vBulletin Connect 5.1.5 Alpha 6 is now available

[vB.Org System]

We're proud to announce the release of vBulletin 5.1.5 Alpha X. This is a maintenance release focused on resolving issues within the software. All together over 115 issues have been resolved in vBulletin 5.1.5. In addition to fixing outstanding issues, we've added a few new features and continue to update existing features.

PHP Minimum Version
Due to changes in required third-party libraries, the minimum required version of vBulletin 5.1.5 and higher will be PHP 5.4.0. Also at this time, PHP 5.3.X has reached end of life and will no longer be updated. It is recommended to upgrade your servers to 5.4.0.

Facebook Connect Updates
Facebook Connect in vBulletin 5.1.5 has been reworked and updated to the latest version of the Facebook API. As of December 31st 2014, Facebook will no longer accept Connect Apps under the old API. As of April 30th 2015, Facebook will no longer communicate with Facebook Connect implemented in versions of vBulletin prior to vBulletin 5.1.5. This update reworks how Facebook is integrated into vBulletin 5.1.5 completely down to the CSS in order to provide a better user experience across the board.

Featured Content Slider
A new module has been added to allow you to highlight 'Featured' content. Since vBulletin Connect has been released, you have been able to mark content as featured. This can then be used in searches to allow you to highlight this content. In vBulletin 5.1.5, we have added a customized module that will highlight this content in an Image Slider. Using the first image in the content, you can show off your featured content in a customized module. If there is no image in the content, a default image is provided. You can choose how much content to feature in your slider. This module can be placed anywhere modules are available but is perhaps better suited to some of the wider columns in the layouts.

User Mentions and Notifications
New BBCode has been added to handle User Mentions in content using either the @name or [user]name[/user]. When using the @name style, you will be given a lookup list of usernames to choose from.

New Style Variables
In order to accomodate these new themes, 26 new stylevars have been added. These can be used to create your own themes or styles. More information to come on this. You can find a complete list of style variables in vBulletin 5.1.5 can be found here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/stylevars

Customers can discuss this release here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/node/4223536

As an Alpha release of software currently in development, no support is provided for this version of vBulletin at this time. It is not advised to use this software on production sites.