The new Remote Falcon is here!
Overview
Wait, you said it was new. Why is it version 1? Wasn't it like version 8 or something before?
Well, sometimes something so historically significant happens that it alters time (or versions) itself. When Jesus was born, time reset. When the new Remote Falcon released, versions reset.
I don't know, just go with it.
What Changed?
Wow, a lot. I mean... enough than I can make this blog feel like a Dickens novel. But I won't do that to you. Instead I want highlight some of the larger changes that were made in this new release (aside from the obvious user interface changes, of course). There were some new features added as well as some existing features that were removed, so I feel it's important to talk about those here.
New Features
Let's start with the exciting stuff first... the new features!
Documentation
Hey, you said exciting! You're going to start with something as boring as documentation?
YES! I had to write the stinking thing, so I'm going to make sure you at least glance at it. And it's not all bad. The documentation actually got a major facelift from the previous GitHub Wiki. Turns out you're already on the documentation site, so you don't have far to go! All you have to do is click the Documentation link at the top of this page.
I trust you'll check that out if you have questions about what something is.
Dashboard Stats Deletion
To help keep the database light and speedy, dashboard stats are going to be delete automatically now after 18 months. This should give you plenty of time to download your stats for your own keeping.
Multiple Viewer Pages
Probably my favorite new feature; support for multiple viewer pages.
You can now create up to 5 viewer pages for the multiple holidays or occasions. Changing the page is as simple as picking it from a list in the Remote Falcon Settings.
HTML Validation
It can be a real struggle trying to figure out what happened when your Viewer Page stops working. So now, under the Viewer Page editor (which, by the way, is now a VSCode in browser editor), there is a live HTML validator that can detect issues in your Viewer Page HTML as you make changes.
Viewer Page Templates
Rather than being assigned the default template when you create a Viewer Page, you can actually choose which starting template you want to use. There are currently 3 templates available, with more being added.
Removed Features
Don't hate me, but I did remove some features from the new Remote Falcon.
Sequence Ordering
Previously you have the ability to drag and drop sequences in the Sequence list to reorder them, or automatically order them alphabetically. That ability has been removed in the new Remote Falcon. Since sequences are synced in the same order as they are in the playlist, I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. So rather than ordering the sequences in Remote Falcon, they can simply be ordered in FPP or xSchedule.
Viewer Page Gallery
Chances are I'll get some backlash on this one, but hear me out... The Viewer Page Gallery was a nightmare to maintain. There were over 100 pages in the gallery, with over half of them just being minor variations of the default page template. I felt it would be better to take those more popular pages and offer them as starting templates (the Viewer Page Templates) when creating a new page. This makes the app cleaner and also makes it easier to find and create the page you want.
FPP Plugin
Yeah, the FPP plugin also changed. Wanted to redesign the plugin to align more with the styling in FPP. Also fixed a few issues with it (like not being able to view the commands popup from the plugin page). But overall it still operates the same and has all the same settings.
This Blog!
How about this blog, huh? Sometimes putting long posts in Facebook is just not feasible. I like the idea of having this blog for things like large updates, but also for spreading knowledge and ideas. This is definitely something I would like to open up for others who have great ideas and give them a platform to share them.