Sebastian Teumert

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein

How To: Use language variables

WCF 2.0 comes with built-in internationalization (i18n) or, as some call it, multi-language support. I18n within WCF 2.0 is realied using so called language variables. Those variables can be filled with values in multiple languages and even allow adminitrators to translate their whole board to another language themselves. But how do plugin developers use language variables correctly?
In the last article, where I wrote about creating a simple WCF 2.0 pugin, I presented a template in which the term "Hello, World!" was hard coded into the template in english. This is not only strongly discouraged, but is also dangerous in terms of encoding and escaping. Languages variables ansure the proper ecspaing of HTML entities and much more, therefore one should always use language variables over hard coded text.

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How to: Create WCF 2 Plugins

Customizing your WBB4 / WCF2 installation is usually done via plugins. Editing files, following bogus installation and hacking instructions, this is all long gone. Since WBB3, which was built on top of WCF1, hacking is obsolete and was replaced by simply installing plugins via mouse-click in the ACP. The general principle is the same for WCF2 as it was for WCF1, but some detailes have changed.

So what is a plugin?

Basically, just a TAR- or TGZ- archive that contains some files in a specific structure. The heart of each plugin is the package.xml, a configuration file which defines the plugins dependencies and it's delivered functionality. The package.xml file is placed in the root of the plugin archive.

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New responsive blog layout

I wanted to make the blog layout responsive for a long time now, but since I don't even own a smartphone, this wasn't really one of the top priorities for me. But then, the Jekyll 1.0 update came along, and I had to rework the liquid templates anyway, since e.g. Jekyll now exports a post.excerpt variable on it's own. So I sat down and started hacking, and I ended up reworking a whole lot of the templates to match Twitter-Bootstrap, which I ended up using for the responsive grid of the site.

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Why do we fight – and what for?

This is the question I've been asking myself more often lately. Seeing board discussions going sideways, parties in discussions getting mixed up in fights rather then discussions and people constantly blaming other people for things that could be considered insignificant. I too was that kind of guy. When someone would blame someone else for something that wasn't his fault, I'd step in, I'd set things right. Except, I know realize I wasn't. I just gave more fuel to the discussion.

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JTT in action

Ever wanted to see JTT in action? Then there is no time like the present! JTT is already used on numerous websites, some hosted on GitHub Pages, some elsewhere. Take a look at some excellent examples on how JTT can be used!

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