JReviews 4.1 released! ✨ + Twitter Poll 📊

[Alejandro]

JReviews 4.1.0 is here - compatibility and security

This release adds compatibility with PHP 8.1, does away with the usage of un-prefixed vendor library class names, and fixes a few bugs.

A new version of JReviews 3 and several add-ons were also released with some bug fixes.

# JReviews REST API Poll 📊

I am considering developing an official REST API Add-on for JReviews that can be used for creating or integrating into existing apps, consuming on other websites, and so on. This is a big effort so it would be a paid add-on for JReviews Standard, and included in Professional and Developer plans.

👉 let me know if you are interested in a Paid Rest Api Add-on on this Twitter poll

# PHP 8.1. Compatibility (JReviews 4)

PHP 7.4 will stop receiving security updates in 6 months (28 Nov 2022). This means you should be  looking into upgrading your server to PHP 8.x now. Remember to always use the latest versions of PHP and all products you use for compatibility and security.

At this time JReviews 4 is compatible with PHP 7.4, 8.0 and 8.1, but the plan is to also drop support for PHP 7.4.

JReviews 3 is compatible with PHP 7.3, 7.4, 8.0 and there is no plan to add support for PHP 8.1.

Please keep in mind that to be able to upgrade to PHP 8.x you need to ensure that all your 3rd party solutions are compatible. When using Joomla, take into account that Joomla 3 is not fully compatible with PHP 8.1 so you should upgrade to PHP 8.0, until you are able to upgrade to Joomla 4 and JReviews 4.

# Removal of Un-prefixed Vendor Class Names (JReviews 4)

In plain terms what this means is that if product XYZ uses a 3rd party library that JReviews is also using, there won't be an issue with duplicate loading of the library or version inconsistencies. JReviews can keep its own instance of 3rd party libraries always updated which is important for security.

This is a very important change that improves security by keeping libraries updated, and reduces the potential for conflicts with 3rd party solutions now and in the future.

# JReviews 3 End of Life Reminder

JReviews 3 is now in maintenance mode and will receive support and bug fixes until September 30, 2022. Active development of new features will continue only for JReviews 4.

That's all for now!

Alejandro