Milestone 8.0 release

Version 8 will be a Web Application Framework.

Some highlights in the architecture of version 8:

• Build on top of the  FuelPHP framework
• Completely modular, no user functionality will be present in the core code
• UI designed on "web 2.0" principles, tableless themes
• Support for several template parsers

Version 8 will contain all required back end components to quickly develop web based applications:

• User management, Authentication and Authorisation
• Role-based and Group-based security model
• UI theming and templating
• Forms generation and validation
• Database and file I/O
• Logging and Error handling
• Multi-view output handling (browser, printer, PDF, json, ...)

Version 8 will introduce the concept of plugins and modules. Modules are visual elements that can be 'plugged' into a predefined location in a template. You can compare that to the current v7 idea of panels, but with complete freedom as to where they are placed on the page, and how they are styled. Plugins work 'under the hood', and interact with the framework using predefined hooks, to capture events. Plugins alter existing functionality, add new functionality, or create bridges with other applications.

Also new is also the concept of a "application content tree".

Instead of a direct mapping between the URL requested and the corresponding PHP code on the web server, the URL will map to an entry in the content tree structure, stored in the database. Every entry is a definition of a webpage, and includes a theme template, and module panels displayed on the page. Subpages inherit the layout of their parent page, but you can override that, meaning you can hide modules, or rearrange the layout for a specific page. The content tree will also support multiple sites with one installation, sharing the same authentication system. Using the RBAC engine provided you can define who has access to what.