Zap Calendar version 4.2.0 is now available and contains several new features that we think users will love.  This Zap Calendar release will perform a database upgrade when installed, so a database backup is recommended prior to installing.  Also, the minimum Joomla release supported with this release is Joomla version 3.2.3.  This is due to a Joomla feature added in that release that is used by Zap Calendar for the Joomla updater function.  Older Joomla releases can continue to use the Zap Calendar 4.1.4 release.

Here is a summary of the new features added in Zap Calendar 4.2.0:

New for Zap Calendar Lite Users - The moon phase add-on is now included.

Joomla Updater Support - This version supports the Joomla updater to provide automatic notification and download of new releases.  For users with active subscriptions, you will need to add an updater key into your Zap Calendar global settings (this is not needed for Zap Calendar Lite installations).  This key can be found at the top of your subscription page.  This single key will work with all your Z Content subscriptions.  As mentioned earlier, Joomla 3.2.3 or higher is needed for this feature to work.

Custom CSS Editor - You can now add your own custom CSS to Zap Calendar from the Custom CSS editor in the back-end tools menu.

Form Editor - Zap Calendar's form feature is one of the powerful features in Zap Calendar for customizing Zap Calendar's display.  Beginning with Zap Calendar 4.2, you can now customize Zap Calendar using the form editor found in the  back-end tools menu.  If you make a mistake, you can always revert back to the original form. The form editor can also be used with forms from Zap Calendar add-ons.  Previously, users manually edited these files on the host directly (.tpl and .frm files) using ftp or the command line.

Filter Module - You have asked and we have listened!  This is a module version of our filter plugin.  Like the filter plugin, this module allows users to filter events by category and/or location, but can be displayed in any module position on your calendar page.

Data Scraping Protection - When this Zap Calendar global setting is enabled, Joomla's internal ids in Zap Calendar URLs will be replaced with alternate, non-sequential ids. This prevents automatic URL generation techniques used by scraping bots or users from grabbing your event data.  For example, a Zap Calendar URL like this:

http://mydomain.com/calendar/7,1762-friday-meeting 

Will be converted to this URL when data scraping protection is enabled:

http://mydomain.com/calendar/BF8A06622C9279C5,676E9E9F5EA074D4-friday-meeting

Data scraping protection may not be for everyone, but may be useful for sites where users create their own events or when Zap Calendar's private calendar feature is enabled.  When data scraping protection is enabled, URLs in the original format will no longer work.  It is best to enable this for a new Zap Calendar site or set the feature to "transitional" for existing sites.  Transitional mode will create the new URL's but will accept both old and new URLs.  Switching from transitional to full protection can be done later when use of the old URLs is minimized.  You will find more details of this feature in this article.