Packaging files with Sitecore Courier

It's been a long time since Sitecore Courier was released, I've got a lot of feedback about it, so now it's time to add the next major feature to it: files packaging support.

Initially, the module could handle only items, which was just enough for deploying item changes to your website on release day. But at some point I've realized that it can also replace standard Sitecore Package Designer, providing some additional benefits, which I'll list below.

There is no need to maintain %package name%.xml file
Items which you want to package are in the serialization anyway, so why spend time maintaining one more list of items?

Sitecore Courier creates packages many times faster 
Packaging will become 100x faster. You no longer need start Sitecore, de-serialize items, etc. Mobile Device Detector build script now now runs in ~1 second instead of 4 minutes!

You can create real "Upgrade" packages, like Sitecore does for the CMS
That means, if you're maintaining a Shared Source module and want to provide upgrade path for users who upgrade Sitecore from 7.1 to 7.2 - you can create lightweight package with updated items only in seconds, with no manual work. And you can "uninstall" items/files in Courier packages too!

How it works now
The module is smart enough to understand what is item and what is not, so you just put both files and items into the same "target" folder and then get an update package with multiple command types ("Add Folder", "Add Item", "Add File", etc.).

   
          

The latest version of the module is already published on Marketplace, so just grab it here: https://bitly.com/SitecoreCourier or get the source code at GitHub - https://github.com/adoprog/Sitecore-Courier.

I hope this update will make it easier to create and support Sitecore packages whether it's a Shared Source modules or commercial products, and I'm extremely excited about the horizons it opens, so... stay tuned!