Since we announced MyBB 1.8 back in April work towards making a public beta has been slow. This time of year is traditionally the busiest for the team members with exams, workloads and personal projects – not to the mention most of us enjoying the summer (or lack of, in some cases!) – often taking over from our usual MyBB duties. Where we were once working on the code every day there has been weeks without anything being done at all. This is, unfortunately, the perils of volunteer work.
We know you’re all just as excited about MyBB 1.8 as we are, and we haven’t told you everything that is changing yet, so we’re stepping it up a gear to put it all together as fast as we can without compromising our new features. We’ve tried setting deadlines (and failing miserably) and I know you’re sick of the usual ready-when-it’s-ready story so all I can say is please bear with us. We’ll be working hard to bring you this feature update and that starts with our move to GitHub.
Git Migration
Part of the fallout from when MyBB.com was partly taken over was to have an overview look at how we do things behind the scenes to see if we could improve our services. This understandably has a knock-on effect on our development; we decided it was best to drop SVN and move to GitHub ahead of the 1.8 schedule. MyBB 1.6 development also happens over there too.
We’ve briefly hidden the 1.6 repository so that our team can get used to this new service and for us to sort out some new standards for developers and contributors to follow. This is a pretty big change not only for users but for our team as well so we need to take some time to get used to it too.
That being said, we haven’t quite got rid of everything. We will still be using the development site – powered by Redmine – as the central place to report bugs and issues with MyBB and the Merge System. It is up and running but we are having a few problems syncing the repository on GitHub and our local copy here. We hope to have this – and the GitHub project – up and running soon.
Consistency in 1.8
A general trait that has been hanging over 1.8 during planning and early development is consistency; making sure everything we do looks and feels the same as though it is from the same product, system and service. Everything from MyBB.com to the install process on your own forums will be getting a makeover to the new upgraded style giving MyBB in general a clean modern look. We’ve replaced the popular FamFamFam icons with the equally popular Fugue icon set to give 1.8’s UX (user experience) a fresh appeal – meaning 1.8 uses CSS buttons and carries PNG icons instead of GIFs. We’re looking into providing sprite images too for the ever-conscious large forum owner as well as providing theme artists a new opportunity with this style of coding.
1.8 Installer and Postbit
Alongside the jQuery update and base colours, 1.8 themes are sure to be some of the best in the series.
Full Feature Update
So, as you might have thought by now, MyBB 1.8 is going to be a bigger update than most people imagined. While not 2.0-esque, it will certainly provide a full feature update that will require careful planning and action. And, to settle the nerves of the plugin developers, there will be no major updates to the plugin system – meaning for the majority only the compatibility section of your plugins will need updated for them work in 1.8.
By providing an update like this we hope to extend the life of the 1.x series while also providing the tools and processes for developers to create even more amazing themes and plugins. It also gives us, as a team, a chance to rebalance our own structure to provide a better product for you all to enjoy.
MyBB Blog 
Will be ready when it’s ready you guys don’t get paid for this so take as long as you wish. The current version of MyBB is working perfectly fine so there is no rush.
I could actually not agree more with fb92.
But still you are doing a great job. Lots of new feautures have been planned, you are actually not that far away from the final 2.0.
I would actually not mind paying for MyBB. But then, if MyBB becomes into a paid it would loss a lot of its users.
I am buying almost every premium plugins to help the team members of MyBB Group.
But anyways, keep up the great work.
@Mark Topper – MyBB is free and always will be. After all, Free never tasted so good. 🙂
“I am buying almost every premium plugins to help the team members of MyBB Group.”
All third party plugin sites, premium or not, are not directly related to the MyBB Group. We do not earn any money from third party MyBB plugin sites.
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an awesome notice 😀
That’s cool! The only think I don’t like is the design, looks like another apart theme.
I’m really exited for the git migration
@Alvaro – The theme is based on the Apart series as we mentioned in the first part of our 1.8 tour.
I think the Apart style is one of the best MyBB has.
Very easy to update too to your liking….
I agree with you, but it’s supposed to have changes on the new version.
@nights1 – We have modified it a lot from the original Apart theme series. When the beta is released you can see for yourself how different it is.
Thank you very much for letting us know 🙂
Wooow, i like the postbit =D
Good notice n_n
Sounds great, but from the looks of it, I don’t see that it differs a lot from 1.6
I hope that it will stand out more in the previews to be
Looking forward to it. I think people who think that this is not that different from 1.6 are missing the point, which is that it’s 1.6, refined, polished, and solidified so that it is a really useable product between now and the release of 2.0. I think we will continue to see small feature updates during 1.8 — at least, I hope so.
Great, thanks for the update and I can’t wait for this to be released once you’re ready!
Welll its an awesome notice.
Thanks for this tour i’m waiting till now for next version xD.
I like the installation design, the thing that I really dislike the default theme… You’ve to try new designs, new forum structures (for example, the postbit is the same as older versions) not only change the default theme to one that already exists for older versions. 🙂
@Herney Alejandro Domínguez Durán – Please read the first part of the tour. It explains exactly why we’ve chosen to base our new default theme on the Apart series.
Thank You so much for the awesome update 🙂 This is really helpful to us as forum owner to serve our community much better. We are eagerly waiting for this!
Will MyBB 1.8 force you to need a hosting with Perl and Ruby on Rails support?
I only have Perl but not Ruby so I’m not sure if I can install it!
@PepperMintSic95 – MyBB is not dependent on Perl or RoR. MyBB is a PHP forum software. Please see: http://docs.mybb.com/Requirements.html
But I heard that MyBB 1.8 and 2.0 will need the support of them two. Is it not true?
@PepperMintSic95 – That is completely false. 1.8 and 2.0 both rely on PHP. They haven’t got a single line of Perl or Ruby in them.
But you are sure of this?
@PepperMintSic95 – Yes, I am. I have access to both products and neither have nor will ever have anything but PHP in them. Whoever told you MyBB will depend on Perl and RoR clearly has zero involvement with the project.
Are you planning to remove the archive/lite mode. It’s a useless feature. Again are the duplicate pages/content issue in google webmaster on using mybb taken care of ? What about official facebook integration ?
Take time guys. But make each release count. Thanks for the free mybb.
Srinivas
India
@Srinivas – We’re not removing the archive. If administrators do not care for it, they can delete it. There won’t be any official third party integration until at least MyBB 2.0.
Why aren’t we using Github’s issues system out of interest? It would make community development so much easier and I think it has a lot more to offer than Redmine imho.
@Will Pillar – A lot of our users are already familiar with Redmine and Github issues has it’s downsides such as not being able to upload attachments (screenshots, diffs, etc..). Although they have Gists, Redmine seems to be the better choice.
I think you guys should move to github for issues in the long run personally. It’s just easier for everyone to have it all in one place. And, regarding screenshots there is always links and for diffs they can just make a pull request or as you said use gists.
But, to me more positive :P. Any, ETA when the github will become public? Or, will it most likely come with beta release?
Yes I think havin the issues on GitHub would be better.
It’s looking good, keep up the har work, and dont rush! us true fans can wait 🙂
Well I am a true lover of mybb a real dedicated fan that has all the patience in the world for any new release. The software is amazing for being a free source!!
Looking good. Can’t wait!
MyBB 1.8 is “uploaded” on this month?
@soyjaizu – It will be released when it’s ready. There is no set release date.
Give them time. They do not want to have to battle through support topics because such and such bugs are still in the new version. It’ll be done when it is done. If you want it to be done quicker how about you donate to MyBB. They do this work for free.
Are the any MySQL changes? Database changes? When I upgrade I’d like to delete all of my files and pretty much start the forum over but still have the boards, topics, and users.
@cadetandrew – There will be database changes, yes.
Oh. What kind of DB changes? What would you suggest I do if I want to start the website over without harming the users, boards, topics and replies? The main thing I want to do for this is clean out leftover files from plugins. I know there are some unnecessary ones.
@cadetandrew – There will be a large changes to how we handle IP addresses with also the addition of schema changes and such. If you wish you can simply install MyBB 1.8 then change the database details in ./inc/config.php to the 1.6 database then run the upgrade script. You might also want to keep the ./uploads/ directory as it contains user avatars and attachments. Whatever you decide, you’ll be able to use MyBB 1.8 without any issues. 🙂
will there still be support for the classic style posbit
@Wild Roo Enterprises – Yes.
Will password reset codes work first time now, or will users need to continue requesting them twice?
@archprime – I believe that issue is fixed in 1.6.9.
Installer and Postbit snapshot is mybb 1.7 or mybb 1.8 ???
@Ak – MyBB 1.7 is the beta version of MyBB 1.8. There shouldn’t be many changes design wise from what you see here and what 1.8 will look like.
Since everybody is talking about GitHub:
Have you considered something different to GitHub? Gitorious is an Open-Source alternative that is used by big projects like Qt and it can used on theirs servers just like Github, but also can be hosted on your own hardware. Knowing the source could have helped to adress arising issues.
I’m just curious.
@KoenigArthus – One of the benefits of using Github is we don’t need to have our own hosted solution. That means even when our site is down it is still possible for users to access the source code. We’ve said for years that we’re moving to Github eventually so there’s no point in looking for alternatives now. Github and Redmine work smoothly, but Github on it’s own is not the best option.
where it will be realized this? I can’t wait.
@CyberR00T – When it’s ready. There is no set release date.
In this month it will be ready to download yes or no? Please I need this answer because I want to open a my forum.
@CyberR00T – I can’t give you an answer because we don’t know when it will be released. In any case you wouldn’t be able to use it because it would be in beta. For now you can use 1.6 and upgrade to 1.8 when a stable version is released.
Beta release will be available by this month? Can you run that in a live forum?
@Correct US – There is no release date. It will be released when it’s ready. Beta releases must not be used on a live forum. Beta releases are for testing the software for bugs and feedback, not for a production forum.
BTW Why we can’t see the development progress of 1.8 in mybb development site?
@Correct US – Because we’re still integrating Git with Redmine.
May I have a beta copy, if not when will be published. I can’t wait please tell me it’s important.
@kuqo – It’s not even in a beta phase yet. It will be released when it’s released, there is no set date.
how to config mybb support mysql master/slave architecture? I have a master and a slave mysql servers.
@唐毅 – Please ask on the community forums. This blog is not a support center.
Thank you for implementing real CSS buttons 🙂
I’ve been rolling my own for years! Nice to see this will be included.