vBulletin 3.7.1 Released
 

vBulletin 3.7.1

It is four weeks today since the 'gold' release of vBulletin 3.7.0. In that time, we have been busy squashing the inevitable collection of bugs that get reported after large numbers of customers deploy a new major version to their servers.

We would like to take this opportunity to convey the details of a new release schedule that we will now be rolling out.

Scheduled Maintenance Releases

In order to make our maintenance release schedule more predictable for customers, and in an attempt to ensure that bug fixes are passed on to users in a timely fashion, we will now be implementing a regime of pre-scheduled maintenance releases.

A maintenance release is classified as one that contains day-to-day bug fixes that do not include serious data loss issues or security flaws. They are designated (usually) by an incrementing of the third version digit, such as 3.7.1, 3.7.2, 3.7.3 etc.

From now on, the longest time customers will ever wait for bug fixes to be released will be two months.

Toward the end of each month, the developers will evaluate the quantity and severity of the bugs found and fixed in the previous month. If there has been an abnormally high number of bugs reported, or the severity of some of the bugs fixed is considered to warrant an early release, the next maintenance version will be brought forward and will be released to customers on the final Tuesday of that month.

If the quantity and severity of bugs is not unusual, the maintenance version will be released on the final Tuesday of the month, two months following the previous maintenance version.

Security Flaws and Data-Loss Bugs

As usual, we will any fix security flaws and serious data loss bugs as soon as we become aware of their existence, and will do a release as soon as the fix is implemented and tested.

Wherever possible, this will be done in the form of a Patch Level (PL) release, where only a small number of files are updated and no upgrade script is required, but when this is not possible, a full release will be performed, as was the case with 3.6.10 and 3.7.0 Release Candidate 4.

Notable Changes and Improvements


New Settings

• Allow Owners to Delete Social Group if Empty
  This option will allow any group owner to delete a Social Group if they are the only member of that group (even if they lack the "Can Delete Own Social Groups" permission)
• Thread Tag Banned Words
  These words will be checked in addition to those listed in includes/searchwords.php to form a list of words whose use is banned in tagging.
• Thread Tag Allowed Words
  Words entered here will be allowed as tags, regardless of whether or not their use would be otherwise disallowed due to length, censorship, commonality etc.
• Tag Cloud: Build Usergroup
  The tag cloud pulls together data from threads in many forums. Users may not be able to see all the threads that make up the tag cloud results. With this option, you can force the tag cloud to be built as if it were viewed by a particular usergroup.

Feature Improvements

Option to control deletion of empty social groups.
Previously, users without permission to delete their own group could always delete the group if no one else was a member of the group. This caused a potential loophole, related to kicking members from the group. There is a new option to control whether owners can delete empty groups without the normal delete group permissions.

Tag delimiter now customizable.
Board administrators can now customer the delimiter used for tagging threads. The comma will still always be used, but this allows administrators to specify a language-specific delimiter (like an Arabic comma) or change to use spaces to separate tags.

Customizable "good words" and "bad words" lists for tags.
Administrators can now specify words that they always want to allow as tags, regardless of commonality or length ("good words"). They can also specifically list words that would be valid tags, but shouldn't be allowed ("bad words"). Be aware that these settings are for exact matches only, not tags that contain particular words.

Tachy Support for Visitor Messages and Picture Comments
Visitor messages and picture comments now fully support the Tachy Goes to Coventry global ignore system.

Upload Memory Improvements
The way file uploads are handled have been re-written in order to reduce memory usage, it is now possible to upload an attachment of several hundred megabytes while only using a few kilobytes of memory. This new method only works when attachments are stored in the filesystem.

Upgrading from Previous Versions

3.7.1 is a maintenance release. We recommend that all customers running prior versions of vBulletin 3.7 upgrade to benefit from bug fixes and stability improvements.

Full instructions for upgrading vBulletin are available here.

PHP and MySQL Requirements

Please note that vBulletin 3.7.x requires at least PHP 4.3.3 and MySQL 4.0.16 or later.

However, we recommend that vBulletin 3.7.x is run on PHP 5.2.6 with APC (or a similar opcode cache) and MySQL 5.0.51 for best performance and stability.

End of Life for PHP 4

The PHP group has announced the end of life for PHP 4. We strongly recommend that customers update their servers to PHP 5.2.6 if they are still running PHP 4. vBulletin 3.7.1 supports PHP 5 without any problems, though you may need to disable strict mode for MySQL, see here on how to enable 'force_sql_mode'.

Note: We will continue to support PHP 4 in the vBulletin 3 series.

Download vBulletin 3.7.1

As usual, vBulletin 3.7.1 is available for all customers with valid, active licenses to download from the vBulletin Members' Area.

vBulletin Members Area


More...

For support questions, please use the appropriate forums on vBulletin.com

wow.. i am the first one to read it !!

im number 2! im sticking with 3.7.0

Im 3 :)
and the patch will not be for the transition from 3.7 to 3.7.1?

none of MY edited templates had been changed ... thats just soo good .. I hate reverting my customization !!

thanks

Thanks for the great update guys.
I will upgrade as soon as I get home from school today.

Ah, not again. :eek:

Done!!

Thanks for the new version

ooo great. NO template edits. i love the releases with no template edits

thanks installing now (although i had to renew for upgrades :S)

there are template edits. You missed this it seems

does that mean we have to revert all the tempates before updating?

Great, job...

Wow...

cool, now does anyone know where I can find DETAILED instructions on how to do an upgrade? The "full instructions" listed above in that link were just not instructional at all.

No, you can update then revert the templates (not required) or incorporate the changes.

Pretty much upload files, run the upgrade script, and make template edits.

when you upload them does it overwrite the existing files? what upgrade script? Template edits? Isnt there DETAILED instructions somewhere? This is all greek to me.

you will notice after upgrade. in your admin cp warns you of templates out of date..simply click the link and revert the templates.

it does over write the old templates. so if u have any customized, they will be lost. just a warning. compare temps before u revert. imo

sure wish there was a way that it would keep are customized add ons

my custom skins are what drives me crazy, im ready to pull them all off the site. getting tired of fixing them with every release. lmao

just last night i updated to 3.7.0, go figure:eek:

thanks for heads up on last tues of month now, at least i can time my fixes some now.

<font color="darkgreen">Say its good to have frequent updates for security flaws but to have to upgrade every 2 months is a nightmare since upgrading is not always th easiest thing.

I would have rather seen patches for security holes and upgrades less frequent.</font>

My board is only a week or so old and still being tweaked before "launch". I'm running a skin as well. Just upgraded and only one template needed to "revert" and it wasn't one that I have never edited before. Smooth upgrade. Was worried, but now I'm extremely relieved...

Upgraded! Smooth as butter.

If the release doesn't address anything you need fixed, then skip it and do the next one.

Read http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/

thx guys. we love you so much.

just installed.

Very Good !I am will make to looked up guiltily zero! I see mistake a number of sheets VBB abounded with

Woo-hoo! I'll be updating as soon as possible. :)

Please be aware that the initial 3.7.1 package have been updated:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showp...26&postcount=5
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showp...15&postcount=6

Tip top. Thanks, going to be upgrading this evening! :)

I've updated by it still says I'm running 3.7.0?

Edit: Wrong directory :D

I really hate the new updates every two months. That means I'll have to do a ton of work, templates edits, ect. (because I have a custom style).

Just trying to get more people renew the members area license and earn more money! Very disappointing.

readjono, it said I was still running 3.7.0 -- I just left it a few minutes, refreshed the page and it changed the version number.

Nobody is forcing you to install the 2-monthly updates.

thanks for this new version of vbulletin
but why vbulletin.org don't upgrade to vbulletin 3.7.1!???!!!!

But you should always run the latest version anyway. What if one is a security patch? I'll have no choice to upgrade. Failed attempt IMO.

If a security issue is discovered, then it will be released with an PL version, not during a scheduled bi-monthly update. All explained in the first post.

I have my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. I've seen a lot of unhappy people on vbulletin.com, too. Not only that, but here at vbulletin.org. Threads just get closed, so there is no point discussing...

Maybe if you had an opinion that wasn't already addressed in the announcement?

Stating that you don't want to install a new version every 2 month, has been replied to. You keep trying to make your point by introducing security updates into the debat, which already is covered in the announcement.

You are free to give normal constructive feedback and opinions, but if you just ignore the announcement and continue on the rant you have started, then i don't see how i can give a more accurate answer then what is already posted.

Everybody is allowed to have an opinion, you're even allowed to post it on a site as part of the discussion, providing constructive feedback with arguments. As with every situation you can't always please everybody. In this case you can't seem to be pleased. Thank you for expressing yourself I think everybody by now knows what you had to say. Leave some space for others to reply to this thread too dude.

Eh? I only mentioned it once, and it was an opinion. How have I ignored the announcement? I read the announcement and fully understand it. I just wanted to give my opinion in this thread, I thought that is what it is for? Is it not?

--------------- Added [DATE]1211990093[/DATE] at [TIME]1211990093[/TIME] ---------------

Floris, I know that everyone cannot be pleased, I was merely expressing my opinion. I am leaving space for others to reply, I'm not stopping them, am I? I don't want to get into argument how about this, but when someone replies to one of my certain posts, then I have to reply and give my thoughts again. Sorry, I guess.....

You make a good point. If someone replies to you, you can't just leave them hanging. Your a coder and you are use to replying to every little post no matter how small the problem. You have expectations and I can see you are above them. I do agree with your points. All though I will always be renewing because I love updates I do have to say I hate the updates that cause me to revert my templates. This is an issue with me considering I have a highly customized template. Of course ever since VBulletin 3.7 hit most plugins are all plugin and no template edits so it isn't as bad as it use to be.