Category Archives: Release

Oxwall 1.5.3 Cron Fix

Posted on by

Following the last week’s release of Oxwall 1.5.2 we were alerted to an issue with cron job encountered by some of the users. Without postponing the resolution until a future major release, we have eliminated the problem with the unplanned minor Oxwall 1.5.3 update.

  • Fix for cron job notification in Admin Area (even if a cron command is setup right).

Note that the fix does not affect any of the third-party projects, thus the developers in the community are not required to make any changes in their plugins due to this update.

Don’t forget to check out the full list of goodies (new theme, plugins and platform improvements) released with Oxwall 1.5.2. As always, bу sure to backup your sites before attempting this latest update.

Oxwall 1.5.2 Released

Posted on by

Oxwall 1.5.2 Released

Right when you didn’t expect it, (oh wait, you did) Oxwall 1.5.2 hits the Earth. This is a scheduled maintenance release that you are recommended to use over all previous versions.

Available for immediate download: oxwall.org/download

The new theme

Meet Showcase theme!

Showcase

Cloudflare

This new plugin is for connecting your website to your Cloudflare account. It allows you to decrease your page load time by 20-30%, decrease hosting server load time, and maintain your website up for static content when it’s actually down.

We recommend Cloudflare because we use it at Oxwall.org. They also have a free plan.

View setup manual.

IE8 support drop

With this release we decided to pull the plug on IE8 support. It’s an old, insecure, standards-be-damned, dead-on-arrival browser by Microsoft that clearly shouldn’t be used at this point.

Starting with 1.5.2, Oxwall no longer supports IE8, and this is good news for everybody: 1) if you are still using IE8, here’s a nice little reason #598453739842035609 to drop it and download a better, newer, more secure browser, such as Google Chrome or Firefox. 2) if you don’t use it, you will enjoy faster development cycles from our team.

- Changelog -

Platform

  • run the cron job on page refresh
  • redesigned tag input
  • direct permissions management for index/dashboard/my profile widgets.
  • fixed minor issues with the default Origin theme
  • fixed glitch with single choice/drop down profile questions
  • installation script now overwrites config.php if permissions are allowed
  • fixed markup issue on Privacy&Permissions page in admin area
  • fixed markup issue on Pages&Menus page when too many menu items are added to the main menu area
  • rss widget: links now open in new window
  • added default delimiters in toolbar for IPC decorator
  • redesigned “Choose theme” page in admin area
  • fixed an ability to remove account type if any profile questions are assigned to it
  • fixed a glitch with too long titiles for widgets on site index/dashboard/profile view pages

Activity Notifications

  • added an option for users to receive notifications immediately
  • added notification when someone posts a status on user’s profile page

Import contacts

  • added invitation by email
  • fixed facebook invitation page
  • added HTTPS support for facebook import configuration (Secure Canvas URL)

Photos

  • added “Upload photos” button on “view photo album” page
  • redesigned comment box – redesigned “Add photo” page

Other plugins

  • Mailbox: fixed markup issues
  • Blogs: added My Drafts button
  • Events: redesigned attendance buttons
  • Newsfeed: fixed a link to profile in birthdate entry
  • Forum: changed the way attachments are named

- Upgrade -

As always, do not forget to back up your sites before launching the update, just in case, as an extra precaution.

  • Back up your site
  • Update the platform (Instructions)
  • Update all of the installed plugins
  • Update your themes.

Oxwall 1.5.1: Bug Fixes and New Theme

Posted on by

We hope everyone had enough time to play around with Oxwall 1.5, since we are ready to give you the next regular update. This release will remedy a few pesky bugs left from 1.5, and will further improve the software performance.

  • Profile questions are no longer removed alog with deleted account types;
  • Site activity notifications are now sent to users who haven’t logged in for more than two days;
  • Slideshow preloader improved;
  • Blogs routing bug fixed;
  • Resolved Cron error for theme processing;

Of course, it’s not a proper Oxwall release without a new theme, and this time we are joining the dark (but fun) side, with an all-original Darklets social networking template. Expect more quality themes in the future. Enjoy!

As always, do not forget to back up your sites before launching the update, just in case, as an extra precaution.

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes.

Oxwall 1.5 available immediately

Posted on by

So, this day has come.

Instead of anticipating the end of the world, we offer you to start the new world with Oxwall. Now your community project can really start living with the new release from our team.

Oxwall 1.5 is available for immediate download. What’s in it?

Important: If you are already running Oxwall of any previous versions, you are encouraged to wait until it’s there in your admin area for autoupdate. Before you attempt it, make sure to:

  • Back up your website. Seriously, folks, better safe than sorry.
  • Install all available plugin updates right after the platform update.
  • If you use a third party theme, update it manually via FTP.

We hope you enjoy Oxwall 1.5 as much as we did while making it. We hope the Internet will now have more quality websites, thanks to your and our work!

Yours infinitely,

Oxwall team

Oxwall 1.5 available on December 19

Posted on by

I’m very excited to share with you what’s about to land on the Earth’s beautiful face with sheer joy, grace, and sanctity, to finally give the “Answer to Life, the Universe and everything”.

I mean, we have just completed development and internal testing for our upcoming release, Oxwall 1.5. This is going to be our most important release this year. What’s so great about it, you ask?

Origin: the new default theme

Oxwall gets the new look’n'feel so it really becomes a whole lot of a different software, especially when Origin works with the new…

Features

  • We redesigned user console, so now it’s less obtrusive, more efficient, and more functional. It can be used by various plugins to enhance user experience and interaction. Now those plugins can get important functions at your disposal within a click or two on every page.

  • As a result, we are introducing real-time on-site notifications, so you’ll be able to find out instantly that someone commented on your photo, or invited you to an event – all while you are chatting or playing games.

  • Instant chat redesigned from ground up to make it more comfortable to chat with friends online.

  • Watchdog, the new native anti-SPAM plugin. It’s functionality is a little limited at the moment, but we commit to make it a valuable part of Oxwall, available out of the box.

  • Very important improvements, including:
    • the ability for admin to edit users’ profile info and view hidden entries;
    • smoothly removing old unused newsfeed items thus improving performance;
    • default rating system improvement;
    • and a million others.

More themes coming soon

We plan to make many new free modern themes based on Origin. You can count on those appearing in the Oxwall Store pretty soon.

Developer beta

… is available immediately. All developers and beta testers will be notified to receive access and start testing the platform and their plugins and themes for compatibility.

Release

For the rest of us, Oxwall 1.5 hits the ground on December 19. That’s what I call stealing thunder from Christmas. Keep tight!

Emil,
Oxwall Foundation team

Oxwall 1.4.1 security release

Posted on by

Our users informed us about a possible security threat present in all Oxwall versions, including 1.4. We eliminated it and rolled out this unplanned security release. It contains:

  • User Role management security fix;
  • Prevention of possible XSS attacks in profile questions.

Please update to Oxwall 1.4.1, as soon as it’s available for automatic update in your admin area.

Oxwall 1.4.0: New Photo Viewer, Google Contacts Importer, Improvements and Fixes

Posted on by

Hey guys, remember when we promised you a hot summer ahead? Well, the time has come, and we are ready to roll out the next eagerly anticipated update! By now you’ve seen bits and snippets of it everywhere, but here’s the real deal: Oxwall 1.4.0 is finally here. Before you get to it, though, don’t forget to

BACK UP YOUR SITE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE!

Seriously, this will save you a lot of headache if something goes wrong, although, nothing really should. Anyway, just follow these simple steps and you’ll be fine:

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes;

Also, don’t forget that you don’t have to do a thing manually. Just wait for the AUTO UPDATE BUTTON, pressing which will do the trick. The button will appear in the Admin Area within 24 hours after the launch of the update.

So, let’s get down to business and see what’s inside Oxwall 1.4.0:

PHOTO

  • Completely redesigned photo browsing;
  • Private photos: fixed display in top rated list;
  • New design element, Context Action: currently on photo view only;

INVITE FRIENDS

  • Google Contact Import is back and improved;

QUICK LINKS

  • New dashboard widget Quick Links, instead of separate plugin widgets;

NEWSFEED

  • Profile Newsfeed: new ability for others to post;
  • Main  Newsfeed enhanced;

FORUM

  • Added search results order by date and relevance;
  • Form buttons location redesign;

COMMENTS

  • Ability to choose preview images for posted URLs;

VIDEO

  • Long titles and descriptions are now truncated;

GIFTS

  • Fixed a bug with “&” symbol in personal messages;

GROUP LISTS

  • Fixed double paging;

VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS AND FIXES

  • Birthday fields (date/month/day) can be translated via Language section;
  • Fixed online user display in case of “me only” mode;
  • Flagging now works without page reload;
  • Moderators now can see private content for moderation;
  • Various language strings fixed;

So now you can see where our excitement came from. We hope you like the update, and if you do, tell us about it in the comments. The forum is the place if you encounter any problems. Enjoy the update and don’t forget to check our blog for more exiting news about future released.

Get Ready for Oxwall 1.4

Posted on by

Hey guys!

We know you’ve been patiently waiting for a full-fledged release for a long time, and we are happy to tell you that it’s finally coming your way (pretty soon). Those of you following us on Facebook already know how excited we are about the new Photo Viewer, but there’s more in the lineup.

Let’s see. Among other things, we’ve added Gmail contacts importer, additional options for sorting forum search results, profile newsfeed commenting, and redesigned newsfeed activity on the index page, on top of a myriad of bug fixes and other improvements.

All of that and more will be available in about a couple of weeks, right after we finish all in-house quality testing. The full list of all the new features and fixes will be posted along with the notification about the release of Oxwall 1.4.

Cheers!

Oxwall 1.3.2: User and Admin Improvements, Minor Bug Fixes

Posted on by

OXWALL 1.3.2

Following the completion of quality and beta testing we are ready to present you Oxwall 1.3.2. The new release fixes several minor bugs, and also introduces User and Admin improvements among other things.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR SITE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE

Just follow these simple steps while bringing your software up to date, to avoid possible future issues:

  1. Back up your site;
  2. Update the platform (Instructions);
  3. Update all of the installed plugins;
  4. Update your themes;
  5. Enjoy the new version;
AUTO UPDATE BUTTON

The Auto Update button will appear in your website’s admin area within 24 hours after the release of the update.

WHAT’S NEW IN OXWALL 1.3.2

Platform

  • Cron setup changed (now uses HTTP);
  • Default user role is now impossible to remove;
  • Fixed the bug with the number of pics for WYSIWYG gallery;
  • Notifications “Someone posts a wall comment in a group I participate in”, “Someone invites me to a group”, etc., enabled by default;
  • Additional admin now cannot delete the super admin profile;
  • XSS vulnerability in the update script fixed;
  • Added file_get_contents check on server;
  • While editing a custom page it’s no longer possible to enter existing pages’ URLs.
  • Added rel=”nofollow” for auto-linking and WYSIWYG;
  • Changed buttons for group actions on profile lists in admin area;
  • Removed Exception message that happened while approving an already approved member;
  • Changed the order of displaying CSS graphics in the admin area;
  • Multiple language entries corrected;

Blogs

  • Post tags are now added to meta keywords;
  • Added messages about successful post creation and editing;

Friends

  • Fixed friend request template;
  • With friend request a user automatically follows another user;

Instant Chat

  • Fixed ‘OW Debug’ error message when admins deactivated ‘Friends’ plugin;
  • Fixed ‘last activity 42 years ago’ bug;
  • Removed switching ‘for all’ and ‘friends only’ modes, making it dependent on the ‘Friends’ plugin;

Links

  • ‘More’ button does not stick to the last letter any more;
  • Links now open in the new window;

Forum

  • ‘Ghost’ topics now removed in five days after the original topic move;
  • User no longer redirected to a new forum section after moving a topic;
  • Fixed ‘Latest Reply’ field when author profile deleted;

Video

  • Fixed Flash object overlap;

Advertisement

  • Now more than 14 banners can be added to one ad place;
  • Added the ‘Hide Ads’ authorization action for user roles;

Events

  • New events are now at the top of the list;
  • Long event locations now stay within widget;
  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated you can invite all site users (who were not invited yet and are not registered for event);
  • Invite interface now shows all site users (up to 100) if ‘Friends’ plugin is inactive;
  • Added ‘Accept/Decline’ buttons to event invitations;
  • Event notification now disappears after visiting event page;

Mailbox

  • Fixed avatar while sending private messages from profile;

Privacy

  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated all ‘Friends Only’ settings change to ‘Only Me’;

Groups

  • If ‘Friends’ plugin deactivated you can now invite all site users (up to 100);
  • Group listings changed;
  • Invite notifications now disappear after visiting invitation list or group pages;

Newsfeed

  • Redesigned group activity display;
  • Individual pages for every newsfeed item;
  • New option to choose preview picture for attached URLs;

Birthdays

  • E-mail notifications about new comments or likes for birthday items;

Enjoy the new release and feel free to drop us a line if you encounter any problems with it. Thank you for being such a great community!

Coming Up: Oxwall 1.3.2

Posted on by

Dear members of Oxwall community,

We are happy to inform you about the upcoming update of the Oxwall software. The release will be presented to you after we finish the current round of beta and quality testing, in about a couple of weeks or so.

Oxwall 1.3.2 is mostly a maintenance release, where we’ll fix several annoying bugs and improve numerous features. Among other things you can expect to see Newsfeed, Groups, Events and Data Importer  enhancements. The full list of changes will be released along with the update.