There's quite a few interesting things coming up, starting today:

• We are migrating this site (the "main" site) to a new server... better suited for handling the load of things to come ;) This should be finished sometime today. If you see this, it means you are already looking at the new server.
• We are setting up a demo/test server for the new forums... running on b2evo v5 instead of phpBB. We are still tweaking the importer to get a better transition. More info coming up shortly... The demo tests ran sucessfully. We now have finished migration. Click here!
• Right after that, we are going to migrate the main site to b2evo v5. If you see this, it means you are already looking at the new site running b2evolution v5-alpha.
• Then, we are going to integrate the forums with the main site, all under v5 of course. The integration will allow you to use the same user account for everything. (The user accounts from the phpBB forums will be imported.) We now have finished migration. Click here!
  
• Once this is done, we'll test everything for a couple of weeks. (Testing is in progress and going pretty well...) Once quirks are ironed out, we'll release an alpha version of b2evolution v5. (Alpha release before the end of November!)
• Finally, after all that, we'll start the b2evolution v5 documentation project with a brand new manual (running on b2evo v5 too instead of the old Wiki). This project has started. You can have a look here: http://b2evolution.net/man/
• Bonus: login & registrations for b2evolution community accounts are open. If you already had created an account several years ago, you can use it again by logging in. Otherwise you can register here. Either way, feel free to update your profile (new in v5) and stay logged in for your future comments... and forum posts (when migration is done).
  

October is going to be a very interesting month for the b2evolution project & community. Stay tuned! ;)

Update from November 1st: As you can see above, a lot of progress has been made in october. We are basically finishing work on the antispam/moderation features that will allow us to migrate the forums. We will release b2evolution v5-alpha a few days later.

b2evolution 4.0.5 was released some time ago containing an important security fix.

It is recommended that everyone upgrades to that version.

Download here »

We originally released this silently so that people would have time to upgrade without drawing any more attention to the security issue.

It is now time that people who don't nomally upgrade minor versions consider doing so too.

You might wait for b2evolution 4.1 -- to be released in a couple of weeks -- but be advised that b2evo 4.1 will be released as a beta whereas 4.0.5 is released as a stable version.

We will point more specifically to the issue once everyone now warned has been given a chance to upgrade either to v 4.0.5-stable or v 4.1-beta.

Note: the threat level for this issue is considred Moderate (2/5), but still, we want to give you time to upgrade before letting the bad guys know exactly where to look.

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?" ;)

If you're reading this in your RSS reader, check out our new site design.

Otherwise, you have probably noticed already! :)

Please let us know how it works for you...

The subsites (skins, plugins, manual, forums, demo...) will be updated to follow the main design shortly. In the meantime, please bear with a little inconsistency ;)

You may also have noticed the new b2evolution logo... just to give you a foretaste of 2.0 ;)

Happy New Year to everyone! :D

And if you're a b2evolution blogger, I foresee 2007 will be a great year for you! ;)

From where I stand, I see an upcoming 2.0 release this year, featuring many of the most requested features, plus a couple more that you may not have expected.

Before that, we'll also release a stable 1.9.x version, which should feature a new selection of default plugins.

And right now, you may have noticed, we have cleaned up the website a little bit. Most obviously, the home page now has the news in a prominent place. That's not just a design decision; that's also because we expect more news this year than ever before... Stay tuned! ;)

In the meantime, the whole evoteam wishes you the best blogging year you can possibly make! B)

-François.