OpenCart 3.0.3.9 was released on October 16, 2023. Unexpectedly, two years after the last release of the third version 3.0.3.8 and seven releases of the fourth version, an official update was released that no one expected. Why so? Probably because there is still no stable version 4.0.xx, and the third version is currently very popular, and if there is a choice between versions 3 and 4, then version 3.x is more often chosen
Are you interested in what has changed in OpenCart 3.0.3.9 compared to the previous release 3.0.3.8? There is no detailed description on the official site (no surprise, because it is never there), but there is a link to a github page with a technical list of changes in the new 3.0.3.9 engine. Therefore, we will try to explain to you in more detail all the changes that took place in this release:
1. The first and most important update is compatibility with PHP 8.
It is hard to understand why it was necessary to support the new version of PHP 8 on the old version of opencart. We all know that module developers have a lot of work to do - whether it's adapting their modules, in which they declare full compatibility with OpenCart 3.0, or adding messages that the modules work only on PHP 7+ versions. After all, clients will install Openkart 3.0.3.9 on the new PHP 8.2 and will overwhelm module support services and developers - "why doesn't it work?" because the declared support for Openkart 3?.
2. Support images in WEBP format.
You can now upload images with the webp extension in the file manager. A useful and important update, because Google and its services love the lightweight webp format. But where is the avif support then, we expect in the next update?
3. New improvements in the Summernote text editor.
Added italic button. Many of you probably looked for the "I" button in the description editor, but forgot about it, now this problem has been fixed. And they also added the font size "13" to the visual editor - it must be, someone was not afraid to do it, it was not for nothing that this size was omitted. Also fixed persistent 404 error in admin panel console due to wrong path to Summernote editor localization file.
4. The addthis script (social buttons, sharing) has been removed from the product page.
This is reasonable, since no one uses these buttons.
5. Fixes, corrections.
A lot of various small changes in the code, they did not cause significant problems, but it is still for the better, as many changes are already good, but despite this, version 3.0.3.8 was also stable and self-sufficient. Pagination fixes on personal account pages:
- order history,
- Download files,
- transactions,
- Returns, etc.
Fixed sorting of product options in the order in the admin panel. Adjustments in the operation of PayPal and Klarna payment modules. And many different corrections of spelling errors, missed translations and compliance with the general "code style".
Therefore, we have the following conclusion:
The new version of OpenCart 3.0.3.9 is definitely worth your attention, and if you want to make an online store, we recommend you choose this release, download and install it, but this is as of today, because in the future version 4.0 will be updated and maybe it will be better and more modern. Now the latest version of the trio is quite stable, if we talk about its use on PHP 7, but on PHP 8 we still think it is necessary to test, since most third-party modules do not support it. So it's just as great a build as the stable 3.0.3.8 but with improvements. So if you have questions "will the modules work on 3.0.3.9?, if the author declared only support for 3.0.3.7 or 3.0.3.8" - the answer: they will work, but only if you have PHP 7 on the server, with PHP 8 modules may be incompatible, so it is worth checking the support of the required PHP version before purchasing modules.
