Here's what's been added or changed in Simple Image Gallery Pro with the release of v3.9.0:
- SIGPro will now read EXIF metadata from images that contain orientation details and properly rotate or flip images before creating thumbnails.. This means you won't need to process images using desktop software to correct their orientation before uploading them on your server. A handy feature especially for those who work with images coming from pro DSLR cameras.
- Replaced the Mobify image CDN with Weserv's, which is powered by CloudFlare. This will restore the option to resize the source image, as the Mobify CDN unexpectedly shut down a few months ago. Weserv's processing & delivery is also much faster.
- Updated Lightbox2 to version 2.11.3.
- Updated elFinder (used in the SIGPro Media Manager in the backend) to version 2.1.59.
- Fancybox can now be translated through the Joomla language manager (language overrides) or via custom language packs (a much requested feature from users).
- Gallery layout CSS files are now linked in the document <head> with an appended timestamp. This will allow you to perform live changes to a gallery layout's CSS even when your site is behind a CDN like CloudFlare's (so you don't have to purge the CDN's cache for that file everytime you do a change in it) or behind a server-side caching proxy (e.g. Nginx or Varnish).
SIGPro has also been tested to work on up to PHP 8 without any issues. If you have any custom gallery layouts though, you may have to slightly modify them to play nice with PHP 8. As always, send a ticket in our helpdesk system for assistance with such matters...
WHAT'S COMING NEXT
You may be wondering what coming next for SIGPro. Well, a lot for sure!
The next version of SIGPro is already being worked on and eventually it will have the following features:
- Custom ordering for images using drag and drop
- All-new gallery layouts using CSS Grid properties, with distinct options for responsive designs
- More slideshow-like (carousel) gallery layouts
- Updated backend UI that is fully responsive on mobile devices for gallery management on the go
- WebP support
- Dynamic image filters
- Support for AMP pages
- New JSON based format for captions
- More ordering options
- Less jQuery-dependant modals and layouts, which will also translate to improved Core Web Vitals scores for your pages with image galleries on
- Support for improved image conversion using Image Magick (when available on your server)
- Improved overall performance
- Joomla 4 compatibility when it's f-i-n-a-l-l-y released :)
Not all the features above will be available when SIGPro v4 is released, but they will be gradually included as updates come in.
DEMO
The JoomlaWorks demo site has been updated to the latest Simple Image Gallery Pro release. Have a look here: https://demo.joomlaworks.net/simple-image-gallery-pro
DOWNLOAD
If you have an active Simple Image Gallery Pro membership, just head over to the Member Dashboard at https://www.joomlaworks.net/members and grab your copy from your "Subscriptions" page.
Or purchase this latest release from just 19.90 EUR. More info at: https://www.joomlaworks.net/extensions/commercial/simple-image-gallery-pro
UPGRADING
Just upload the new version and it will overwrite the old one.
For more help, please visit the updated documentation page for the extension at: https://www.joomlaworks.net/support/docs/simple-image-gallery-pro
For support questions please use our Helpdesk system included in your Member Dashboard at https://www.joomlaworks.net/dashboard (active product membership required).
Rikaryo 13 Jul 2021