STE 4.00 Release

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger
12 Sep 2012 04:35. Edited 5 times. (Edit, Permalink)

STE 4.00 excels over STE 3.50 in some areas, and lacks in others. As this is a complete rewrite of the application, some of the previous features that you took for granted will be re-implemented in future updates.

Features

Notable new features:

  • Open an entire site as a project at once
  • Select an item in the tree view to display information about it (e.g. number of pages, or _template detection)
  • Click on a page name to open it up for editing
  • Right-click on an open page to view it in your default web browser
  • Support for HTTP network proxies was a 3.50 feature that has been re-implemented

Coming soon:

  • Whilst you can edit the page content in the editor, you cannot save your changes. Everything is read-only at the moment.
  • A number of OSX-exclusive features are not implemented (native shortcuts for About, Preferences)
  • The preferences window was thrown together quickly and needs a slight redesign

Known issues:

  • Sometimes pages in the tree view incorrectly appear with a folder icon. I haven't determined the cause yet.

Installation

I have recorded two new installation videos for the release. Windows users in particular should take note of the changes, which were made with the aim of making installation easier.

Both videos can be found on the download page, under "How to install".

New UI (tutorial)

STE 4 has been completely redesigned from the ground up to be extensible and more powerful than previous releases. The User Interface (UI) has evolved quite significantly.

This is the STE launcher. You download this from the website, and it handles all future updates for you (except for when I update the launcher itself - that will require you to manually download the update).

intro1.png

Once you have updated and launched STE, press F4 on your keyboard or select "Edit > Preferences…" from the menu. To use STE you will need to give it your Wikidot API key, which the application uses to interact with Wikidot's servers.

All Pro account holders have an API key by default, which can be found here. Free users must request one first.

intro2.png

Once you have entered your key, you will need to create a project. Each project represents a single wiki hosted at Wikidot.

intro3.png

After creating a project, the pages for that site are automatically loaded into the editor. If you wish to reopen your project again later, you can do that from the "File > Open…" menu.

And now, for a quick overview of the editor have a look at the annotated screenshot posted below:

intro4.png

Download

You can download the latest launcher for STE from the download page.

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wdavatar?user=tsangk
tsangk

12 Sep 2012 06:34. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
From the screenshots, it looks awesome! But I'm having trouble getting it to run. It could be an isolated incident (mine is a school laptop with Admin privileges but a rather odd UAC setting).

This is what I'm getting on startup:
14lrpAnd I'm getting this error:
14lrG

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wdavatar?user=
(user deleted)

12 Sep 2012 06:44. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
I'm getting the same thing on my home PC.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 06:54. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Hmm. Let me look into that.

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wdavatar?user=helmut-pdorf
Helmut_pdorf

12 Sep 2012 07:09. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Same error on Windows Vista . Another download-"from" as before from dropbox for the launcher?

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 07:16. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Okay, I've pushed out an update to the launcher and it can be found on the downloads page.

The issue affected initial installation only, so I didn't notice it with my own tests. It should be completely fixed now.

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wdavatar?user=helmut-pdorf
Helmut_pdorf

12 Sep 2012 08:07. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Fine, Shane!
The update-loader runs now.. but perhaps you should remark, that this will take some time. :)) .
It is running and running ( the percentage is growing and growing) .. depending from the velocity of the line…

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wdavatar?user=helmut-pdorf
Helmut_pdorf

12 Sep 2012 08:20. Edited 2 times. (Edit, Permalink)
1. error found : the project name must not contain a "hyphen" ("-") . i got the error - project name OR Site name is wrong…
the site name contanis a hyphen - therefore i thougth it would be a good idea to have it the same name.
2. After the correct creation of the project - the next reminder(error message) - in the admin - panel the APOI Access was forbidden.
So - after allowance - the opening of the existing project as incomplete ( properties incomplete) happens.

I had to Create a NEW project with running numner 1 attached to be different of the incomplete 1. project…
Wow: but with the next creation of thesame project(1) ( the 2. time) the download of the 220 pages needed only 1,4 sec!

3. right mouse click on the page name does not open it in the IE browser..?

But it is a wonderfull overbiew!

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

12 Sep 2012 08:24. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
I just got home and had a Nerdgasm =D

Was NOT expecting this at all, best surprise ever!

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 08:25. Edited 1 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Helmuti:

At the moment, I'm using this REGEX value for the project name: [0-9a-zA-Z -&()]{5,}

From what I understood, that allowed hyphens. But somehow they are still being disallowed (I was able to reproduce what you're reporting). I'll see if I can find a solution for it.

James:

I just got home and had a Nerdgasm =D
Was NOT expecting this at all, best surprise ever!

Awesome :)

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wdavatar?user=helmut-pdorf
Helmut_pdorf

12 Sep 2012 08:31. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Sorry, it is wonderfull working! - the right cclick to open it in the browser is inside the right window ! ( it was my mistake! )

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 08:37. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)

Sorry, it is wonderfull working! - the right cclick to open it in the browser is inside the right window ! ( it was my mistake! )

Yes, sorry for not making that clear.

Future releases may include a separate context menu for the page tree, so for page-specific functions you need to right click on the editor panel instead.

In the future:

  • Right-click anywhere on page tree: Affect entire project (e.g. redownload all pages)
  • Right-click anywhere on page editor: Affect only that page (e.g. upload files, open in web browser)

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 08:48. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
James: Does STE 4 work with OS X Mountain Lion?

I used a different method to create the OS X version this time, but as I do not have Mountain Lion I was unable to test if it fixed the issue you were having.

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

12 Sep 2012 09:13. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
@ Shane,

No, not working in Mountain Lion - BUT! I am working on a simple PLIST fix for you :) Will get back to you :)

Also, the RegEx you used won't detect hyphens because you either need to:

  • Place the hyphen as the first character in the character class
    • e.g. [-0-9a-zA-Z &()]{5,}
  • Or escape the hyphen inside the character class
    • e.g. [0-9a-zA-Z \-&()]{5,}

The reason for this is because a hyphen acts as a range specifier when inside the square bracket character class. In you above example, you specified all characters between (and including) space and ampersand.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 09:17. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Thanks for the REGEX fix James, it'll be in 4.02

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wdavatar?user=tsangk
tsangk
12 Sep 2012 09:48. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Another little thing I noticed — STE reckons it's running version 0.00:
14mKz

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

12 Sep 2012 09:56. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
You're welcome :)

I sent you an email regarding the Mountain Lion bundle :)

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

12 Sep 2012 09:58. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
@ Kenneth … Me too after my initial installation. Then I closed and reopened the app and it was fine.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 10:08. Edited 2 times. (Edit, Permalink)

tsangk:
Another little thing I noticed — STE reckons it's running version 0.00:

Ah, thanks. I forgot to mention that in the list of known issues.

It's a side effect of how I am handling updates this time around. When you launch the main STE application, it updates the version number in a central place, which the launcher then detects next time it starts up.

The main application is reading from this central location as well, for consistency. The problem is that it does this before it saves the version number, so the first time after an update it may display an incorrect version number.

It should be easy for me to fix.

James:
I sent you an email regarding the Mountain Lion bundle :)

I don't seem to have received it.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 10:19. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)

Helmuti_pdorf:
1. error found : the project name must not contain a "hyphen" ("-") . i got the error - project name OR Site name is wrong…
the site name contanis a hyphen - therefore i thougth it would be a good idea to have it the same name.

This has now been fixed for you, thanks to James' help.

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

12 Sep 2012 10:32. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Seeing as I'm having email difficulties, I attached the zip to this page: Click Here on your  Mac.

Try using this (the Mountain Lion Jar Bundler) to bundle your .jar file. Hopefully it will work!

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 10:36. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
The thing is - I'm no longer using Jar Bundler at all, even on my current OS! :) Found a more efficient solution. I'll give it a go though, if it means getting a ML version working.

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wdavatar?user=robelliott
RobElliott

12 Sep 2012 15:14. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
It installed and ran first time on my Windows7. It looks really good and the folder structure is just brilliant. A great piece of work, well done. I'm looking forward to being able to use it once saving and uploading is implemented.

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wdavatar?user=robelliott
RobElliott

12 Sep 2012 15:30. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
If I have any quibble - very minor and it's not really a quibble at all, just me being a wee bit grumpy as usual…well my car did brake down in the rain this morning - it is that project names have to be a minimum of 5 characters. All my work projects have 3 letter codes: in my pc folder structure, offline documentation, diary, accounting software, invoices, emails…. everywhere. For example an upcoming site I'm working on today at http://gtr.wikidot.com is GTR, strathpeffer village is SVL etc….you get the idea. Being old it's a struggle to remember more than 3 letters at a time. But in STE4 I couldn't create a project with just 3 letters. Is there any way of relaxing this 5 character restriction?

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

12 Sep 2012 23:55. Edited 1 times. (Edit, Permalink)

If I have any quibble - very minor and it's not really a quibble at all

Tell me about all of your quibbles… minor or not. Feedback is good, particularly if it's bad feedback, as it allows me to improve the application.

project names have to be a minimum of 5 characters. All my work projects have 3 letter codes: in my pc folder structure, offline documentation, diary, accounting software, invoices, emails…. everywhere

The 5-character restriction will be removed in the next update.

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wdavatar?user=tigre3
tigre3

13 Sep 2012 00:55. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
this thread is a good read
i'll go with Rob Elliot three letters is ideal for a simple site-name acronym plus wikidot is already a whole seven letters long
an example is the word for old is three letters so old is easy to spell and not easy to misspell
then again a site called the-good-old-days .wikidot is legible and expressive imho compared to its acronym title would be tgod.wikidot which is jumble

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

13 Sep 2012 08:01. Edited 2 times. (Edit, Permalink)
4.03 - released on 13 September 2012

  • Minimum length for project names has been reduced from five (5) characters to three (3).
  • Partially fixed issue with old version number being displayed immediately after an update

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wdavatar?user=robelliott
RobElliott

13 Sep 2012 08:02. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Wow! I didn't think it would be possible at all, let alone achieved so fast. Thanks very much Shane.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

13 Sep 2012 08:18. Edited 1 times. (Edit, Permalink)
There were a couple of reasons for me originally deciding to set a minimum of 5 characters, but most of them are planning for the future and I'm sure I can find a workaround before then. I'd rather you be able to use your three-character acronyms.

Soon I'll add a project properties dialog, which will allow you to rename your project, delete it, or change the site name.

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wdavatar?user=arotaritei-vlad
Arotaritei Vlad

13 Sep 2012 08:33. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
I just saw STE 4 today and I'm really impressed. One little thing: I hope you will add a font size slider in the preferences because the text is a little small and hard to read.

Best regards,
Vlad

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

13 Sep 2012 10:10. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
If the launcher is able to recognise an STE update, download the .jar file and in turn launch it . . .

Would this in turn mean the launched STE program would be able to recognise a launcher update and download the .jar file ready for next launch?

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

13 Sep 2012 11:11. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Thanks Vlad :) Glad you like it. I'll look into adding the font slider again.

James: Theoretically, yes. However I'd rather leave the launcher as a manual update. There are too many variables to consider in that case (e.g. where the launcher is actually located, and your operating system). And whilst STE is running, the launcher is technically still active so that could have unexpected side effects.

Not worth my time to make a launcher update seamless, when the aim is to make launcher updates only happen on rare occasions anyway. Once the rush of last-minute fixes has settled down a bit, the launcher is likely to remain unchanged for months.

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wdavatar?user=govegan
GoVegan

13 Sep 2012 11:25. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)
Hmm, I can't seem to make a feedback request on your feedback section :(

I was going to make a wish that the Launcher would automatically launch into STE unless there was an update available (launcher or STE specific). And maybe holding down a certain button whilst launching the launcher could be an "override" to use the launcher without booting into STE.

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wdavatar?user=leiger
leiger

13 Sep 2012 11:40. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)

Hmm, I can't seem to make a feedback request on your feedback section :(

I noticed that yesterday, but haven't looked into why yet. Here is fine for now, anyway.

I was going to make a wish that the Launcher would automatically launch into STE unless there was an update available (launcher or STE specific). And maybe holding down a certain button whilst launching the launcher could be an "override" to use the launcher without booting into STE.

You can click on "Launch STE" immediately - even if it's still checking for updates. No need to wait.

I might be able to put the focus on that button automatically, so that pressing Enter as soon as you launch STE essentially 'skips' it and goes straight into the main application.

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