here is the first release candidate version of Icy Phoenix.
What's New
- CMS Administration recoded with new features (some AJAX) and restyled
- CMS Blocks and Layouts recoded from scratch to increase flexibility and performance (now block style is in a single file to help designing new styles)
- New template structure: it is now possible to create brand new templates by just creating a CSS and a CFG file, this will reduce the number of files needed for each template, reducing also the job in case of updates or customizations; not only, you will be able to easily create combinations between different templates without having to duplicate directory structure
- Common CMS and ACP templates now fully independent from all other templates
- Common JS and CSS in common folder and possibility to include extra CSS and JS via PHP without editing TPL
- Some Functions and other common includes splitted among several files to reduce memory charge and increase performance
- Created new overall vars and switches to increase flexibility and performances (old switches were based upon loops, new ones are based on conditions, which are faster to be processed)
- English language files grammatically reviewed (thanks Lopalong!) and in some cases updated to the new phpBB 3 format
- New Junior Admin permission which gives full admin power while in the forum but restricted in ACP and CMS (ACP modules can be assigned via Junior Admin management and CMS permission for CMS management)
- Brand new Statistics system which integrates new features and replace also old Site History page
- Bots Parsing now is DB dependent and bots can now have REG access... also you can now add a switch for bots in TPL files to avoid bots spidering something you don't want them to
- URL Rewrite modified to be more efficient
- Print Page improved
- Added Google Search page to be used alternatively the standard search system, this will reduce the charge on your server
- Colorize username function recoded to reduce looping and cache issues with a large userbase
- Recoded caching system which in older Icy Phoenix version was proved to fail for high traffic sites: this new way to cache should be more efficient and should reduce CPU charge under stressing condition
- Birthdays and Calendar should now use less resources than before, again big sites will benefit from this
- New CRON system which should be easier to be customized and improved... basic functions already added, new features to come with future versions...
- Created new user related functions to simplify Icy Phoenix integration and coding: user_get_avatar, build_im_link, PM Class, generate_user_info
- AJAX Sorting in some ACP and CMS pages to speed up things in administrating things
- New Recent Topics page allowing admins to track latest users activity
- Forums Sorting capabilities both by adding alphabetical sorts and columns headers links
- Higher Lang Encoding compatibility
- Mass PM feature integrated in Mass Email section
- Brand new Ads and Banners system
- Mass Email supports now full HTML format for nicely formatted newsletters
- Smileys Categories section... it is hardcoded to improve performances even with thousands of smileys
- Step by step DB Backup System similar to MySQLDumper... to avoid nasty timeouts when backing up the site
- HighSlide JS (http://highslide.com/) integration
- Many smaller updates and features... install the release candidate to discover all of them!
- Requirements
Spoiler: [ Show ]
- Fresh Installation
Spoiler: [ Show ]
- How To Upgrade From phpBB
Spoiler: [ Show ]
- How To Upgrade From Old Icy Phoenix Versions
Spoiler: [ Show ]
- How To Upgrade From Icy Phoenix Beta Versions
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Available Packages
Icy Phoenix 1.2.21.48 RC 1
Package Name: Icy Phoenix
Package Version: 1.2.21.48 RC 1
Release Spot: Test the new smileys categories...
DOWNLOAD: Icy Phoenix 1.2.21.48 RC 1
As per HighSlide JS license agreement I report this:
Package Version: 1.2.21.48 RC 1
Release Spot: Test the new smileys categories...
DOWNLOAD: Icy Phoenix 1.2.21.48 RC 1
As per HighSlide JS license agreement I report this:
- Highslide JS is not free for commercial use
- HighSlide JS license agreement
This is only the standard package, should you be interested in having extra languages or styles, currently they are only available @ SVN (check the SVN topic to have more info about this):
http://svn.assembla.com/svn/icy_phoenix
http://svn.assembla.com/svn/icyphoenix_langs
http://svn.assembla.com/svn/icyphoenix_langs
Please note that currently (2009/04/02) only Dutch, English and Italian are up to date with the RC... other lang packs won't work properly!
I'll update this post as soon as other languages will be updated to work with the RC... be patient, we are all volunteers here!
Support
During the RC phase a basic level of support will be given only for standard installations. We will provide answers to general setup and update questions, configuration problems and support for determining common problems mostly related to bugs. We will not support modifications and customizations until the final release.
Please note that if you decide to upgrade your existing site with this version, you may face some problems and you may not be able to recover your datas in case something goes wrong. Make sure you have a full backup before proceeding.
Should you ask for support, please remember that this is an open source community and me and all the Staff are doing all for free and in their spare time... be kind, be patient and respect other users efforts and hard work.
Enjoy Icy Phoenix!
Luca Libralato
Luca, your jobs always astonish me! 
