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- Written by: Max Milbers
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Joomla 5 is the new long term release of Joomla. Surprisingly it was very easy to adjust VirtueMart 4 for Joomla 5. This was planned as the christmas release, but now it has become a Happy New Year release with some delay.
Project development through Membership
Sören, the founder of VirtueMart, helped me to update the entire infrastructure of the VirtueMart project (with Membership fundings). Our infrastructure, email server, svn, redmine, forum and our websites were quite outdated. So it was time to update everything. We now have a new redmine (web-based project management software) for dev.virtuemart.net and the forum and mail server have also been updated. I have been working on the latter for weeks to configure it with DMARC, SPF, DKIM, reverse DNS and so on. Finally, I moved all pages to the web host hetzner and updated all virtuemart.net pages to Joomla 5, with the exception of demo.virtuemart.net. Any of our virtuemart.net pages are running now with the new template of Neoteric of VirtuePlanet, with extra customisations (with Membership fundings)
But a new native BS5 template is already in the pipeline. If all goes well, we will soon have a new VirtueMart-native BS5 template that will be used as the new template for the core, on the demo and of course with Joomla 5! So we did a great step to ensure a great lifetime for the project (with Membership fundings).
Core testing
The testing team was really very active. PayPal Checkout was tested very thoroughly. The new plugin works now also in the old redirect mode, but with the new API. This means a merchant can provide his users the new way with the enhanced PayPal (Express) button, or the old way, just using the cart checkout button in the same cart. The new unbranded Alternative Payment options available for different countries are also very interesting in special for Europeans.
The core got updated for Joomla 5, of course it still needs the compatibility plugin. This was surprisingly easy. So I decided to use joomla 5 for new vm pages. Also updating a joomla 4 vm shop to joomla 5 is very easy (just check the languages!). Abhishek of VirtuePlanet donated code for minified css files and for the new child templates in joomla 5. Some shops run already since weeks on Joomla 5. Good Work Joomla!
GJC tested inheriting of parent properties and found a severe bug, which prevented that properties with _ were inherited, but this was only intended for the properties beginning with _.
Next important fix is in the cart, some redirects lead to the orderdone function. But this should be only done by the payment plugin. Only the plugin knows, if the payment was successfull
DOWNLOAD VirtueMart 4.2.6 with the Membership
NOW
Features and Fixes:
General core
- Important fix for "private" values starting with _
- Abhishek integrated children templates and new setPath function by Abhishek (VirtuePlanet), which works with the new child template and with minified files
- Very important cart fix, never use the layout orderdone for redirects in the function checkoutData
- new Feature "set Real Image Size" in the IMG tag directly. This helps lazy loading and prevents jumping of the images loading the page
- Fix for overrides of layouts with BS prefix. All developers should prefer getBaseLayout over getLayout
- enhanced message if membership server cannot be reached
- Tools GDPR tab; removed deletion of files by mdate or cdate. If someone moves the files, then the dates are updated and so this idea does not work safely
- GDPR- removing invoices needs at least 3 in years
- Log view, added an option to download or to delete a file
- Changed getInvoiceFolder system, so that we can work in future with folders per year. The last problem is to either write a fallback system or tool which copies the data or both
- Put more invoice functions to the right place the model, proxy functions for BC are there.
- Little fix to prevent strange calls to controllers
- user model stores value block in admin
- removed old db->getErrorMsg(), raiseError and so on
- Enhanced the functions getPluginCustomData and getPluginProductDataCustom
- Removed minors like "Deprecated: Creation of dynamic property is deprecated" or null not allowed
- some minors, removed outdated code, added default value, etc
- Updated links to docs
- Enhanced installer script in j5 style for tcPDF by Stefan
- Changed the "creator" and such stuff for tcpdf, should now work with given version (not VirtueMart 2 anylonger!)
Compatibility PHP8.x, Joomla 4/5
- Multivariant radioboxes Javascript for Joomla 4
- shopfunctions.php JPath::clean added check for empty
- added joomla trigger to vmview onBeforeDisplay and onAfterDisplay
- For Joomla 5, replaced uppercase Select with select
- a try catch for getVarsToPushByXML (thx stAn)
- JVM_VERSION works now also with version numbers with suffixes (-elts Version)
- enhanced xml of modules for single installation (thx Stefan)
- tcpdf.php, added if not empty and is array check, Small fixes for the install of TcPDF
Plugins
- authorize.net increased size of authorizenet_response_account_number
- PayPal Checkout, added PayPal developer mode to PayPal, which enables the sandbox
- PayPal Checkout, enhanced form, added autocomplete off
- PayPal Checkout, getPayPalAccessToken is only executed if the minimal data is available
- PayPal Checkout, fixed return link if no button is used
- PayPal Checkout, fixes to prevent js errors if no button is used
- PayPal Checkout, checkout without button is more robust
- PayPal Checkout, Unuseable products are greyed, but selectable
- PayPal Checkout, replaced all cUrl against VmConnector::getHttp
- PayPal Checkout, if capture is unsucessful block checkout
- PayPal Checkout, admin js adjusted to grey out options on j4/j5
- PayPal Checkout, changing login data overwrites it for all payments, sandbox is seperate
- PayPal Checkout, message if you are already logged in
Important for developers and templaters
- Fix for overrides of layouts with BS prefix. All developers should prefer function getBaseLayout over getLayout
- add to cart works now also with given data as POST.
- Given ordernumber of the cart is used for the order
- $cart->couponCode to $cart->cartData['couponCode'], $cart->couponCode is for internal use of the cart. The reason is that we must check the coupon on any update. So the value in cartData is the entered coupon and the value of the cart is the selected coupon. To clear both values, we have a new function clearCoupon
- removed confusing doubled virtuemart_product_id inputs. Check revision 10944 and compare it with your template.
- Multivariants with children. Replaced the js to use data-cvsel instead of the class cvselection. Check your override sublayouts/customfield.php
- Somehow the automaticSelectedShipment switched into the template and changes the rendering of a shipment plugin. This was also for payment plugin and already removed. Templaters pay attention to the new code, thank you ( I know it was this strange way for years)
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- Written by: Max Milbers
- Category: Latest News
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Yes a new mayor sub version as it would be sub number 24 already. On the other hand, this version works now very well on Joomla 3 and of course Joomla 4.3 and PHP8.2. So most things have settled in 4.0.22 and compared to last autumn we had almost no bugs to fix. So this stability should also be reflected in the version number and therefore 4.2!
Some have already noticed, after years of maintaining our root server on our own, our developer server went down. But thanks to our members, we can leave the do-it-yourself attitude and have our infrastructure repaired and maintained by a professional team in the future.
So there is no feature and bug fix list this time available. I thank our members for their patience and for the forum moderators for the good job keeping my back free. Of course, I will now focus more on the community again.
PayPal Checkout
VirtueMart and PayPal has always been a strong combination. Almost every VirtueMart store used PayPal. PayPal has been VirtueMart's first Platinum Partner for 10 years now. Their steady commissions have supported the funding of the VM project since years. The plugin was revised several times and got new features like SmartButtons, but still on the old API. Our provided plugin became an oldtimer.
The VirtueMart Team and PayPal are very proud to release the new PayPal Checkout Plugin working with the PayPal REST API V2.
You can expect a perfect seamless integration with VirtueMart, all workflows are combined. Just trust the buttons.
The new plugin also introduces Venmo for US merchants. Very interesting for European merchants are the "Country-specific payment methods", which allow local payments. Customers can use their addresses stored at PayPal or provide a new shipping address.
Advanced Credit Card works with 3Dsecure to protect the merchant and the customer. Credit card information is entered in a high-tech secured box and no sensitive data is processed on the shop server.
Read more about the PayPal features here 
Simple Configuration
Simply use the convenient merchant onboarding provided in VirtueMart. Just click on the merchant Onboarding button in the paymentmethod edit view. Use the login in the popup and let PayPal configure the basics of the plugin for you. The connection to the iStraxx UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is, in opposite to some other shop systems, without any granted rights. It is just for the convenience.
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- Written by: Max Milbers
- Category: Latest News
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It's been a busy few weeks since our last release.
Thanks to our new support members
Funding by membership is progressing towards the way I hoped it would. If the trend goes on I will be able to spend much more time on VM core development. More important, however, is the possibility of financing infrastructure upgrades or paying developers for a specific task.
From our side, there is still a lot of work to be done.
I updated the module displaying the purchased license, whilst still far from perfect, it represents a good initial step.
Apologies for the delay in answering our support tickets
There was a siginificant short term increase in support tickets, in the main these were focussed on very similar root problems.
Answering all tickets immediately would have cost a lot of time, so I used this time to solve the issues and to present the solution as quickly as possible. This approach was the best way of utilising development time and testing, but has taken longer than expected.
The dilemma I faced
Of the problems reported, two were having negative impacts on the operation of our customers platforms and lead to impacts on multiple touchpoints within the VirtueMart component.
Most significant in terms of impact was the registered user experience when trying to login and the report of "cannot use joomla login module". This was due to how Joomla 4 now handles the GET, POST and REQUEST data, which impacts all page calls. This issue lead us to discover that the Joomla 4 implementation of VirtueMart 4 was unexpectedly less than optimal. Joomla 3 handles this area differently and was not impacted. I trust that this problem is now resolved.
Secondly were reports of vendors not being able to use the frontend administration. Obviously very challenging for some of our businesses and resulting in a lot of vendors updating their extensions.Investigating that problem I noticed a big quirk due an old pattern. I just checked it, it is there since we have vmmodel (Mai/2011). This pattern tries to recieve the id for the model in the constructor. Prior the router just used own queries, but new optimisations use the category model to reduce the sql. Remember the router is just finding the GET data, while just calling a model tries to use the GET data, which is not there yet. Removing this lead to a cascade of problems, easy to solve, but needed again a lot of testing and any bug was "serious" directly (cannot register, cannot store user,...)
Both problems lead all the time to "strange" bugs and had to be cleaned up asap.
Rapid development of Joomla, PHP and VirtueMart
The software development and support wheel is turning fast at the moment.
Support for PHP 8.2.xx is progressing fast. In the last weeks approx 40 new commits were made in the repository as you can see here: https://dev.virtuemart.net/projects/virtuemart/repository/revisions.
Significant effort has been expended and I hope you can see that the project is moving forward and is on the right path. We anticipate that we are nearing the point where we will be back to a 6-8 month release cycle.
DOWNLOAD VirtueMart 4.0.20 with the Membership
NOW
The joomla updater for VirtueMart works, but you need at least version 4.0.14. Just download the core one time manually from the Order/Download page.
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- Written by: Max Milbers
- Category: Latest News
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Some people from the community have been saying for years, that we should make a paid version for better funding of the project. I was unsure that this would be a way forward. However, the last year has had me re-evaluate the completely "free to use" model and whether such a strategy is sustainable or good for the future of VirtueMart.
One clear issue is that, while I am busy with updating and testing the core, third party developers work to quickly update their extensions and earn revenue immediately on release of the core. Unfortuantely the majority of my ISTRAXX extensions are not able to be updated for compatibility until after the core is released which results in customers being negatively impacted by the delay, a major loss in user installations and significant loss in revenue for my business.
Additionally, in order to make this current business model economically viable, I have to direct significant efforts to bespoke customer projects, effectively further reducing the time available for core developement. This was a major factor in the speed in which the latest version of VirtueMart could be delivered. - Joomla 4 compatibility along with PHP 8.0 support required significant core changes.
We also have our wide user community offering a lot of suggestions, solutions and fixes. A tiny feature, for example, for which 3 community members donate their 30 minutes, has to be discussed, tested and eventually a core solution must be optimised by myself to ensure a compatible and long term resolution.
Many of you will wonder why these tasks fall on me alone and why this work has not beeen distributed to supportive interested parties. Such a distributed and loosely managed approach was used in the past with VirtueMart and it eventually led to a codebase that was a mish mash of confused, personal style, bespoke, often hard coded and short term "solutions" that rendered VirtueMart too unweildy for people to maintain or develop in a cohesive and coherent manner. Today a key part of my role is that of VirtueMart Product Manager, taking ideas and features forward and ensuring code compatibility and flexibility such that it is suitable for multiple ecommerce use cases now and in the future, with the additional workload of creating releases and associated documentation - weeks and months of time is being expended.
Over the many years core VirtueMart has helped secure significant revenues for: customers selling products, agencies selling compatible plugins and agencies building strong revenue generating customer bases throught the use of VitueMart. Unfortunately only a tiny fraction of these businesses and customers have made any contribution to the ongoing work of the VirtueMart business, even when it was obvious how such a contribution could be made. This is not a unique situation, but it is one that is misaligned and unsustainable. VirtueMart clearly needs a better funding model. On analysing the sold memberships over the last years, I have found that less then 1% of virtuemart shops are members, incredible but true!
The new approach is that the core code will still be free in the SVN, but the new installer or package will only be available with a membership on extensions.virtuemart.net.
I have added a small manual showing how to update VirtueMart by the SVN directly https://docs.virtuemart.net/tutorials/installation-migration-upgrade/246-how-to-update-virtuemart-from-svn.html.
Users willing to expend the time and effort to learn how to do this update and implement it via SVN should understand, in a very small way, how much effort one tiny aspect of VirtueMart takes to maintain.
There will be still an older VirtueMart version on VirtueMart.net. This will be updated less frequently than it is currently.
These slightly outdated versions will be good enough to start with VirtueMart, but the convenience to update to the latest VirtueMart version with one click will not be offered unless you support the project with at least a Bronze membership.
You can still install the latest version via our SVN, but for the small price of a basic membership you will save a lot of time and effort as you will be able to update VirtueMart to the latest version with the click of a button.
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- Written by: Max Milbers
- Category: Latest News
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Dear VirtueMart users,
a Joomla 4 update is fixing a serious vulnerability today at 4pm UTC.
Please be advised to update Joomla 4 as soon as the update is available.
In a similar case Joomla 3 sites were getting hacked hours after the update was available.
The vulnerability is reported to exist only in Joomla 4 not Joomla 3.
Find the security report here:
https://www.joomla.org/announcements/release-news/5877-joomla-4-2-8-important-security-announcement-patch-available-soon.html
Please update and stay safe
The VirtueMart Team