The download for Overlord on GarageGames will be updated to 2.2.2 to address a rare security issue sometime today. And since I am taking the time to mention it, I thought I’d go ahead and give a little peak at the new stuff coming in the next big release.

I realize it has been a while since 2.2 was released, but I have been really, really busy. Anyway, coming in version 2.5, Checklists are being changed to Reminders, personal notes that only you can see.

Also, Tasks and Bugs are being merged into a single page called Issues, so that you can see everything that needs to be done for a project on one page. This will also include better filtering so that you can easily sort through everything.

Some other features not shown:

• Tweaks to the database to make things even faster.
• Commerical version with custom permissions, time tracking, and file version control.

Well, everything has been signed, and the product page is now live! Woohoo!

This version, 2.2, adds the long-awaited file manager to the mix. Each project has its own file section where files can be uploaded, organized into folders, tagged with keywords, and attached to other items like bugs and tasks. There is also a spiffy interface when creating or editing tasks, bugs, etc. that allows you to upload a file right there, without changing pages, and attach it to the item you are creating or editing in a completely seamless fashion. Also new is the redesigned message system, which now works like a forum. There are several other key changes as well. You can see the complete changelog below the image.

As for the future of Overlord, I am about to begin working on a more business-oriented version, which, hopefully, will be released before the end of the month. It will include such features as time tracking, advanced permissions, per-project user access, and more as time goes by. I don’t have a name for it yet, something like Overlord Advanced Technology maybe? Also, work is not stopping on the base Overlord product. I will continue to fix bugs, and there are certain features that will make their way into both products. I plan to include an upgrade script and there will be a discounted upgrade price once the new product comes out, so you can buy Overlord now and upgrade later without losing any data.

Note to current customers: If you purchased Overlord through http://www.phpoverlord.com, you need to keep an eye on your inbox. You will receive a message with instructions for getting access to future downloads.

CHANGELOG:

***************
Version 2.2
***************

NEW FEATURES:
File Manager: Each project now has a Files tab where you can upload files and organize them into folders. The limit to filesize is determined by both the user’s browser and the server’s PHP.ini configuration, so extremely large files are likely to fail to upload. 2MB or smaller files should work fine.
Attachments: Any file can be attached to any item, you can upload the file when you want to attach it, or attach an existing file.

CHANGES:
Messages for each project now function like a forum, which should make them more useful.
Links to the various RSS feeds are now displayed prominently where they are used on the site.
Bugs and Tasks now show linked Milestones in the list and will use the Milestone deadline if they do not have one.
The All Activity log is now shown on the My Domain page.
All items can now be commented on, not just messages.
Many log messages were changed. They should provide more useful information now.

BUGS SQUASHED:
Only active assignments are shown on the My Domain page.
Added the field to link a milestone when creating tasks, bugs, and checklists.
Completed Milestones do not appear in the Link to Milestone select box if they are also past their deadline.
Assignments are now properly deleted when the assigned item is deleted.

Overlord version 2.0 has been successfully released this past week. There were some unexpected bugs that popped up once it was out in the wild, but I squashed them pretty quick. In the future, I will release bug fixes and new features in a modular fashion rather than waiting for a large release. This will shorten the time between updates and, hopefully, reduce the # of bugs that appear. Some features that are on the to-do list incldue:

• File manager and attachments
• Custom user ranks
• Total permission control
• Per-project calendar
• Activity reports

Well, it has been quite a while, but Overlord II is nearing completion. I am in the middle of fiddling with the UI to find the best way to display and edit a few things like Assignments and linking items to milestones. I then have to go over all of my model classes to make sure that they cascade properly (like updating the progress of a linked milestone when you update or delete an item). After that, I just have some HTML to tidy up and to udate and test the install and upgrade scripts. I will probably udate the online demo once it is feature complete, so that I can get some feedback while I work on the install and upgrade scripts.

Here’s an obligatory screenshot:

As I have been struggling to redefine the underlying structure of my Overlord software, I find myself ‘borrowing’ more and more concepts from Ruby on Rails. I am not stealing the code behind these ideas, I am simply following in their footsteps, so to speak. I found many of their methods and solutions to be quite useful, and have written my own versions of several, like render() and flash(), and am following the Rails MVC pattern fairly closely. Unfortunately, writting all of this new structure is taking time, even though I feel it will be worth it in the end. At times I feel it might be easier to start over from scratch and write the whole thing with Rails, but then I remember why I can’t. It can’t be distributed and used on 90% of all webservers like PHP can. Ah well, perhaps Ruby on Rails will gain enough momentum to become ’standard’ software on webservers…

In the meantime, here’s a little peak at some of the design tweaks I have been working on along with the code upgrade.

That’s right, Overlord 1.0.2 is here with several new features, some bug fixes, and a few other changes for good measure. You can read the changelog on the site for a complete list of changes. If you have already bought Overlord, you can go straight to the My Account or Download page and get it now. Upgrading is as easy as uploading the new files (except for config.php) and then logging in to your site.

The new features in this version are the Search Box, which allows for full-text searching of all items. It is very basic right now, but it works. I will expand the search functions as I recieve feedback on what is wanted for searching. Also new is the enhanced bug tracker. Bugs can now be assigned a priority and deadline, be assigned to a user, and there are six status levels, rather than simply squashed or unsquashed. The main Bugs page will show a nicely formatted table of the bugs, sortable by clicking on the column headers, and with options in the sidebar to filter out resolved bugs, unresolved bugs, or to limit the list to a single user’s assigned bugs. More options will be added if there is demand for them. You can see it in action in the online demo and post feedback in the feedback forum.

A lifetime license for Overlord is still only $20, so buy now and get your minions in line today!

See http://www.phpoverlord.com for more details.

As I work on the Overlord source code, I find myself starting on one new feature, getting it mostly done, and then starting on another new feature. This cycle usually repeats itself until I have quite a few not-quite-done features, which then takes a while to work out all the bugs and get it ready to be released. This is part of the reason it took so long to get version 1.0 out the door. I really should have left the bug tracker out and released it earlier, then put in the whole bug tracker (the new version I am working on, not the woefully inadequate version in v1.0) in a later release.

So, in an effort to prevent feature creep from slowing down any future versions of Overlord, or any other projects I might work on in the future, I am going to muster every bit of self-discipline I have and finish a feature before I add a new one. So, expect Overlord 1.0.2 in the near future with the search box and new bug tracker. After that, I will add one new feature at a time, starting with an updated task tracker, then moving on to RSS feeds.

I have added a search box to the top of the sidebar on every page. It currently will do a search of tasks, checklists, bugs, milestones, and messages that match any of the terms in the search query. It does not do a great job of ranking the results; however, I feel that it does what it needs to do.

I was planning to add an advanced search function with a lot of options, but now I’m not sure if that’s really even necessary or not.

So, I am working on the new bug tracker and it’s looking good so far. It’s been a lot easier to deal with JavaScript and XML than I thought it would be. So, anyway, what I’ve got now is an AJAX call to get the bugs for the project in XML form, and then JavaScript sorts the XML, converts it to table rows, and then displays it. You can click a column header to sort by that column and click it again to reverse the sorting order. The priorty cell is color coded with higher priorities getting closer to red. The deadline cell is given a bright red background if it is overdue and a yellow background if it is due in the next 2 weeks. I’ll be tweaking the look a bit more but for now I am happy with it.

Here’s a peek: