This week I took a look through the issues on the CircuitPython.org repository and implemented several fixes and enhancements found within them. These changes are live now, so you can check them out on the CircuitPython.org website.
Language Bug for Prerelease Download
When there is a prerelease version of CircuitPython available the download page shows two different download boxes each with their own button that will download either the stable version or the prerelease version respectively. A small bug in the JavaScript led to the language selection drop down not taking effect properly for the prerelease download button, it would always download the English language firmware. This is now fixed, so when the next prerelease version drops any language selected will work.
Visible Features
The downloads page has supported filtering devices by features for a while now, however the features were never shown on the device specific pages in a standardized way. Some devices do have a features list in their description but not all devices, and the location or formatting of that information is not always uniform between the devices that have it. Now there is a visual list of all of the standard features that each device has on it’s download page right below the list of built-in modules
Castellated Pad Feature
Speaking of features, Castellated Pads has been added to the list of features available for filtering. There were over 60 devices with this feature at the time it was added. It’s now easy to view them all on one page and find the perfect device for your PCB stacking needs.
Scrollable Manufacturers List
The list of manufacturers who have released CircuitPython devices has grown quite long, 147 at the time of this writing. This caused the filter section of the downloads page to grow very tall and required either closing or scrolling past all of them in order to see the listed devices below. Moving forward the manufacturers are listed in their own scrollable box so that they do not cause the rest of the page to grow.
UF2 Download First
On devices that have both a UF2 and BIN download available the order of the buttons has been swapped to put UF2 first on the page above the BIN button. UF2 is typically the simpler option when both are supported.
How To Install Link
On the Blinka side of the site there is a metadata field named download_instructions which can contain a link to a documentation page about loading software on the device. For devices that have the link filled in, a button is shown on the device page linking to the specified documentation. This functionality has been brought over to the core CircuitPython side of the site as well now. The new ‘How To Install’ button will appear above the download firmware button when the metadata contains a documentation link. If you’d like to help out, and you know the documentation locations for any 3rd party devices that support CircuitPython please feel free to submit PRs adding the links to metadata.
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who submitted issues on the CircuitPython.org repository. If you spot a bug, or have an idea in mind to improve the site please open an issue on GitHub.