2. Custom Quick Icon Integration - CQI, which has just been released for Joomla 1.5, is an Administrator Component/Module that allows you to upload custom icons and add then to your cpanel quick icons.  When installed, CQI will automatically become the 1st Accordion Dropdown in the AdminPraise cpanel and mini-cpanel.  Why is this so great?  You can now fully customize your AdminPraise quick icons on all pages of your admin site to quickly link to all your favorite pages.
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You can now also completely turn off the left/right columns so they don't even load, rather than just collapsing them.  This results in quicker load times.
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Members, if you haven't tested AdminPraise yet, now's the time.  We're now using it on all of our own sites and can't imagine Joomla development without it. 
[Download]

Ok, enough back-patting :)  So where to next?  Fall is going to be extremely exciting for JoomlaPraise!

First up, let's talk about ProjectFork.  We'll be releasing a beta this month (before we get bombarded with emails, we don't have a release date yet ;).  We recently made the move to eat our own dogfood and start using PF to manage all of our internal projects.  This was pretty painful at first, but has helped us guide the project in a very productive direction.  I can say that at this point, PF is actually helping our team stay on top of everything and it is a pleasure to use.  The most recent features we've added that aren't publicly available are:

• Milestone ordering: extremely useful in prioritizing
• Task Quicklinks: links to quickly Edit, Finish, or Comment on a task
• Progress Dropdown: dropdown box to quickly change progress percentage of a task
• Milestone Percentage: a percentage of completion calculated from a milestone's tasks completion
• Email Notification: configurable email notifications for new and modified tasks
• Calendar Dates: now project and task dates show on the calendar
• Discussion Board: messages are pivotal for project management, now teams can have discussions in a central location

Next up, we have AdminPraise, which is quickly becoming our most popular template/extension (it's not fair to simply call this a template).  AdminPraise started as an attempt to optimize the Joomla admin site on an iPhone and has transformed into a movement to make the entire Joomla administrative experience more streamlined.  Here's the latest great features we're working on:

• CQI Integration: While the AdminPraise cpanel and mini-cpanel icons are extremely helpful, they're not customizable.  To alleviate this, we've connected with the developers of CQI (Custom Quick Icons), an admin component/module combo that replaces the standard cpanel icons.  When installed, CQI will automatically show up in a sliding div in the AdminPraise cpanel and mini-cpanel, allowing for custom icons and ALL admin pages.
• Component Quicklaunch:  With all the navigation options of AdminPraise, the one core feature we miss is the component dropdown.  Rather than simply incorporate this feature, we've decided to one-up it.  AdminPraise will have a link which will use mootools to open a grid of all installed components, with larger logo links, rather than just text links.
• Turn Off Left/Right Columns: With all these new navigation options, a user may wish to completely turn off the left or right column, rather than simply collapsing them, which will result in quicker load times since the necessary JavaScript won't load.

• Here's a preview of the AdminPraise cpanel with CQI integration (and the left column turned off):

• Top/Right/Bottom/Left Nav:  Place the navigation wherever it fits best for your needs
• Slide Direction:  Choose whether your content slides in from the top, right, bottom or left
• Fade Transition: Choose whether you content slides or fades

Let's talk templates, since after all, we are a template club.  We're currently developing a duo of Tableless Templates which will use the most html template overrides we've ever used to allow for a tableless Joomla site.  For those who've followed JoomlaPraise since our 1.5 Template Contest entry, we actually developed a tableless version of our template way back then, and we're reintroducing these overrides to all of our future templates.

Lastly, we've received a ton of requests to purchase our templates individually. We're developing something to facilitate this, and a whole lot more :) More on that soon, stay tuned!

• Proper install/uninstall of sections, panels and themes
• Added XML Parameters to sections and panels
• Set custom color scheme per project
• Upload custom logo per project
• Modular project details page
• Reworked project list page
• Reworked task list page
• Configurable task milestones
• Added customizable ordering to tasks
• News panel for the controlpanel
• Workspace panel for the controlpanel
• Upload multiple files in the file manager
• "Documents" have been renamed to "notes"
• Content editor can be enabled/disabled individually for each section

We've also posted our latest designs which are up for member vote to select which design will be used to create our next member template:

AdminPraise

If you've ever debated joining JoomlaPraise, it's time to subscribe and take part in the best value around.  This is the 1.0 version of AdminPraise and its development and improvement will be ongoing.

What's new in 2.0 Alpha?

Project Workspace

Roll your own!

• Approve an article from an email link
  -or-
• Approve and publish and article to your frontpage from an email link

On a side note, we had the wonderful surprise of hearing that SubmitMailer helped one of our members detect a hacker exploiting the 1.5.5 bug where the admin account can get hijacked:

Get the latest version of SubmitMailer [v1.4] while it's hot!

The Joomla! Community has released Joomla! 1.5.6 [Vusani]. This is a quick turnaround security release to address a high level security issue and it is recommended all users upgrade immediately.

For more information about this exploit, click here to visit the Joomla Security Blog.

We recommend immediate upgrade:

• New installation
• Upgrade from an existing Joomla! 1.5 version
• Migration from Joomla! 1.0.x
• Download the Joomla 1.5.6 full package now
• Download update packages

• All New Control Panel featuring accordion div and all new icons
• Mini Control Panel on all subpages with mini icons
  
• More Relevant grouping of icons in Control Panel and Mini Control Panel
• Left Administrator Accordion Navigation (as opposed to cumbersome dropdown menu)
• Collapsible left and right columns for smaller monitors and phones
  
• Administrator Site-wide Search
• Quicklinks to System Info, File Manager and Admin Template Parameters
• Template queries which File Manager (joomlaXplorer, ninjaXplorer, etc.) link to use
• New Components List page (reminiscent of "More Components..." from Joomla! 1.0.x)
• Logo link to your user account page
• Quickly replace Admin logo
• Updated version of Joomla! accordion to allow multiple open accordions
• Slick new interface styling (from an obvious fruit phone inspiration)
  

This list keeps getting longer the more we test the template and we want to make sure this baby is as bug free as possible, so we're hoping for a release by next Friday.

Until then, here's some screen shots:

and here's how the collapsible left and right columns work:

SPR's instant domain search is just the tip of the iceberg though.  If you create an account, you can rank 3 keyword phrases, and track those keywords over time.  This is extremely useful in tracking how you're doing with competing sites, as you can see which sites are moving up or down over time.  An even cooler feature is that you can have these results emailed to you in intervals that you define.  Here's a tour of their features.

There are subscription packages for 5-20 keywords, and you can choose to pay monthly or yearly for a discounted rate.

Here's a couple of shots of the instant search and keyword history:

"This is a quick turnaround release to address the Duplicate Title error from 1.5.4 . This release also contains important SEF URL improvements and fixes for com_content in addition to a number of bug fixes and improvements."
(joomla.org, full article)

Download Full or Update Package

Of course, AudioPraise has lots of design and template features as well.  AudioPraise comes packaged with 3 great themes, each of which featuring 3 module styles and unique iconography.  Here's the list of features and parameters:

• 3 Color Themes each with 3 Module Styles and Iconography
• A Totally New and Unique Frontpage Slideshow Style
• Custom Background Color
• Custom Header Color
• Custom Font Color
• Custom Link Color
• Custom Link Hover Color

Featuring

• 3 Color Themes
• Custom Background Color
• Custom Header Color
• Custom Font Color
• Custom Link Color
• Custom Link Hover Color
• (Optional) Use our Free PraiseShow Slideshow Module in the banner position

"This is a normal maintenance release which includes a few low to moderate security issues, many bug fixes, and several very nice improvements. It has been a little over ten weeks since Joomla! 1.5.3 was released on April 24, 2008."
(joomla.org, full article)

Download Full or Update Package

Download for Free
View Demo and Information

• Community Builder
• !JoomlaComment
• JCal Pro
• Frontpage Slideshow
• Fireboard
• RSGallery 2
• PraiseMenu

View the Demo
Download SocialPraise Now (Membership Required)
Join Now For Instant Access (save 15% by using the coupon code:reloaded)

Of course, with any major update there's a great possibility of small bugs or glitches, so please report any problems or issues.  We also love feedback, so please have a look around and let us know what you think!

Lastly, to celebrate our new design we're taking 15% off our Club Membership, so if you aren't a subscriber, join now and use the coupon code:reloaded.  This deal will end on July 31st, don't miss out!

The biggest update is an entire site refresh to JoomlaPraise.com.  We've taken feedback from our users and totally refactored the JoomlaPraise design and template.  The current site design is good and earned us some wonderful members, but lacks a certain "pop" commonly found in our designs.  The biggest improvement though, is the site navigation.  As more areas were added to the current site, we honestly ran out of space and groups many links illogically.  The new site navigation clearly groups account navigation in one menu, and site navigation in another.  We also opted to use more common link naming conventions.

Here's a quick comparison of the new and current site designs:

Look for this new design to roll out as early as Friday!

We'll also be releasing our latest club template, SocialPraise, along with a slideshow module named PraiseShow.