Download XMB

I'm very happy to say XMB 1.9.10 Karl is ready to deploy after a month of continuous testing and development.

What's New In 1.9.10

There are two new system requirements. Servers must have both MySQL version 4.0.16 or later and PHP version 4.3.0 or later installed to run XMB.

Forum posting, moderation, login authentication, and I/O validation have all been completely reorganized to make XMB more secure and stable. The most noticeable change is that XMB will not discard your forum post if you make a simple mistake such as leaving the subject line blank.

An improved forum management screen enables you to move any sub-forum up to the grouped forum level and back again very quickly and safely. Now you can easily consolidate and regroup forums as your website grows.

Captcha colors not only match your forum theme, now the contrast is intelligently adjusted so that the letters are always visible with any background color.

Hundreds of minor defects have been fixed with the way XMB handles usernames, user profiles, user registrations, and u2u messages.

I personally reviewed 22 entries in the National Vulnerability Database, and I am confident we have fixed all of the issues raised in all of these reports.

Many other bug fixes that are listed in the 1.9.10 development forum.

Upgrading XMB

XMB 1.9.8 SP2/SP3 - Good news. I was able to correct a major problem that existed in the upgrade utility. If you ever upgraded XMB before, I hope you will find it is easier to do now! In addition to the repaired utility, I have also prepared an alternative, version-specific upgrade utility that is dedicated to versions 1.9.8 SP2 and 1.9.8 SP3. If we encounter any unexpected trouble with upgrades, then we will have a great solution ready for you!

XMB 1.9.9 - Good news. There are absolutely no database changes when switching to 1.9.10. I personally insisted and fought for this during development. Early adopters of version 1.9.9 will have the easiest upgrade of anyone. Ignore the /install/ and /upgrade/ folders completely. Just make a full backup of your website and then copy the new files to your server. Remember to keep your config.php settings. Then, update the XMB templates through the administration panel by clicking on Templates, then Restore All. Follow these steps and then you are done!

XMB 1.9.x - Good news. As I mentioned above, I was able to repair a major defect in the upgrade utility. This utility is the only way to upgrade older 1.9.x versions of XMB, so it is very important to me that we get it right.

My recommendation for all upgrades is to begin by turning off your forums using the Board Status setting. Make a complete backup of your website. Then copy all the files to your server and follow the upgrade instructions. Make a plan to restore your website if the upgrader doesn't work. You may always ask for advice in the XMB support forum.

XMB Older Versions - There is not an official upgrade path to this version. It might be possible to upgrade your copy of XMB to version 1.9.1 first if you are willing to try that.

Patching XMB

A popular migration path for advanced webmasters is to manually or automatically "patch" the forum files from the current version to the next.

I have posted full patch files using the diff format this evening. They are available in the "Fixes / Patches" forums for versions 1.9.8 SP2, 1.9.8 SP3, and 1.9.9.

Discussion

We welcome your feedback and questions at

http://forums.xmbforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=765234