UPDATE: Organize Series 2.0 Final has been released. You can get it here.

Finally, I’ve reached the point where I can release a beta version of the Organize Series 2.0! It’s been a long time in the making and I’m glad to finally have reached this stage. UnfoldingNeurons.com is now running on WordPress 2.3.3 and I’ve installed OrgSeries and all seems well.

I’m still going through the code and cleaning it up, adding internal documentation, and structuring the files so it’s a bit more intuitive. I also want to get OrgSeries 2.0 ready for WordPress 2.5 before I do a final release. However, since I know so many people have been patiently waiting for me to get this version out the door I decided to release the Beta for those brave souls who want to give it a go. REMEMBER though, that this is a BETA release and I take no responsibility for any problems you may have with it. I’m hoping that releasing this BETA will also lead to some great feedback from users, helping me to improve it in time for the big release.

What’s New?

Since this is a beta release, I haven’t had time to do in detail documentation but here’s an overview of all the features found in orgSeries 2.0 (with the final release I’ll flesh things out a bit):

Integration with WordPress taxonomy structure:
This is a biggy. I’ve stuck to using the hooks into the WordPress core as much as possible to take advantage of the built in goodness (security and efficient db queries).

New “Manage Series” page and integration with the “Manage Posts” page.
OrgSeries 2.0 takes the “organize” in Organize Series to a whole new level. It is much easier to edit series information and edit posts that are part of a series. With a new column on the manage->posts page indicating the series a post belongs to (if it belongs to a series) and the ability to filter the listing of posts by series, users can now more efficiently work with their series of posts.

Integration of “Series Icon”.
No longer do you need a separate plugin to manage images associated with your series. Everything is integrated and manageable via the new series interfaces. Groovy 🙂

Add series on the fly in the Write/Edit Posts page.
There is a new Series box that enables you to add posts to series and even add new series on the fly while writing your posts. No longer do you have to navigate to a different page when starting a new series! You can also now choose to order your posts in a series in whatever order you want (the default will append posts to the end of a series). If you change your mind and want to make a post a different part in the series you can edit it and all the other posts will automatically be re-distributed when you save.

More options and a new %token% system for choosing how OrgSeries will be displayed.
Among many new options to choose from are choosing how you want your series posts to be ordered on the series archive page; what url will direct to your series table of contents; what size you want your series-icons to be on various pages they are displayed… But the thing I’m most excited about is the ability for users to use the new token template system to fine tune the way series related information will be displayed on your blog!

Import from earlier versions
Built in to Organize Series 2.0 is an import routine to pull all your series information from older versions of OrgSeries and bring it into the new system. This definitely cuts down on the time it takes to setup all your series that you’ve been writing with older versions of the plugin. I’ve run the import on my series and it works beautifully! (note: because this is a beta…your mileage may vary which is why it’s so important to back up your blog before giving this a go.)

WIDGET!!
One of the most requested features I received from users was a Organize Series Widget. Organize Series 2.0 actually now has two widgets – both customizable. The first widget is for displaying all the series you’ve written. It also provides the (toggable) option to display others posts in a series when your site is displaying a post that belongs to a series.

The other widget will display the latest series you have written.

Other new features:

• next/previous posts in series links (by popular demand – and completely customizable)
• lots of new tags for theme authors and for those who like tweaking their site.
• seriestoc.php – default template file for the Table of Contents of all your series.
• series.php – Template file for the display of series archive pages (if you don’t use it the plugin will default to the category archive template for your theme)

Installation instructions:
Well if you’ve read this far then you are probably interested in the download link and want to get on with the installation. First, please take the time to read the following guidelines – it could save you some grief should something go wrong.

1. Backup your database (Have I stated that enough yet?)
2. If it isn’t already – deactivate the OrgSeries plugin (if you are upgrading, else this step won’t apply)
3. If you haven’t already, upgrade your blog to WordPress 2.3.3
4. Make sure your other plugins are up-to-date. IF you are using Category-Icons, DO-NOT upgrade it to the latest version – leave version 1.5 activated. If you haven’t used Category-icons don’t worry about this step.
5. If you are upgrading: Delete the old OrgSeries plugin from your server and then copy over the new files (keeping the same directory structure).
6. Activate OrgSeries 2.0 beta-1
7. Go to Options->Series Options. If you are upgrading the import form should show up on that page. If so, follow the instructions for importing all your series from previous version(s) of OrgSeries.
8. Go to Options->Permalinks page. Click on the “Update Permalink Structure” button. This is an important step if you want the series table of contents to work properly.
9. That’s it! Explore and have fun (you’ll probably want to make sure all the new templates in “Series Options” are displaying things the way you want – if you were using the default css with earlier versions replace all “cat” with “series” [i.e. catlist becomes serieslist])

Support
I’ve opened a thread in the Unfolding Neurons Forums for this version of Organize Series. Please post any bugs or problems you encounter in that thread. I’m going to be pretty active in fixing bugs and/or any problems prior to the final release. When I release an updated version I will replace the download file so the link on this page (and in that thread) will always remain current.

Final words:
My goal is to have the final release of Organize Series 2.0 timed for the release of WordPress 2.5. I’m hoping by then to have all the idiosyncrasies of WP2.5 accounted for by then. I also still plan on implementing a “uninstall” option for completely clearing the WordPress db of all files related to Organize Series if a user ever decided they wish to get rid of the plugin (now who would ever want to do that?).

The Link:

Organize Series 2.0 – Beta 1