Team Textpattern is pleased to announce the release of Textpattern 4.8.8 beta, available for immediate download. We do not typically make beta releases of patch versions available, but given the scope of changes since 4.8.7, we are keen to ensure maximum stability and compatibility.

Beta releases are made available for testing as we approach the production-grade release of Textpattern. We do not currently anticipate much deviation from the changes listed below, but we are keen to receive real-world feedback from Textpattern testers, hackers, and enthusiasts before we make Textpattern 4.8.8 generally available as a production release.

Overview

We expect to make Textpattern 4.8.8 available in Q1 of 2022, pending feedback from beta release(s). This is a little later than we anticipated, and we thank you for your patience.

As with any software update, please ensure you retain file + database backups of any Textpattern instances you are upgrading, either via your hosting organisation’s control panel, or from your own recipe.

Download

You can download Textpattern from textpattern.com or GitHub. Both locations provide the same files, along with checksums for validating your download.

To take advantage of Textpattern’s multi-site capabilities, please download the .tar.gz archive as it includes the multi-site scaffold.

From textpattern.com

You can download Textpattern 4.8.8 beta from textpattern.com using the following links,

File download

textpattern-4.8.8-beta.1.zip

SHA256 checksum c498108c3b9c891b74ca3dfbc347448f13e0de2966464ab2aa15e6f762332bed
File size 2021 kB | Created
File download

textpattern-4.8.8-beta.1.tar.gz

SHA256 checksum e33df0b35de7b3fb8bef94ae226bdff98ffbac87608b6f7adeea98224a3c6059
File size 1771 kB | Created

From GitHub

Please take a moment to ‘star’ Textpattern’s repositories on GitHub if they are of interest to you. This really helps us out.

Changes

Headline changes include:

  • Support for PHP 8.1
  • Security: details to be advised (many thanks, Paul Ritchie at Pentest Limited).
  • Fixed: More robust numeric searches.
  • Fixed: Improved query efficiency of category operations.
  • Added: Natural search mode.
  • Added: Random form selection.
  • Added: Support for AVIF image format, on PHP 8.1 or higher.
  • Added: Global limit, offset and sort attributes.
  • Added: url_title attribute to <txp:article /> & <txp:article_custom />.
  • Added: range attribute to <txp:article_image />.
  • Added: date and time attributes to <txp:if_expired />.
  • Added: calendar attribute to <txp:posted /> and similar tags.
  • Added: Substring extraction via escape attribute.
  • Added: <txp:items_count /> tag.
  • Added: Expanded conditional match attribute with comparison operators.
  • Added: UTC is now a permitted time zone.
  • Added: Custom date formats.
  • Changed: <txp:category_list /> with children >1 attribute behaviour.
  • Changed: Global escape attribute operates at the items level in lists.

We are especially interested in feedback on these areas:

  • Compatibility with PHP 8.1, with or without support for AVIF.
  • Compatibility and usability with end-of-life’d PHP versions, considering the Textpattern system requirements.
  • Usability of the new tag attributes.
  • Any unexpected issues appearing in the front-side of your Textpattern sites.
  • Any unexpected issues shown in admin-side Diagnostics.

We have a dedicated support thread for Textpattern 4.8.8 beta feedback where Textpattern users, experts and developers will collate and address feedback. We are grateful for all feedback, even a confirmation that your upgrade went smoothly and no issues arose. We maintain Textpattern issues at GitHub if you would like further insight into where we’re heading with this release and future work.

Thank you for your interest in Textpattern!