JForum 2.7.0 beta 1 available

It's been a while since the last release, and we've been busy adding features and fixing bugs to make JForum even better than it already is. While the next version is not quite ready for release, it is stable enough to distribute it more widely and let everyone test it. No additional features are planned before the release, and we know of no bugs, so it should be quite safe to install. A servlet container that supports Servlet API 3.1 is now required, for example Tomcat 8. Some of the features are:

The Trash Can lets you designate one forum as trash can - meaning topics that get deleted are moved to it, rather than actually getting deleted from the database. If the forum is set up to be accessible by admins only, that way you keep deleted topics for future reference without them being publicly visible (which comes in handy on moderated forums frequently)

Banners can be shown on assorted pages, up to 3 at the top and up to 3 at the bottom, either as plain text or with HTML, including links. That could be used for announcements, or ads.

More love for the mobile view

Eight new smilies, some of them animated, like ROFL

Numerous bug fixes

A full list of new features is at https://sourceforge.net/p/jforum2/wiki2/NewFeatures270/, upgrade instructions are at https://sourceforge.net/p/jforum2/wiki2/UpgradingFrom25and26to270/ and you can download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/jforum2/files/.

Once the release is final, an upgrade from this beta to the final version should be quite painless, so you can use this version without having to fear another upgrade later on. All feedback is welcome.

Hi everyone!

Recently, I was trying to use the Banners to place a warning message on our page. For that, I used the "Custom HTML Code". The main problem I have encountered is that the amount of characters that a user can provide is very limited. I couldn't create even a two-sentenced paragraph without it being cut off. This limitation is also a problem for Image and Text links. Most of permalinks have tons of characters, which are cut off after updating the banner.

Could you consider stretching that limitation by much (the more the better) or at least making the amount of characters allowed more flexible for future versions?

Cheers,
Kevin

Huh, just 90 characters; I never noticed that. That should indeed be extended, and will be for the next release.

The good news is that the limit is not checked in the code, it's just the database complaining about receiving too much data. If you can figure out how to widen the datatype of that particular field, you should be all set. It could be as simple as executing the following SQL:

ALTER TABLE jforum_banner ALTER COLUMN banner_name TYPE VARCHAR(1000);

Note that for putting a message on all pages, you can also use the "Public announcement" under Admin Control Panel -> Configurations.