We cannot deny that our focus has shifted toward YOOtheme Pro, but we couldn't leave behind what has been the sole purpose of ZOOlanders for so many years. As such since the release of ZOO 4 we have been working on refactoring and simplifying our solutions for ZOO into what is now known as Essentials for ZOO. It has been in a beta state for a long time, and we are happy to announce that the stable version is finally ready!
Essentials for ZOO
When a Web Site Builder was just a concept few were starting to play with, there was ZOO, a so-called Content Construction Kit. Now, 10 years later, we have fancy Builders and more advanced solutions, yet many still choose ZOO for content management. Is not perfect, is not for everyone, but is loved and most importantly, it is still very useful!
Essentials for ZOO is a collection of elements, plugins, and modules that extend ZOO on many levels. We are of course referring to ZOOlingual, ZOOfilter, ZOOaccess, ZOOseo, Image Pro, and other well-known solutions we have developed over the years. The essence of those didn't change, but have been reviewed, cleaned, and made compatible with Joomla/ZOO 4 and YOOtheme Pro!
If you have a project that still relies on ZOO but requires some refreshing, this is a great opportunity to upgrade to YOOtheme Pro without losing all the work invested, as all our elements are now compatible with YOOtheme Pro Builder. Furthermore, the ZOOfilter results layout as well supports YOOtheme Pro templates!
On the other side, we had to make a hard choice, and decided it was time to deprecate ZOOcart, ZOOcompare, ZOOevents, ZOOorder, and ZOOmailing. This was done for various technical and viability reasons. If your project happens to depend on them, our recommendation is to stay with Joomla/ZOO 3. For further details, please refer to the upgrade guide.
K2 Source
We decided to release it as a free open source project, as its parent K2 component. As such please be aware that support is not covered by our membership plans, but we will be happy to assist anyone in the project GitHub repository issues place and we would like to invite everyone to also collaborate and help.
For all interested in a YOOtheme Pro K2 combo, grab the code, thank the sponsors, and enjoy!
Highlights from 1.6.x
As it's becoming usual, here are the additions worth mentioning from the Essentials v1.6 consequent releases.
- Ip Geolocation Access Rule
Based on the MaxMind GeoIP database, this new access rule allows hiding/showing content based on the device's IP Geolocation, like Continent, Country, City, and even Postal Code. - Vimeo Content Source
A Dynamic Content source that allows displaying private-owned Vimeo videos. - Database Source Random Ordering
A popular feature request, displaying the records of a Database Source with a random order - hCaptcha Form Element
An alternative form Captcha solution, another popular feature request that is now available.