MacProline Blog: Coding, Mac Apps and Web Craft
Welcome to the MacProline journal, where we share what is happening across the coding landscape alongside updates about our own software and services. Expect product releases, fresh version announcements, opinions on Apple hardware and software, practical tips for websites, SEO and security, plus notes on the platforms and tools we rely on.
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Latest posts and announcements
WebKiosk 8 has arrived
Published on September 29 in News. WebKiosk 8 is now available as a full rewrite featuring a modern engine and a redesigned user interface, offered at new affordable pricing. It requires macOS 11 or later. The previous release has been renamed WebKiosk Classic, and customers of MacPodium or xStand will find a free license of WebKiosk 7 Classic waiting on their licenses page.
New product names and versions
Published on September 26 in News. We have just released a new video that presents the refreshed branding of several of our products.
Dynamic Island feels so Apple
Published on September 07 in Opinions. We are delighted by the products Apple introduced today, yet the standout was Dynamic Island, a clever blend of software and hardware that only Apple could deliver. It is neat and enjoyable to use, and developers will surely find creative ways to build new interactions around it. Perhaps Dynamic Notch would have been a more fitting name, but Island works well too. This is not something Apple could produce in a matter of weeks; the design behind this evolution clearly reflects years of thought from developers and engineers. We would bet Dynamic Island will appear on next year's iPhone 15.
ZionBuilder leaves a strong impression
Published on September 07 in Opinions. We recently tried the ZionBuilder plugin for WordPress and found it a genuinely interesting way to build dynamic websites with a complete drag and drop experience. Naturally, the details matter, and you may still need to switch to source code editing in certain edge cases. In our view ZionBuilder covers roughly 70% of typical website needs. One advantage is that it works with any theme, unlike some competing tools. Like Oxygen, ZionBuilder is a smart option, and we will keep watching it.
Welcome to ExpressionEngine 7.1
Published on September 02 in News. The Packed Tide team did excellent work lifting ExpressionEngine to a new level. Two weeks after shipping version 7, they released version 7.1 with additional features and updated pricing in response to community feedback. Thumbs up for that. Version 7 is clearly remarkable and now serves as our starting framework for developing dynamic websites. Get in touch to learn why it is a better choice than WordPress.
Spectra 2: a free WordPress page builder
Published on September 01 in News. Spectra 2.0 is a new WordPress plugin that lets you build pages and content in a very straightforward way. Its interface is intuitive and closely aligned with WordPress UI and UX, and the range of options is impressive for a free plugin.
Improved download links
Published on September 01 in Tips. We resolved an issue affecting download links that caused an error message in some browsers. After testing across various browser versions and macOS releases, everything should now work correctly.
A new website
Published on August 12 in News. Today we are very happy to launch an updated version of our website. Please note that if you had an account previously, you will need to create a new one. We fully support Apple Sign In for privacy, simplicity and security.
An interesting WordPress plugin
Published on August 11 in Opinions. Breakdance looks like a game changer for dynamic websites, and the plugin is currently in BETA. We tested it and were very impressed by its possibilities and the logic behind it. We love ExpressionEngine, but we always explore new solutions, so we will keep an eye on it.
The best tools to check your website
Published on August 08 in Tips. Plenty of excellent tools and services exist for checking the quality, security and SEO level of your website. In this post we present the ones we use most often.
- SEO: SEO Tester Online and SEOptimer
- Dead links: Dead Link Checker
- Security: Hardenize
- GDPR compliance: 2GDPR and CookieMetrix
ExpressionEngine 7 is available
Published on August 03 in News. ExpressionEngine is the CMS powering this website and most of our customer sites. We enjoy using it for the quality of the user experience and for the strong security of the engine, which is trusted by thousands of companies worldwide. Because of that quality, it is often described as the macOS of content management systems. Version 7 brings many new features around file management and includes numerous add-ons that were previously optional. We tested the beta and were impressed by the quality and performance; it is genuinely fast. All our new projects will be based on this version.
Discover BestOfDesign
Published on August 02 in News. We have just launched our latest WordPress-based project, a social network for designers. We can help build any community using platforms such as BuddyBoss, BuddyPress, HumHub, SocialEngine and PHPFox.
EEConf
Published on July 28 in Tips. If you would like to learn more about what ExpressionEngine can do, a conference takes place in the fall.
The best low code and no code tools
Published on July 27 in Opinions. The future of design and web development lies in low code and no code tools. Most people know Webflow, but the list of options is expanding quickly. We try every new tool, and this is our top five.
- Glide Apps — beautiful UI and UX: glideapps.com
- Dorik CMS — simple and clean: dorik.com/cms
- Wappler — getting more friendly: wappler.io
- AppMaster — enterprise: appmaster.io
- WeWeb — powerful: weweb.io
You can also explore Webflow as a well-known option in this space.
MacVitamin is live, our latest work
Published on July 21 in News. We are pleased with the work completed for MacVitamin, where we built a social network using ExpressionEngine as the backend and frontend solution. MacVitamin is a professional network dedicated to Mac users.
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In this article
A quick outline of what you will find on the MacProline blog, plus answers to the questions readers ask us most about our Mac apps, consulting and server expertise.
- Latest posts and announcements
- Product news, new versions and rebranding
- Opinions on Apple hardware and software
- Tips for websites, SEO and security
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