2017 will bring a whole lot of new stuff to my projects. I am going to start with one of my recently more neglected projects, ZPE.
ZPE will be rebranded this year, well in a way. ZenLang will no longer be called ZenLang and will finally get a proper name (more on this later). ZPE has received a huge number of updates in the last few days, bringing it to version 1.5.0.1, the most secure, advanced and best version to date. In this version there are a number of fixes and new a number of new features. Version 1.5.0.x brings a lot of new things like the remote server, which can now be used as a message server too. On top of this, ZPE now features a JSON parser, through Google's GSON. GSON has been worked to parse the JSON into a list of lists (or an array of arrays). There are new security and safety updates in version 1.5.0.x that are crucial. On top of this, the LAMP parser was improved and loops have been further optimised.
My website has received it's yearly revamp, this time in the form of DragonScript 2 which is still being put in place on all pages across the site, but it's clearly a lot faster than the original DragonScript. I've also been adding more responsive tools and my code samples now have copy buttons for modern browsers. As well as this I introduced BalfJS to my front end. This is a new way of keeping all of the JavaScript I want to use organised. It also means that functions are better named too and prevents conflicts. My JavaScript was a mess from the days when I first built my website in 2013 and it was time to finally tidy it up four years later. I have also taken out the table sorter and I am also saying goodbye to the wonderful MouseTrap plugin which was awesome but no longer necessary.
BalfBar received an update in early December that brought many new features with one in particular, a sidebar menu. This gives developers the choice between two different types of mobile menu. As well as this it was made overall more efficient.
BalfBlog also received it's latest update in early December. This update, version 2.2, brings a lot of new things including more control over users, a better UI and an improved plugin interface for the tools menu. As well as this it became more modular than ever and far better organised, and in some ways can now be seen in an MVC manner. BalfBlog also became more dynamic, adding more ways to make your blog or website easy to update in the future. Finally, OneSignal's push notifications and social media buttons were added. This year a lot of new features are planned including the long awaited 'Single BalfBlog Multiple Blogs' (SBMBS) strategy that will eliminate the need for multiple copies of BalfBlog on your webserver. This is planned and I'm still putting together ideas on how best to approach it.
BalfSlider may receive some updates this year since it is dependant on whether or not new features come to CSS or JavaScript that can improve it. Many effects of the plugin require both CSS3 and JavaScript to work.
As mentioned before, ClickIt and the ZenLang website will come to their ends this year. My donation thermometer did not make it high enough (I made more in ad revenue this last few months). However, the themometer did make it high enough to help pay for my website for another year.
