Hi guys,
I would like to inform you about a major change in the way bug fixes are released. As with many other things (translations, homepage etc.) over time I realized things are not ideal the way they were made at the beginning.
The current model of handling bug fixes is one of the things that is not very efficient and I was therefore thinking how this could be changed.
Current mechanism:
When a bug is discovered, I try to fix it and then release it as part of template updates.
Problem:
Sometimes it can be a relatively major bug, in which case a subversion is released. When it is a minor bug, I leave it till the next update. The problem is this – updating the template as such is relatively time consuming and complicated for me. I need to re-compile all the files, upload all the files again to the server, update the Downloads section, update documentation etc etc. With minor updates it is also problematic because often I have the fix ready very quickly, but releasing a new version of the template usually means that fix won´t be available for another few weeks or even months.
Solution – new way of releasing bug fixes
I therefore decided to try a different method. Please read this very carefully because it is very important. There is now a new section on the Downloads page at Meteotemplate.com. If you scroll below the links to update and template main files download, you will see a table and heading “Bug fixes”. The way this will work is as follows – when a bug is discovered, no matter if it is major or minor, I will try to fix it as soon as possible. Then, if I am able to fix it, I will post a link to updated version of this script in the table. This table also contains date, the exact path to the script concerned, instructions how to make the fix and of course a link. This link will download only that particular file.
This means you will be able to download and fix errors relatively quickly, you will not have to download all the other files normally included in the update/main template download file and for me it will also be much easier because I will not have to change the actual download files. Then, when a new version is released, I will take all the updated scripts and include them in the update file, in the main file and delete the bug fixes table. So if you then perform the update, you will have all the current versions of files and then once a new bug is discovered again, it will be again added to the table. To get the latest version and bug fixes you therefore always need to be using the latest template version + have all the files updated that are listed in the bug fixes table.
I hope it makes sense, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I think this will be much more efficient for all. You will get fixes soon and only have to download the problematic files and I will not have to worry about updating all the other files and the wiki.
Please note – this is only related to the actual template files! Plugins and blocks will continue to be updated individually because it is much easier for me to update those and so bug fix in an update or block will be released as a new version/subversion of that particular block/plugin.
There are already several files that I fixed/improved in the bug fixes table.
Last, I have updated four of the blocks, all these updates only include bug fixes, there was an error in one of the conversions for the current block and gauges block when using Weather Display for updates, an updated script for the RSS feed block which prevents a problem when used along with the current block/gauges and last, an update of the riset block, where the pie chart did not scale properly.
With regards to the pie chart, this problem is now in more places all over the template. Some graphs overflow the page. I found that this is caused by an update of the Highcharts script. When I used the older version of Highcharts, it showed fine. Unfortunately this old version caused problems elsewhere, which is why it was updated so I will slowly be updating the current scripts to make them work fine with the new Highcharts script (unfortunately, it is not that easy so it might take some time, but just to let you know I am aware of this).
Hope this makes things more efficient and thanks for support and providing valuable feedback and reporting bugs
Jachym
