On 22nd of May 2012 we pushed the initial release of MetaModels to the Github Organisation. We are looking back on a period of 3 years in development with several ups and downs. In spite of all pitfalls, we are holding the fort for days now and are still as motivated as on the first day. For a great deal, this is thanks to our MetaModels Community and the Contao Community as a whole.
2 Years MetaModels
by Andreas Isaak
On 22nd of May 2014 MetaModels will be two years old but preliminary there was already a whole year of conceptual design, planning and programming. We will use the jubilee for a short retrospection on the past years and a forecast on MetaModels 2.0.
Retrospection
Everything started with a call by me (MEN AT WORK) to Christian Schiffler (Cyberspectrum). We were in need of a multi language Catalog supporting more than 26 languages. Pretty soon we came to the conclusion that the Catalog extension present at that time was simply not able to do this, despite all tricks, knacks and hacks we were in need of a completely new extension.
So we went to planning which, thanks to the preliminary works of Christian, pretty fast came to a first mock-up. Some weeks later, the backend was already usable. Over the next months, MetaModels became even more powerful but also pretty complex. So we decided to found a team an start official. The name was set within a short amount of time and also the official logo was done pretty fast thanks to Nicky Hoff.
So here we are now, in preparation of the next huge step in the development of MetaModels: Version 2.0.
MetaModels 2.x
Many have made inquiries if there will be any changes for them by updating to MetaModels 2.x. The answer is yes, there are changes but not as many as some might fear. The whole database structure will remain the same and therefore no migration from version 1 to version 2 is necessary.
We will finally have only one combined version for Contao 2.11 and Contao 3. We have decided to keep support for Contao 2.11 as many users out there can not simply upgrade their Contao version. we do not want to sell those down the river. Further more, MetaModels 2.x is completely basing the backend upon DC_General 2.0, which is already successfully in use in Avisota. Also syncCto and other extensions are already working on a DC_General 2.0 adapter.
We hope this synergy will create a boost of third party developers willing to fix bugs in DC_General. For comprehension, about 70% of all MetaModels bugs are to be found in DC_General 1.0.
Unfortunately, we can not announce a release date for MetaModels 2.x yet but we are approaching the finish line. For the brave amongst you we have the version up for download on the home page. We are excited about any beta tester!