Integration with WordPress 3.5 + Looking Ahead

I’ve been hard at work on trying to integrate Soliloquy with WordPress 3.5. I would say I’m 99% done, but there is one piece missing – a hook!

WordPress 3.5 lacks a hook to update any custom attachment data (like the image URL, new tab checkbox, etc.) when it runs a save for the slide. I have submitted a patch to fix the issue, and my hope is that is will be committed for 3.5.1.

As such, it should be noted that the next version of Soliloquy, 1.5.0, will require WordPress 3.5.1. If you do not have that version of WordPress installed and you try to update the plugin, the update simply won’t happen. Don’t worry – the current version (1.4.6) works fine with WordPress 3.5, but if you want to take full advantage of the awesome new media workflow, you will need to upgrade.

Along with the new version comes the ability to create different types of slides! You can choose between image, video and HTML slides to insert into your slider. This is much more intuitive and allows for more even more control over your sliders.

Image slides will be just the same as the previous setup, except you will be working with the new media workflow to insert your slides. You can sort, update, remove and manage slides from the workflow, and once you click insert or close out the modal window, the changes will be reflected on your screen.

Video slides will allow you to embed videos into your slider. They will work much the same as before, except now you won’t be required to upload an image to have a video in your slider. You will simply paste a link into a field pointing to your video, insert the slide, and boom – Soliloquy does the rest for you.

HTML slides are just that. You are given a syntax-highlighted area to insert whatever kind of HTML you want into the slide. You can make it as custom as you need. The code you use will be inserted inside the slide’s base list element (<li>), so you will have free range to style it and customize it to your heart’s content. For those of you that make custom sliders often, this will definitely be a plus to your development workflow.

Look for the beta of Soliloquy 1.5.0 to drop shortly after the next incremental version of WordPress comes. This is assuming my patch gets committed (I am hopeful!). I will give a few days for you guys to test and make sure everything looks good, and from there I will then push the release out to everyone.

I hope everyone is doing well in the new year – exciting things are ahead!

Published by Thomas Griffin