Piwigo 12 is coming and needs some beta testers!

After the release of Piwigo 11 in January 2021, the team is not standing still. We are working on the next version (which will be released this summer), and we have decided to involve our users very early in the release process. Discover in this blog post the new features and why not, join the beta testers!

Demo webinars

For the first time, we offered to some of our customers the opportunity to participate in webinars presenting this new version. We wanted to get feedback before the release of this version.

The feedback has been positive, which is good news. We have noted some very interesting remarks, which we will try to integrate into the roadmap of this new version.

For example, following a suggestion from a customer, we will add, from the user manager, a reminder of the definition of the different profiles (webmaster, administrator, visitor…).

Call for beta testers

After these first presentations, we will enter the beta-testing phase. And this is where we need you, Piwigo users!

via GIPHY

Anyone can give a little bit of their time to test this version before its official release.

Being a beta tester is the best way to help us release a new, functional, bug-free version. But it also allows you to get involved and contribute to a Piwigo that really meets your needs!

If you would like to volunteer, send us an email at contact@piwigo.com : we will then give you early access to v12, so you can test it and give us your feedback. Of course, this will not impact your Piwigo account!

PS: if you are able to deploy Piwigo by yourself, feel free to download Piwigo 12.0.0beta1 right here.

What’s new in Piwigo 12 ?

Piwigo 11 was a major release, with many new features. We decided to speed up the release of new versions: Piwigo 12 has fewer new features than Piwigo 11, but each of them is important.

User Manager Redesign

The user management screen has been completely redesigned, in line with the new group manager that you discovered in Piwigo 11.

The design of this page is more modern and colorful.

user manager piwigo 12

In addition, you can choose between different views: a default list; a compact mode that displays a maximum number of users on the same page; and a tile mode that displays users in the form of large tiles.

Compact view
Tile view

Modifying your users in bulk will become much more intuitive: a selection mode has been introduced, which makes this page usable from a tactile interface. This new mode also allows you to see the list of selected users before choosing an action (deletion, assignment to a group…).

Advanced filtering has been added: it will make it easier to search for users when you have a lot of them in your Piwigo. You can filter users by status, privacy level, group and creation date.

Another small improvement: the “guest” user (which corresponds to the anonymous visitors of your photo gallery, when it is public), is now managed separately from the “real” users. This helps to avoid handling errors.

Finally, the user edition screen is also getting a makeover.

Users activity log

A new screen appears in Piwigo 012: the User Activity Log.

It allows you to see the actions performed in the Piwigo administration, by each user: add / delete / modify an album, a file, a user…

This screen lists the history of activities and allows you to filter them (by user and by period).

Following feedback from customers during a webinar presentation demo, we have added the possibility to export these activities to a CSV file that can be used with a spreadsheet program (Excel, Libre Office…).

Redesign of the plugin manager

The plugin manager already had a facelift in Piwigo 11, but it evolves again with v12.

Until now, activated and deactivated plugins were displayed separately.

When you activated a new plugin, the screen reloaded, and you had to search in the list for the newly activated plugin, in order to access its settings. This was not very practical, especially for photo libraries with many plugins.

With v12, the way it works changes. To activate or deactivate a plugin, you just need to click on a button, and then you can directly modify its settings.

Optimization of file upload for large galleries

We have optimized the batch file addition to be more efficient, especially on large photo libraries (more than 100,000 files). Some of our customers know that adding 100 or 1000 files at once to a Piwigo can slow down the server when the gallery already contains a very large volume of photos. Starting with version 12, this should not be a problem anymore.

So, what do you think of these news? Are you eager to discover Piwigo 12? Send an email to contact@piwigo.com to become a beta tester!

Upcoming Piwigo 2.7, we want you for beta-testing!

Piwigo 2.7 “release candidate 1” was released yesterday with many new features and improvements. Here is a small sample:

  • new upload form, with drag & drop and no more Flash
  • sort albums by date
  • improved search
  • interactive discovering of Piwigo features with plugin “Take a Tour”

All changes are described on Piwigo.org annoucements: 2.7.0beta1, 2.7.0beta2 and 2.7.0RC1.

Piwigo 2.7 new upload form uses HTML5, which means "no more Flash required" and that's really cool. Drag & drop will make photo selection much easier from your file browser!

Piwigo 2.7 new upload form uses HTML5, which means “no more Flash required” and that’s really cool. Drag & drop will make photo selection much easier from your file browser!

We need your help to test Piwigo 2.7 Release Candidates. You can browse a Piwigo 2.7 demo, but the biggest changes are on administration side. If you want a test environment, ask us and we will provide one!

Future Piwigo 2.6

Piwigo 2.6 is currently under tests as “release candidate”. It brings new features and many technical improvements. Just a few changes in Piwigo 2.6:

  • many icons in the administration (“retina” compatible)
  • geolocation of your visitors
  • new group manager
  • new email templates
  • new pages in mobile theme
  • new user manager

You can find all new features and changes on Piwigo.org annoucements: 2.6.0beta1, 2.6.0beta2, 2.6.0RC1 and 2.6.0RC2.

SmartPocket, the mobile theme, gets many new features: a full menu, a dedicated page for the photos with photo details and user comments, search page, tags page and so on.

SmartPocket, the mobile theme, gets many new features: a full menu, a dedicated page for the photos with photo details and user comments, search page, tags page and so on.

We need your help to test Piwigo 2.6 Release Candidate. You can browse a Piwigo 2.6 demo, but the biggest changes are on administration side. If you want a test environment, ask us and we will provide one!

Plugin Automatic Size needs beta-testers

Many users have activated plugin Autosize (approximately 10% of you, which means one of the favorite plugins). Unfortunately this plugin is incompatible with several other plugins and themes. Autosize is not available on Piwigo.com for Piwigo 2.5. In order to replace it, we need the help of beta-testers for the new plugin Automatic Size. See details on Piwigo.org forum.

New plugin Automatic Size adds an option in the size selection box.

New plugin Automatic Size adds an option in the size selection box.

Future Piwigo 2.4, ready to beta-test?

Following our roadmap, a new major version of Piwigo every 6 months, version 2.4 is now ready for beta-tests. The stable version is planned for April and then plugins and themes will be updated for compatibility. If you want to know all details about version 2.4, read Piwigo 2.4.0RC1 announcement.

Here follows a list of the biggest changes you’ll find in Piwigo 2.4:

  • multiple size: instead of just 2 sizes (thumbnail and web size) Piwigo 2.3 includes 7 sizes. Square, thumbnail, S, M, L, XL, XXL.
  • mobile version: if your visitor browse Piwigo with a smartphone, Piwigo automatically loads the mobile theme, designed and optimized for tactile navigation.
  • new default theme: Elegant replaces Sylvia as default theme. With it grey colors, menu and comments toggle, we hope you’ll find Elegant modern and beautiful as we do. (of course Sylvia is still maintained)
  • many improvements on ergonomy for administration panel, several screens have been redesigned from scratch.

Piwigo 2.4: when visitors browse your gallery with a smartphone like iPhone or Android, Piwigo automatically loads the mobile theme.

Piwigo 2.4: when visitors browse your gallery with a smartphone like iPhone or Android, Piwigo automatically loads the mobile theme.

Before Piwigo 2.4 stable is available, we propose you to beta-test it. Either you simply browse the Piwigo 2.4 beta-test demo, or we create a complete 2.4 installation for you with administration panel available, just ask!

Future Piwigo 2.3, want to give a try?

Piwigo is constantly evolving. Every month a new minor version is released, including bug fixes and adding small features. Every six months a new major version is released, including new features and important changes. This is completely invisible to Piwigo.com users because we care about software upgrades.

The next major version is Piwigo 2.3. The beta-testing is starting. We give all details on the announcement of Piwigo 2.3.0RC1. Here follows an example of improvement in Piwigo 2.3:

Upload Form in Piwigo 2.3

The upload form was seriously improved. Among visible improvements, you will find a simpler album selector, maximum filesize and dimensions displayed before you select some photos, a selection button translated in all languages, a progress bar for the whole upload and last but not least, the photos are displayed as soon as they are uploaded, progressively.

We propose you to test the new features, give your opinion and help us to make Piwigo 2.3 as stable and robust as possible. If you are interested and wish to participate, tell us and we will provide you a “ready to use” environment for testing.