b2evolution version 5.0.5 (stable) has been released!
Download & Upgrade instructions here »
This version essentially addresses bug fixes reported in version 5.0.4. It also has a few minor new features.
We recommend this version for all users.
PS: please contact us if you want to be part of the version 5.1 beta test group.
We made it! The stable version of b2evolution version 5 has (finally) been released!
You may have have noticed already that the package file has grown from 6.1 to 8.2 MB. That's more an a 1/3rd increase. And if you look more closely at the features you will find that, indeed, it is packed with so much new stuff it's hard to believe the size didn't actually double! No matter what, this is clearly the largest version upgrade since we started b2evolution... about 10 years ago!
b2evolution v5 has been 1.5 years in the making! It is a tremendous move from a (multi) blog engine to a CCMS: Content & Community Management Software. It's like a CMS with added community management features.
b2evolution v5 will still let you handle your blogs the way it used to, but in addition to that, it willl now allow you to manage all kinds of pages of content, including online books or manuals. And more importantly, b2evo 5 can now also run forums in replacement of tools like phpBB (see our own user support forum for an example).
True to its form, b2evolution v5 continues on its path to providing all the tools you need to run your website in a single package. With b2evolution, you only need to install and maintain one single piece of software. (Say goodbye to integration headaches, plugin hell and upgrade incompatibilities!)
Now, let us confess: this release is only 85% of the original plan we had for v5. But as we run this version on many websites already and it has proven stable we thought it made sense to release it for the benefit of everyone who was waiting. Just rest assured v5.1 is already way in the works and will finish in establishing b2evolution as the one and only choice you'll want to make to run your website(s)!
Let us know what you think!
Also: we implemented many of your feature requests in this release. If your request is still missing, feel free to remind us. This is not a promise that every request will be implemented but we definitely consider all user requests carefully. Thank you for your feedback.
On a slightly related note: François will be in Amsterdam this week. If you want to meet up there and discuss v5+, please drop him a note.
We have released two new versions this week-end:
Important security upgrade!
We strongly recommend you upgrade to either one of these releases in order to keep your system secure against the latest potential vulnerabilities that have been detected.
Is version 5.0.3-beta stable enough to run on production?
We think it is. We are running it on this site ourselves. It may have a few more bugs than 4.1.7 but nothing major... and it has sooo many new features! It's becoming really hard to roll without it ;)
b2evolution version 5-0-2 alpha has been released.
Why another alpha release?
Well, because quite a few people are running 5.0 on productions servers now, and we wanted to give everyone an updated version that is as stable and as efficient as possible.
If it is production grade software, why keep it an alpha then?
Well, because with a stable release people expect long term support (like we do for version 4.1 for example). In this case we will ask everyone who uses the current version to upgrade to the next release as soon as it comes out for continued support.
Even with a beta, people have some expectations about stable specs and documentations which we cannot provide quite yet. For example we are still working heavily on the skinning specs for version 5 and skins developped for the current alpha releases may very well need to be adapted before they can run on the final release.
We are still not done with a list of features but we are making some progress on that too. We expect to update the related page in the new manual soon. In the meantime you can get a preview of the feature list here: http://www.stateoftheevolution.com/new-features-b2evolution-v5 ...
b2evolution version 5-0-1 alpha has been released.
This is another alpha release, building up on the previous one.
It includes many bug fixes and also new features.
You may run this on production if you know what you are doing and feel comfortable with poking around in PHP & SQL in case of problems. (That's what we do. This site in currently running on v 5.0.1-alpha-5).
Believe it or not, the list of changes is so long we still didn't have time to compile it, clean it up and make it readable yet. Check out the related page in the new manual for updates.
Please let us know what you think of v5 so far ;) ... and if you like it, tweet it, +1 it or share it on facebook! Thanks!
b2evolution version 5-0-0 alpha has been released.
This is an alpha release destined mainly to our hardcore fans who have waited for this new version a very long time already.
We do not recommend running it on production unless you know what you are doing and feel comfortable with poking around in PHP & SQL in case of problems. (That's what we do. This site in currently running on v 5.0.0-alpha-x).
The new forums are running on the same system. Have you updated your user profile?
This alpha release is still far from our vision of what the final product should be, but it's already the biggest step forwad from one version to the next. (Check out the file sizes).
Believe it or not, the list of changes is so long we didn't have time to compile it, clean it up and make it readable yet. Check out the related page in the new manual for updates.
Please let us know what you think of v5 so far ;) ... and if you like it, tweet it, +1 it or share it on facebook! Thanks!
