Version 1.9.0 is now available for download on SourceForge.

This has been in the works for quite a few months now and includes many new features. Enough good features to make you feel like it's Christmas before Christmas! But don't take our word for it. Go check it out! :D

It is a beta version but if you're not afraid of occasionally patching a quirk or two, it is probably stable enough to be run on production (we do so on several sites).

Otherwise, the rock stable version 1.8.5 is still the recommended stable release.

Translators: this new version includes new strings. Now would be a good time to update your language packs and send them in! ;) New translations or alternative translations to existing ones are welcome too!

New features you may like include:

• Enhanced stats (fplanque)
• Different item edit views: simple, advanced (blueyed, fplanque)
• Cleaned up blog management (fplanque)
• Visual skin selector (fplanque)
• Filemanager: basic image preview while browsing (blueyed)
• Post contents get pre-rendered and cached at edit time in order to speed up complex displays. The cache data gets invalidated automatically, e.g. if a plugin gets updated. However, just in case, there's a "Delete item cache" action in the "Tools".
• Ping services are now implemented as plugins with b2evolution.net and Pingomatic included. There is also a "Generic ping plugin" which can be used for common RPC ping services. (blueyed)
• Different modes of hitlog/session pruning: per page, as cron job or "off" (fplanque, blueyed)
• Bonus template for standalone contact form. (fplanque)
• Enhanced user interface
• Enhanced handling of locale dateformats (especially when editing posts with other date format chars than "d", "m" and "Y"/"y") (blueyed)
• "Time difference" can now handle values like "1.5" hours. (blueyed, balupton)
• Fixed displaying yearly archives (fplanque)

Plugin enhgancements include:

• Enhanced smilies plugin (Yabba)
• Plugins can get localized/translated (blueyed)
• Plugin name and short description of installed plugins can be edited by the admin (blueyed)
• Plugins should not use a constructor anymore, but the PluginInit() method instead. The previous AppendPluginRegister() method has been "renamed" to PluginInit(). (blueyed)
• Plugins can be grouped (see Plugin::group and Plugin::sub_group) (balupton, blueyed)
• Added b2evo_Callbacks Javascript object to help plugins interact with the textarea and each other (blueyed)
• Optimized expensive queries in calendar plugin (fplanque)
• Added events/hooks: Logout, DisplayTrackbackAddr, GetCronJobs, ExecCronJob
• Added hook RenderItemAsText, removed general RenderItem
• Added hooks DisplayItemAsHtml, DisplayItemAsXml and DisplayItemAsText;
  removed general DisplayItemAllFormats (blueyed)
• Added hook ItemApplyAsRenderer for lazy renderers, which asks the Plugin
  if it wants to get added or removed as a renderer (blueyed)
• Added hooks GetProvidedSkins and DisplaySkin, so a Plugin can register skin handlers, e.g.
  for displaying something like Google Sitemaps (blueyed)
• Added hook ItemSendPing: gets called, when pinging for new items (blueyed)

And for more details about additional fixes and improvements, please refer to /doc/changes.html within the downloaded ZIP file.