Zen Cart v1.5.7c released!

We are pleased to announce the release of Zen Cart v1.5.7

Download available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zencart/files/

Minimum Requirements
Zen Cart v1.5.7 requires a minimum of the following:

• PHP 7.4 is recommended, but v1.5.7 "can" work with PHP 5.6 or newer
  (Note: PHP versions older than 7.1 are deprecated and no longer supported by PHP ... You REALLY should be using PHP 7.2 as a minimum, for both security and speed benefits.)
• MySQL 5.1 - 5.7 or MariaDB 10.0 - 10.4
• Apache 2.2 - 2.4
• Apache configured with AllowOverride set to either 'All' or at least both 'Limit' and 'Indexes' parameters, and preferably the 'Options' parameter as well. These are to allow the .htaccess directives to provide per-directory security controls.
• PHP configured to support CURL with OpenSSL
• Server's CURL and OpenSSL configured to use the latest modern TLS capabilities (TLS 1.3 is currently the latest recommended version to support if your PHP version is current)

Nginx is supported (see the docs for important notes). IIS is not.

CHANGELOG - List of Changed Files
For a list of files that have been changed since v1.5.6, see the changed_files-v1-5-7.html document, located online or in the /docs/ folder of the downloaded zip.

What's New In v1.5.7:
See the online docs for Release-Specific considerations to note regarding this version.
https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgrading/

The most notable improvements and bugfixes in v1.5.7 since v1.5.6 include:

• Core - Many files have been updated for compatibility with PHP 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4. These changes, along with updating your PHP version, will make your cart faster.
• Storefront - Products with single-valued attributes (such as downloads) can now be added to the cart from the listing page.
• Storefront - Product page now includes Ask a Question
• Storefront - Contact Us page now includes a telephone number
• Storefront - Improved handling of product restrictions such as units and minimum quantities.
• Storefront - Define page added to shopping cart page for static content.
• Storefront - The responsive classic template now meets accessibility standards for both desktop and mobile.
• Admin - Admins can now login to a customer account (login as that customer), to place an order on their behalf.
• Admin - Order Status may be updated from the order listing screen.
• Admin - Order Status emails are now sent in the language of the order.
• Admin - Order Status dropdown can now be sorted to match your business workflow.
• Admin - Order Status notification behavior for an Order Status update (send email/do not send email/hide update) may now be configured by an admin switch.
• Admin - Order Listing - hover for quick view of the products ordered or to see customer comments, without opening the order details. (Inspired by Info-At-A-Glance plugin).
• Admin - Improved customer search.
• Admin - Products to Categories Link Manager - Addition of a global tool to copy linked categories to another product.
• Admin - Product Copy expanded to include copy of metatags and linked categories.
• Admin - Validation for integer min and max values and email addresses.
• Admin - Improved configuration settings descriptions.
• Admin - Countries page is easier to perform enable/disable actions.
• Admin - Improved error messaging.
• Admin - Help links to the documentation website added to all pages.
• Admin - Products Viewed report now excludes bots and admins, and its database storage restructured to improve site performance.
• Admin - Alphabetical sorting of Reports and Tools menus.
• Admin - Validation and alerts for updating configuration settings, and other updates to sanitization layer.
• Admin - Improvements in Option Name/Value management.
• Admin - UI improvements for Attributes Controller, Featured, Option Names Manager, Option Values Manager, Products to Multiple Categories, Specials.
• Admin - Fixed last-order details on customer preview box on right.
• Email - SPAM prevention built in to forms (Credits @davewest for zenNonCAPTCHA).
• Email - Improvements made to increase email deliverability.
• Email - Untranslatable text removed from emai
• Checkout - Correction of order total layout issues on mobile in responsive_classic template.
• All known bugfixes and security fixes for v1.5.6 are included in v1.5.7
• ... and many other incremental improvements to make Zen Cart more efficient, more robust and easier to use.
  A detailed list of all edits to all files can be seen on Github at: v1.5.6...v1.5.7

UPGRADE NOTES

How To Upgrade A Zen Cart Site
The way DrByte does upgrades is described in this blog post: https://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3...d-of-upgrading

Important version-specific upgrade considerations can be found on the Docs website at: https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgrading/


NOTE:
Many people have asked about the "missing ?> at the end of some PHP files".
This is INTENTIONAL, and explained here: What about the missing ?> at the end of some PHP files?
It is NOT an error in the files or the download.



BUGS?
If you have questions about upgrading, please post in the "Upgrading to v1.5.x" section of the forum.

If you have found an actual bug in the code, please post details of it in the Bug Reports section of the forum.

Solutions to any confirmed bugs will be posted in Known bugs and fixes for v1.5.7


FAQ:
Q: "When should I update?"
Answer: An upgrade should be something you plan out, as your customizations may need to be re-integrated into the changed files. We recommend that you set some time on your calendar for doing your upgrade when your website or business is the least busy.

Zen Cart v1.5.7a has been released.

Download available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zencart/files/

CHANGELOG - List of Changed Files
For a list of files that have been changed since the initial v1.5.7 release, see the changed_files-v1-5-7.html document, located online or in the /docs/ folder of the downloaded zip.

What's New In v1.5.7a:
See the online docs for Release-Specific considerations to note regarding this version.
https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgrading/

The most notable improvements and bugfixes in v1.5.7a since v1.5.7 include:

• All known bugfixes and security fixes for v1.5.7 are included in v1.5.7a
• Admin: Correct issues with adding category images.
• Admin: Fix product-available date handling.
• Admin: Improve order printing.
• Admin: Fix product copying operation, particularly in relation to master category id.
• Admin: Search now finds disabled items.
• Admin: Recent Orders dashboard widget may now be configured to exclude attributes in popover rows for performance.
• Admin: Popover will not show model if product does not define a model number.
• Admin: CSS paths fixed in Banner Manager, Coupon Exporter.
• Admin: Add attribute images to invoice and packing slip.
• Core: Set samesite cookie parameter (site must be run entirely https)
• Core: Ensure .htaccess permits .woff2 and svg files to be served.
• Core: Fix new/featured/all pages not adding to cart.
• Core: Fix allowing special characters in passwords (admin and storefront).
• Core: Fix issue with adding items with single-valued attributes from listing page.
• Core: PHPMailer Update to v6.1.8.
• Core: Ensure error messages are displayed after a page redirect.
• Core: Fix early issues with plugin manager.
• Core: Improve performance of email page.
• Core: Fix small layout issues in responsive_mobile CSS.
• Core: Introduce grid layout feature for listing pages.
• Core: Ensure external pages are loaded with noreferrer.
• Core: Hide shipping modules where appropriate.
• Core: Fix PHP notices produced by more recent versions of PHP.
• Core: Fix multilanguage issues with Sales Report with Graphs.
• Core: Tax behavior aligned between admin and storefront.
• Core: Fix issues in also purchased products display.
• Core: Fix button truncation on checkout confirmation page.
• Core: Improve mobile display of EZ-Pages.
• Core: Fix PayPal issues which could result in missed orders.
• Core: Ask a Question improvements.
• Core: Simplify use of private template on storefront.
• Core: New config variable "Disabled Product Status for Search Engines" allows stores to optionally not throw 404 for disabled products.
• Core: Notifier calls during checkout now include the order number.
• Core: Notifier NOTIFY_PAYPALWPP_DISABLE_GET_OVERRIDE_ADDRESS added.
• Define Pages: Correct issues with editing.
• ... and many other incremental improvements to make Zen Cart more efficient, more robust and easier to use.
  A detailed list of all edits to all files can be seen on Github at: v1.5.7...v1.5.7a

UPGRADE NOTES
If you already have v1.5.7 installed, upgrading to v1.5.7a "mostly" just involves replacing the updated files. (No zc_install step required to go to v157a if v157 is already installed). As always, check to see whether you've made customizations to (or a plugin has altered) those files before replacing them.


BUGS?
If you have questions about upgrading, please post in the "Upgrading to v1.5.x" section of the forum.

If you have found an actual bug in the code, please post details of it in the Bug Reports section of the forum.

Solutions to any confirmed bugs will be posted in Known bugs and fixes for v1.5.7

Zen Cart v1.5.7b has been released.

Download available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zencart/files/

CHANGELOG - List of Changed Files
For a list of files that have been changed since v1.5.7a, see the changed_files-v1-5-7.html document, located online or in the /docs/ folder of the downloaded zip.

What's New In v1.5.7b:
See the online docs for Release-Specific considerations to note regarding this version.
https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgrading/

The most notable improvements and bugfixes in v1.5.7b since v1.5.7a include:

• All known bugfixes and security fixes
• Security patch for v157/v157a
• Order weight correctly tracked when orders are placed
• Prevent blank-screen failures if too-many-characters are entered when creating customer accounts

UPGRADE NOTES
If you already have v1.5.7a installed, upgrading to v1.5.7b "mostly" just involves replacing the updated files. (No zc_install step required to go to v157b if v157 or v157a is already installed). As always, check to see whether you've made customizations to (or a plugin has altered) those files before replacing them.


BUGS?
If you have questions about upgrading, please post in the "Upgrading to v1.5.x" section of the forum.

If you have found an actual bug in the code, please post details of it in the Bug Reports section of the forum.

Solutions to any confirmed bugs will be posted in Known bugs and fixes for v1.5.7

Zen Cart v1.5.7c has been released.

Download available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zencart/files/

CHANGELOG - List of Changed Files
For a list of files that have been changed since v1.5.7b, see the changed_files-v1-5-7.html document, located online or in the /docs/ folder of the downloaded zip.

What's New In v1.5.7c:
See the online docs for Release-Specific considerations to note regarding this version.
https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgrading/

The most notable improvements and bugfixes in v1.5.7c since v1.5.7b include:

• All known bugfixes and security fixes
• All: Additional Security Patches Applied, in addition to those that were part of v157b.
• All: Improved PHP 8.0 compatibility.
• All: Upgraded PHPMailer to latest version 6.3.0
• All: Fix some "is_countable" or "must be Array or Countable" errors/notices.
• Admin: Fix incorrect "required" error when editing banners if start/end date existed
• Admin: Fixed incorrect URL generated when accessing customer-submitted images.
• Admin: Improve plugin compatibility on category/product-listing page.
• Admin: Attributes Controller fix for broken button, and improved compatibility with plugins.
• Admin: Improved DTK search for zc_plugins.
• Admin: Fix long-time error in zen_copy_attributes() function.
• Storefront: Fix attribute-related error causing "A-non-numeric-value-encountered-in-shopping_cart.php".
• Storefront: Restore "Always Show Categories on Main Page" feature from v156
• Storefront: Improved compatibility with Image Handler for empty image dimensions.
• Storefront: Added new capabilities to breadcrumb class so templates can override defaults.
• Installer: Improved upgrade-detection on MySQL 8.0

UPGRADE NOTES
If you already have v1.5.7b installed, upgrading to v1.5.7c basically just involves replacing the updated files.
(No database-upgrade or zc_install step required to go to v157c if v157 or v157a or v157b is already installed).
As always, check to see whether you've made customizations to (or a plugin has altered) those files before replacing them.


BUGS?
If you have questions about upgrading, please post in the "Upgrading to v1.5.x" section of the forum.

If you have found an actual bug in the code, please post details of it in the Bug Reports section of the forum.

Solutions to any confirmed bugs will be posted in Known bugs and fixes for v1.5.7