vBulletin 3.6 Beta 3 Released

[Mike Sullivan]

vBulletin 3.6 Beta 3

A week has past since the public release of vBulletin 3.6 Beta 2 and the time is right to proceed to the next stage. vBulletin 3.6 Beta 3 contains a number of fixes and tweaks to the Beta 2 code and we recommend that anyone currently running Beta 2 should upgrade to Beta 3.

The first round of bugs found in 3.6 Beta 2 has for the most part been simple and quick to fix, so we are hopeful that this will not be a particularly long beta process. However, there are a number of bugs awaiting feedback - please check the bug tracker regularly to see if the developers require further input or feedback on bugs you have reported.

New Stuff

Improved Image Verification - Fetch New Image if Unreadable
If you are having problems reading the Captcha image (image verification system), you can now click the image to fetch a new image without reloading the page.

cURL Support in RSS Poster
cURL will now be used by the RSS poster, if it is available. This allows more feeds to be fetched, including those on secure sites, and allows additional problems to be handled behind-the-scenes.

The Usual Important Stuff

This is beta software. If you are not fully at home with backing-up and restoring your forum, dealing with bugs and regular upgrades, do not install this beta version.

• Beta software is unsupported and you install beta versions at your own risk.
• Some minor bugs remain unresolved at this time, so beta software should not be on production sites.
• You should always back up your database fully before attempting to install beta software.
• If you choose to install this version, you should be aware that we plan to release new beta versions in rapid succession as bugs are fixed and holes are plugged. Do not install this beta version if you are not willing or able to keep up-to-date with new releases.
• The ImpEx import system does not support the 3.6 code yet, and will not support it until the release of 3.6.0 (stable).

Installation / Upgrade
If you are accustomed to the install and upgrade procedure used by vBulletin 3.5 then the 3.6 install and upgrade process will be familiar to you.
Please refer to an earlier release announcement for full instructions.

Hacking / Plugins
While there have not been extensive changes to the underlying architecture of vBulletin 3.6 from 3.5, it is possible that certain hooks may have changed. Therefore you should check with the author of whatever plugins and products to attach to your vBulletin installation to inquire about their compatibility with vBulletin 3.6. Plugin authors should be assured that we do not anticipate major code changes between the Beta 1 code and the final 3.6.0 code, so plugins written for or adapted to 3.6 compatibility should still work with the final code.

Javascript / AJAX Problems
Many of the Javascript files for vBulletin 3.6 have changed. However, if templates are reverted or adapted correctly there should be no issue with cached old Javascript files, as we have implemented a system that should force clients to reload Javascript files after an upgrade. If you discover what you believe to be a Javascript problem, please ensure that you are not using cached files by doing a ctrl+F5 hard refresh before reporting it as a bug.

Reporting Bugs
Please use the vBulletin 3.6 Bug Tracker to report any bugs you find in vBulletin 3.6.

[Mike Sullivan]

Templates Changed Since 3.6.0 Beta 2

What does 'Requires Revert' mean?

The strict definition of 'Requires Revert? Yes' is that the template has been changed in a way that would mean that by keeping an old version of the template, functionality would be lost.

For example, if we add a new feature then that feature may need certain elements of certain templates may need to be altered. Keeping an old customized version would mean that the new feature would not work.

In terms of what you need to do, there's a simple checklist:

• If you have not customized the template, you need not do anything. The old template will be automatically replaced with the new version during the upgrade process.
• If you have customized the template, you will need to do one of the following things:
  1. The easiest thing to do is to revert the template. This means that your customized version will be deleted and the new master template will automatically take its place.
  2. Alternatively, you can use the template compare system to look at what is new in the template and apply the changes to your customized template. This requires careful attention.

contactus
register
newreply
newthread

Image verification code has been consolidated into a new template. Ajax support has also been added to allow a new image to be requested by clicking on the image.

Requires Revert? YES



memberlist

Removed a stray <td>. Only applies when using the memberlist to view member's of joined groups from the User CP.

Requires Revert? No



newattachment

Form action was incorrect.

Requires Revert? No



announcement

Missing > at bottom of template.

<td width="100%"&nbsp;</td>

Requires Revert? No



userinfraction
userinfractionbit

Added missing tabindex to better direct the order of tabbing.

Requires Revert? No



postbit_attachment

Added a condition to hide attachment views in RSS feeds.

Reqires Revert? No




threadadmin_movethread

Incorrect form action when moving threads.

Reqires Revert? No




imagereg

New template.

[Mike Sullivan]

You may continue to use this thread to discuss the beta releases.