ForumGarden

We’re excited to announce the release of phpBB 4.0.0-a1, the first alpha version of phpBB 4.0. This release marks a significant milestone in our project, as we introduce a modernized foundation and several new features. This version is intended for developers and enthusiasts to test and provide feedback.

Key Architectural Changes

We’ve made major updates to the core of phpBB to improve performance, security, and maintainability.

• Symfony 6.4 as the backend: phpBB is now built on the Symfony 6.4 framework, providing a more up-to-date, robust and flexible foundation.
• Minimum PHP 8.1 version: To leverage modern PHP features, phpBB 4.0 now requires a minimum of PHP 8.1.
• Cookie-based authentication: Authentication now relies on cookies for improved security and standardisation.
• New update system: phpBB now provides an automatic update system for easier updates. This feature can only be used when there are no local file edits. This will be enabled in a later release.

New Features

• This alpha release includes several new features designed to improve user interaction and administrative control.
• Webpush notifications: Users can now opt-in to receive real-time notifications directly in their browser for new posts and mentions.
• Mentions: A new @username feature allows users to mention and notify other members in posts.
• Cloudflare Turnstile support: We’ve added support for Cloudflare’s Turnstile captcha to help prevent spam.
• Refactored ban system: The ban system has been updated with full IPv6 and CIDR support and a simplified structure.
• Extensions catalog: You can now install extensions directly from the Admin Control Panel.
• Direct media playback: Media attachments can now be played directly within the post body.
• Custom BBCode icons: It’s now possible to add icons to custom BBCodes.
• New storage system: We’ve introduced a new system that makes it easier to add Extensions for integration with cloud storage services.

ForumGarden is not going to deploy the first alpha version of phpBB 4.0 but we observe there will be no interim releases between the current 3.3.15 and phpBB 4.0 itself, which we will deploy.

Sounds good apart from the Cloudflare Capcha which ice found to be a pain on other sites

Bryn Mawr wrote: Tue Dec 16, 2025 10:46 pm Sounds good apart from the Cloudflare Capcha which ice found to be a pain on other sites

Cloudflare is is blight on the universe, but I'll select the least annoying option which with any luck will be nothing to do with pictures, sliders or the like. "now provides an automatic update system" is only ten years late.