- What is wsmallnews/support used for in Laravel projects?
- wsmallnews/support is a lightweight Laravel/PHP support package from wsmallnews that centralizes reusable helpers, traits, and utilities, including array/string helpers and framework-friendly utilities. In v1.1.0 it also ships presentation-layer changes around a config-driven global search widget, Blade views, and CSS assets. Use it when you want shared support code and a consistent search UI across modules.
- How do I install wsmallnews/support with Composer?
- Install it with Composer using composer require wsmallnews/support. Laravel package discovery should register the service provider automatically; verify the provider is loaded in your environment. After installation, publish any config or assets with the package's vendor:publish tags as described in the repository.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does wsmallnews/support support?
- The provided context does not list exact Laravel or PHP version constraints, so check the package's composer.json for require and require-dev entries. Match those constraints to your application's Laravel and PHP versions before installing. Because the package includes Blade views and publishable assets, confirm the versions you test against production.
- How do I publish the config and assets for wsmallnews/support?
- Use Laravel's vendor:publish command with the tags documented for wsmallnews/support to publish config and assets. Publish to a scratch directory first and diff the output against your current published files. Check whether --force overwrites files and how published asset upgrades are handled before running it in production.
- Does wsmallnews/support provide a global search backend or index?
- The v1.1.0 changes read as configuration and markup changes that proxy a search query to an existing backend, not as a package that owns an index. The assessment explicitly recommends confirming that the package does not own a search index. If you need relevance tuning or index ownership, verify that responsibility outside this package.
- What changed in wsmallnews/support v1.1.0?
- v1.1.0 is described as a presentation-layer release with config for channels and terms_operator, a unified search button, a results-page placeholder, explicit search, and a CSS restructuring. The CSS split and consolidated search markup can act as breaking changes for consumers even though the release is a minor version. Treat the upgrade as a UI change, not just a helper update.
- Why did wsmallnews/support move sn-* utilities from index.css to utilities.css?
- The sn-* utility classes were split out of index.css into utilities.css, so consumers who imported only index.css can lose utility classes without a build error. Utility classes also need to load after component styles to win the cascade, so the split changes load-order assumptions. Check whether the service provider injects utilities.css automatically or whether every consumer must import it.
- How do I prevent styling regressions when upgrading wsmallnews/support?
- Pin v1.1.0 on a branch, update only the package, and publish assets to a scratch directory so you can diff the emitted CSS. Verify that utilities.css loads after component styles, add cache-busting or versioned filenames, and run visual regression across supported browsers. Test search behavior with terms_operator defaults because result counts and relevance can change.
- Can I use wsmallnews/support with a custom design system?
- Fit is poorer for teams with a bespoke design system because the unified search button consolidates markup that custom CSS or JavaScript may target. The sn-* utility layer can also conflict with existing design tokens, so budget time to reconcile or isolate it. If your search UX is custom, confirm the package's config and views are flexible enough before adopting it.
- Is wsmallnews/support actively maintained and what alternatives exist?
- The provided context does not include release cadence, maintainer activity, or named alternatives, so review the GitHub repository and Packagist metadata before committing. Compare it with Laravel's built-in helpers and your own shared support package if you need a smaller surface area. For search UI alternatives, evaluate whether you want a config-driven widget or a fully custom component.