Watchful now supports Chill Creations, so save time updating Joomla websites

If you are responsible for one or multiple Joomla websites, Watchful is the tool that will save you a lot of time. The biggest time saver is that it allows you to update all your Joomla websites and extensions from one location. With the latest versions of my extensions, Watchful can now also update all instances of cciDEAL, ccNewsletter and ccInvoices on the various sites you maintain. But that’s not all, this pro-user tool has many superpowers!

David-Andrew interviewed by JoomlaNL

Last October one of the Dutch Joomla! forums JoomlaNL was looking for a new Joomla! download extension, so I offered them ccDownloads. I was actually expecting that they would decline the offer because they needed a more “heavy duty” solution, and was surprised and happy when they decided our newest extension was exactly what they needed.

From one thing came another, and Wouter from JoomlaNL wanted to interview me. It was a delightful conversation and the result can be found on Joomla!NL (in Dutch) “Extensie-ontwikkelaar: David-Andrew van Chill Creations“

Support for Joomla! 1.5 will be phased out starting September 2012

Now that the Joomla! project has ended support for Joomla! 1.5 with its end-of-life in April 2012 (update: extended to September 2012), it’s also time for us at Chill Creations to communicate our Joomla! version support policy. I acknowledge the special position of Joomla! 1.5, and that is why we have decided to fully support Joomla! 1.5 even longer than the Joomla! project, with bug and security fixes.  

Indev extension program closed

We are closing our “Indev extension” program. For the first time announced in February 2010, the program gave attention to “an extension we are considering, planning or already developing. Our indev (in development) extensions give you the chance to influence the functionality and scope of our new extensions.”

The program was a success as we released ccInvoices, ccNewsletter 1.1 and ccVAOM with feedback received from customers via the “Indev extension” program. 

No Joomla! 1.6 extensions from Chill Creations

Chill Creations will not release any Joomla! extension for Joomla! 1.6. This is less dramatic as it may sound, and in the following article I’ll try to explain my motivations.  

The most important reason has little to do with Joomla! 1.6 actually, but with what my goals are for Chill Creations. Also, it is important to note that Joomla! 1.7 is expected to be released in July 2011, and our decision is not for all future versions, just Joomla! 1.6. 

ccInvoices and cciDEAL Platform are very stable!

Good news if you were waiting for stable version of  ccInvoices (Joomla! invoicing) or cciDEAL Platform.

I have added a short message to their product pages to reflect that these extensions are very stable, but we still need to update the demo videos which mention that these extensions are still in beta. But you can absolutely purchase, download and use the current version on production websites. 

You might even like the new functionality you encounter when using ccInvoices, which is also not listed on the product page yet. 

Project management software for Joomla! developers

The last two years we used the web based project management software 5PM at Chill Creations. We primarily developed extensions and websites for clients, and the extensions cciDEAL and ccNewsletter which where available for a broader audience.

In the last months we started focusing on (commercial) extension development for the Joomla! community and our project management needs have changed because of that. Read on to see what project management systems we considered, what our wishes where and what system we will begin to test.

Indev extensions: we want YOUR feedback

An indev extension is an extension we are considering, planning or already developing. Our indev (in development) extensions give you the chance to influence the functionality and scope of our new extensions.

“You love to give feedback? Great, we love to receive it!”

Get ready, our new Joomla! blog online soon

Get ready people, we are preparing our blog and it will be online really soon. The goal of the blog will be to provide you with useful tips & tricks concerning Joomla! and general web development and our own extension updates. A sample of the first few articles being written now:

• Joomla! Newsletter tips part 1 & 2
• Virtuemart tips & tricks part 1
• Joomla! tips & tricks part 1
• ccNewsletter statistics: the bit.ly way
• cciDEAL 2.3.0 preview
• ccUsers 1.0.0 preview
• What do we use for our Joomla! blog?
• And more…. 

We have had a Dutch Joomla! Virtuemart iDEAL blog since 2008, and written informative articles for it, but now its time to open up to a larger (and international) audience. So welcome, we are really pleased to have you!

You can subscribe directly to the RSS button (in the address bar in most browsers), Feedburner or even subscribe to get e-mail updates via Feedburner. Subscribe now and stay tuned!