The Portal Pack 3.0.1 final is now available for download. Though this is a minor release, but there are few key new features added in this release. Also for this release, we got a valuable contribution from community ( "Liferay 5.2.x on JBOSS 5.x support" ) and thanks to John Platts for this contribution.

Here are the list of new features added in this release :

• Directory Deployment & Deploy on Save for Portlet Application

Using "Directory Deployment and Deploy on Save" feature, you don't need to redeploy your application any more during development time. Any change in any file, you just need to save it and the rest is taken care by the IDE. If a java file is  changed and saved, it is automatically compiled and the application is reloaded to reflect the new change. So just refresh your browser and see the change. This is also true for jsp, javascript, html and even portlet.xml .

You can enable/disable Directory Deployment in the Server Config Panel. By default  Directory Deployment  is not enabled. You need to enable "Directory Deployment" to use "Deploy on Save" feature. You can also disable only "Deploy on Save" feature.

• Liferay Theme Development

Now using Portal Pack, you can create and edit Liferay Theme plug-ins. You need to select the "Run In Developer Mode" check box in server config panel in NetBeans. By doing so NetBeans will be able to start the Liferay server in developer mode which is required during theme development.

To create a a Liferay Theme Application

> Create a Web App

> Right click on the project > New > Others > WebSpace/Liferay Plugins > Import/Create New Theme . This will import the classic theme files from the liferay server installation to your project.

> Enable the directory deployment in the server config panel and deploy the theme. 

CSS Editing

NetBeans provides a good CSS editor for developers. You can see the preview of the style inside NetBeans only. To use css editing feature effectively in NetBeans, open Windows > Others > CSS Preview ,  Windows > Other > CSS Style Builder and Windows > Navigating > Navigator windows while editing a css file.

> Change CSS using NetBeans CSS builder.

> No need to redeploy the theme again and again if the "Directory Deployment enabled" is selected. Deploy it once and select it in Liferay Portal. Then just change the CSS in NetBeans CSS editor , save it and refresh your browser to see the output.

Velocity (VM) templates editing

Portal Pack 3.0.1 provides code completion for VM variables defined by Liferay Portal Server. In any vm files in a theme application, you can use "ctrl + space" to get the code completion help for vm variables. 

• Liferay Hook Plug-ins Support

Portal Pack 3.0.1 also provides support for different type of Hooks application. Check out  Chetan's blog for more details on Hook Plug-in Support

• Liferay 5.2.x on JBOSS 5 Support

Now if you are using Liferay 5.x bundle on JBOSS 5 then you can use Portal Pack for the portlet development. This plug-in supports portlet deployment and server start/stop in both normal & debug mode from IDE. But the "Directory Deployment" is not yet supported with JBOSS bundle.

Portal Pack now supports Liferay Tomcat/GlassFish/JBOSS bundle.