February 8, 2024 by Laura Elizabeth
Today, I wanted to update you on our progress for Client Portal 5.0.
While we had high hopes for a full release by the end of January, that sadly didn't happen.
We ran into some unexpected roadblocks with integrating the content pages, pushing us back.
The good news is I got word from our developer that she is over the biggest hurdle, and we're confident that we can launch our first Release Candidate around February 14th or shortly after.
What is a Release Candidate?
Release Candidate (RC) is the next step above a beta version. It means that the new version is most likely ready to release, but we are doing a softer launch in case any significant bugs emerge.
This means that when Client Portal is in RC state, it is safe to download it from your account, but we strongly recommend not installing it on your production website.
Instead, you should install it on a staging website and check for no significant bugs or conflicts with other themes or plugins. If you notice anything that's not right, we will give you a way to submit a bug report for us to investigate.
Ultimately, the more people who test it, the better.
The beauty (and curse) of WordPress is that every set-up is unique, and different combinations of themes and plugins can cause unexpected problems.
We would like to iron out as many as we realistically can before the final release.
So much work is going on behind the scenes with this new update. Most of it is un-sexy, but there is great momentum.
Finally, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting even longer; I know many of you are waiting for the new version before creating your portals. Ultimately, we are trying to avoid causing any widespread issues with this release. I appreciate your continued patience and promise it will be worth it!
That's it for this update. If you have any questions or want to try out the new version with InstaWP, email us, and we'll be on standby to show you the ropes!