Version History
Summary
Throughout the life of a product there are many different stages if development. The list below defines some of the terms used in the version history.
- Public
- Releases which are publicly released for download on this site.
- Private
- Releases which are given to a select group of testers.
- Beta
- Releases which are not complete, but are given out for others to spot bugs and suggest features.
- Alpha
- Releases which are not given to anyone outside of the organisation, as they occur early in the development when the software is not fit for public use.
Background Information
Iosphere was originally conceived in October 1998 to help with the management of websites. It was finished by the end of November, but wasn't very powerful. With Iosphere 1 being used to manage websites, Iosphere 2 started development in December 1998. The new version was designed to be flexible, however as it was intended for internal use only it had a limited feature set. Gradually, more and more people became interested in Iosphere and it was tidied up slightly and released. Unfortunately, due to hosting provider problems (I was only using free web space) it moved around a lot and hardly ever installed correctly. Development was then stopped as other priorities (exams, WebChat!) took over.
Over the past year several people have asked for a new release, as the old one was showing it's age. Since November 2000 I've dragged the old code out and revamped the application. Most of the core code is the same, but the interface has changed. As version 2 was never officially released it is keeping that designation.
Releases
Beta 5 (Private) - Build 655
TBA April 2001
TagAssist™ extended to
HTML character entities (eg &).
Editors completely converted to
new CodeAssist™ system.
New registration system.
Perl support added.
Add JavaScript support in templates. This
allows templates to automatically generate navigation bars. Check the new Iosphere template
for details. Documentation will be updated later. Skeletons and templates will also
be updated.
Beta 4 (Private), Release 2 - Build 621
17th March 2001
Manual sort option added.
The long awaited manual sort option has been added. The previous "As Added" method is now replaced with a "Custom Order" sort method. You can use the up/down arrow buttons on the project page to move files and sections up and down in the sort order. This addition has been long overdue but is now in place.
Beta 4 (Private) - Build 612
11th March 2001
Reorganised and updated Tag Assistant.
The tag assistant has been modified to provide a better code assistant framework. Plans are in place to add basic JavaScript assistance in the future.
Beta 3 (Public) - Build 610
3rd February 2001
Windows 2000-style Wizards.
.inc files converted to resource files.
The New Site Wizard now uses the Windows 2000-style design.
ASP .inc (include) files are now resource files rather than document. If you want your ASP pages to display with headers and footers, make them .asp - otherwise make them .inc files (a new option is available on the Object Repository's Resource tab).
Beta 3 (Private) - Build 608
21st January 2001
Help system replaced.
FTP updated.
Smaller download.
Help now uses the Windows HTML Help rather than the normal HTML files. This gives you a searchable help file stored locally.
The FTP system has been replaced by components from Internet Direct, the open source Internet component library. These are more reliable than the previous code. The FTP system still needs extensive testing.
Due to the above changes, the download is now over 1 MB smaller than before.
Beta 2 (Public) - Build 581
13th January 2001
Link checker enhancements.
Tasks and Notes tabs.
New look help.
FTP temporarily removed.
Link checker will now check image and frame tags. Two new tabs have been added - Tasks and Notes. A couple of bug fixes related to creating projects (and not creating projects). The initial start-up screen has now been replaced - instead the left hand pane (where the project view usually is) contains instructions and some links.
I've changed the help files from the original design (now 15 months old!) to the new design found on the website. This is in preparation for the switch to HTML Help.
FTP functionality has been temporarily removed, as I'm changing the FTP code. It should be more reliable after the changes. FTP will come back in the next release (hopefully very soon).
Beta 2 (Private) - Build 542
Released 28th December 2000
Tag Assistant rewritten - more tags now supported.
More options on HTML toolbar.
New tag properties dialog.
Search submission plug-in.
New link checker.
Documentation update.
Greatly improved tag assistant - much more helpful, with all main tags and attributes supported. New search submission plug-in is for Google, Lycos, AltaVista and Northern Light. The new link checker is ready - it's not as fully featured as I'd like, but can be upgraded easily with a small (~20K) download later as new features are added.
Beta 1 (Public) - Build 500
Released 9th December 2000
Memory leaks fixed.
Decreased memory footprint while generating pages.
Added JavaScript and XML resource handlers.
Resolved some installation problems.
Public Beta fixing problems in Beta 1 (Private). Additional optmisations and some file handler improvements.
Beta 1 (Private)
Released 3rd December 2000
Initial Beta release
This Beta was released to a select Beta group. Incomplete installation and some software problems.
Interim Build (Public)
Released 3rd November 2000
Initial public release on ashleybrown.co.uk.
Following public pressure, Iosphere 2 was released early for previews - THIS BUILD SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED STABLE.
