Version 6.0 Release Notes in Brief

So you're wanting to get up and running with Version 6.0 as quickly as possible? Ok... here's the key points you need to know.

V6.0 Documentation Portal
We have extensive new documentation available covering the many new features, functionalities and API's available in Version 6.0. To view them, visit the Version 6.0 Documentation Portal.

• Version 6.0 introduces new system requirements. You must be running PHP 5.3.7 and later, and have the PDO extensions available to PHP. Version 6.0 is compatible with PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6.
• As this is a major version update, only a full version is being made available. There is no incremental upgrade for users of the latest 5.3 release.
• The new client area template in Version 6.0 is named Six. This will be the default theme for all new installations but for users who upgrade, your configured theme in Setup > General Settings will not change.
• For help getting started working with the new Six template, please refer to Customising the Six Theme
• The previous default theme in Version 5.x releases will from now on be referred to as Five.
• The Original admin area theme has been deprecated and is no longer supported.
• Custom logo image files need to be relocated from /images/logo.png or /images/logo.jpg to /assets/img/logo.png and /assets/img/logo.jpg
• Version 6.0 updates the templating engine to Smarty 3.1. Some features of Smarty have changed. Please check our Version 6 Template Migration Guide to check if you will need to make any changes.
• One of the biggest changes to Smarty relates to the use of {php} tags within template files. This functionality is now disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled in Setup > General Settings > Security should you require it. We recommend using hooks for Templates and Custom PHP Logic.
• Custom hooks should continue to work without requiring any changes for WHMCS Version 6.0.
• Modules that are compatible with WHMCS V5.x should continue work in Version 6.0. However, if that code does something we haven't anticipated, it may require updates. In the event of Blank or Partially Rendered Pages, please begin your troubleshooting here.
• Version 6.0 does introduce a number of database schema changes. More information on these can be found @ Version 6.0 Database Changes
• All cron and email piping files have been relocated to the dedicated /crons/ directory. While V6.0 of WHMCS includes proxy files in the old locations that will allow all existing configured cron and piping commands to continue operating without any changes post upgrade, we encourage you to update your cron and piping commands to use the new locations at your earliest convenience. More information on doing this can be found in the Cron Tasks documentation.

All release notes are important, and there are many detailed release notes available in the Full Version 6.0 Release Notes. We recommend reading them.

Special Thanks

A massive thanks to everyone who took part in, and contributed to the beta program. Your dedication and attention to detail helped make WHMCS 6.0 the best release it could possibly be. Thanks from everyone here at WHMCS.