PageLayer Version 1.0

It has been a long time since the last post and PageLayer development has been slowing down as I was busy with more work. Anyway, I found some free time to fix a few glitches and decided to release PageLayer version 1.0. Because it is now stable and in production (limited, but production none the less), I though it was the right time to reach that mark.

It was hard work for one year, and I consider this version 1.0 as an achievement: a sort of celebration. The package is complete and fully working. Distribution from a single point server works wonder and the application is updated seamlessly. Integration with other JavaScript components (i.e. LightBox; Google Analytics) is going smooth and PageLayer appears to be stable and usable on many different browsers and platforms.

From now on, I will continue to improve PageLayer but on a slower basis as I am starting in a full time position again.

One of the direction I might follow is to forget about the floating elements and go for some absolute positioning: users are confused with blocks that behave strangely to them. Floating HTML elements can be tricky and may not be the answer to an easy editing solution.

As many people around, I am having a hard time with the integration of the application's core features and the browsers native editing mode (designmode). The split between the two behaviours can be confusing and PageLayer needs more transparency on that point.

Also, users request more high level features to help during layering and editing: a single button to split a long text in two column of the same size, snaping blocks to help with drag and drop, etc.

Finally, I need to re-consider the distribution process and might give a try at "Application as a Service": PageLayer must be hosted and reachable to everyone with a simple registration process.

So I am not finished with PageLayer (I will probably never be). I am glad I got to that point and still managed to stay sane. Now, as a Front-end Architect I will continue to improve my skills hopefully for the benefit of PageLayer in a near future.