This week we're releasing CiviCRM 3.1.6 and 3.2.beta5 - they are both regular bugfix releases, however, they also bring a fix to recently discovered security vulnerability, which in specific conditions allows an unauthorized person to access some CiviCRM functionality. Please make sure you upgrade your production installations running 3.1.5 and earlier to 3.1.6 to avoid the risk.

For 3.1.6 upgrade instructions check: Drupal Upgrade, Joomla! Upgrade and Standalone Upgrade instructions. Make sure not to confuse 3.1 (which is stable version) with 3.2 (which is still beta) when downloading the upgrade bundle - even though it's already quite solid, you don't want to end up with beta release on your production site. :-)

And now following with regular announcement on 3.2.beta5 - it is now available for download. You can also try it out on our sandbox site. Please remember this is a BETA release and it should NOT be used on production sites, even though we're getting closer to stable.

This release includes several major new features/highlights:

• Usability improvements - Better looking and more intuitive Contact Summary Page. The new "Actions" button provides 1-click access to most contact-related forms. New clean and consistent icons have been implemented to provide helpful visual cues. You can now get a configurable contact summary pop-up from search results by mousing over the contact icon on any row. We'll be blogging with more details on these usability features during the release cycle.
• Support for PHP 5.3 -This release supports PHP 5.3.
• CiviCase Phase 3 - Thanks to the Physicians Health Program folks for pushing CiviCase to the next level! You can check out the phase 3 enhancements here.
• CiviEvent workflow improvements - Streamlining the workflow for events, providing 1-click access to event related screens from the configuration panel, and generating event name badges. For more details check CRM-6230 and CRM-6294.
• Free-tagging, and Tags for Cases and Activities - You can add one or more free-tagging "taxonomies" - called Tagsets - for use with contacts, cases and / or activities. You can also specify which tags can be used for which types of records.
• Standalone version dropped - Please note that we are dropping support for the Standalone version in 3.2. We recommend that current standalone users convert their installations to run under a basic Drupal install during this release cycle.

... and lots of other improvements. Check out the complete listing of new features, improvements and bug fixes on the issue tracker.

Step up and help out!

CiviCRM 3.2beta5 release is a great occasion to get involved in CiviCRM community. There are many ways you can help make this release better and bug free.

• Log in to the CiviCRM 3.2 public sandbox and try out your favourite features. If you find a problem, please report it on the appropriate forum board. Remember that sandbox data is periodically reset.
• Download the tarball and upgrade a copy of your site to 3.2 - let us know if you encounter any problems. This is an especially valuable contribution since we need to have the upgrade process tested on different sets of data. After you've done this, play around with your favourite features, with your local data. Problems appearing? Use the CiviCRM 3.2 release testing board on the forums to discuss problems and find answers!
• If you're a developer and have PHP skills, we strongly encourage you to develop and attach a code patch AND a unit test along with any bug you report through our issue tracker. Ping us on IRC if you need help figuring out how to do this.

Existing issues

CiviCRM 3.2beta5 is not bug free, it's just the first step on the way to the stable version. We know about some problems and are working hard to fix them before the next release (expect it around Wednesday next week). The list of currently open issues is available here. If you notice any new problems, please report them as mentioned above.

Downloads

You can download the release from SourceForge - select from the civicrm-latest section. The filenames include the 3.2beta5 label: civicrm-3.2.beta5. Make sure you're downloading correct version: for Drupal or Joomla.

New Installations

If you are installing CiviCRM 3.2beta5 from scratch, please use the 3.0 versions of the automated installer instructions (the installation process has not changed):

• Drupal
• Joomla

Upgrading 2.2.* or 3.0.* or 3.1.* Sites to 3.2 Beta

The procedure for upgrading to 3.2beta5 is the same as for upgrading to 3.0.x. You can upgrade directly from 2.2.x or 3.0.x or 3.1.x. Instructions:

• Drupal
• Joomla

We will continue to include automated upgrades for subsequent beta releases of 3.2 - so you should be able to upgrade your test site easily over the course of the release cycle.