Oxwall 1.7.2 – What’s New in the latest Oxwall Software and how to Upgrade

Oxwall 1.7.2 is finally here. So, everyone can put an end to the speculations surrounding the platform update. This version arrived just in time and we want you to know what Oxwall did differently this term and how to upgrade your platform without problems.

Oxwall announced 1.7.2 testers version on the 18th of this month and followed it up with the main release only a week later.

Why you need to update your platform

Whenever a new version of Oxwall is rolled out, there is always a thought of whether the update is worth the stress. Sometimes they are, other times they are not. At the end, it all boils down to the idea behind your social networking software. “Does this update affect the basic features of my site?” “Will the new release affect my users experience?” are some of the few questions you ask yourself.

We will try and help you answer some of those questions and hopefully give you a good enough reason to update or NOT to update your platform.

Normally, every Oxwall platform update comes with a lot of bugs fixes from the previous version and latest security patch. If this isn’t reason enough to update your platform, then consider the improved core files and new features added to the platform. We will take a look at some of them below:

New Avatar system

Some basic features of Oxwall has been begging to be overhauled, the Avatar system plugin is one of those features. The system plugin started life from the day 1 of Oxwall and has received no attention whatsoever from the developers until now. However, Oxwall has completed a total overhaul on how the plugin works this term.

In previous version, clicking on the change avatar link from your profile page takes you to a page where you can upload an image and crop it to a specific size before hitting the Apply Crop button. In 1.7.2 clicking the same button from your profile page will simply pop up a nice box where you can upload an image or choose pictures from your existing images. The crop is done in the same window without redirecting to a different page.

New Moderation Tools

The flagging feature on your site has finally being put to an effective use in Oxwall 1.7.2. The flagging system plugin allows your website users to flag contents they find abusive on offending. The new moderation tools page in your admin area will help you review contents that has been flagged by users and moderate them properly.

Message Plugin now has Text Formatting Feature

The messaging plugin has been improved this time to allow your users to format their messages properly; your users can now bold, italize, underline or link a particular word or line of words using the formatting tools right in their message box.

Other added features

  • Option for admin/moderator to list the reason for the user suspension, which will be send to users’ email address. – System Plugin
  • Option for suspended users to delete their profiles from the site. – System Plugin
  • Button “Mail notifications” in the Console for quicker access. – System Plugin
  • Error message to be displayed when a user changes password, but enters a wrong value during password confirmation. – System Plugin
  • Correct https support for operation of individual SSL pages. – System Plugin
  • Formatting buttons, including bold, italic, underline, and link. – Message Plugin
  • Option to perform group actions with conversations. – Message Plugin
  • Attachment indicator for a conversation in the list, if it includes at least one attachment inside. – Message Plugin
  • Option “Allow to send messages once in” for admin to prevent receiving spam sent by bots. – Message Plugin
  • Social sharing buttons on the “Photo view” page, if the Social Sharing plugin is installed. – Photo Plugin
  • Option to include hashtags for photos in any language.  – Photo Plugin
  • Added support of thumbnail grabbing for embed videos from Facebook – Video Plugin
For more details on what Oxwall did differently this term, see Oxwall 1.7.2 changelog.

How to Update you Platform

There are two way to update your platform: Manual & automatic update.

Note: Make sure to backup your files and deactivate all plugins before updating your platform, if you want to be on the safer side. Or contact us here to have our developers do it for you at a fair amount.
The automatic update can be done directly from your admin area. Login from http://example.com/admin and click on the update platform link on your admin dashboard. You will be prompted to confirm you want to update to 1.7.2, click Yes. Enter your FTP details and complete the step by clicking the Enter button

Manual Update

To update your platform manually, download Oxwall update pack 1.7.2 from the software download page and follow the steps below.

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  • Upload the Oxwall update pack 1.7.2 zip file to your server where Oxwall is installed.
  • Unpack/Extract the content on the zip file (overwrite existing old files).
  • Run http://www.yoursite.com/ow_upadtes/

Important Note: Updating your platform will override any changes you have made to the core files. If you have been using our custom mods, check back for updated versions of the mod.

When update is completed, re-activate your plugins and update your theme and plugins.

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