CiviCRM 3.0.beta5 is out and available for download. You can also try it out on our sandbox site. Please remember it’s a beta release and it shouldn’t be used on production sites. The next release is 3.0 stable, so get set ready, and if you haven’t yet checked whether your favorite (old and new) CiviCRM features work the way you expect, it’s a very good time to do it.

Check out the blog entry announcing 3.0.alpha1 release for a run-down of what’s new in CiviCRM 3.0, and this list for issues that were fixed since 3.0.beta4. A full list of changes, improvements and bug fixes in 3.0 release is also available on the wiki and in the issue tracker.

Step up and help out!

Now that CiviCRM 3.0 is in last stage of beta, it’s an especially good moment to get involved in CiviCRM community. We believe most of the bugs were shaken off – right now there are no bugs open against the 3.0 branch and we need your help to find the last elusive problems we might have missed. There are many ways you can help make this release better and bug free. An remember, you can win an iPod touch 8 GB by helping out!

• Log in to CiviCRM 3.0 public sandbox and try out your favorite features. If you find a problem, please report it on the appropriate board of our forum. Remember that sandbox data is periodically reset.
• Download the tarball and upgrade a copy of your site to 3.0 – 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 favorite features, with your local data. Problems appearing? Use the CiviCRM 3.0 testing board on the forums to discuss problems and find answers!
• Go through the CiviCRM 3.0 Documentation, help us improve it and make it relevant to upcoming version before we reach stable state (estimated 3 weeks). It’s a wiki, so after creating an account, you can fix problems and add missing information.
• If you're a developer and have PHP skills, you can submit a patch through our issue tracker. Just create an issue, attaching a patch file that fixes a problem you've discovered in the CiviCRM 3.0 codebase.

Existing issues

CiviCRM 3.0.beta5 might not be bug free, although at the moment of release we don’t have many relevant bugs open against the 3.0 branch. We’ll work hard to fix any problems reported with the beta before the next release (expect it a week from now). The list of existing 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 3.0.beta5 label: civicrm-3.0.beta5. Make sure you’re downloading the correct version (for Drupal, Joomla or standalone).

New Installations

If you are installing CiviCRM 3.0 beta from scratch, please use the automated installer instructions for respective versions: Drupal, Joomla and Standalone. Please note that at the beta stage, the documentation might not be accurate and refers more to previous version. We are counting on your contributions to make it fully adequate before 3.0 stable is available!

Upgrading from 2.* series

An automated upgrade process is included in the beta release, and the procedure for upgrading to 3.0.beta5 is the same as for upgrading 2.1.x and 2.2.x versions. Instructions for upgrading for two CMS types (Drupal and Joomla) and Standalone are provided.

We will continue to include automated upgrades for subsequent beta and stable releases of 3.0 – so you should be able to upgrade your test site easily over the course of the release cycle.