Wow! So 2003 is over already? That was fast! :|


Well... at least it has been a great year for b2evolution. And I believe that many improvements to this little piece of software would not have been possible without the many contributors who have added features, tested early versions, tracked down bugs, made suggestions for improvements, made skins, documented features, translated language files, hosted the site, provided support in the forums or even financial support via paypal...


Thus I'd especially like to thank here (in nearly alphabetical order): Brian, Candle, Daniel, Graham, Jordan, Jason, Marius, Michel, Ron, Sabrina, Sakichan, Simon, Topanga, Travis, Tristan and Vegar! (And now I fear I forgot someone, please forgive me for that :oops: the comments are yours! ;) )


Last but not least, really big thanks to all of you using b2evolution and promoting the software, essentially through the display of that little b2evo logo on your blog.


Let's hope we find enough time in 2004 to go twice as far as we did this year! ;)


Anyways, I hope 2004's going to work out great for you! ;)

We have suffered a couple of days site outage due to our previous generous host (Memenet) suddenly stopping servicing webrequest to b2evolution.net… :-/

I could not contact Memenet by any means for 24 hours so I’ve asked the community for new hosting solutions.

I have to say that response has been great and exceeding my expectations.

You guys rock!!! B)

48 hours and still no news from Memenet, so…

I have the pleasure to announce that this site is now generously hosted by Travis S / Domain51 and that the forums are about to be generously hosted by Jason Murphy.

We may even have a third host completing our new super-strong web hosting farm! :)) (okay it’s not really redundant, but it’s a step in the right direction! ;D)

Finally, I’d like to thank Brian and Memenet for their support during our first 6 months online. This community probably wouldn’t have grown this fast without Memenet providing hosting for the complete website from scratch. :)

b2evolution version 0.8.6.1 (Release Candidate) is now available from the downloads section.

This release is codenamed "Lightning", because it is closely related to "Thunder" :b

It actually includes fixes for all bugs reported since the release of "Thunder" (0.8.6).

These fixes had been made available through CVS but many users have asked for a package release. Here it is. :)

Upgrade is not necessary if you’re not having any problems with 0.8.6, however it is recommended for maximum performance and security.

This is the new *stable* release, following 0.8.2.2. It is also known as the “Thunder” release! :p

You can get it from the downloads section.

The feature set is the same as for previous development versions with a few minor fixes. However, here is a summary of changes since last stable release (0.8.2.2):

• Security has been improved.
• This version has been fully internationalized and several localizations are already included.
• The login/registering system has been rewritten.
• The public interface can now restrict access to protected/private posts based on user login.
• The bookmarklet and sidebar features have been upgraded to full support of evo features. The regular backoffice as well as the Blogger API have also been improved.
• Comment spam prevention (vig-rx syndrome) has been added through the use of a blacklist. This also applies to referrer spam.
• The codebase has undergone heavy refactoring and gained flexibility. The directory structure is now fully configurable.
• Find out more, from the online demo!

Wow I had a funky day! XX(


This morning, as I was thinking about packaging a new b2evolution version, waiting for the storm outside to calm down... after 5 or 6 alerts, my UPS died on me.


How frustrating! This device is supposed to let you work uninterrupted, no matter how bad the thunderstorm is playing with your power supply :> Well... this time it didn't go that way. Thunder, beep, beep, beep, woosh, silence... thunder again, silence... black screen... :(


It seems to be dead... definitely... no matter how much I try to reload the battery and how little power I try to get from it. At least it has served me well for almost 7 years ;) (yeah I checked the fuse too :b it actually still works fine... until you unplug the power :)) )


That was just for starters... the storm didn't stop until 6 pm, the basement and garage got flooded, roads were closed, I got trapped in a commercial zone without a way home were I wouldn't have to drive through 60 centimeters of mud and water... Eventually I found a way around, but of course, everybody was trying to go that way so we got all stuck it a wet dirty muddy traffic jam under the pourring rain with absolutely no news because the radio relays were down... probably hit by the storm too! :no:


Now the weather seems temporarily calmed down and I'm slowly getting dry... but they announced the same fun for tomorrow again... even recommending people do not got to work! XX(


It's going to be a funky autumn I guess... Actually, running a development PC without an UPS this time of the year in this area is almost suicidal. So I'll probably be off during the next storm again, until I get to buy a new UPS.


By the way, this is the perfect opportunity for me to bring to your attention that you can support b2evolution development by donating a few bucks using the Paypal link you can see on the site. :roll: A new UPS costs about $100 / 100€. So even $5 / 5€ will be a significative contribution! ;)


Well anyway, last but not least: when it happens to you and you fry an UPS, remember to dispose it properly, recycling the batteries! Thanks for your attention. :P

There's this other irritating myth about b2evo that says we are "carelessly" integrating hacks.


Would you please "care" to look at the code before relaying that? >:XX


As a matter of fact, as of today, b2evo has integrated as many as 0 (yes, that reads ZERO!) hacks on top of b2 version 0.6.1.


All new features have been developed specifically for b2evo. We are actually considering including some hacks, but we haven't done it yet since we are talking with the authors about merging them in a clean way into the b2evo codebase. That means the author joining the dev team and integrating the hacks in a manner that is everything but "careless".