e107 Inc. releases its initial alpha version of e107 v2.

The alpha release is a fact.

The alpha release is a fact. Over the past few weeks e107 Inc. has been providing sneak peeks of the - by many anxiously awaited - version 2 of e107 CMS. The development team has now reached a stage where it is time to involve the community more actively. We need your help!


Testing required!
As already mentioned in a previous blog post; multiple areas, features and functionalities in the 2.x release of e107 have had limited testing in live website environments. We need your help to make sure all of these features work as they should.

Be aware that the alpha release is a development release. Caution is advised when upgrading from a live website. Always make proper backups before upgrading! The team takes great care in providing a stable system, we don't expect anything to break. Having said that, there are going to be bugs but that is exactly what the alpha is for!

These are some of the areas that we would like to receive feedback on:
- The upgrading process from v1.x to v2.x. This should be a matter of uploading the alpha release files onto the latest v1.x installation. After visiting your website you will be redirected to the admin area where it will assist you in the upgrade process. Your data will be retained but please always backup your data first, as with any update, just in case.

- Backwards Compatibility (BC). This includes the ability to use plugins and themes (that were originally created for 1.x) on 2.x installations. Anything that worked on a 1.x installation should work on 2.x. (In some cases minimal adjustments may be required).
The forum plugin is an exception to this as it has been heavily modified in the way it stores its data. You can notify us of outdated plugins here: https://github.com/e107inc/e107/issues/195

- New features. In my previous blog post, I highlighted several new features such as the media-manager and the integration of jQuery and Bootstrap. Feel free to comment on all of those new features.

How can you help? Some specific instructions:
The upgrading process is basically the same as with any other upgrade of e107.

1) Backup your website. No matter what you do, make sure you have a complete backup including the MySQL database so you can revert back if needed.

2) Download the v2-alpha1 update package (link below). If you are currently using different folder names than (e107_*, e.g. e107_plugins), rename the folders in the upgrade package locally first before uploading.

3) Upload all of the files by FTP over your current v1.x installation (preferably the latest) making sure you overwrite existing files.

4) When you navigate to your website, you will be redirected to the admin area to perform updates. In the admin area, there will be a message stating an update is available. Hit that button.

After applying the required updates, you are on the alpha version of v2.
You can also choose to set up a fresh installation of v2.x. A video has been created which illustrates the installation process of a fresh installation:


Here’s what to do next:

- Try it! Report any bugs in the Github issue tracker here: https://github.com/e107inc/e107/issues
When posting issues to Github, please keep this in mind:
1) Be as specific as possible, providing as much information as possible. Errors and screenshots are very useful!
2) Try to limit each issue report to one specific issue rather than including many different problems in one issue report.

- Use the (v2 specific) forums for general feedback such as positive comments or constructive criticism. Feature requests will be welcomed at a later stage (ie. after the stable release). If you are unsure about a bug, the forums are the place to discuss it before posting on Github. This will help to keep the Github tracker clean.

- Help by CONTRIBUTING to e107!
If you are somewhat comfortable with coding websites, you should consider contributing to e107 by forking e107 and providing pull-requests. This is THE opportunity to contribute! More info on forking and pull-requests can be found here: https://github.com/e107inc/e107/wiki/Contributing

If you have any questions regarding contributing to e107, please do not hesitate to ask any team member. We definitely welcome new contributors and we would love to see new faces joining us in development.

Final notes.
The first alpha release is here, this means that we are getting closer to the stable release of v2.x. Here are some final notes:

- For now, you will be able to use e107 in the English language only. Please refer to my previous blog post for an explanation.

- Github provides a wiki that is currently used for some v2.x documentation. It includes coding standards, contribution instructions and specific notes on v1.x themes and plugins. Take a look here: https://github.com/e107inc/e107/wiki

- This is the first alpha release. The purpose of this stage is to introduce and finalize a release candidate with the participation of current developers and site owners so they become familiar with, and have input on, new standards and functions that will enable them to work with more creativity and fewer restrictions.

You can easily check the ‘pulse’ of the development progression here on Github: https://github.com/e107inc/e107/pulse. This will give you a quick overview of all the development activity in a given period.

It doesn’t stop there! The development team will continue to improve your experience with e107 by adding new exciting features over time. This is just the beginning!


Download your copy of the official version 2-alpha 1 here: here

Enjoy!
Moc