WOX (World of XOOPS) Newsletter # 34 (July 2010)

Please help us spread the word about XOOPS!! .

If you are a happy XOOPS user, let the world know - please blog about XOOPS, share your experiences with others, rate and review us on SourceForge and other Websites. We need to let the world know about XOOPS!!!

And if you're not happy with something in XOOPS, please let us know so we can fix it and improve! Better yet - help us fix it and improve it!

Remember - XOOPS is powered by YOU!!!!

01. Donations

If you like the XOOPS system, and would like to give something in return, you can make a donation to the XOOPS Foundation! Simply use the XOOPS Donation System and use your PayPal account or your Credit Card to donate .

Your donation will be used to promote and advance the use and development of the XOOPS system. The XOOPS Foundation is a registered not-for-profit organization in the USA, dedicated to promote XOOPS! All donators will get the Friend of XOOPS rank here on this website. Thanks to all the Friends of XOOPS for their donations and continued support!

If you wonder what is happening with XOOPS money, please read the 2009 XOOPS Financial Report

This month we would like to acknowledge following donors:

Ian A. Underwood: $25
Kevin Petit: $1
Alen Bastic: $10

Thank you so much for supporting XOOPS!!!!

02. New XOOPS developments

Current Releases

XOOPS 2.4.5 RC3
XOOPS 2.5.0 Alpha 2
XOOPS 2.4.4 Final
Documentation on the API
Modules working with XOOPS 2.4.x (Babylon by Xoops)
Language Translations of 2.4.x

03. Team Reports

In 2010 we are re-introducing monthly Team Reports from our XOOPS Teams.

Core Development Team

Work continues on XOOPS 2.4.5.

Please help with testing of XOOPS 2.4.5RC3 and the XOOPS 2.5.0Alpha

Documentation Team

No new activities this month (Please join the team.)

Modules Development Team

No new reports

Theme Design Team

No new reports.

Community Coordination/Support Team

Standard maintenance of the Website, and keeping it current.

International Support Team

No new additions to XOOPS support site group.

See Support Site Guidelines. Unfortunately some support sites do not anymore offer the quality of support we are looking for so these sites will have to be removed as official support sites and no longer linked to from the International Support page. This will however, open the opportunity for other webmasters in these regions to start and maintain a local XOOPS Support site, which is a lot of fun and you'll help a lot by spreading our great CMS to your area and language. To apply for official status, use this form (login required).

XOOPS on Facebook: join the main XOOPS group on Facebook

Communication/Marketing Team

Worked with SHPE on publishing the SHPE Conference Website

04. XOOPSers of the Month

Our "XOOPSer of the Month" Award is given to XOOPS members who show extraordinary dedication to XOOPS, and go the extra mile for XOOPS. Sometimes they do something spectacular, but most of the time they just do something everyday, but by doing it day-in and day-out, they make a BIG DIFFERENCE in life of XOOPS community. And we thank them for that!!!

This month, we would like to recognize Mirza Mrkaljevic (Bleekk) from Austria for his continues support on XOOPS Germany. He recently redesigned the Website to make it accessible also from mobile phones.

Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently I live in Vienna, Austria. It is a beautiful city.

How long have you been programming?

I started with HTML, CSS 8 years ago and with PHP and JavaScript 3 years ago.

What is your expertise?

Mainly HTML and CSS but also PHP and JavaScript.

What got you to XOOPS?

In 2002 I was a member of a Bosnian students club. Their site was based on XOOPS and my job was it to keep the site up-to-date. I started with small changes on the site and the rest is history

What do you like the most about XOOPS?

The great worldwide community, tons of modules and its ease of use.

In what area of XOOPS do you contribute and why?

Mainly supporting the German XOOPS community, make themes and templates whenever I have time. I like to help wherever I can and designing themes is my hobby

If you could add one feature to XOOPS, what would it be?

I would like to see a better multi language functionality.

What is your major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?

I am every time proud when I see satisfied, happy users and customers with my work.

What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?

My biggest hobby is doing nothing. In my free time I like to play counter strike

You favorite dish and drink?

My favorite drinks are water and coffee. In Austria we have a really good quality and it is the best drink in summer.

What about movies and music?

When I am working I like to listen to Gipsy Kings, Los Zafiros and the Cuban All Stars. My favorite movies are Casino and Good Fellas.

If you would have a chance for a 30 seconds commercial with a message to the world, what would you say?

iPhone 4 has a antenna problem hmm I think this would be my longest blackout

If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?

I would stay in Vienna. The city has a high quality standard of living, it is not too big, has lot of green spaces and a great public transportation.

Who is the person that you would like to meet and why?

I would like to work for one day together with Al Bundy from "Married with Children" in his shoe store. I am sure it would be fun

05. XOOPS Innovation Award

Our XOOPS Innovation Award is given to people who create something very unique and very innovative for XOOPS! We are clear that XOOPS can only succeed, when we push the limits of our creativity, imagination, and innovation to "infinity and beyond" . And therefore we would like to recognize people who create this "WOW!" effect, when we see what they've done. The XOOPS Innovation Award is not a monthly award, i.e. theoretically, there might be a month where we won't give one, but we certainly hope that this will never happen

This month the Innovation Award goes to Luis Marcelo Zanlucki (Lmzan) from Brazil, for his innovative work on his various Websites in Brazil. His designs are always very fresh and innovative, showing that with XOOPS sky is the limit!

Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I'm from Brazil, I was born in the south of the country, I've lived in São Paulo for some time and now I'm living in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim-ES, a mid-sized city located between the sea and the mountains, a very nice place.

How long have you been designing Websites?

I started creating XOOPS websites in 2005, but I didn't know how to change the themes back then. I decided to study this area in 2008, when I started to work only with website creation.

What is your expertise?

Well, in 2008 I started a company to offer a more professional design services to clients but I'm basically working by myself as a freelancer, so I can say that my expertise is to position my client's websites in the internet, using different skills, such as marketing, corporate communication, photography and web design. Right now I have to be all in one!

What motivated you to create new themes for your XOOPS websites?

Web design is very much affected by fashion and although there are hundreds of themes for XOOPS most of them are now outdated. When I decided to create professional websites for clients I thought it was very important to have a unique visual for each work, according to their printed materials, logos and colors. So every new work demanded a specific theme. In the beginning I tried to work with branding/advertising agencies to help me create the themes, but it didn't work so I decided to do it myself.

What got you to XOOPS?

My first work in this area was not planned, I must admit. In 2005 I was working in a software company as an UML designer for Java applications and a friend of mine asked me if I could create a website, so I heard about XOOPS and gave it a try. After a period of changes, here am I working full time with XOOPS and web design. Eventually I develop in other platforms too, but my favorite environment is XOOPS, by far. It´s my home!

What do you like the most about XOOPS?

I'm very comfortable with XOOPS after working with it for 5 years. I like its flexibility to create websites with very different purposes. The possibility to see people from all over the world using the same tool is also an important point and lately I'm very excited with the major improvements delivered by such an amazing group of talented people working in the community. It's really good to be part of it.

If you could add one feature to XOOPS, what would it be?

Lately my needs are being fulfilled by new modules and improvements added to the new XOOPS versions. But the same way as many themes get outdated, I think some modules are also getting behind as well. Web development is always on the move and I think it would be important to improve some of the old modules with features that allow XOOPS websites to connect with social networks, for example, or to communicate with public API's in order to bring XOOPS closer to the main web applications, such as Facebook, Flickr, Digg, Twitter and many others. I see other CMS doing it so maybe it's something to be thought over.

What you you major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?

Maybe it's yet to come, I'm quite aware that I have lots of things to learn but I feel that in every website I finish I'm going a little further ahead in my skills, so that's something that I'm proud of, personally speaking. It's good when our effort is recognized but it's even better when we can deliver something exactly the way we planned it to be, and I'm not there yet!

What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?

I like cooking and I like photography. I also like to read but I'm not having time for it lately. I'm a National Geographic magazine collector too.

You favorite dish and drink?

I like Chinese and Japanese food, specially the ones I prepare and I like a good light beer in the summer and red wine in winter.

What about movies and music?

I'm a fan of Radiohead, U2, Beck, Cake, but I listen to a lot of different bands and styles. My favorite movies are Sci-Fi and alternative movies, try to avoid blockbusters. I'm also fan of Japanese movies, specially from Kurosawa; animations like Ghost in the Shell and movies that take me to real life situations in different cultures.

If you would have a chance for a 30 seconds commercial with a message to the world, what would you say?

We need to slow down, the planet is not big enough for everyone to do whatever they think they need. Let's try to live within our real needs and not those that our society make us believe it's so important. Let's be more aware.

If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?

I personally believe this is not our first time here and this is not our only life in this planet. We've been here before and we'll return here again and again. So I think the most important place for me to be is here and now, to do and to be the best I can.

Who is the person that you would like to meet and why?

I would like to meet my father again, that is not here anymore, just to make sure he knows I love him.