch a small problem with the Last Published Date in the Comments RSS feed is fixed.

This is the big one . . . the first full Production release of Bloo! You can download it here.

Here's what's new in this release:

• Commenters on the blog can now edit their most recent comment after posting it. This ability lasts for several minutes
• The Private post type was created, allowing posters to create posts that can only be read by logged in posters or administrators.
• The Popular Posts extension now can have a specified time-window wherein it measures comment activity (rather than always just measuring for the life of the post)
• The blog now includes a “Lost your password?” feature, to allow users who have forgotten their password to get a new one.
• Now posters can create static pages, which are like posts but don’t display a date stamp and can only be displayed by going to the static page’s permalink URL. In other words, static pages don’t roll along in the normal post stream. This feature is useful for creating more “timeless” pages, such as an “About Me” page.
• The Bloogroll can now recognize a constant set in an overlay that specifies which Bloogroll categories to display. The constant is bloogroll_category_list, and is set in an overlay (usually Page.sidebar) using this syntax: _=bloogroll_category_list=Category 1,Category 2=_, substituting, of course, the real categories you want to display for Category 1 and Category 2
• Created the Contact extension, which allows the blog to have “Contact Me” and “Contact Post Author” links which will display forms through which users can send email messages to the blog administrator(s) or a post author without knowing the recipient’s email address
• Added links for “Older Entries”, “Newer Entries” on the Post display page to allow for navigation to older and newer posts.
• The permalink for posts is now, by default, on the post title, rather than the post time.
• Created the "Favorite Posts" SnapOn, which allows the administrator to show a list of his/her favorite posts from the blog.
• Created a Comments RSS feed.
• Created versioning in the system, which Bloo uses to detect when an upgrade is needed.
• We now have a new Bloo logo!
• Created a Trackback Send form, for sending trackbacks to other blogs.
• Form navigation is now smoother as the first field on most forms is now in focus by default.
• Changed the display of the “Everyone” security role to the more appropriately named “Guest”
• Renamed the “snapons” directory to “core”, for clarity’s sake.
• Removed the Remote Blacklist Spamicide extension SnapOn from the core release. Never much liked how this one worked (too many false-positives)
• Fixed a security vulnerability in Comments editing
• Fixed a problem with Post categories that have apostrophes in them (they were blanking out when the post was re-edited).
• The Bloogroll category drop-down was getting confused when the Category ID was greater than 10. This is fixed.
• Fixed problems with the RSS feed that caused it not to validate in certain feed readers.
• Fixed alignment problems in the post form when their were no post form extension snapons (such as Quicktags) enabled.
• Fixed a problem in the Lag Time Spam Checker extension snapon that was causing it to fail when checking trackbacks.
• Numerous other internal fixes and improvements

Forgive the silence recently. Much work has been in progress. The production release of Bloo 1.00 is nearly ready and will hopefully be released in the next two weeks or so.

Huzzah!

There is a new patch available for release candidate 2. It's a relatively straightforward one - it fixes a security vulnerability in the comments SnapOn and also fixes a bug in category selection while posting: any category with an apostrophe in it was getting cleared when a post was edited.

You can get download the patch here.

The second production release candidate of Bloo, version 1.00, has been released. You can download it here.

Below are the features and bug fixes included in this release:

Features

• Multiple Category Tags. Now a post can be filed under multiple categories. This one was long overdue . . .
• Modified the post changes protector extension to handle changes to the post category.
• Redesigned the layout of the post admin and post display. In particular, made changes to accommodate multiple categories
• IP Blacklist - yet another Spam fighting SnapOn for Bloo. This one allows you to blacklist certain IPs so they can't leave comments or send trackbacks
• Multiple comment protection. In the past, people who were too quick on the Submit button might see their comment hit twice. This has been fixed.
• Reworked the ThemeSelector so that the admin can select which themes he/she wants to be in the rotation. This is important because in the past, all themes showed up, even "Bloo Base", which isn't a very presentable theme.
• Added capturing of the create and modify user id to the comments and post tables. Now we can see who did what.
• Made some general improvements to the phoo base foundation classes
• Date formats are now configurable by the admin. Now the admin can set the date format for the post date, post time, and comment time display. In addition, moved Post, Comment date formats and display settings to the Look and Feel section. Just seemed more natural.

• An ampersand in a post title screws up the RSS feed. This has been fixed.
• When comments are sent to moderation, the user is not notified. Instead, they are just told “Thank you for your comment”. This has been resolved
• Those with “Everyone” status don’t have any real access to the admin panel. Fixed. Now they see a minimal administration panel, which basically just gives them the ability to edit their profile
• Error messages on login are very plain. Made 'em look nicer
• Simple Human Check display doesn’t start on its own line. Now it does.
• CommentFloodQuery was not working. This has been fixed.
• Upon upgrade or install, SnapOn and Theme lists were not shown in alpha order. They are now.
• First quote in Bloo Quote was not being selected as current upon entry of that quote into the system. Fixed.

The BlooQuote patch is now deployed to Sourceforge. You can down load it by clicking here and selecting the bloo.v.1.00rc1.patches.zip or tgz file.

This fixes a pesky problem in Bloo release candidate 1 in which the Bloo quote of the day no longer advanced. In addition, administration of the BlooQuote snapon is improved so that you can now select the quote you want to make the current quote.

Work is continuing on release candidate 2.

Watch me for the changes . . .

The first production release candidate of Bloo, version 1.00, has been released. You can download it here.

While it certainly doesn't represent as large a leap forward as the Beta 2 release, this first production release candidate contains some nice features, with more coming (and hopefully quickly) on release candidate 2.

New features in this release:

• TimeZone Processing - Awww yeah! I've never been a fan of the "enter the number of hours between you and GMT" form of blog timestamping. First of all, that doesn't work well with daylight savings time, and plus it just seems kind of stick-and-rock. Now, when installing or upgrading a Bloo blog, you can actually pick your timezone, and let Bloo handle the rest - it will adjust time displays for daylight savings time, etc., and you don't have to pay attention to whatever your current offset to Greenwich is. There are new date formats also that will display the timezone for you in the post timestamp. Also, all internal times are now stored in GMT. I like platonic ideals - rather than storing internal times in database tables using the server time or other such fickle measure, Bloo stores everything in GMT. If you change your timestamp on your blog, all timestamps on all posts, comments, etc, will adjust.
• Got rid of one of the SnapOn packages in Bloo - the Lists package. This was used on a lot of behind the scenes stuff but was basically superfluous. Removing it also allowed us to remove the list_types table.
• Performed other cleanups on the settings table.
• Added new Settings menus, split up the General settings into more manageable pieces, such as Blog Profile, Discussion Settings, Time Zone settings, and Post and Comment Display Settings. You can now also adjust the number of posts to display on the main page, the number of comments to show in recent commentary, and the formats to use for date and timestamps.