[IPS]IPS Community Suite 4.1: Upgrade Prep

[Administrator]

Version 4.1 of IPS Community Suite is nearly ready for its supported release. We have fixed hundreds of issues leftover from the 4.0 versions, introduced dozens of new features, and made the system run much faster.

Check out the release notes and preview blogs for more information.

When you upgrade from version 4.0 to 4.1 there are a few things to know and we will touch on the big points here. Be sure to read the release notes for a complete list.

Theme Changes

There are quite a few theme changes in 4.1 but most will not destroy 4.0 themes completely. You may need to update some areas though. If you used the custom CSS feature or the easy mode theme editor then most of those settings will be preserved in the upgrade. Note that the globalTemplate did change, specifically to remove the "utilitiesMenu" template bit. The upgrade system will attempt to handle all this for you but if there are any issues you can either update your theme or revert any templates causing issues. The system will show you a warning if there are any problems.

You can check out out theme difference tool to see all changes. Most 4.0 themes will work just fine on 4.1 and those that do not generally just require small updates. Be sure to do a test upgrade on a backup first to see how it goes.

Menu Manager

The new Menu Manager in IPS Community Suite 4.1 is a powerful new feature that gives you much more flexibility in your top level menu structure. When you upgrade, the system will make its best guess on how the menu should be shown. Of course you may not like this layout but you can easily change it in the AdminCP under the Menu Manager. Just drag and drop to whatever menu setup works best for you!

Activity Streams

Many older areas like View New Content, My Content, and more are now merged into the new Activity Streams feature. You can still replicate all that those old areas did and we actually ship with some default Streams to get you started. You can also, if you like, set an admin-default stream that shows in the upper right area automatically. Your members can override that with their own defaults if they find they like their own custom streams better.

 

For example, every morning when I get online I first check a custom Stream I created that I named "Home" which I selected as my default. By checking the default icon, a link always shows in the upper right.

Admins can also define a selection of available streams and set a global default. Here is an example that creates an unread content stream.

 

There are tons of new features, fixes, and enhancements in 4.1. We hope you enjoy!

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