Today we are shining a light on a crucial information, long requested: our release calendar for the next versions of PrestaShop 1.7 and 1.6!

TL;DR

In short: we intend to release at least 3 minor versions of PrestaShop 1.7 in 2018, and patch versions for both 1.7 and 1.6, as regularly as possible in-between minor releases.

When? Keen readers should already know about since it has been published on March 2nd. In case you are not, here’s a handy table to guide you:

Prestashop 2018 release schedule

Now, for the longer part of the article…

Our plan for 2018

2017 has been a year of focus on regularity but, at some points, it was no longer possible to guarantee the quality of each release without delaying it from the initial schedule. And for 2018, the idea is not to fix any delivery dates but rather focus on the content of the versions. We will work on a release until we feel confident about releasing it.

4 notions are to be remembered about 2018 and PrestaShop’s future changes:

  • A software that is easier and faster to use
  • A software internationally usable
  • A software that makes businesses grow
  • A software that we all are proud of

As for when to expect minor releases, like 1.7.4.0, 1.7.5.0 and so on, here is how we are planning to work things out:

  • We want to have regular and strong minor releases to improve 1.7.
  • Each feature we want to include in the software will be studied from different angles, each one corresponding to a specific category of merchants. What benefits for what kind of users? It could be new and classic merchants, Ready, advanced users, or agencies.
  • But also from other points of view, such as the company’s, the community’s, the contributors’ and partners’.

In short, we want each release to meet a true need for every person involved. Whether you are a new merchant, a Ready one, an advanced user, an agency, a developer, an open-source lover, a contributor or a partner, our goal is to satisfy each one of you!

What vision?

In 2018, we want to push automated testing even further, for the core as well as for a selection of modules. This will allow us to concentrate on making PrestaShop better without having to worry about breaking compatibility.

Another big subject is the migration to Symfony. We are working hard on migrating the back office to Symfony 3.4, with the objective of having it finished by the end of 2018. This includes switching all the controllers to Symfony, all templates to Twig (again, back office only), and all pages to our UI kit (Bootstrap 4). For now, we are still going to keep jQuery and Vuejs together, but we have big plans for the future regarding Vuejs. And that’s all we can say for now… ;-)

In addition to that, note that even though patch versions are marked in the roadmap, they are for indicative purposes, and can both vary in quantity and release date. Remember, quality over quantity.

Organization and methodology

You might have noticed a slight change in the way we work now, right? Indeed, instead of the usual fast-paced schedule that only allows small fixes and prevents us from diving into the bigger, structural issues, we are now working on a much flexible schedule.

Since June 2017, we are focusing on addressing long-standing, complicated issues. This of course requires us to spend more time working on them, because it implies taking the time to find the root cause of the problem, which is often hidden deep in the source code, working out a stable solution, implementing it in a backwards-compatible fashion, writing the documentation, and testing it thoroughly to ensure it doesn’t produce regressions. This process often reveals other problems, which need to be addressed in turn one after the other… like a never-ending cycle!

In addition, we are now much more cautious about what we release. If we aren’t happy about the quality of a feature or fix, we just won’t release it until we are. Let’s say we are acting on the following logic: long-term vision, developing, testing and slowly moving from quantity to quality.

With the product and the core teams reunited, we are about 20 people working on both 1.7 and 1.6 versions. Well, we’re aware that 20 people is obviously not enough but be sure we are fully dedicated to getting a clear and stable codebase while adding real improvements for all PrestaShop users, with the help of the community. Also, we are hiring!

What’s it gonna be?

So, with 1.7.3 released, minor versions are being released this year. Let’s have a look at what we want them to be:

  • 1.7.3.0:

    • Was released in February 2018.
    • Main features:
      • Right-to-left support.
      • PrestaTrust.
      • UI Kit.
      • New demo products.

  • 1.7.4.0:

    • Should be released in May 2018.
    • Main features:
      • GDPR module.
      • Menu and SEO optimization.
      • Easier design customization.
      • Symfony 3.4, requires at least PHP 5.6.

  • 1.7.5.0:

    • Should be released in September 2018.

Do you want to help on a specific topic? Let us know! Also, be aware that this table will be updated as we go, raise your voice to have your say, we are glad to have you in the game. ;-)