The latest addition has the following notable fixes/changes:

• Ability to manually change the header bottom border color
• More admin styling enhancements, wording changes
• Fix for slashes appearing in the header title
• Fix for drop-down menu not working on some installations

As of the 1.3 release we’re automatically injecting the switch code into your regular theme’s template. This means that if you have manually placed the code in your template previously, you’ll have a duplicate pair of links. Please remove the manually added one, it’s no longer needed.

Remember to backup any custom files you have modified or added to WPtouch before upgrading. The 2.0 release will both include localization and a configuration which will avoid this upgrade issue entirely. We’re on track for a september release for WPtouch 2.0.

We hope that everything is shored up now with 1.3.2, so please upgrade and let us know. Most of the issues discussed in e-mails and on the WPtouch homepage seem to have been resolved from our end of testing.

Bug Squishing

The particular fix we’re talking about affected sites veiwed in Safari- WPtouch was being shown in it as well, instead of just the website’s theme. No other browsers were affected.

Switch Code

Please also bear in mind if you’re upgrading from 1.2.1 or earlier that you’ll have to manually remove the switch code from your website’s theme. We no longer require your manual editing of the theme, and instead inject the code into your footer automatically.

Upgrade Reminder

For those of you with custom icons, please bear with us until WPtouch 2.0 is released. When it is, you’ll no longer have to keep replacing the images you place into icon-pool- there will be a separate directory created which won’t be overwritten that you can put both custom icons and themes into.

For now, backup those icons when you update WPtouch, and replace them afterwards.

It’s All You

Thanks again to everyone who writes in and provides us with excellent feedback and help sorting through various issues. It’s because of you that WPtouch is the success that it is.

We’ll be releasing a fixed package tonight, but if you want to correct the issue yourself you can make the above amendement and all will be fine. Other browsers are not affected.

We’ve really overhauled the guts and trimmed, sliced, and optimized everywhere to squeak out some very impressive speed enhancements while also adding features. The package gets smaller but the features keep growing— it’s a challenge we enjoy.

This update packs a lot of punch! Below is a run down of what we’ve added/changed from 1.2.1:

• Switch from Prototype to the more WordPress-native jQuery for javascript (much faster!)
• Fix for wrong re-directs happening unintentionally if you use a static home page
• Elimination of unneeded images, javascript (shaving more than 100KB!)
• More template file cleanups, image & code optimizations
• The addition of more comments in code templates to help you make custom modifications
• Option to enable comments on pages
• Option to manually enter in a new blog title (fixes cases where the blog title runs the length of the header and wraps)
• Option to hide/show excerpts by default on the home, search, and archive pages
• Switch code links are automatically injected into your regular theme’s footer now, and is only seen on the iPhone/ipod touch
• In all, despite the addition of new features we’ve cut load times for WPtouch in half with this release over 1.2.x releases!

The last point is a rather impressive one. In our tests, we’ve found the current version to be up to 2X faster in load time over the previous versions, most notably over 3G and EDGE. These test were done with all features enabled for WPtouch. We’ll be posting more detail on that in the coming days, but we’re pretty sure you’ll notice the difference yourselves. Our testing conditions spanned WIFI, 3G & EDGE with full bars on each and no other phone activity going on to affect bandwidth. We used duanestorey.com to do the testing.

Important!

In this version we’re automatically injecting the switch code into your regular theme’s template. This means that if you have manually placed the code in your template previously, you’ll have a duplicate pair of links. Please remove the manually added one, it’s no longer needed.

Remember to backup any custom files you have modified or added to WPtouch before upgrading. The 2.0 release will both include localization and a configuration which will avoid this upgrade issue entirely. We’re on track for a september release for WPtouch 2.0.

Jay Grandin (JayVideo) came to us with some great visions of how he wanted his web project to look like, and really, our goal was both to bring them to life and expose him to technologies that allowed him to leverage himself exposure without spending a wad of dough. Here’s what he had to say:

“One year ago, I didn’t know what an RSS feed was when I contacted Dale Mugford to build me a personal site. Since then, I’ve worked with BNC on a number of custom WordPress themes, and have whole-heartedly recommended them to numerous others. Along with a killer site built within days to the very pixel of my Photoshop mock-up, Dale walked me through social media 101, teaching me how to be savvy in the social web and on my site through a series of video screen casts. Brave New Code has gone from a one-man show to an up and running web studio in the year I have know them, and I have no doubt that they are on their way to great success.” -Jay Grandin

Thanks so much for the praise, Jay, we are proud to have worked with you and wish you continued success!

Secondly, Leah (GiantAntMedia) dropped us a nice mail as well, which highlights something we offer that we pride ourselves upon than other developers don’t- continued assistance:

“From the perspective of a start-up, Brave New Code was an invaluable component to launching our business on the right foot. We lacked the expertise to get started on our own and were on a very tight budget, but worked with Dale to find a solution that was scaled to our economic situation. As a symptom of trial and error, BNC has made numerous adjustments to the site to adapt to our needs, and to ensure that we remain excited about the product.” -Leah Nelson, Partner, Giant Ant Media

Okay that’s enough vicarious tooting of our own horns. it’s nice to know that our clients feel strongly enough about our work to both write and let us know, and more importantly, put their own reputations on the line to recommend us as a company to others.

Thanks again, guys.

WPtouch 1.3

Duane and I have been hard at work, squeezing in every spare moment we’ve got to get a substantial update to WPtouch finished. We’re hoping to pack a bunch of additions, fixes and enhancements. Here’s some of the list of changes thus far…

• Switch from Prototype to the more WordPress-native jQuery for javascript
  (faster, more current, and will set us up for future enhancements planned)
• Addition of style options (choose fonts for post titles and content, change font sizes for both)
• Fix for /blog/ re-direct happening unintentionally if you use a different page for your home page then the default WordPress configuration
• Elimination of unneeded images, javascript
• More template file cleanups, the addition of far more comments in the code to help you make custom modifications
• Enable comments on selected pages
• Option to manually enter in a new blog title (fixes cases where the blog title runs the length of the header and wraps)
• Option to hide/show excerpts by default

We expect the release to be coming out in the next few days. If you’re experiencing problems with your WPtouch installation, please wait for the update and apply it before requesting support- it may just fix your issue : )