This side of the site has well been passive for quite some time. Generally, I've been sending project status updates on Twitter and Facebook, but never actually sat down to throw together the development bits into a blog post.

If you've been following Chyrp along the way then you may be aware of what's happening, however, this post is to poke the awareness of Chyrp users who don't really visit GitHub that much, neither follow Chyrp on Twitter, hence this text. Here, I've got couple of announcements to make.

Development Stage of Version 2.5

The past two months have been quite active on the development side of things. During September, there were some oscillations but all in all some bugs were fixed, couple of CSS tweaks on both Admin and Firecrest themes, etc. The most exiting part was (is) October. Why, I hear you ask! For one, due to the fact that more or less I've gone full-time with Chyrp since the beginning of the month. Yeah, it's hard to make full-time on an open-source product that doesn't generate income, but…, I've got financially backed up by a dude across the globe. He's a Godsend. A very kind and generous human being, even asked that I don't mention his neither his company's name on this blog.

Having nailed that contract, gave me enough time to slowly and progressively think stuff ahead, consider a proper project management approach, critically think Chyrp's development flow, take care of system-wide flaws (i.e., login problems), and bring up new functionality. It really can't get any more exciting than this. Having said that, just two days ago I've released version 2.5 Beta 3 (go get it buddy). This came out to be a very exciting release, since it brings with numerous bug fixes, a new refactored Update process and last but definitely not least, has a brand new WYSIWYG Editor inside. And that brings me to my next announcement.

The RedactorJS Sexiness

About a month ago, we've purchased RedactorJS; a very sexy WYSIWYG Text Editor for the masses. The content publishing experience sprang from here to there (if I could just draw a diagram here to depict it), and we've received compliments and words of encouragement for it. I must express my gratitude and appreciation to all those who donated and made it possible to enhance Chyrp's usefulness. If it wasn't for your $$, me, you and every other Chyrp user wouldn't be able to enjoy the new streamlined experience of writing. Now it meets the true meaning of the word itself.

Besides improving user experience, RedactorJS has had its other notable benefits too. First and foremost, within Text Feather (where most of the time is spent) now you have the possibility to insert as much images as you want into your posts. You can either insert an image by providing a link to it, or you can simply upload it. Yup, you read that correct. Upload images by using RedactorJS' Image Upload modal window. Note that this is not part of the 2.5b3, either you wait for say, v2.5b4 or go grab the current development zipball. Second important thing (which may only matter to me), with the advent of RedactorJS, Chyrp's package size drops down to around 500kb; the old WYSIWYG Markdown/Textile editor library is gone. Yay! I've also got rid of the SWFUpload Module, which was more of a security threat rather than nifty to anyone or anything (R.I.P. the Flash days).

About Me

I don't intend to provide an autobiography here. I just want to point out that I've moved to Vienna, Austria. Been here for one and half week to pursue a Master's degree in Social Studies (Science-Technology-Society). While I expect this change to open up opportunities for me and Chyrp, I'm also willing to experience things from a different (hopefully better) angle. There's a small (read: giant) gap in terms of perspective in a Kosovo vs. Austria opportunity match.

I love my country. I'm proud of my nation. I'm proud of my seven years in the Armed Forces. But I totally disapprove how the current geo-socio-politico-economico-military things are rolling there, so I just had to move on for a while.

Alright, I'm ending this post. You had enough of my psychobubble bullshit!

By the way, don't forget to follow Chyrp on Twitter and give a Like on Facebook.

Auf Wiedersehen!