CBACK Forum v4.12 released

Today we released version 4.12 of the CBACK Forum. Among other things, we have introduced extensive optimizations for new web server environments as well as some new, modernized and improved functions. The update is available free of charge to all our users with an active service package via the Client-Panel. Expired service packages can of course also be easily extended there. New customers will of course receive direct access to the latest version when they purchase a license. As usual, developers can find changelogs for template and language files in the CBACK Community, so that their own template or language packages can be updated to the new version more easily. As part of the extensive modernization of the software core, the minimum system requirement for CF4 has been increased to PHP version 7.2. A PHP version higher than 8.1 is generally recommended for execution, as this offers even better performance and improved security. Due to many adaptations to new database and PHP environments, which are gradually becoming established with hosters, all users are recommended to update to the current CF4 version.

Here are a few highlights of the new features in CF v4.12

The MIRA theme has been given a makeover

Our default template "MIRA" received a few visual modernizations with this version, especially in the header. In addition, the style and the ACP have been adapted to our new corporate design. The new look was already active in the CBACK Community with the relaunch of our own website; now everyone can enjoy the fresher layout.

Extensive optimizations for PHP >= 8.2 and MySQL Strict environments

Web server software is constantly evolving and database environments in particular are now often provided in strict mode, which requires very precise handling without fault tolerance for database queries and table structures. In addition, many database systems are now operated in utf8mb3 or utf8mb4 as default, which sometimes requires additional adaptations. With CF v4.12, we have responded to new requirements, further optimized the existing PHP 8.2 and 8.3 compatibility and extensively changed things in the database structure in order to be prepared for newer systems and environments in the near future. In addition, we have already made some preparations in the software core for future developments of the CBACK Forum. We strongly recommend that you make a backup of the database before the update, as extensive optimizations will be carried out during the update process. In general, it is always a good idea to make a backup before every update. Thanks to some adjustments to the database structure, we were also able to improve the performance of CF4 for large communities.

Messenger and social media: New fields added, old ones removed

In addition to the option of creating your own individual fields for the user profile, we have adapted the standard fields of the profile to new social media and messenger services and removed old, irrelevant messenger services such as ICQ or Hangouts and added new or more frequently used services instead. A few new fields for the most popular social networks have also been added. These are now also conveniently linked in the profile, making it easier to add new contacts.

Bye Smarty 3, hello Smarty 4

We decided to forego far-reaching downward compatibility in favor of further development and to increase the minimum PHP requirement for CF4 to PHP version 7.2. This also allowed us to change the template engine used from the previous Smarty 3.x branch to the Smarty 4.x branch. This was particularly important as support for Smarty 3.x has now been discontinued. With this change, we can now guarantee not only more compatibility, but also more up-to-dateness.

New cookie consent with better layout and more functions

CF4 is GDPR-compliant out-of-the-box and only uses technically required cookies. This means that if no tracking scripts are subsequently added and no Google ReCaptcha is activated as the CAPTCHA solution, the forum system does not require explicit cookie consent in accordance with the EU Cookie Directive. Until now, however, it was not possible to distinguish between technically necessary and third-party cookies without plugins. We have therefore changed the cookie consent with CF v4.12: If activated, you can now distinguish between "only required" and "all" cookies. There is also a switch within the entire template construct that allows you to react to the user selection when individually integrating additional services (e.g. statistics tools). This gives plugin developers and website operators more flexibility to implement their extensions in compliance with data protection regulations. This means that users can decide for themselves whether to allow only the required technical cookies or also extended tracking or 3rd party integrations like YouTube. In most cases of installed forums, this is a good solution because it offers more flexibility for both sides without the need for additional consent tools or plugins. The following global switch is available in all templates to react to the status "all cookies allowed". Just put it around all the scripts you add that require this state of confirmation:
For technical only or all cookies, the switch would look like this:

One more thing …

Even though we still don't officially support or develop/modernize the MySQLDumper package from our partner DSB and the product is also no longer officially maintained, many users still love this quick way of creating database backups. MySQLDumper was not compatible to PHP 8, but we resurrected the Package you can install via the CF4 ACP to work again on most PHP 8 Environments (without guarantee for all systems and configurations though!). If you used the CF4 Package of MySQLDumper in the past, just delete the created folder of MySQLDumper and reinstall the tool again from your CF4 ACP to get a changed version that should work on newer server environments again. But remember: We still don’t support or develop MySQLDumper (as it is an external tool not created by us) nor guarantee any functionality. But at least we give you this additional backup option for shared hosts with larger databases or the possibility for past users to restore your old DB dumps. However, especially on own servers, we recommend to use another backup-tool or even better a hoster-side backup integration instead. A functional backup is the most important thing when it comes to an unforeseen problem.

All fixes, features and optimizations are listed in the changelog below:

We hope you enjoy the new version!