Oxwall 1.2 Release
Oxwall Foundation is proud to announce the long-awaited Update to 1.2.
We consider this a major step forward, as both admins and users will see the results of the Update across the entire platform.
You might already know that this release brings you an Advanced Photo Upload, More Privacy Options, an Enhanced Newsfeed, and Improved Text Input. (For more details on these features please refer to the wonderful post by Oxwall Founder Emil). Alternatively, you can read on for a point-by-point explanation of the changes we made to the software.
CORE CHANGES
Enhanced Text Input
My Preferences now include subscription options for Mass Mailing
Mass Mailing now sent only to active (non-suspended) users
New option to create a customizable Welcome Letter
Javascript Code now available throughout the site for web statistics, special effects, and other purposes
Favicon change in page settings
New option to include Avatar Upload and ‘Terms of Use’ checkbox to Registration
NEW PRIVACY PLUGIN
Download and install this new plugin from Oxwall Store (but only after you upgrade the platform to 1.2). After the Privacy Plugin is activated in the Admin Area, network members will have several options for setting up their profile and content privacy. All other plugins across the platform will be affected correspondingly.
TWO NEW THEMES
‘Spring’ ‘Grunge’
IMPROVED FEATURES
Advanced Photo Uploader
Upload up to 100 photos at once
Rotate and auto re-size
Add tags and descriptions
Newsfeed
Now corresponds to privacy options
Improved news item relevancy system (promotes only member-related news items)
Improved news item dynamics (shows only recent actions related to news items grouped, as opposed to several news items for every similar action)
The long awaited Newsfeed content customization options for admins
Instant Chat
Sound notifications for messages
‘Friends Only’ or ‘View All’ modes
Misc
Mailbox captchas for sending bulk messages
Options to turn off file attachments and set allowed file sizes
Newsfeed birthday notifications
Various minor bug fixes
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INSTRUCTIONS
Download
The new shiny Oxwall 1.2 in downloads section: www.oxwall.org/download
Update: File Permissions
IMPORTANT: There's an old permissions problem that can affect your update process. Before you attempt to update your site (either manually or automatically) you need to set full permissions recursively on your ow_static folder. For example in Linux you need to execute chmod -R 777 ow_static command. If you work with an ftp manager here's an article to help you.
Autoupdate
IMPORTANT: Upgrade to Oxwall 1.2 before upgrading any plugins! Seriously, you don't need to end up with a broken website. Upgrading is easy, just hit that button in the admin area. After that feel free to update and install all other plugins. Even if after platform update your site seems to be broken, keep updating plugins. You should be fine in the end.
Manual update
If you want to update manually, grab the scripts in downloads sections as well.
Themes
Keep in mind, themes need to be updated too. 'Graphite' and 'Club' will be auto-updated since they are in the package but other themes require your attention. Download your updated theme from the Store. If you made any changes in files, you will have to merge them with the new ones since they contain important fixes and additions. If you didn't change anything in files directly but in admin area only, feel free to overwrite the theme folder ow_themes/your-theme
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Oxwall Foundation is truly grateful to the entire community for its support and understanding during the prolonged waiting cycle, as well as assistance and feedback during the actual development. We are really proud of our work and hope that our efforts will improve your Oxwall experience even further.
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UPDATE: To kill some minor bugs that aren't showstoppers (but are annoying to know about) we've just pushed 1.2.1 update. Apply it with all above instructions. If you already have 1.2 working just wait for autoupdate to popup and press it with no hesitation!