StageIt - Changelog

v5.6.3 2026-03-05

📦 New Features

• Debug Logging: New toggleable debug log for detailed diagnostic output during staging removal — writes to a separate stageit-debug.log file, controlled via a new “Debug Logging” setting in the Deployment tab
• Debug Log Viewer: Log Viewer page now has “Operations Log” and “Debug Log” tabs with clear, download, and view support for both log files
• Operations Log Level: New setting to control operations log verbosity — “All Operations” (default), “Warnings and Errors Only”, or “Off”

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Operations Log Completion Spam: Fixed “StageIt completed without any warnings or errors” being logged on every AJAX chunk instead of once at the end — completion messages now only appear when operations actually finish
• Log Filter False Positives: Fixed “Warnings and Errors Only” log level matching ERROR anywhere in log messages (e.g., filenames like error.php) instead of only matching message prefixes — now uses preg_match for prefix-only matching
• Staging Removal Crash: Fixed count(): Argument #1 must be of type Countable|array, false given error when removing staging environment. vbDb::_showTables() can return false on failure, and count(false) is a fatal error in PHP 8. Added is_array() guard in both stgAjaxRemove and stgAjaxRemoveOptimized
• System Check: File Permissions Always Failing: Fixed $prechecks['files'] threshold set to 99 instead of 1, causing the file permission check to always report an error regardless of actual permissions
• System Check: AJAX Check Always Failing: The file permissions bug cascaded into the AJAX connectivity check, making it always return an error since _prechecks() returns the last error found
• PHP Config Error Now Shows Missing Extensions: When PHP extensions are missing, the error popup now lists which specific extensions are missing (e.g., “Missing extensions: mbstring, zip”) instead of a generic message
• Improved PHP Config Error Message: Updated error text to direct licensed users to contact support at [email protected] with the specific extension information

v5.6.2 2026-02-28

📦 New Features

• Optimized Staging Removal: New stgAjaxRemoveOptimized class uses native OS commands (rd/rm -rf) for 10-100x faster staging area removal, with automatic fallback to PHP methods
• Configurable Optimization: Enable/disable optimized removal and native commands via component configuration, with configurable chunk size (10-200 files)
• Enhanced Progress Tracking: Real-time progress with detailed file counts, performance monitoring (files/sec, ETA), and method detection (Native vs PHP) in UI

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Staging Removal Fallback Crash: Fixed Call to undefined method stgAjaxRemove::removeFiles() error when the optimized removal class falls back to the original class mid-operation — added removeFiles() and removeDirectories() fallback methods to stgAjaxRemove
• Critical: Chunked Clone Position Tracking: Fixed infinite loop during database deployment caused by saving the starting position ($pos) instead of the current table index ($n) when a large table required multiple chunks
• Checkpoint Poisoning: Clear checkpoint data when a chunked table clone fails, preventing stale offsets from being applied to unrelated tables
• Missing Target Table Safety: Added safety check in _cloneTableChunked — if target table doesn't exist at a non-zero offset, reset and recreate from scratch
• Foreign Key Checks: Fixed enableKeyChecks() which was setting foreign_key_checks = 0 instead of = 1
• Deterministic Chunked Cloning: Added ORDER BY on primary key to chunked INSERT...SELECT queries, preventing duplicate key errors
• Improved Error Logging: Database errors now log the actual MySQL error message for better diagnostics

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v5.6.1 2026-02-05

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Out-of-Memory Fix: Log viewer now reads only the last 2 MB of large log files instead of loading the entire file into memory
• Truncation Warning: Displays a translated warning when the log is too large to show in full, with guidance to use the Download button

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v5.6.0 2026-02-05

🌐 Multi-Language Expansion

Added 13 additional languages for full global coverage, bringing total supported languages to 15:

• German (de-DE) - Full translation
• Spanish (es-ES) - Full translation
• French (fr-FR) - Full translation
• Italian (it-IT) - Full translation
• Portuguese Brazilian (pt-BR) - Full translation
• Russian (ru-RU) - Full translation
• Polish (pl-PL) - Full translation
• Japanese (ja-JP) - Full translation
• Chinese Simplified (zh-CN) - Full translation
• Turkish (tr-TR) - Full translation
• Greek (el-GR) - Full translation
• Czech (cs-CZ) - Full translation
• Swedish (sv-SE) - Full translation

🔌 Plugin Internationalization

• Plugin XML Fully Internationalized: Converted all hardcoded English labels and descriptions to language keys
• 35+ Translation Keys: Complete plugin settings UI now translatable including:
  • Basic settings (banner visibility, user group permissions)
  • Style settings (solid color, animated gradient options)
  • Color settings for live and staging environments
  • Gradient animation configuration
• Full Plugin Language Files: Created comprehensive translation files for all 15 languages

📦 Manifest Updates

• Component manifest updated to include all 15 language references
• Package manifest updated with all 15 package installation translations
• Plugin manifest converted to use language keys for all field labels/descriptions

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v5.5.0 2026-02-03

🌐 Multi-Language Support

• Complete i18n Implementation: All user-facing strings now use Joomla's Text::_() language system
• Dutch Translation: Full Dutch (nl-NL) translation included with ~150 translated strings
• Future-Ready: Language file structure supports easy addition of new languages
• Organized Language Keys: Strings organized by section (Welcome, Deploy, Sync, Backups, Config tabs, etc.)

📁 Language Files Added

• component/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_stageit.ini - Comprehensive English with all strings
• component/language/nl-NL/nl-NL.com_stageit.ini - Full Dutch translation
• component/language/nl-NL/nl-NL.com_stageit.sys.ini - Dutch system file
• language/nl-NL/nl-NL.plg_system_stageit.ini - Dutch plugin strings
• language/en-GB/en-GB.pkg_stageit.sys.ini - Package installation message (English)
• language/nl-NL/nl-NL.pkg_stageit.sys.ini - Package installation message (Dutch)

🔧 Template Updates

• Welcome Page: All welcome messages, feature lists, and button labels internationalized
• Backups Page: Table headers, status messages, and process descriptions translated
• Log Viewer: File info labels, buttons, and empty state messages translated
• Configuration Tabs: All tab labels, field labels, descriptions, and option values internationalized
  • Deployment tab: Speed options, acceleration, backup settings, chunk configuration
  • Environment tab: Banner options, visibility settings, style options, color labels
  • Data Tables tab: Exclusion warnings, use cases, table groups, confirmation text
  • Files/Folders tab: Sync descriptions and warning messages

📦 Manifest Updates

• Component manifest updated to include both en-GB and nl-NL language file references
• Package manifest updated with translatable installation message

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v5.4.2 2026-02-03

🎨 Dark Mode Fixes

• Backups Page Dark Mode: Fixed unreadable white-on-white text in dark mode for backup tables
• CSS Variables: Updated all hardcoded colors to use Bootstrap 5 CSS variables throughout
• Legacy Gradient Removal: Removed obsolete browser-specific gradient prefixes for cleaner CSS
• Typography Modernization: Updated to rem units and font inheritance for better scaling

🔧 Improvements

• Icon Fonts: Replaced missing image-based icons with Joomla icon fonts (icon-trash, icon-refresh)
• Asset Versioning: Added cache-busting version parameter to CSS and JS files
• Row Hover States: Added hover states to backup tables for better UX
• .notdone Class: Added styling for incomplete action indicators

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v5.4.1 2026-02-02

🔧 Improvements

• Updated Core Table Groups: Modernized the hardcoded Joomla core table list for Joomla 5 compatibility
• New Table Groups Added: Added 5 new groups for Joomla 4/5 features:
  • Joomla Workflows (workflows, workflow_associations, workflow_stages, workflow_transitions)
  • Joomla Custom Fields (fields, fields_categories, fields_groups, fields_values)
  • Joomla Privacy and Logging (action_logs, action_log_config, privacy_consents, privacy_requests)
  • Joomla Scheduler (scheduler_tasks)
  • Joomla Guided Tours (guidedtours, guidedtour_steps)
• Removed Obsolete Tables: Removed references to tables no longer in Joomla 5 (weblinks, core_log_searches, sections, legacy banner names)
• Smart Search Update: Updated finder table references to match Joomla 5 schema (single finder_links_terms instead of 0-f split)
• New Core Tables: Added mail_templates, tuf_metadata, user_mfa, webauthn_credentials, template_overrides, history, schemaorg

🎨 UI Enhancements

• Table Exclusion UI Redesign: Improved Data Tables tab with native checkboxes and Atum dark/light mode compatibility
• Group Selection Badges: Visual indicators showing count of selected tables in collapsed groups (e.g., "3 selected")
• Clear All Button: Quick reset button to uncheck all table exclusions
• Exclusion Confirmation: Confirmation checkbox with support disclaimer when excluding tables
• Consistent Styling: Fixed row heights and minimum widths for uniform appearance

v5.4.0 2026-01-01

🔍 Log Viewer

• Dedicated Log View: New admin view at View Log menu item to view, download, and clear the StageIt log file
• Dark-Themed Display: Log content displayed in a styled monospace code block with dark background
• Log Management: Clear log and download log buttons for easy log file management
• Log File Info: Shows log file path, size, and last modified date
• Centralized Log Location: Moved log file to /administrator/logs/stageit-log.txt for better organization

📊 Detailed Operation Logging

• Sync Operations: Full logging of sync process including folder mapping, file backups, and database syncing
• File-Level Visibility: Each file backup and sync operation is now logged individually
• Table Sync Logging: Database table sync operations logged with row counts and progress
• Skipped Items: Logs when tables are skipped (unchanged) or when structure-only sync is performed

🔄 Large Table Chunked Cloning

• Chunked Database Operations: Large tables (10,000+ rows) are now cloned in configurable chunks to prevent timeouts
• Configurable Thresholds: CHUNK_THRESHOLD (default 10,000 rows) and CHUNK_SIZE (default 5,000 rows) constants
• Progress Tracking: Chunked operations report progress percentage during sync
• Table Info Methods: New _getTableRowCount() and _getTableInfo() methods for table size detection

💾 Checkpoint System for Resume Capability

• Operation Checkpoints: Long-running operations save checkpoints to allow resume after timeout or crash
• Automatic Resume: If a sync operation was interrupted, it automatically resumes from the last checkpoint
• 1-Hour Expiry: Checkpoints expire after 1 hour to prevent stale resume attempts
• Checkpoint Logging: All checkpoint save/load operations are logged for transparency

🛠️ Technical Improvements

• Controller Actions: New clearLog() and downloadLog() controller methods
• View Registration: Log view properly registered in controller display switch
• Menu Integration: "VIEW LOG" added to admin submenu

v5.3.3 2025-11-19

🚀 New Features

• Frontend Banner Support: Added option to display the StageIt banner on the frontend site
• User Group Visibility Controls: Select specific user groups that can see the banner (backend and frontend separately)
• Joomla 5 User Group Selection: Uses native usergrouplist field type for multi-select user group checkboxes

🔧 Component Integration

• Environment Tab Updates: Added frontend banner toggle and user group visibility settings to component configuration
• Unified Settings: Plugin settings now fully manageable from StageIt component's Environment tab
• Immediate Effect: Settings saved from component now take effect immediately without requiring plugin page visit

📦 Build System Fixes

• Package Structure Fix: Fixed build script to create proper admin/ folder structure in component ZIP
• Build Script Modernization: Batch file now calls PowerShell script for reliable package creation
• XML Encoding Fix: Resolved character encoding issues in plugin manifest

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fresh Parameter Loading: Plugin now reads parameters directly from database to ensure latest settings are used
• Form Compatibility: Fixed parameter loading to preserve Joomla's form system compatibility
• Dark Mode Styling: User group checkboxes now properly styled for dark mode using CSS variables

v5.3.2 2025-11-18

🎨 Banner UX Improvements

• Non-Sticky Top Banner: Banner now scrolls naturally with page content instead of staying fixed at top
• Dual Banner System: Top banner scrolls away, bottom banner appears when top is out of view
• IntersectionObserver: Uses modern browser API for efficient scroll detection
• Smooth Transitions: Clean appearance/disappearance of bottom banner
• Respects Settings: "Banner Reappears at Bottom" setting now properly controls whether bottom banner appears

🔧 Technical Changes

• CSS Restructure: Changed from single fixed banner to dual banner approach (top relative, bottom fixed)
• Inline JavaScript: Banner scroll behavior now embedded in plugin for frontend compatibility
• Body Padding: Removed top padding, added bottom padding only when bottom banner visible
• Updated Selectors: All CSS selectors updated for new dual banner IDs

v5.3.1 2025-11-17

🔍 Error Display Improvements

• Full Stack Traces: Errors now display complete stack traces in Joomla's message container at the top of the page instead of truncated popups
• Formatted Error Display: Monospace font with preserved line breaks for better error readability
• Comprehensive Error Information: Shows full error context with file paths and line numbers in the message area
• Better HTML Error Parsing: Improved extraction of meaningful errors from Joomla's HTML error pages
• No More Popups: Replaced JavaScript alert() popups with Bootstrap alert messages in the system message container

📝 Logging System Enhancements

• Multi-Location Logging: Errors now written to multiple fallback locations for reliability
• Persistent Error Logs: All errors logged to administrator/logs/com_stageit.log.php
• Fallback Logging: Additional fallback to root directory if admin logs folder unavailable
• Stack Trace Logging: Complete stack traces saved to log files for debugging
• Timestamped Entries: Each log entry includes precise timestamp for issue tracking

🛡️ Exception Handling

• Try-Catch Wrappers: All AJAX controller methods now wrapped in exception handlers
• Graceful Error Recovery: Errors caught and displayed cleanly instead of generic 500 pages
• Debug Information: Console logging for detailed debugging when errors occur
• Network Error Detection: Distinguishes between network errors, 404s, and server errors

🐛 Critical Bug Fixes

• Fixed Typo in Stack Trace Generation: Corrected $function['function'] to $frame['function'] on line 99 that was preventing error logging
• Removed Invalid JSON Checks: Eliminated problematic json.length < 1 check that was causing unnecessary alert() popups
• Error Callback Improvements: Enhanced AJAX error handler to extract meaningful messages from HTML responses
• Replaced alert() with Joomla Messages: All error notifications now use Joomla's standard Bootstrap alert system in the #system-message-container

v5.3.0 2025-11-11

🎨 Plugin UI Enhancements

• Button Icon Improvements: Replaced Font Awesome dependency with Unicode emoji icons (🔄, 🏠)
• Self-Contained Design: Plugin now completely independent with no external dependencies
• Consistent Appearance: Buttons display identically across all browsers and platforms
• CSS Cleanup: Removed all Font Awesome CSS and font file references

📦 Build Process Improvements

• Automated Package Builder: New build-package.bat script with intelligent MSBUILD detection
• Binary Corruption Prevention: Ensures proper binary file handling during ZIP creation
• Timestamped Packages: Automatic package naming with version and timestamp
• Build Verification: Post-build validation to confirm package integrity

🔧 Package Structure Cleanup

• Removed Development Files: Excluded .git, .claude, and other non-essential development files
• Optimized Package Size: Removed unnecessary fonts and external dependencies
• Clean Distribution: Only production files included in release packages

v5.2.0 2025-10-25

🚀 Major Plugin Redesign

• Ultra-Simple Architecture: Completely rewrote plugin from 245 lines to 139 lines with modular structure
• Smart Staging Detection: Intelligent detection with conditional switch button only when staging directory exists
• Clean Fallback Display: Shows simple "LIVE SITE" text when no staging available (no unnecessary buttons)
• Enhanced Button Logic: "Switch to Live" always available on staging, "Switch to Staging" only when staging exists

🎨 Full Style Settings Integration

• Complete Color Support: All plugin style settings now functional (gradient/solid, text colors, button colors)
• Animated Gradients: Restored gradient animations with customizable duration from plugin settings
• Visibility Controls: Proper permission checking (All users/Managers/Super Users) working correctly
• Forced Mode Support: Manual staging/live override option fully integrated

🎨 Button Styling Enhancements

• StageIt Button Targeting: Fixed button readability with proper #0b5ed7 color for StageIt-specific buttons only
• Hover States: Added consistent #59a645 hover color for both light and dark modes on StageIt buttons
• Sync Button Fix: Ensured "Sync with Live" button is fully visible and readable in all themes
• Scoped CSS: Applied styling only to StageIt component buttons, preserving Joomla core UI elements

🐛 Complete Installation Error Resolution

• "File does not exist com_stageit": Added missing entry point file to site files section
• "Source folder not found": Removed obsolete media folder references from component manifest
• Entry Point Declaration: Properly declared com_stageit file in manifest <files> section
• Clean Package Structure: Eliminated all manifest inconsistencies and validation warnings
• Zero Installation Errors: Achieved completely clean installation process for professional deployment

📦 CSS Architecture Modernization

• Proper Joomla 5 Structure: Moved CSS from deprecated media/ folder to component resources/css/
• Legacy File Cleanup: Removed duplicate and obsolete CSS files from old media structure
• Build Script Enhancement: Updated package builder to handle proper file structure and cleanup
• Installation Script: Enhanced with cleanupOldFiles() method for seamless upgrades from older versions

📦 Package Quality Improvements

• XML Validation: Added automatic XML validation to build process to prevent installation errors
• Clean Plugin Packaging: Fixed plugin ZIP creation to include only essential files (no backup/dev files)
• Standalone Testing: Created standalone plugin packages for independent testing before full integration
• Professional Structure: Maintained all existing functionality while dramatically simplifying codebase

🔧 Development Tools Enhanced

• Build Script Validation: Enhanced build process with XML syntax checking and file filtering
• Testing Workflow: Improved development workflow with standalone plugin testing capability
• Error Prevention: Proactive validation prevents "Can't find Joomla XML setup file" errors
• Comprehensive Documentation: Updated JOOMLA5-CHECKLIST.md with all lessons learned from real-world deployment

v5.1.4 2025-10-25

🔧 Installation & Packaging Fixes

• Package Structure: Fixed component manifest naming (stageit.xml → com_stageit.xml) and proper folder hierarchy
• ZIP Compatibility: Implemented forward slash paths in ZIP files to prevent installation errors
• Schema Updates: Updated manifests from version 3.0 to 5.0 for full Joomla 5 compatibility
• Media Path Fix: Corrected media folder references in component manifest (media → admin/media)
• Component Entry Point: Added required com_stageit.php site file for proper component structure
• jQuery UI Repair: Replaced corrupted jQuery UI library with clean version from CDN
• Warning-Free Installation: Eliminated all installation warnings for professional client deployment

🎯 System Dashboard Compatibility

• Smart Page Filtering: Plugin now uses whitelist approach to prevent interference with system pages
• Dashboard Protection: Completely excludes system dashboard, check-in, and configuration pages from banner injection
• AJAX Safety: Blocks all AJAX/API requests to prevent system check interference
• Global Check-in Fix: Resolved issues with Joomla's global check-in functionality

📋 Modern System Requirements

• PHP 8.1+ Support: Updated minimum PHP requirement from 5.3.10 to 8.1.0 (Joomla 5 standard)
• Memory Optimization: Increased memory requirement from 128MB to 256MB for modern operations
• Timeout Updates: Extended execution timeout from 30s to 60s for reliable deployments
• Extension Validation: Replaced obsolete safe_mode checks with essential PHP extension validation
• Memory Detection: Improved memory limit detection including unlimited memory support

🔧 Development Tools

• Pre-build Validation: Added comprehensive package validation script (validate-package.ps1)
• Component Templates: Created Joomla 5 component template generator (create-template.ps1)
• Best Practices Guide: Added comprehensive development checklist (JOOMLA5-CHECKLIST.md)
• Build Integration: Enhanced build script with automatic validation and forward-slash ZIP creation

🔧 Joomla 5 Compatibility Enhancements

• Database Layer: Fixed deprecated Quote() → quote() and query() → execute() methods for full J5 compatibility
• View Classes: Removed legacy jimport statements and JViewLegacy compatibility layers
• Class Naming: Updated to PSR standards (StageItViewdefault → StageItViewDefault)
• Asset Management: Implemented modern Web Asset Manager for improved performance
• Error Handling: Added structured exception handling and modern Joomla logging system
• Log Path Fix: Corrected staging log path to use stageit/administrator/logs instead of administrator/stageit/logs

🔧 Code Quality Improvements

• Modern PHP: Updated error handling with proper Exception classes
• Logging System: Replaced custom vbLog with native Joomla\CMS\Log\Log
• Input Handling: Modernized using Factory::getApplication()->input
• Copyright: Updated copyright notices to 2025

🎨 CSS Optimization

• File Size Reduction: Removed ~293 lines of unused CSS (20% reduction)
• Legacy Cleanup: Removed obsolete Joomla 2.5/3 styles and unused components
• Performance: Eliminated unused search, pagination, gallery, and Sales Pro CSS
• Maintainability: Cleaner stylesheet with only essential styles retained

🔧 Developer Experience

• Future-Ready: Fully compatible with Joomla 5.x architecture
• Standards Compliant: Follows modern Joomla coding standards
• Error Recovery: Enhanced debugging and error reporting capabilities

v5.1.3 2025-10-24

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Admin URL Correction: STAGING at /stageit/administrator, LIVE at /administrator.
• System Dashboard Fix: Fixed red-X issue by guarding for HTML-only responses in onBeforeCompileHead/onAfterRender.
• Safe Injection: Removed unsafe injection fallback for non-HTML (no-<body>) responses.
• Switch Button Targets: Updated staging → /administrator/, live → /stageit/administrator/.

🔧 Improvements

• XML Standardization: Unified all XML manifests with consistent version numbering, creation dates, and copyright notices
• Initial Git Repository: Established version control with GitHub integration for professional development workflow

v5.1.2 2025-10-23

🔧 Improvements

• Update Sites hardening: Only the package declares the update server (URL unchanged: https://www.php-web-design.com/updates/check.php?ext=stageit5). Component/plugin manifests no longer register update sites.
• Self-healing installer: Package postflight collapses duplicate update-site rows, removes legacy stageitpro, and ensures only the package is mapped to the update site.
• Cosmetic: Update server named "StageIt Update Server", enabled by default.

v5.1.1 2025-10-22

🔧 Improvements

• Update Sites cleanup: Package now installs with a single update server (package-level) and removes stageitpro legacy endpoint. Component/plugin manifests no longer register update sites. Postflight script de-duplicates mappings so only the package is linked to ext=stageit5.

v5.1.0 2025-10-22

🔧 System Plugin

• Joomla 5 / PHP 8-safe rewrite using a proper CMSPlugin class and SubscriberInterface.
• Safe string concatenation; removed typed property conflicts.
• Strict /stageit detection by root name or URL path; logs detection reason to /administrator/logs/stageit.log.php (root-name-stageit, url-path-stageit, default-live).
• Automatic Live ↔ Staging switch buttons with safety checks.

🎨 Style & Theming

• New Style tab with:
  • Style Mode (default gradient).
  • Gradient Cycle default 5s (min 5, max 120).
  • Live (solid) #59a645; Live gradient #59a645 → #356732; Live text #ffffff.
  • Staging (solid) #f79034; Staging gradient #f79034 → #c05627; Staging text #ffffff.
  • Button Link Color (default #ffffff) applied to "Go to Live / Staging" links.
• Dark-mode hardened for Atum/Bootstrap tokens, with fallbacks to handle caching/overrides.

🎨 Admin UI

• Converted legacy .button markup to Bootstrap .btn variants; tables use .table.table-striped.align-middle.
• Removed prior admin helpers (seconds suffix, input-width caps, preview swatch).

📦 Packaging & Installer

• Installer uses inner plugin package and now reflects the correct defaults and runtime logic on fresh installs.
• Unified manifests (schema 4.0) and metadata; consolidated changelog.

🐛 Reliability

• Fixes for parse errors (method placement, $autoloadLanguage), CSS cache-busting (?v= on stylesheet), and consistent asset loading.

v5.0.12 2025-10-19

🎨 UI Improvements

• Bootstrap Markup: Replaced custom classes with Bootstrap counterparts in admin templates.
  • .button → btn variants (remove → btn-outline-danger; login/rebuild → btn-primary; otherwise → btn-secondary).
  • Tables with .stg_table/.grouptable now include table table-striped align-middle.
  • Inputs/Textareas now use form-control; select uses form-select.
• Theme: Continues to use token-based CSS so Atum Dark/Light toggles automatically.

v5.0.11 2025-10-19

🎨 Theme & Styling

• Bootstrap 5 Tokens: Switched to Joomla 5 / Bootstrap 5 tokens in media/com_stageit/css/admin.css (variables-only, theme-aware).
• Scoped Styles: Removed body-class injection; StageIt styles are scoped to #stageit and derive from Atum tokens, so Dark/Light toggles automatically.
• Dark Mode: Preserved requested dark background #171c24 for #stageit in dark mode only.
• WebAsset Loading: Loaded CSS via WebAsset on admin option=com_stageit; manifests bumped to 5.0.11.

v5.0.10 2025-10-19

🐛 Bug Fixes

• PHP Parse Error Fix: Rewrote the system plugin with a safe NOWDOC-based inline JS for adding the com_stageit body class (eliminates the PHP parse error around catch).
• Theme Loading: Continues loading media/com_stageit/css/admin.css via WebAsset (onBeforeCompileHead).

v5.0.9 2025-10-19

🎨 Theme & Styling

• Static CSS Asset: Move Dark/Light CSS to a static asset media/com_stageit/css/admin.css and load via WebAsset on admin StageIt pages.
• Body Class Fix: Ensure <body> has the com_stageit class so selectors body.admin.com_stageit always match.
• Manifest Update: Manifest now installs the media/com_stageit/css/admin.css file.

v5.0.8 2025-10-19

🎨 Dark Mode

• Dark Background: Set #stageit background to #171c24 in dark mode (per request). Implemented as an inline CSS override so it takes precedence over earlier rules.

v5.0.7 2025-10-19

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fatal Error Fix: Removed the bool type from $autoloadLanguage in the system plugin to avoid inheritance conflict with CMSPlugin (which declares it untyped). This resolves the install-time fatal error.

v5.0.6 2025-10-19

🎨 Theme & Styling

• Dark/Light Mode: Adopted the proven selectors & values; CSS is injected inline at onBeforeCompileHead so no media/ file is required.
• Body Class: Ensures <body> has the com_stageit class on admin StageIt pages so body.admin.com_stageit selectors always match.
• Schema Update: All manifests set to schema 4.0; version bumped to 5.0.6.

v5.0.1 (historic)

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Parse Error Fix: Resolved parse error by converting the system plugin to a proper Joomla 5 class and defining getSubscribedEvents() inside the class.

🔧 Improvements

• Language Autoload: Enabled $autoloadLanguage = true and moved manifests to schema 4.0.

v5.0.0

🚀 New Features

• Joomla 5 Native: Joomla 5 native baseline (no legacy plugin required).
• Dark/Light Mode: Full Dark/Light mode compatibility in the admin (scoped to body.admin.com_stageit).
• Backups View: Implemented dark-mode "odd row" styling while preserving header look.

📦 Packaging

• Initial Structure: Initial J5 manifests and structure; media assets under media/com_stageit with correct references.

StageIt - Changelog

v6.2.9 2026-03-05

📦 New Features

• Debug Logging: New toggleable debug log for detailed diagnostic output during staging removal — writes to a separate stageit-debug.log file, controlled via a new “Debug Logging” setting in the Deployment tab
• Debug Log Viewer: Log Viewer page now has “Operations Log” and “Debug Log” tabs with clear, download, and view support for both log files
• Operations Log Level: New setting to control operations log verbosity — “All Operations” (default), “Warnings and Errors Only”, or “Off”

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Operations Log Completion Spam: Fixed “StageIt completed without any warnings or errors” being logged on every AJAX chunk instead of once at the end — completion messages now only appear when operations actually finish
• Log Filter False Positives: Fixed “Warnings and Errors Only” log level matching ERROR anywhere in log messages (e.g., filenames like error.php) instead of only matching message prefixes — now uses preg_match for prefix-only matching
• Staging Removal Crash: Fixed count(): Argument #1 must be of type Countable|array, false given error when removing staging environment. vbDb::_showTables() can return false on failure, and count(false) is a fatal error in PHP 8. Added is_array() guard in both stgAjaxRemove and stgAjaxRemoveOptimized
• System Check: File Permissions Always Failing: Fixed $prechecks['files'] threshold set to 99 instead of 1, causing the file permission check to always report an error regardless of actual permissions
• System Check: AJAX Check Always Failing: The file permissions bug cascaded into the AJAX connectivity check, making it always return an error since _prechecks() returns the last error found
• PHP Config Error Now Shows Missing Extensions: When PHP extensions are missing, the error popup now lists which specific extensions are missing (e.g., “Missing extensions: mbstring, zip”) instead of a generic message
• Improved PHP Config Error Message: Updated error text to direct licensed users to contact support at [email protected] with the specific extension information
• Fatal Parse Error in vbLog: Fixed missing closing brace in _error() method that caused unexpected token "private" fatal error on every page load

v6.2.8 2026-02-28

📦 New Features

• Optimized Staging Removal: New stgAjaxRemoveOptimized class uses native OS commands (rd/rm -rf) for 10-100x faster staging area removal, with automatic fallback to PHP methods
• Configurable Optimization: Enable/disable optimized removal and native commands via component configuration, with configurable chunk size (10-200 files)
• Enhanced Progress Tracking: Real-time progress with detailed file counts, performance monitoring (files/sec, ETA), and method detection (Native vs PHP) in UI

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Staging Removal Fallback Crash: Fixed Call to undefined method stgAjaxRemove::removeFiles() error when the optimized removal class falls back to the original class mid-operation — added removeFiles() and removeDirectories() fallback methods to stgAjaxRemove
• Critical: Chunked Clone Position Tracking: Fixed infinite loop during database deployment caused by saving the starting position ($pos) instead of the current table index ($n) when a large table required multiple chunks
• Checkpoint Poisoning: Clear checkpoint data when a chunked table clone fails, preventing stale offsets from being applied to unrelated tables
• Missing Target Table Safety: Added safety check in _cloneTableChunked — if target table doesn't exist at a non-zero offset, reset and recreate from scratch
• Deterministic Chunked Cloning: Added ORDER BY on primary key to chunked INSERT...SELECT queries, preventing duplicate key errors
• Improved Error Logging: Database errors now log the actual MySQL error message for better diagnostics

---

🐛 Version 6.2.7 (2026-02-05)

Log Viewer Memory Fix

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Out-of-Memory Fix: Log viewer now reads only the last 2 MB of large log files instead of loading the entire file into memory
• Truncation Warning: Displays a translated warning when the log is too large to show in full, with guidance to use the Download button

---

🌐 Version 6.2.6 (2026-02-05)

Comprehensive Multi-Lingual Support & Foreign Key Fix

🌐 Multi-Lingual Support

• Complete Component Internationalization: All template strings now use Text::_() for full translation support
• Plugin Multi-Lingual: System plugin now fully translated with 48 language keys per language
• Translated Installation Welcome: Post-installation message with "Go to Control Panel" link now displayed in user's language
• 15 Languages Supported:
  • English (en-GB) - Base language
  • Dutch (nl-NL)
  • German (de-DE)
  • Spanish (es-ES)
  • French (fr-FR)
  • Italian (it-IT)
  • Portuguese Brazilian (pt-BR)
  • Russian (ru-RU)
  • Polish (pl-PL)
  • Japanese (ja-JP)
  • Chinese Simplified (zh-CN)
  • Turkish (tr-TR)
  • Greek (el-GR)
  • Czech (cs-CZ)
  • Swedish (sv-SE)
• Language File Structure: Each language includes both main (.ini) and system (.sys.ini) translation files

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Foreign Key Constraint Error: Fixed "Cannot delete or update a parent row: a foreign key constraint fails" error when removing staging environment
• Table Drop Order: Now disables foreign key checks before dropping staging tables, then re-enables afterward

🔧 Technical Improvements

• vbDb Key Check Methods: Made _disableKeyChecks() and _enableKeyChecks() public for use in staging removal
• Enable Key Checks Bug: Fixed bug where enableKeyChecks() was setting foreign_key_checks = 0 instead of 1

---

🧹 Version 6.2.5 (2026-02-03)

CSS Cleanup & Duplicate Rule Removal

🧹 CSS Consolidation

• Duplicate Rule Removal: Removed duplicate #stageit, #stageit h1, and #stageit p, #stageit li rules that were overriding dark mode styling
• Consolidated Typography: Single authoritative rules for h1, h4, li elements with proper CSS variable support
• Removed "NEW CHANGES" Section: Cleaned up temporary CSS section that duplicated existing rules

🔧 Styling Improvements

• Font Inheritance: Updated typography to use font-family: inherit for consistency with Atum template
• Rem Units: Scalable typography using rem units (1.5rem for h1, 1rem for h4, 0.875rem for li)
• Color Variables: Ensured all text elements use var(--bs-body-color) and var(--bs-secondary-color) for dark mode

📦 Cache Busting

• Asset Version Updated: CSS/JS version parameter updated to 6.2.5 for browser cache refresh

---

🎨 Version 6.2.4 (2026-02-03)

Comprehensive Dark Mode Support

🎨 Dark Mode Fixes

• Main Container: Updated #stageit, #stg_main, #stg_header to use CSS variables for backgrounds
• Sidebar Navigation: Updated submenu styling with CSS variables for dark mode compatibility
• Tab Panels: jQuery UI tabs now use CSS variables for backgrounds and borders
• Form Fields: All input, select, textarea elements use CSS variables for colors and borders
• Environment Tab: Config page plugin settings now dark mode compatible
• Process Steps: Action progress steps and progress bar updated for dark mode
• Popups: Popup dialogs and overlay styling fixed for dark mode

🔧 UI Improvements

• Buttons: Updated button styling with proper border-radius and CSS variable colors
• Progress Bar: Simplified progress bar styling using Bootstrap success color
• Not Done Indicator: Added CSS-only circle indicator for pending steps (no image required)
• Form Focus States: Modern focus ring using Bootstrap primary color

📦 Removed Legacy Code

• Removed obsolete IE6-9 gradient filters
• Simplified form input styling by removing complex gradients
• Cleaned up vendor prefixes for modern browser support

---

🐛 Version 6.2.3 (2026-02-03)

Data Tables Save Validation Fix

🐛 Bug Fix

• Table Exclusion Confirmation Required: Fixed missing save validation that allowed saving excluded tables without checking the confirmation checkbox
• Alert on Save: Users now see an alert message if they try to save while tables are excluded but the confirmation box is unchecked
• Auto-Navigate to Confirmation: On validation failure, automatically switches to Data Tables tab and scrolls to confirmation checkbox

---

🎨 Version 6.2.2 (2026-02-03)

Backups Page Dark Mode & UI Consistency

🎨 Dark Mode Fixes

• Backups Table Styling: Fixed unreadable white-on-white text in dark mode for backup tables
• CSS Variables: Updated all table styling to use Bootstrap 5 CSS variables (--bs-body-bg, --bs-body-color, --bs-border-color, --bs-tertiary-bg)
• Row Hover States: Added hover effect on table rows using --bs-secondary-bg
• Both Themes Supported: Explicit light mode and dark mode selectors for Atum compatibility

🔧 Icon System Update

• Joomla Icon Fonts: Replaced missing image-based icons with Joomla's built-in icon fonts
• Delete Icon: Now uses icon-trash class (red #dc3545)
• Restore Icon: Now uses icon-refresh class (green #198754)
• Dark Mode Compatible: Icon colors work in both light and dark themes

🎨 Typography Modernization

• CSS Variables for Colors: All text now uses var(--bs-body-color) for automatic dark/light mode support
• Rem Units: Replaced hardcoded pixel fonts with scalable rem units (0.875rem for body text, 1.25rem for h2, 1.5rem for h1)
• Font Inheritance: Typography now inherits from Atum template (font-family: inherit)

📦 Cache Busting

• Asset Versioning: Added version parameter to CSS and JS includes (?v=6.2.2)
• Prevents Stale Cache: Browser fetches fresh assets after updates

---

🔧 Version 6.2.1 (2026-02-02)

Joomla 6 Table Groups & UI Update

🔧 Improvements

• Updated Core Table Groups: Modernized the hardcoded Joomla core table list for Joomla 5/6 compatibility
• New Table Groups Added: Added 5 new groups for Joomla 5/6 features:
  • Joomla Workflows (workflows, workflow_associations, workflow_stages, workflow_transitions)
  • Joomla Custom Fields (fields, fields_categories, fields_groups, fields_values)
  • Joomla Privacy and Logging (action_logs, action_log_config, privacy_consents, privacy_requests)
  • Joomla Scheduler (scheduler_tasks)
  • Joomla Guided Tours (guidedtours, guidedtour_steps)
• Removed Obsolete Tables: Removed references to tables no longer in Joomla 5/6 (weblinks, core_log_searches, sections, legacy banner names)
• Smart Search Update: Updated finder table references to match Joomla 5/6 schema (single finder_links_terms instead of 0-f split)
• New Core Tables: Added mail_templates, tuf_metadata, user_mfa, webauthn_credentials, template_overrides, history, schemaorg

🎨 UI Enhancements

• Table Exclusion UI Redesign: Improved Data Tables tab with native checkboxes and Atum dark/light mode compatibility
• Group Selection Badges: Visual indicators showing count of selected tables in collapsed groups (e.g., “3 selected”)
• Clear All Button: Quick reset button to uncheck all table exclusions
• Exclusion Confirmation: Confirmation checkbox with support disclaimer when excluding tables
• Consistent Styling: Fixed row heights and minimum widths for uniform appearance

---

🔍 Version 6.2.0 (2026-01-01)

Log Viewer & Large Table Support Release

🔍 Log Viewer

• Dedicated Log View: New admin view at View Log menu item to view, download, and clear the StageIt log file
• Dark-Themed Display: Log content displayed in a styled monospace code block with dark background
• Log Management: Clear log and download log buttons for easy log file management
• Log File Info: Shows log file path, size, and last modified date
• Centralized Log Location: Moved log file to /administrator/logs/stageit-log.txt for better organization

📊 Detailed Operation Logging

• Sync Operations: Full logging of sync process including folder mapping, file backups, and database syncing
• File-Level Visibility: Each file backup and sync operation is now logged individually
• Table Sync Logging: Database table sync operations logged with row counts and progress
• Skipped Items: Logs when tables are skipped (unchanged) or when structure-only sync is performed

🔄 Large Table Chunked Cloning

• Chunked Database Operations: Large tables (10,000+ rows) are now cloned in configurable chunks to prevent timeouts
• Configurable Thresholds: CHUNK_THRESHOLD (default 10,000 rows) and CHUNK_SIZE (default 5,000 rows) constants
• Progress Tracking: Chunked operations report progress percentage during sync
• Table Info Methods: New _getTableRowCount() and _getTableInfo() methods for table size detection

💾 Checkpoint System for Resume Capability

• Operation Checkpoints: Long-running operations save checkpoints to allow resume after timeout or crash
• Automatic Resume: If a sync operation was interrupted, it automatically resumes from the last checkpoint
• 1-Hour Expiry: Checkpoints expire after 1 hour to prevent stale resume attempts
• Checkpoint Logging: All checkpoint save/load operations are logged for transparency

🛠️ Technical Improvements

• Controller Actions: New clearLog() and downloadLog() controller methods
• View Registration: Log view properly registered in controller display switch
• Menu Integration: "VIEW LOG" added to admin submenu

---

🚀 Version 6.1.0 (2025-11-19)

🔧 StageIt-5 Merge & Staging DB Helpers

🚀 New & Improved

• Staging Database Helpers: Added controller endpoints to test DB connections and create staging DB/users with clear fallback guidance.
• Plugin Settings Persistence: Component now saves plugin params directly and clears plugin/system caches so banner settings take effect immediately.
• Error Logging Reliability: Extended vbJson to write full stack traces to multiple log locations (prefers administrator/logs/com_stageit.log.php with fallbacks).
• Component UI for Plugin Settings: Environment tab renders plugin banner options (backend/frontend visibility, colors, gradients, reappear toggle) with live user group lists and modern styling.
• AJAX Error UX: StageIt JS now surfaces errors via Joomla messages, truncates oversized responses, and logs full details to console for debugging.
• Parity with StageIt 5.3.3: Ported the 5.3.3 frontend banner & visibility release (frontend banner toggle, backend/frontend user group controls, immediate param loading, build/encoding fixes).

🔧 Packaging & Compatibility

• Joomla 6 Packaging: Build scripts and manifests aligned to Joomla 6 naming/output; package, component, and plugin versions bumped to 6.1.0.
• Manifest Updates: Plugin manifest on Joomla 6 schema with updated version and description.

---

🎨 Version 6.0.3 (2025-11-19)

🎨 Frontend Banner & Visibility Controls Release

🚀 New Features

• Frontend Banner Support: Added option to display the StageIt banner on the frontend site
• User Group Visibility Controls: Select specific user groups that can see the banner (backend and frontend separately)
• Joomla 6 User Group Selection: Uses native usergrouplist field type for multi-select user group checkboxes

🔧 Component Integration

• Environment Tab Updates: Added frontend banner toggle and user group visibility settings to component configuration
• Unified Settings: Plugin settings now fully manageable from StageIt component's Environment tab
• Immediate Effect: Settings saved from component now take effect immediately without requiring plugin page visit

📦 Build System Fixes

• Package Structure Fix: Fixed build script to create proper admin/ folder structure in component ZIP
• Build Script Modernization: Batch file now calls PowerShell script for reliable package creation
• XML Encoding Fix: Resolved character encoding issues in plugin manifest

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fresh Parameter Loading: Plugin now reads parameters directly from database to ensure latest settings are used
• Form Compatibility: Fixed parameter loading to preserve Joomla's form system compatibility
• Dark Mode Styling: User group checkboxes now properly styled for dark mode using CSS variables

---

🛠️ Version 6.0.2 (2025-11-18)

Banner Scroll Behavior Enhancement Release

🎨 Banner UX Improvements

• Non-Sticky Top Banner: Banner now scrolls naturally with page content instead of staying fixed at top
• Dual Banner System: Top banner scrolls away, bottom banner appears when top is out of view
• IntersectionObserver: Uses modern browser API for efficient scroll detection
• Smooth Transitions: Clean appearance/disappearance of bottom banner
• Respects Settings: "Banner Reappears at Bottom" setting now properly controls whether bottom banner appears

🔧 Technical Changes

• CSS Restructure: Changed from single fixed banner to dual banner approach (top relative, bottom fixed)
• Inline JavaScript: Banner scroll behavior now embedded in plugin for frontend compatibility
• Body Padding: Removed top padding, added bottom padding only when bottom banner visible
• Updated Selectors: All CSS selectors updated for new dual banner IDs

---

🛡️ Version 6.0.1 (2025-11-12)

Installation Safety & Update Server Cleanup Release

🛡️ Version Compatibility Enforcement

• Joomla Version Checking: Added preflight() installer method to prevent installation on incompatible Joomla versions
• Strict Version Requirements: StageIt 6 now enforces Joomla 6.0.0 - 6.999.999 only (blocks J3, J4, and J5)
• Clear Error Messages: Users attempting to install on wrong Joomla version get helpful guidance:
  • Joomla 3.x users directed to StageIt 3
  • Joomla 4.x users directed to StageIt 4
  • Joomla 5.x users directed to StageIt 5
• Installation Prevention: Returns false from preflight to completely block incompatible installations

🧹 Update Server Cleanup

• Single Update Site Policy: Removed <updateservers> section from component manifest (only package declares update server)
• Automatic Cleanup: Installer now removes legacy component-level update sites from older StageIt versions
• Orphaned Site Removal: Smart cleanup removes update sites that are no longer linked to any extension
• Duplicate Prevention: Prevents Joomla from creating multiple update site entries for the same extension
• Legacy URL Cleanup: Continues to remove old stageitpro update URLs from previous versions

📝 Developer Documentation

• Update Server Reminders: Added XML comments to component and plugin manifests reminding developers that only pkg_stageit.xml should declare update servers
• Version Enforcement Documentation: Added comments clarifying that preflight checks enforce Joomla version requirements

🔧 Technical Improvements

• Database Integrity: Enhanced update site cleanup checks reference counts before deleting to avoid breaking other extensions
• Error Handling: All database operations wrapped in try-catch blocks for graceful failure handling
• Component Detection: Improved logic to find and clean up component-specific update site mappings

---

🚀 Version 6.0.0 (2025-11-11)

Joomla 6 Compatibility Release

🚀 Joomla 6 Native Support

• Updated Manifests: All XML manifests updated to Joomla 6.0 specification
• PHP 8.3.0+ Requirement: Minimum PHP version updated to 8.3.0 for Joomla 6 compatibility
• Version Alignment: Extension version updated to 6.0.0 to align with Joomla 6
• Update Server: Modified update server URLs to support Joomla 6 releases
• Build Scripts: Updated build and packaging scripts for Joomla 6 deployment

📦 Native Library Migration & Code Modernization

• REMOVED PCLZip: Replaced deprecated PCLZip 2.8.2 with Joomla's native Joomla\Archive\Archive class
• PHP 8.3 Compatibility: Eliminated all deprecated PHP functions and legacy code
• Modern Archive Handling: Now uses Joomla's native archive system for zip operations
• Enhanced Error Handling: Archive errors now use Joomla's native message system
• Streamlined Codebase: Removed legacy code dependencies

🎨 System Plugin Banner Enhancements

• Simplified Banner Control: Streamlined to simple Yes/No toggle (removed confusing Auto-Detect option)
• Toggle Switch UI: Replaced × close button with elegant toggle switch for hiding banner
• One-Click Hide: Added toggle switch with hover tooltip ("Click to turn off banner")
• Auto-Enable on Install: Plugin now automatically enabled during package installation
• Fixed URL Detection: Corrected staging detection logic to properly identify /stageit/ URLs
• Live/Staging Detection: Banner correctly shows "LIVE SITE" or "STAGING SITE" based on URL path

✨ User Interface Improvements

• Action Button Icons: Added meaningful emoji icons to all action buttons:
  • Begin (launching new staging environment)
  • Rebuild Staging (refresh/rebuild)
  • Remove Staging (deletion)
  • Sync with Live (fast synchronization)
  • Log in (access buttons)
• Improved Button Sizing: Widened "Sync with Live" button to 300px to prevent text wrapping
• Visual Clarity: Icons provide instant recognition of button actions

🔧 Technical Improvements

• Extension Schema: Updated extension version attributes from 5.0 to 6.0
• Target Platform: Updated target platform from "joomla 5.*" to "joomla 6.*"
• Package Names: Build output generates packages with "Joomla_6_v6.0.0" naming convention
• Installation Script: Enhanced postflight script to auto-enable plugin and cleanup old files

---

🔧 Version 5.2.0 (2025-10-25)

Ultra-Simple Plugin Architecture & Complete Installation Fixes Release

🚀 Major Plugin Redesign

• Ultra-Simple Architecture: Completely rewrote plugin from 245 lines to 139 lines with modular structure
• Smart Staging Detection: Intelligent detection with conditional switch button only when staging directory exists
• Clean Fallback Display: Shows simple "LIVE SITE" text when no staging available (no unnecessary buttons)
• Enhanced Button Logic: "Switch to Live" always available on staging, "Switch to Staging" only when staging exists

🎨 Full Style Settings Integration

• Complete Color Support: All plugin style settings now functional (gradient/solid, text colors, button colors)
• Animated Gradients: Restored gradient animations with customizable duration from plugin settings
• Visibility Controls: Proper permission checking (All users/Managers/Super Users) working correctly
• Forced Mode Support: Manual staging/live override option fully integrated

🎨 Button Styling Enhancements

• StageIt Button Targeting: Fixed button readability with proper #0b5ed7 color for StageIt-specific buttons only
• Hover States: Added consistent #59a645 hover color for both light and dark modes on StageIt buttons
• Sync Button Fix: Ensured "Sync with Live" button is fully visible and readable in all themes
• Scoped CSS: Applied styling only to StageIt component buttons, preserving Joomla core UI elements

🐛 Complete Installation Error Resolution

• "File does not exist com_stageit": Added missing entry point file to site files section
• "Source folder not found": Removed obsolete media folder references from component manifest
• Entry Point Declaration: Properly declared com_stageit file in manifest <files> section
• Clean Package Structure: Eliminated all manifest inconsistencies and validation warnings
• Zero Installation Errors: Achieved completely clean installation process for professional deployment

🔧 CSS Architecture Modernization

• Proper Joomla 5 Structure: Moved CSS from deprecated media/ folder to component resources/css/
• Legacy File Cleanup: Removed duplicate and obsolete CSS files from old media structure
• Build Script Enhancement: Updated package builder to handle proper file structure and cleanup
• Installation Script: Enhanced with cleanupOldFiles() method for seamless upgrades from older versions

📦 Package Quality Improvements

• XML Validation: Added automatic XML validation to build process to prevent installation errors
• Clean Plugin Packaging: Fixed plugin ZIP creation to include only essential files (no backup/dev files)
• Standalone Testing: Created standalone plugin packages for independent testing before full integration
• Professional Structure: Maintained all existing functionality while dramatically simplifying codebase

🔧 Development Tools Enhanced

• Build Script Validation: Enhanced build process with XML syntax checking and file filtering
• Testing Workflow: Improved development workflow with standalone plugin testing capability
• Error Prevention: Proactive validation prevents "Can't find Joomla XML setup file" errors
• Comprehensive Documentation: Updated JOOMLA5-CHECKLIST.md with all lessons learned from real-world deployment

---

📦 Version 5.1.4 (2025-10-25)

Joomla 5 Modernization & Installation Fixes Release

📦 Installation & Packaging Fixes

• Package Structure: Fixed component manifest naming (stageit.xml → com_stageit.xml) and proper folder hierarchy
• ZIP Compatibility: Implemented forward slash paths in ZIP files to prevent installation errors
• Schema Updates: Updated manifests from version 3.0 to 5.0 for full Joomla 5 compatibility
• Media Path Fix: Corrected media folder references in component manifest (media → admin/media)
• Component Entry Point: Added required com_stageit.php site file for proper component structure
• jQuery UI Repair: Replaced corrupted jQuery UI library with clean version from CDN
• Warning-Free Installation: Eliminated all installation warnings for professional client deployment

🛡️ System Dashboard Compatibility

• Smart Page Filtering: Plugin now uses whitelist approach to prevent interference with system pages
• Dashboard Protection: Completely excludes system dashboard, check-in, and configuration pages from banner injection
• AJAX Safety: Blocks all AJAX/API requests to prevent system check interference
• Global Check-in Fix: Resolved issues with Joomla's global check-in functionality

🔧 Modern System Requirements

• PHP 8.1+ Support: Updated minimum PHP requirement from 5.3.10 to 8.1.0 (Joomla 5 standard)
• Memory Optimization: Increased memory requirement from 128MB to 256MB for modern operations
• Timeout Updates: Extended execution timeout from 30s to 60s for reliable deployments
• Extension Validation: Replaced obsolete safe_mode checks with essential PHP extension validation
• Memory Detection: Improved memory limit detection including unlimited memory support

🔧 Development Tools

• Pre-build Validation: Added comprehensive package validation script (validate-package.ps1)
• Component Templates: Created Joomla 5 component template generator (create-template.ps1)
• Best Practices Guide: Added comprehensive development checklist (JOOMLA5-CHECKLIST.md)
• Build Integration: Enhanced build script with automatic validation and forward-slash ZIP creation

🚀 Joomla 5 Compatibility Enhancements

• Database Layer: Fixed deprecated Quote() → quote() and query() → execute() methods for full J5 compatibility
• View Classes: Removed legacy jimport statements and JViewLegacy compatibility layers
• Class Naming: Updated to PSR standards (StageItViewdefault → StageItViewDefault)
• Asset Management: Implemented modern Web Asset Manager for improved performance
• Error Handling: Added structured exception handling and modern Joomla logging system
• Log Path Fix: Corrected staging log path to use stageit/administrator/logs instead of administrator/stageit/logs

🔍 Code Quality Improvements

• Modern PHP: Updated error handling with proper Exception classes
• Logging System: Replaced custom vbLog with native Joomla\CMS\Log\Log
• Input Handling: Modernized using Factory::getApplication()->input
• Copyright: Updated copyright notices to 2025

🎨 CSS Optimization

• File Size Reduction: Removed ~293 lines of unused CSS (20% reduction)
• Legacy Cleanup: Removed obsolete Joomla 2.5/3 styles and unused components
• Performance: Eliminated unused search, pagination, gallery, and Sales Pro CSS
• Maintainability: Cleaner stylesheet with only essential styles retained

🔧 Developer Experience

• Future-Ready: Fully compatible with Joomla 5.x architecture
• Standards Compliant: Follows modern Joomla coding standards
• Error Recovery: Enhanced debugging and error reporting capabilities

---

🐛 Version 5.1.3 (2025-10-24)

• Admin URL rule corrected: STAGING at /stageit/administrator, LIVE at /administrator.
• Fixed System Dashboard red-X issue by guarding for HTML-only responses in onBeforeCompileHead/onAfterRender.
• Removed unsafe injection fallback for non-HTML (no-<body>) responses.
• Switch button targets updated: staging → /administrator/, live → /stageit/administrator/.
• XML Standardization: Unified all XML manifests with consistent version numbering, creation dates, and copyright notices
• Initial Git Repository: Established version control with GitHub integration for professional development workflow
• No changes to styles/colors/labels; behavior preserved otherwise.

---

🔧 Version 5.1.2 (2025-10-23)

• Update Sites hardening: Only the package declares the update server (URL: https://www.php-web-design.com/updates/check.php?ext=stageit6). Component/plugin manifests no longer register update sites.
• Self-healing installer: Package postflight collapses duplicate update-site rows, removes legacy stageitpro, and ensures only the package is mapped to the update site.
• Cosmetic: Update server named "StageIt Update Server", enabled by default.

---

🔧 Version 5.1.1 (2025-10-22)

• Update Sites cleanup: Package now installs with a single update server (package-level) and removes stageitpro legacy endpoint. Component/plugin manifests no longer register update sites. Postflight script de-duplicates mappings so only the package is linked to ext=stageit6.

---

🚀 Version 5.1.0 (2025-10-22)

Consolidated release since 5.0.2. Highlights:

🔧 System Plugin

• Joomla 5 / PHP 8–safe rewrite using a proper CMSPlugin class and SubscriberInterface.
• Safe string concatenation; removed typed property conflicts.
• Strict /stageit detection by root name or URL path; logs detection reason to /administrator/logs/stageit.log.php (root-name-stageit, url-path-stageit, default-live).
• Automatic Live ↔ Staging switch buttons with safety checks.

🎨 Style & Theming

• New Style tab with:
  • Style Mode (default gradient).
  • Gradient Cycle default 5s (min 5, max 120).
  • Live (solid) #59a645; Live gradient #59a645 → #356732; Live text #ffffff.
  • Staging (solid) #f79034; Staging gradient #f79034 → #c05627; Staging text #ffffff.
  • Button Link Color (default #ffffff) applied to "Go to Live / Staging" links.
• Dark-mode hardened for Atum/Bootstrap tokens, with fallbacks to handle caching/overrides.

🎨 Admin UI

• Converted legacy .button markup to Bootstrap .btn variants; tables use .table.table-striped.align-middle.
• Removed prior admin helpers (seconds suffix, input-width caps, preview swatch).

📦 Packaging & Installer

• Installer uses inner plugin package and now reflects the correct defaults and runtime logic on fresh installs.
• Unified manifests (schema 4.0) and metadata; consolidated changelog.

🐛 Reliability

• Fixes for parse errors (method placement, $autoloadLanguage), CSS cache-busting (?v= on stylesheet), and consistent asset loading.

---

🎨 Version 5.0.12 (2025-10-19)

• Phase B (markup): Replaced custom classes with Bootstrap counterparts in admin templates.
  • .button → btn variants (remove → btn-outline-danger; login/rebuild → btn-primary; otherwise → btn-secondary).
  • Tables with .stg_table/.grouptable now include table table-striped align-middle.
  • Inputs/Textareas now use form-control; select uses form-select.
• Theme: Continues to use token-based CSS so Atum Dark/Light toggles automatically.

---

🎨 Version 5.0.11 (2025-10-19)

• Theme: Switched to Joomla 5 / Bootstrap 5 tokens in media/com_stageit/css/admin.css (variables-only, theme-aware).
• Behavior: Removed body-class injection; StageIt styles are scoped to #stageit and derive from Atum tokens, so Dark/Light toggles automatically.
• Customization: Preserved requested dark background #171c24 for #stageit in dark mode only.
• Packaging: Loaded CSS via WebAsset on admin option=com_stageit; manifests bumped to 5.0.11.

---

🐛 Version 5.0.10 (2025-10-19)

• Fix: Rewrote the system plugin with a safe NOWDOC-based inline JS for adding the com_stageit body class (eliminates the PHP parse error around catch).
• Theme: Continues loading media/com_stageit/css/admin.css via WebAsset (onBeforeCompileHead).

---

🎨 Version 5.0.9 (2025-10-19)

• Theme: Move Dark/Light CSS to a static asset media/com_stageit/css/admin.css and load via WebAsset on admin StageIt pages.
• Reliability: Ensure <body> has the com_stageit class so selectors body.admin.com_stageit always match.
• Packaging: Manifest now installs the media/com_stageit/css/admin.css file.

---

🎨 Version 5.0.8 (2025-10-19)

• Dark Mode: Set #stageit background to #171c24 in dark mode (per request). Implemented as an inline CSS override so it takes precedence over earlier rules.

---

🐛 Version 5.0.7 (2025-10-19)

• Fix: Removed the bool type from $autoloadLanguage in the system plugin to avoid inheritance conflict with CMSPlugin (which declares it untyped). This resolves the install-time fatal error.

---

🎨 Version 5.0.6 (2025-10-19)

• Dark/Light Mode: Adopted the proven selectors & values; CSS is injected inline at onBeforeCompileHead so no media/ file is required.
• Reliability: Ensures <body> has the com_stageit class on admin StageIt pages so body.admin.com_stageit selectors always match.
• Packaging: All manifests set to schema 4.0; version bumped to 5.0.6.

---

🐛 Version 5.0.1 (historic)

• Fix: Resolved parse error by converting the system plugin to a proper Joomla 5 class and defining getSubscribedEvents() inside the class.
• Improve: Enabled $autoloadLanguage = true and moved manifests to schema 4.0.

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🚀 Version 5.0.0

• Joomla 5 native baseline (no legacy plugin required).
• Theme: Full Dark/Light mode compatibility in the admin (scoped to body.admin.com_stageit).
• Backups View: Implemented dark-mode "odd row" styling while preserving header look.
• Packaging: Initial J5 manifests and structure; media assets under media/com_stageit with correct references.