Released on April 2nd, 2015.

This is an alpha version. This means it is meant mainly for evaluation and testing.

The main thing to know about alpha versions is that anything might change from one release to the next and we do not guarantee a clean upgrade path from one alpha to the next.

However, this version works! There are many little details that still need to be polished but this version should start to give you a good idea of what the stable b2evolution v6 will be like ;)

Also available on GitHub.

Installation

Our easy Installation Guide will provide step by step instructions to get you started with b2evolution.

Upgrade

At this time we don’t necessarily recommend you upgrade a stable version to this alpha version (although we’ve done it on our own sites… ;) If you feel adventurous today, see: Upgrading an existing installation.

IMPORTANT: many root files are no longer needed in this version and should ideally be deleted from your web server. Also, you should use the provided tool to convert your database to UTF-8. Please check Upgrade to b2evolution version 6.x for instructions.

Changes

In addition to what’s been introduced in 6.0.0-alpha:

• Bootstrap RWD now used also on:
  • Back-office completely redesigned with Bootstrap (the old "Chicago" design is available as an alternative admin skin if you’re nostalgic ;)
  • Installer / Upgrader
  • Config error screen
  • default.php
  • more in progress…
• Font Awesome is used almost everywhere.
• Back-office:
  • new navigation structure
  • It is now possible to upload files directly into the post edit screen by simply dragging and dropping files into the attachments area.
  • Cleaner toolbars on edit screens.
• Post structure:
  • Item/Post types are now fully configurable:
    • Every field of the post form can be enabled/disabled on a type by type basis.
    • Custom fields can be defined on a type by type basis.
  • Switching to a different post type now goes through a "select new type" page.
  • Admins / Moderators / Editors can now have a private discussion around posts ("meta comments")
• Site structure:
  • It is now possible to set default collections to be used for displaying all login/registration and also for all messaging functions, no matter from which collection they are invoked. This allows a more consistent user experience across the site.
• Cleaner URLs:
  • index.php now recognizes collection URLs like http://baseurl/shortname (requires mod_rewrite which should be enabled if you use b2evolution’s provided .htaccess file).
  • It’s now possible to configure collection URLs like http://baseurl/shortname/ in a single click
  • the first/the default collection will now be assigned just the baseurl (without index.php appearing in the URL)
  • b2evolution no longer ships with Stub Files like blog1.php– Everything is handled transparently by index.php now (but you can still use stub files if you need them)
• Plugins:
  • Markdown plugin now generates IDs for titles.
  • Wikilinks plugin now allows to add #anchors into links.
  • Current filters widget