• Registered: 2020-08-18
  • Posts: 3

Topic: showkase future update?

Hello,
I am a happy user of Showkase, and I am really impressed how Steven is responsive and helping on the forum. Thanks a lot Steven! You helped me a few times already!


I was wondering, as Showkase was not updated for quite some time now (the latest Version 1.7.6 is from 25 March 2021), if the software is "abandonned" by the devs or if I missed a new version or new software?

Thank you for the support.

  • Registered: 2012-12-16
  • Posts: 947

Re: showkase future update?

You've not missed an update. The latest (current) version is still v1.7.6.

Unfortunately, I do not know if or when Showkase may next be updated and it does look increasingly likely that an official update is not forthcoming. Sorry I cannot be more specific just now but I don't make the decisions around here and I don't have any news at the moment.

Having said that, even though I'm not the author of Showkase and cannot release new official versions, I am still a member of the official support team and I'll continue to do my best to see that Showkase stays alive and kicking.

This might be a good opportunity to post a round-up patch containing all of the fixes and updates that I've posted in the forum over the past few months.

Please note that this is an unofficial patch and that you should use it at your own risk. I have tested it myself on a web server running PHP 8.3.6 but it has not undergone extensive testing by anyone other than myself.
Please be sure to make a full backup of your existing site before applying the patch.
The patch files are in a folder named 'showkase' (like the official Showkase zip file) so you can just upload the 'showkase' folder to your web server, overwriting your existing files.

Here is the changelog for the patch:

  • Changed default body text on About and Basic pages for consistency across all page types

  • Fixed PHP 8.1 incompatibility - implicit incompatible float to int conversion is deprecated

  • Fixed PHP 8.2 incompatibility - dynamic properties are deprecated

  • Introduced webp support

  • Updated links in showkase.robots.txt file

  • Upgraded CKEditor to v4.22.1

  • Upgraded jsTree to v3.3.16

  • Upgraded PHPMailer to v6.9.1 for Contact page

  • Upgraded Plupload to v2.3.9

  • Upgraded Smarty PHP Template Engine to v4.5.2

NB:
(1) This patch should be applied to Showkase v1.7.6 (Pro or Standard) only. It should not be used for any other version.
(2) This patch now requires that a minimum version of PHP 7.1 should be used. (The previous minimum version required was PHP 5.2.)

Patch file download link: https://app.box.com/s/lel919xayj6hnhrf8ju0apsfeowoocal

As always, just give me a shout if you need a hand with anything. I'll be here to help!

  • Registered: 2020-08-18
  • Posts: 3

Re: showkase future update?

Thank you very much Steven, I really appreciate.
I will use the patch and let you know if any issue.

Have a good day!

  • Registered: 2013-02-28
  • Posts: 116

Re: showkase future update?

Steven, following your suggestion, I would like to apply the patch mentioned above (https://app.box.com/s/lel919xayj6hnhrf8ju0apsfeowoocal). However, looking at the folder currently being used, there are a number of other files within it compared to the "patch Showkase" folder. Perhaps I'm in the incorrect place or doing something else incorrectly. Please explain with a little more detail. Thank you!

  • Registered: 2012-12-16
  • Posts: 947

Re: showkase future update?

The patch zip file is not a complete Showkase installation. It contains only:
(1) certain files from the full Showkase v1.7.6 zip file which have been updated (to fix issues) and...
(2) some new files (to update third-party libraries).
As such, the patch zip file cannot be used to install and run Showkase on its own.

When you extract the full Showkase v1.7.6 zip file, you'll find a folder named 'showkase' which contains all the Showkase files.
When you extract the patch zip file, you'll also find a folder named 'showkase' which contains only the updated and new files.

If you are starting from scratch, you could extract the full Showkase v1.7.6 zip file to your computer and then extract the patch zip file on top of it, to the same location (overwriting pre-existing files) before uploading the resulting 'showkase' folder to your web server.
Alternatively, if you already have a Showkase v1.7.6 installation on your web server and you want to apply the patch to it, you could upload the extracted patch files to your Showkase directory (again, overwriting pre-existing files).
Just be sure to extract the patch files to the correct directory and make a full backup of your existing site first (just in case).

I hope this helps.

  • Registered: 2013-02-28
  • Posts: 116

Re: showkase future update?

So I tried this and thought I did it correctly, but when I attempt to upload an image with a .webp extension, I get an invalid file type message. Please let me know where I may have gone wrong.

Thanks!

  • Registered: 2012-12-16
  • Posts: 947

Re: showkase future update?

That's odd.
I've just double-checked (with a fresh Showkase v1.7.6 installation and the patch files from my box.com link) and I uploaded a .webp image to the Showkase Library as a test without any issues. (The image uploaded via the upload module without any problems or error messages and, afterwards, it appeared on the Images tab as expected.)
It looks like the files are fine.

The three most likely things I can think of that might be causing your problem (and, therefore, things you could investigate) are:
(1) The patch files have been uploaded to the wrong location on your server.
(2) When uploading the patch files to your web server, your FTP program has not been set to overwrite existing files.
(3) Your web hosting account has server-side caching enabled and your web server is still using older, cached files rather than the new patch files you've recently uploaded. It might take some time for the new files to become active on your web server.

Check that you're uploading the patch files to the correct location on your web server. If, for example, you installed Showkase to your root directory, then you would have uploaded the contents of the 'showkase' folder (from the Showkase zip file) to your root directory. If this was the case, then you would upload the contents of the 'showkase' folder (from the patch zip file) to your root directory.

Also, make sure that your FTP program is set to overwrite existing files (so that the patch files replace their original versions).
If you integrated the patch into a Showkase folder on your computer before uploading, make sure that your copy action replaced (and did not skip) existing files.

Finally, make sure that your web hosting account does not have server-side caching enabled. (Check in with your web host. They should be able to help you with this.)

I'll keep my fingers crossed that one of these suggestions helps you out.
Please let me know how you get on. Thanks.

  • Registered: 2013-02-28
  • Posts: 116

Re: showkase future update?

Thanks Steven- problem solved!

I used a FTP client to get the files uploaded. Then using Chrome to access Showkase, I attempted to upload .webp files and kept getting the error message. Finally I tried using a different browser (FireFox) to access Showkase and upload the .webp files. This worked! Not sure why I was having the problem with Chrome, which is what I always use to access and update the Showkase gallery, but in the end, it works and I'm good with that.

Thanks and I appreciate your help, again :) !

  • Registered: 2012-12-16
  • Posts: 947

Re: showkase future update?

You're welcome! Thanks for the update.

Not sure why I was having the problem with Chrome...

Sounds like a caching problem. (It works in Chrome for me.)
Have you tried completely clearing your Chrome browser's cache before accessing your Showkase admin again?
It should work in Chrome just as well as it does in Firefox (and any other modern browser).