JReviews 2.3 Beta 1 released - compatible with J1.5 and J1.6

[Alejandro]

We are very pleased to announce the release of JReviews 2.3, GeoMaps 0.5 and PaidListings 0.5. These releases mark a major milestone because they bring compatibility with Joomla 1.6 even ahead of the J1.6 RC release. We are confident to say that JReviews is now one of the very few full fledged extensions to work natively in both J1.5 and J1.6.

 

The new PaidListings version also has several bug fixes reported previously as well as some new features like notifications on offline order approval and invoices for incomplete orders.

 

For a complete list of additions, changes and fixes read the changelogs:

 

JReviews Changelog

 

PaidListings Changelog

 

GeoMaps Changelog

 

UPGRADE WARNING:

 

Do not install this version on a production site. It is a beta version for use on development sites only. Also if you have any theme or file overrides you will need to rename your overrides folder until you've updated all your modified files to the newer version.

 

What does Joomla 1.6 compatibility mean?

 

Component, modules and add-ons can all be installed in Joomla 1.6. Joomla 1.6 compatibility brings subcategories into JReviews and also the ability to use new user groups created with J1.6's ACL system under the different Access Settings in JReviews.

 

What about Joomla 1.5, are there any changes there?

 

The focus of the 2.3 release was to create a new version that would be compatible with both J1.5 and J1.6 going forward so that we could be more efficient in adding features going forward. We thought about creating a separate version, but that would have required too much effort for bug fixing and maintenance as well as for adding new features. So we dedicated a couple of months to put together this version.

 

A lot of the code was re-factored for compatibility with both Joomla versions which is why we are releasing this as a beta version. We added minor new features and also fixed many bugs in this release.

 

Will I be able to continue using my JReviews 2.2 themes in this new version?

 

Yes, for the most part. However, there are many theme related changes as well so you must upgrade your themes or transfer your changes over to the new versions. A request from a few users in the past was to publish a list of changes and we've done this for this version change for both the default theme and helpers files. You can see them here:

 

http://www.reviewsforjoomla.com/versions/jreviews_theme_changes_2.2_to_2.3.html

 

http://www.reviewsforjoomla.com/versions/jreviews_helper_changes_2.2_to_2.3.html

 

We recommend using a comparison tool to update your files:

 

http://docs.reviewsforjoomla.com/What_happens_with_modified_files_when_JReviews_is_upgraded

 

Who can download this version?

 

Anyone with a valid upgrades package can download this version from the client area. The initial beta is only a downloadable version, but we've added a new upgrade feature in the JReviews admin that enables you to choose whether you want to upgrade to beta versions if these are available. That is going to make releasing new beta versions a lot easier since users can quickly upgrade to those, if they choose to do so, via the remove updater.

 

Once you install the beta, you can go to the remote updater screen and check the beta box to also get new versions of the add-ons if you are using those.

 

Why should I download the beta?

 

To help us find bugs and make 2.3 stable as soon as possible! This is the version we are going to be using for development going forward which means all the great new features that we'll be adding to JReviews are going to be on 2.3 and higher only.

 

Should I be using J1.6 then?

 

No, you should not use J1.6 until an RC version of J1.6 is released and even then we recommend you wait until a stable version is out. However, if you are planning on starting a project that is going to take several months to complete, then it might fall within the Joomla stable release timeline and you can consider using J1.6 for development of that project. Right now our focus will be on fixing all J1.5 related bugs first since that is what everyone is using for their sites today.