Hello,

We are pleased to announce the availability of the phpBB3 Beta5 package. This fifth beta release marks the nearing end of the beta testing phase. The next release we anticipate will be Release Candidate 1.

With this beta a full update path is provided from Beta4 to Beta5, as well as the convertor for converting phpBB 2.0.x installations to phpBB3 Beta5. We decided to give away the proposed convertor package to let it properly test and fix any remaining issues encountered before using this as the primary method of converting, the same way we did with the update package release before. This means that you should test converting your forums and report any bugs or issues you notice, but not depend on a successful conversion - you should still not use this beta in a live environment and you should always be able to completely remove your installation to perform a fresh installation. But conversions will allow you to test this beta on a wider scale as well as doing a test run for those wanting to convert their installations once the release candidate is available.

A short explanation of how to do a conversion as well as an update is included within the provided INSTALL.html file, please be sure to read it.

If you decide to do a new installation, please be sure to remove any remaining files, especially those within the cache directory as well as not reusing your database.

Changes since Beta4

• Bug statistics from 27th November 2006 to now
• List of fixed bugs since the 27th November 2006

Below are some guidelines regarding the beta as well as the download locations.

Obtaining Support

During the beta phase a minimal level of support will be given. We will provide answers to general setup questions, configuration problems and support for determining common problems mostly related to bugs. We will not support modifications, custom code/style additions or any users using the beta packages within a live environment, though giving minimal support for the updater and the convertor.

For some support questions or bug reports we may ask you to re-install the beta, clean tables in the database, purge data or other actions which are not advised to do in a live environment. So please be aware that you are still on your own if you run the beta in such an environment.

Beginning with the release candidates full support will be given.

Converting 2.0.x installations to 3.0.x

Even if the convertor is included within this beta, we begin to fully support conversions with the first release candidate.
Please be aware that your test installation may need to be replaced/removed with the release candidate announced.

Also note that the old installation and the new installation need to share the same database, else you are not able to convert.

Minimum Requirements

phpBB3 has a few requirements which must be met before you are able to install and use it.

• A webserver or web hosting account running on any major Operating System with support for PHP
• A SQL database system, one of:
  • MySQL 3.23 or above (MySQLi supported)
  • PostgreSQL 7.3+
  • SQLite 2.8.2+
  • Firebird 2.0
  • MS SQL Server 2000 or above (directly or via ODBC)
  • Oracle
• PHP 4.3.3 or above with support for the database you intend to use.
• These optional presence of the following modules within PHP will provide access to additional features, but they are not required.
  • zlib Compression support
  • Remote FTP support
  • XML support
  • Imagemagick support
  • GD Support

The presence of each of these optional modules will be checked during the installation process.

Security

If security issues arise we won't release a new package immediately. They will be fixed within the CVS tree and incorporated into the next releases. So please be aware that you may be at risk if you run the beta in a live environment while security issues arise. Security issues found should be reported to our security tracker in the usual way.

Translations

We still encourage potential translators to get used to the new language system. The new language pack management system will be released in conjunction with the deployment of phpBB3 to this site. We began to collect the list of translators continuing their work from 2.0.x to 3.0.x, we will announce this list soon to give people an impression of which languages are available for translation. If you are a current 2.0.x language pack author and haven't got a PM regarding 3.0.x translation then please drop me a PM.

If you are translating in a team of people, for example on an international support site, beginning with the translation now might not hurt. You may spot things we are able to easily fix during the beta phase. But also be aware that you might need to keep track of language pack changes on your own.

Available packages

Please note that due to massive file changes it is recommended to use the changed files only package for updating. If you want to test the updater with very much files included you can use the automatic update method.

With this release, there are four packages available.

• Full Package
  Contains entire phpBB3 source and english language files.
• Changed Files Only
  Contains only those files changed from previous versions of phpBB3. Please note this archive contains changed files for each previous release.
• Patch Files
  Contains patch compatible patches from previous versions of phpBB3.
• Automatic Update Package
  Update package for the automatic updater, containing the changes from the last release to this release.

Select whichever package is most suitable for you.

Please ensure you read the INSTALL and README documents in docs/ before proceeding with installation, updates or conversions!.

Documentation

An initial quick start guide is available for use with the betas from the link at the end of this message. This documentation will be evolving over the course of the Beta and Release Candidate phases. If you encounter an error in this documentation, please report it to the documentation section of the bug tracker. If something in the documentation is unclear, please use the 3.0 support forum to seek assistance. We will be monitoring this and may make changes to clarify if necessary.

BETA Download/Documentation

• phpBB3 development section
• phpBB3 Documentation
• phpBB3 support forum
• phpBB3 bug tracker
• Documentation bug tracker
• Non-exhaustive phpBB3 Feature List
• phpBB3 Coding Guidelines
• phpBB3 Sourcecode Documentation

Every section above is accessible from the phpBB3 development section.

We wish you all happy testing,
the phpBB Teams.

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