We are happy to annonce that b2evolution version 4.0.0-alpha has been released.

Download here »

Finally! you may say... but we're pretty confident the new features were worth the wait There is really a lot under the hood!

The list of new features has been previously published and is available here.

This new release has been tested on a number of different web hosts and those tests are globally conclusive. However, there are two small pending issues:

• HostGator has some overly restrictive security rules in place. These affect v4 but also v2 and v3. They are working on a fix that does not require any modification to b2evo. Update: HostGator fixed their rules. It's working now.
• BlueHost seems to have some buffering issues that only appear on specific pages of the backoffice. We are investigating this.

The vast majority of webhosts have been tested flawlessly.

However, please do keep in mind this is alpha software and that it's a major new release. Despite extensive testing, there will be issues and you may need to dig into the PHP code to fix them quickly. At this point we only recommend that you upgrade if you don't mind a little bit of experimentation

Since the beginning of the year we have been relentlessly adding features and features and more features to b2evolution v4. All the while not producing a packaged release! If you wnated to use them, you had to dig into CVS...

Ok, this has been going on for far too long now!

We have stopped adding features until we make a 4.0 release! Below, you will find the final list of features that made it into the next 4.0.0-alpha release.

No new features, means we are now focusing on cleaning up some of the code that doesn't seem quite right and then we'll release the alpha. (Don't ask, I'm not giving dates any more, even if this time I can actually feel the release )

This alpha release will be functional as advertised but the UI may not be polished everywhere it should. We'll do some extra polishing for the beta and stable versions.

Watch out, this is a massive release!! There is a lot of extra power and new stuff under the hood! Here's the list:

Full story »

We tried to put so many new features into b2evolution v4, and we tried to make everything so perfect, that by asking us for a release date, we just had to make a wild guess... Especially: a guess about when we'd be satisfied enough with the outcome to make a public release.

Well, it turns out that at the end of April, we were not satisfied!

Sure, we were satisfied about everything that had already been done. But we were not satisfied about the big picture and the global coherence of the development at that stage. Making an alpha release at that point wouldn't have made much sense beyond "being on time" for the sake of "being on time".

There would have been features partially implemented and others not working because they depended on something else to be finished... So, instead of releasing a version that would have been "broken but it's an alpha, what did you expect?" we decided to wait a little and release an "alpha version you can actually run on production"... because that's just we way we like our alphas to be!

So, we took the to-do list, combed through it carefully and came up with a feature set rather than a date. That feature set is not perfect, but it will still make a coherent alpha. Based on that, our best guess would be a release early June.

Later than expected, but you'll get so much more out of it that you'll probably agree it was worth the wait. After that, we'll resume to incremental changes and more regular releases.

Btw, in your opinion, what would be the ideal delay between successive releases?

This is a quick update to let you know version 4 is progressing well.

Lately, we have added many little features to make the backoffice easier, faster, more effective and more efficient to use. Notably, a lot of comment moderation and antispam operations can now be done through quick Ajax calls that eliminate the need to wait for page reloads or to scroll around on any given page.

If you're not looking at CVS activity but still want to keep an eye on what's moving, you can always follow @b2evolution on twitter. We tend to tweet major new additions to the code as we validate them for inclusion into v4.

At this time we are expecting an alpha release of v4 by the end of April.

One significant addition we should have by then is the ability for users to create their own blog if the admin gives them permission. New users will also be able to get a blog created for them automatically.

Happy New Year to all b2evolution fans around the world! :)

2010 will be a very interesting year for b2evolution with the release of b2evolution version IV.

While the development version of b2evo IV is already packed with new features, it is also already significantly faster than all previous versions due notably to built in caching capabilities that go far beyond what was done before. (It also flat out beats competing publishing solutions out of the box ;)

We already have many new features implemented for this version, we still anticipate several months of development before reaching a stable release. We are now particularly focused on these areas:

• Extending skin capabilities (skins fom previous versions will remain compatible though)
• Using b2evo in a "CMS style", that is for sites that "do not look like a blog" (the default behaviour will remain blog oriented though)

You will find a non final list of features that are already implemented in the development version/CVS below.

Full story »

b2evolution version 3.3.3-stable has been released. Just in time so you can upgrade before the hollidays

Download here »

Version 3.3.3 is a maintenance release containing a few bug fixes and most importantly: it gives you back the option to insert pictures into a post right after upload. (Thanks to Tilman for backporting this from the development branch into the 3.3-stable branch).

Upgrading from version 3.3.1 or 3.3.2 is only a matter of replacing a few files.

Upgrades from previous versions will require to follow the standard upgrade procedure (takes about 5 minutes if you have no hacks). Skins are compatible since b2evolution 2.x.

Major changes in 3.3.3

• Allow users to act on uploaded files (@francoisplanque/@tblue)
• Made avatars optional.
• Integrated 2 new skins.
• Updated SEO presets from Rand Fishkin.

As you may have noticed, we have updated the homepage a little bit.

We did it mostly after reading the first few pages of Homepage Usability by Jakob Nielsen & Marie Tahir. Pages 10 to 13 to be more precise

Obviously, this is still work in progress. I'm likely to update again when I read on... Nonetheless, feel free to comment on the changes. I'm also planing on going through the whole site for an update; update suggestions are welcome.

For now, the main change, of course, is the big green "Download Now!" button. This is my attempt to better communicate what the project/site is about when people first come to the page.

Now, I expect new visitors to understand immediately that it's about software you can download. Hopefully, I'll get less email asking me "Where do I sign up to get my blog?"

b2evolution version 3.3.2-stable "Venice" has been released.

Download here »

Version 3.3.2 builds upon version 3.3.1 and merely provides bug fixes. 3 months worth of bugfixes! Most of them have been backported by Tilman from the work we started this summer on b2evolution version IV (not to be released before several months).

We recommend version 3.3.2 to all users at this point. Upgrading from version 3.3.1 is only a matter of replacing a few files.

Upgrades from previous versions will require to follow the standard upgrade procedure (takes about 5 minutes if you have no hacks). Skins are compatible since b2evolution 2.x.

Major changes in 3.3.2

• Many bug fixes (@tblue / @francoisplanque)
• Improved Auto Links plugin (@francoisplanque)
• Fixed bug allowing multiple plugins to have per-blog specific settings (@francoisplanque)
• Check whether user is allowed to edit post when updating it (saving to DB) (@tblue)

• XML-RPC:

  • Added missing permission checks (@tblue)
  • Improved metaWeblog.newMediaObject (@tblue)
  • Fixed API method signatures (return values) (@tblue)
  • Use correct charsets. (@tblue)
  • Check extra categories before checking permissions to post to them (sends correct XML-RPC error on failure). (@tblue)

b2evolution version 3.3.1-stable “Los Angeles” has been released!

Download here »

As they say, it’s the most advanced b2evolution… yet! But it’s even better than that, this version has gone though an extensive beta and release-candidate process in order to ensure that upgrades from versions 2.x will run flawlessly! (Can be done in less than a minute! – Just make sure your web host is up to date and your account runs at least MySQL 4.1, if not 5.x; if not ask them how to upgrade.)

Note that it’s also possible to upgrade from versions 1.x but you will need to use a new evoskin v2/3 and recustomize it to your site design. Either way, just follow the upgrade instructions in infex.html in the downloadable ZIP file.

Skins and Plugins from version 2.x will work on 3.x. Skins developed specifically for 3.x offer additional features (such as intro & featured posts).

Language packs from 2.x will work on 3.x if you add a locale definition file. Have a peek into the /locales folder or download a 3.x language pack here.

This stable 3.x release meets the standards and functionality I took out of my insanely long todo list end of 2008, while still living in Los Angeles (hence, the name of the relase). For upcoming versions, please send feature requests via twitter starting like this ” @b2evolution wish: ” – one request per user in 140 chars or less! That’s the rule of the game

Tons of new features!

Below you will find a recap of all the new features that have been added in versions 3.x:

Full story »

b2evolution version 3.3.0-rc1 has been released!

Download here »

This is basically the stable version everyone has been waiting for, except we called it "rc1" instead of "stable". RC means Release Candidate. We called it rc1 because we are still finding and fixing little bugs every day. These are not major issues and we run 3.3.0-rc1 ourselves on dozens of production servers already. However, we thought we should play it safe and give it an extra week or two to iron out little quirks before this new release gets wide distribution.

"When will 3.3.0-stable be officially announced?"

I hope you can guess the answer from the paragraph above: when we're done with the little bugs.

"Yes, but give us a date?"

Here's a date: 7/31 8/8. (No, it's not a guarantee.)

Changes in 3.3.0-rc1

Btw, note you can follow/contact all contributors on twitter: b2evolution, tblue246, leeturner2701, walter, fplanque, yabs, blueyed, sam2kb.

• Skins:

  • Skins can now have skin-specific translations ("locales" folder in the skin's folder, directory structure is the same as for plugin translations). (tblue246)
  • All skins now support setting RSS feeds to 'none' (leeturner2701)

• SEO:

  • <meta> desc and <meta> keywords per blog post (leeturner2701)
  • Category descriptions can be used as meta description on category pages (walter)

• Admin:

  • Remember whether or not the TinyMCE editor was last used on a per post and per blog basis. (fplanque)
  • Prevent clicking on "Publish NOW!' when a post is set to protected or private (tblue246)

• Installer:

  • B2evolution no longer ships with _basic_config.php . It ships with _basic_config.template.php instead. That way, uploading a new release never overwrites the previous base config. The installer now creates _basic_config.php based on _basic_config.template.php + entered form values. (fplanque)
  • Language/locale selection moved to a place where it's visible! (fplanque)
  • Only one locale is now activated by default (the one selected during install). (fplanque)
  • Simplified main screen (fplanque).

• Plugins:

  • Twitter plugin no longer requires curl (yabs)
  • New plugin hook: BeforeSessionsDelete (yabs, blueyed)

• Other:

  • i18n/charset handling improvements (sam2kb)
  • Bug fixes! (blueyed, tblue246, sam2kb, yabs, leeturner2701, fplanque)