Version 3.0 – Sexier, Lighter, FASTER!
As promised, you've all been handed the keys to a brand new shiny Ferrari! Ok, so maybe it's not a literal Ferrari, but it should certainly load up just as fast as one! Move over SexyBookmarks v2 series... Time to [...]
As promised, you've all been handed the keys to a brand new shiny Ferrari! Ok, so maybe it's not a literal Ferrari, but it should certainly load up just as fast as one! Move over SexyBookmarks v2 series... Time to make room for a new sheriff. One who calls himself v3.0!
Completely gutted and revamped
After working with Gautam on this release, I kinda feel like an aircraft designer... Always looking for ways to reduce weight and increase speed! That has certainly been the case with this version anyway. We completely gutted the plugin of anything unnecessary in terms of PHP, CSS, JS, and images, so now the overall filesize should be much more manageable.
We also reduced "weights" by minifying JS/CSS and by running all public images through Smush.it in order to save on image file sizes as well. Overall, I have to say that I'm extremely pleased with the outcome of the "gutting" process, but the BIG savings weren't made there... They came in the form of cSprites, which enabled us to dynamically create an image sprite based SOLELY on the networks you select in the plugin options page!
With speed comes risk...
There are a few drawbacks to the Dynamic Sprite Generator feature though. Mainly, just that many users may have server setups which have folder permissions NOT set to writeable by default. Since we're generating images/css based on your selections, the css/images folders associated with the plugin will need to be writeable in order for the feature to work.
If you notice that the plugin gives you a warning message after saving your changes in v3.0, then you'll need to set your css/images folders to 755 before you can use the feature. See here for more info: http://sexybookmarks.net/documentation/usage-installation#chmodinfo
Not sure if I'd classify this as a "drawback" per se, but upon upgrading to v3.0 you'll need to login and go to the Plugin Options page (Settings -> SexyBookmarks) to save changes in order to generate your new custom sprite. This will ensure that the sprite is created from ONLY the icons you've chosen to be displayed, and must be done in order to use this feature.
Another drawback is that the PHP features which allow us to save you some page load time and server resources are only available in servers which are running PHP5+ with the PHPGD library installed. We've done our best to ensure that there are enough automated checks in place which will simply revert you back to using the "old" static sprite if you do not have both of those things available in your server setup.
Lastly, the Dynamic Sprite Generator feature won't work if you're using the "Custom Mods" option... This should be obvious, as we can't be sure of file names of your custom icons and stylesheets. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows this though, so I shouldn't be expecting any bug reports about it.
Last, but certainly not least...
Reducing file sizes and adding a Dynamic Sprite Generator feature wasn't the ONLY thing we did in this upgrade... Check out the full list of fancy schmancy stuff below!
New Sprite Image is generated when you save options
Also reduced the size of the images with Smush It
Separated Background Images
Fixed Translation Strings
Added option to load javascript in blog's footer
Added compatibility with YOURLS plugin
Added Settings link in plugin's information section
Many improvements in the coding efficiency
Minified public JS
Added DZone
Added Kaevur (Estonian)
Added Virb
Added Box.net
Removed Devmarks as it no longer exists
Added Google Reader
Updated the old Google Bookmarks icon
Added Bonzobox
Added Zabox
Added OkNotizie (Italian)
Added Springpad
Added Plaxo
Added Viadeo
Added option to allow you to NOT use a URL shortener if you so choose
Added new feature to Mister-Wong so that now the ".com" extension is replaced dynamically based on your locale
Minified stylesheet to save a couple KB
02/1/10
Hi :)
Excuse me when I active your new version I have this error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘.’ in /web/htdocs/www.flaincau.com/home/blog/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/sexy-bookmarks.php on line 209
Can you tell me how can I fix it? :)
Thanks
Ale
02/1/10
I’m sorry about that… Looks like I missed something in my rush to get the version released… I’ve updated the SVN, so please delete the copy you’re using now and redownload to fix the issue.
Again, sorry!
02/1/10
Hu ok, thank you very much :)
Ale
02/1/10
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘.’ in /home/www/web146/html/wp/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/sexy-bookmarks.php on line 209
i get this error after redownloading v3.0…
whats wrong?
02/1/10
You’ve redownloaded the plugin AFTER 8:30am CST? If so, the bug should be fixed…
02/1/10
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘.’ in /home/www/web146/html/wp/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/sexy-bookmarks.php on line 209
i get this error after redownloading v3.0…
whats wrong?
i am from germany, i’ve donwloaded the plugin 2 times before 5 min and i got 2 times the same error…
02/1/10
If you have deleted the old sexybookmarks folder and redownloaded, but the problem still has not gone away… Please follow the instructions at the top of this post. Thanks.
02/1/10
I’m still getting the same error (Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘.’ etc) with the latest version – any further fixes available?
02/1/10
Please see the Notice at the top of this page for instructions.
02/1/10
Hi,
I followed your instructions, deleted all and downloaded the plug-in having read the above but I continue to receive the error message:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘.’ in /home/username/public_html/domaainname/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/sexy-bookmarks.php on line 209
Regards
02/1/10
Please see the instructions at the top of the page on how to manually fix the issue. Thanks.
02/1/10
There seems to be a little problem with the CSS for the Google Bookmarks icon. The icon is moved over on my blog posts so rather than seeing just the Google Bookmarks icon, I see half of the Reddit icon and half of the Google Bookmarks icon.
(I placed the Google Bookmarks between Yahoo! Buzz and Slashdot on my site.)
02/1/10
Hmm, that’s odd… Lemme take a look.
02/1/10
now i get this error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in /home/www/web146/html/wp/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/sexy-bookmarks.php on line 779