Versioning & Releases

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Software Versioning

Beginning with version 8, Concrete CMS adheres to Semantic Versioning. More information found here: https://semver.org

The name of the software is "Concrete" and the "8" is the major version number, followed by minor and patch versions. Consider this release:

8.0.0

This will be the first major release of version 8. We will write this as “Concrete 8.0.0”. Here, 8 is the major version number, with 0 as the minor and the patch version. The 8 signifies that there are backward-incompatible changes in store. Yes, there is still an upgrade, but some packages may be affected.

Minor Versions

When 8.1.0 comes out, that signifies that there backward-compatible feature updates.

Patch Versions

If 8.0.1, 8.0.2, 8.0.3, etc… are released following 8.0.0, this implies that these releases fix bugs introduced in 8.0.0, and are backward compatible.

Occasionally patch versions make contain minor behavioral improvements or feature updates, but these improvements should be incidental in nature. Any significant new feature ought to trigger a new minor version update.

Development Versions

When publicly releasing preview versions of Concrete, Concrete will adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Any alpha releases are not stable, and features are continuing to be added. These are for preview and testing only. They are not guaranteed to be upgradeable, and are not guaranteed to upgrade cleanly over existing sites.
  • Any beta releases are not stable, but no new features are added. Bug fixes may be added. Under most circumstances, bug fixes should be limited to bugs in the new functionality; bug fixes for existing functionality ought to be limited to patch releases following the release of major new versions. Beta versions are also not guaranteed to be upgradeable, and are not guaranteed to upgrade cleanly over existing sites.
  • Any release candidate is offered as a potential release. As such, it is thought of as stable, but still may be pulled if significant issues are detected. No new features or bug fixes will be added. If any bug fix is added, a new release candidate should be created. Release candidates will have an upgrade path from a previous public version of Concrete.

Roadmap

Want to know how upcoming versions of Concrete are progressing? Check out the Roadmap

Release Schedule

  • A new patch version (9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2.1, etc...) will be released every month, likely on the first Tuesday of the month.
  • A new minor version (9.1.0, 9.2.0, etc...) is released every six months, likely in late Fall and late Spring. This will contain bug fixes and new features, but should not include major breaking changes. There also should be at least one release candidate version released prior to the full minor release, to allow developers to test their sites and extensions against.
  • A new major version (8.0, 9.0, 10.0, etc...) comes out every several years, when it's ready. This will also be preceded by multiple beta versions and release candidates, for testing. These major versions can contain breaking changes, but should offer at least a path to upgrading over previous versions.

Long-Term Support

The last minor version of Concrete CMS released before a new major version will continue to receive patches for at least three years following release. These will contain bug fixes and security updates that are also being applied to the new versions of Concrete CMS. For example, version 8.5.0 was released in March of 2019, but received its last patch release in November of 2022.

Development Versions

When publicly releasing preview versions of Concrete, Concrete will adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Any alpha or beta releases are not stable, and features are continuing to be added. These are for preview and testing only. They are not guaranteed to be upgradeable, and are not guaranteed to upgrade cleanly over existing sites.
  • Any release candidate is offered as a potential release. As such, it is thought of as stable, but still may be pulled if significant issues are detected. No new features or bug fixes will be added. If any bug fix is added, a new release candidate should be created. Release candidates will have an upgrade path from a previous public version of Concrete.