The latest version, Joomla 3.4.6, has been released today. This release includes a high priority security patch for Joomla versions 3.x. The exploit affects all Joomla versions, 1.5 to 3.x.

We proudly welcome “File Explorer”, the latest addition in our Cloud Control Panel. When setting out to create this great feature, we had two goals in mind. It needs to be intuitive and powerful. Our team opted for a zero clutter, minimal layout.. a refreshing contrast to other file managers on the market. 

Introducing DB Find and Replace

As a website builder or administrator, there are a few types of headaches or so called “web-aches” that you may be keenly aware of. At CloudAccess.net, we are in the business of alleviating these so called web-aches... our goal is to make building and running a website easier, and that all starts with understanding the needs of our customers.

Today we would like to announce DB Find and Replace; a highly anticipated tool within our control panel. Don’t be fooled by it’s seemly elementary name.. this is a powerful tool that can save hours of troubleshooting and helps sooth various types of web-aches primarily associated with the WordPress CMS.

We are excited to announce our improved Backup Manager in the Cloud Control Panel. Among the new features included is a "Restore to Alternate Site" allowing clients to easily backup and restore between sites on the CloudAccess.net Platform. You will also find a new and improved user interface and a few other useful features. 

Improved User Interface

You will immediately notice a new, more intuitive user interface. The backups remain listed in chronological order and the same general backup specifications are displayed, but we have now expanded the vertical space that a backup occupies to accommodate larger buttons and distinct labels that will help users understand the general functions at a glance. 

Titles and Comments

Prior to this Backup Manager update, an individual backup's time-stamp was the best way to identify it from the others. We have now added the ability to attach a title and comments to your backups. This allows clients to keep their backups more organized by providing an identifier on the backup itself. 

Earlier today a zero-day XSS vulnerability was discovered, and it appears to affect all versions of WordPress. This vulnerability resulted in a critical security update release and it is recommended to update your WordPress site immediately.

The CloudAccess.net Abuse Team learned of the vulnerability shortly after its release. Within 2 hours, our team had crafted security measures at the server level in an effort to thwart this particular attack vector. The action taken by our team will likely result in less infected sites on the CloudAccess.net network and ultimately less affected clients.

The CloudAccess.net Platform is built specifically for hosting WordPress and Joomla websites. The well-being of these sites is our top priority and we take these types of vulnerabilities very seriously. As the Joomla and WordPress communities continue to harden the applications, CloudAccess.net will continue to evaluate each application's security at the server level.

Last week, my colleague Derek Snieg posted a blog titled What to Expect in Joomla! 3.4. WordPress 4.1 came out last December, and you can now launch free WordPress 4.1 sites on our platform so I thought it would be a good idea to write about the new features you can find in the newest version of WordPress. Below is an overview of the major feature inclusions. 

Twenty Fifteen - the New Default Theme

As most of us know, WordPress was first developed as a blogging platform, and Twenty Fifteen is a new theme that gets back to these roots. Twenty Fifteen is a clean, elegantly-designed, highly-customizable, blog-focused theme. It looks great on all devices, whether mobile or stationary, and comes with improved language support from Google's Noto Font family.

Distraction Free Mode

Ever want to just write? Doing so in WordPress 4.1 is easier than ever with the improved distraction-free writing mode. This feature has actually been around for a while now, but the way the interface fades in and out and the accessibility of the full toolbar has changed.

With the release of Joomla 3.4 just around the corner, you might be wondering what new features this release will bring. Well, wonder no more. I installed the Beta 2 version and took a look around. This blog contains a list of new features you can expect in the next version of Joomla. Please bear in mind that since 3.4 is still in beta testing, the final look and feel of these features may change for the stable release, but they shouldn’t change much.

Release Dates

First, let’s take a look at the release dates.

• February 10, 2015 - 3.4 Release Candidate
• February 17th, 2015 - 3.4 Stable Release

Beta 2 came out on February 3rd, and these release dates may change depending on the bugs that are found. In just a few days we’ll have a release candidate and, hopefully, a stable release a week after that.

You may be aware that Joomla 2.5 has reached the end of life (EOL) stage in its release cycle. This blog contains some information about the history of the Joomla release cycle, a timeline for upgrading to Joomla 3 and links to tools you can use to help upgrade when you’re ready.

Joomla Release Cycle History

In the past, Joomla released minor and major releases, which they called short and long term releases. Joomla 2.5, for example, was a long term release, and the 1.6 and 1.7 versions were it's preceeding short term releases. When version 3 became available, Joomla adopted an improved release cycle ensuring longer support for major versions. There are no longer short term and long term releases. Instead, releases are referred to as being “supported”, “current”, “legacy” or “stable”. Learn more about the Joomla release and support cycle.

Millions of Joomla 2.5 Users

The Joomla Project will no longer release any official patches for Joomla 2.5. That being said, at the time of this post, there are currently millions of Joomla 2.5 sites on the web. This even includes a portion of the Joomla.org family of websites. For those reasons, we are confident that a patch would be created should any major issues arise in the immediate future. We would be willing to contribute to a patch which would be applied to all Joomla 2.5 sites on the CloudAccess.net Platform.

We’ve had an incredible year at CloudAccess.net, and before we sing Auld Lang Syne and ring in the new year, we want to reflect on all of the positive platform changes, personnel shifts and product improvements we experienced in 2014.

We started the year moving our headquarters to a new location in Traverse City, Michigan. For several years we were located just outside of town, but we're now in the Warehouse District in the downtown area. All the while moving we were gearing up to add WordPress as a fully-integrated product, which was officially added to the platform in March. Also in March we redesigned our main site to match the contemporary look, feel and functionality of the Cloud Control Panel™(CCP). Read more about our new site, new office and adding WordPress to the platform. 

It wasn’t long after adding WordPress that we announced a huge personnel shift. Gary Brooks, a co-founder and our CEO for the first several years stepped down in April. Jonathan Gafill, then the Chief Operating Officer, was given the CEO hat. This changed marked a significant shift in leadership and all-around company culture. May brought a cool new Import Site feature to the CCP enabling clients to import sites easily on their own. In June we sponsored the J and Beyond Conference in Königstein, Germany and a few of our team members were able to attend. Also in June we welcomed our 20,000th website to the platform, marking a huge milestone.

We’re proud to introduce CloudBase 3 - a free and versatile template with a contemporary design perfect for developing any type of Joomla 3 website. We created the CloudBase 3 after the overwhelming demand to a new version of the incredibly popular CloudBase 2 available for Joomla 2.5 sites. Since 2.5 is set to reach it’s end-of-life very soon, we figure that right now is the perfect time to release CloudBase 3.

Attend a Free CloudBase 3 Webinar

You’re invited to attend a free webinar to learn how to use over 60 customizable style options, a variety of module positions, the flexible template layout and much, much more!