Version 5.1 Release Notes

Release Information

Version 5.1.0

Release Type: Beta (For Testing)
Release Date: 11th May 2012

Version 5.1.1

Release Type: Release Candidate (For Testing)
Release Date: 15th June 2012

Version 5.1.2

Release Type: Stable Release
Release Date: 6th July 2012

Version 5.1.3

Release Type: Targeted Release
Release Date: 3rd December 2012

Version 5.1.4

Release Type: Targeted Release
Release Date: 12th March 2013

Version 5.1.5

Release Type: Maintenance
Release Date: 15th March 2013

Version 5.1.6

Release Type: Targeted Release
Release Date: 23rd April 2013

Version 5.1.7

Release Type: Targeted Release
Release Date: 16th May 2013

Version 5.1.8

Release Type: Targeted Release
Release Date: 23rd July 2013

Version 5.1.10

Release Type: Security
Release Date: 3rd October 2013

Version 5.1.11

Release Type: Security
Release Date: 18th October 2013

Version 5.1.12

Release Type: Security
Release Date: 20th October 2013

Version 5.1.13

Release Type: Security
Release Date: 25th October 2013

Version 5.1.14

Release Type: Security
Release Date: 21st November 2013

Version 5.1.15

Release Type: Maintenance
Release Date: 27th November 2013

Changelog

A full overview of the new features and functionality added in WHMCS Version 5.1 will be released when the stable version becomes available. In the meantime, please review our recent preview blog posts to see more details about some of the new functionality: http://blog.whmcs.com/

Upgrade Steps

Upgrading WHMCS is easy. To upgrade to V5, simply follow the steps below:

Begin by taking a backup of your database using a tool such as phpMyAdmin
Now download the latest WHMCS version either from our client area (http://wiki.whmcs.com/Upgrading#Downloading_the_Latest_Version) or from your web host license provider
Next, unzip the contents of the WHMCS zip file download to a folder on your computer
Now if you have customised your WHMCS admin folder name, you should rename the admin folder in the new files to match
Upload the new files to your existing installation folder replacing any existing folders & files
Visit the admin area as you normally would to login and you should then be automatically redirected to the upgrade script. If this is not shown automatically, please manually visit /install/install.php to invoke the upgrade process.
Accept the license agreement
If you are prompted for any database information *STOP*, this indicates the configuration.php file is missing and so a new install is being attempted - you need to restore the configuration.php before continuing.
Check to confirm once you have backed up your database, and then click the upgrade button
Once the updates finish, delete the install folder from your server

These steps can be used to upgrade from any version of WHMCS from V3.3 & later.

Remember: After upgrading, your browser may still display cached versions of the previous files. So if you get any display issues or inconsistencies, always try clearing your cache first, both in your browser, and the WHMCS templates cache (templates_c folder files)

The upgrade is now completed. The only thing left to do is update your custom templates if you have any with the new and changed template files for the new version. See below for details.

Template Changes

The following template changes have been made to system templates:

3dsecure.tpl - New method of form submission - not a required update
affiliates.tpl - Removed billing cycle column
clientareacreditcard.tpl - Added preserving of card type/expiry date selections on validation failure
clientareadetails.tpl - Update/fix to default payment method dropdown menu
clientareadomains.tpl - Added new domain addons tab
clientregister.tpl - Added currency selection dropdown for multi-currency support in registrations
creditcard.tpl - Added preserving of card type/expiry date selections on validation failure
forwardpage.tpl - New method of form submission - not a required update
networkissues.tpl - Added RSS Feed link for network issues
serverstatus.tpl - Ajaxified server status port checking

In order form templates the following changes were made:

products.tpl (modern & slider) - Fix for bundled products ordering
viewcart.tpl (all templates) - Update to preserve card expiry date selections on validation failure
main.js (modern & slider) - Fix for showing domain configuration step after product add

New Language File Lines

If you are using a custom language file, then the new language file lines introduced in Version 5.1 can be found below the "# Version 5.1" line in each language file.

During the beta we will be reaching out to our known translators to convert new lines into the other languages. However if you are able to help in contributing even just some of the new lines translated, then it would be much appreciated.

Release Notes

Display Problems/Browser Cache - Always clear your browser cache, or perform a hard refresh after upgrading, most display related issues are purely due to seeing an old version of the CSS
New Domain Registrar Sync Cron - Until now, each registrar has had it's own sync file. But as of V5.1, the individual sync files are replaced by a single cron file (/crons/domainsync.php) which needs to be configured to run periodically - we recommend every 4 hours. All previous sync cron commands should be deleted/disabled.
Naming Conversion Change - Template directory and module names must be all one word and contain only a-z 0-9 characters, no spaces, punctuations or symbols - this is due to a new security measure. For example a template called my_company should be renamed mycompany.
JSON Requirement - JSON is a new requirement, please ensure it is compiled in your server's PHP configuration. This is standard on most PHP configurations so no action should be necessary for the majority.

Documentation