Another security release by Joomla wherein all users are encouraged to upgrade to. This release contains 26 bug fixes, two moderate-level security fixes and one low-level security fix. See release notes below.

Security

One low-level and two moderate-level security issues were fixed in this release:

• Moderate Priority: Core – com_users XSS. More information »
• Moderate Priority: Core – ja_purity XSS. More information »
• Low Priority: Core – Front-end XSS. More information »

For additional information, visit the Joomla Security Center.

Components

• Prev and Next links no longer create duplicate content with SEF URLs (13890)
• Atom feed validates for Contact Category and Weblinks Category layouts (15446)
• Article Category layout sorts correctly (15541)
• Form correctly uses JRoute for action (15551)
• Improved control over who is able to upload files (15691)
• Search results work correctly for multiple search terms with SEF URLs enabled (15853)
• RSS 2.0 feeds try to turn mailto links into absolute URLs (15909)
• Atom link in RSS feed causes validation problems (16211)

Modules

• Login correctly uses view=register (15740)
• Module cache, ID, ItemID (15727)

Plugins

• No plugin issues were fixed in this release.

Legacy

• No legacy issues fixed for this release.

Templates

• Khepri template has correct CSS icon for Article (15912)
• Align attribute in mod_mainmenu no longer causes problems for some templates (15963)
• Updated the helpsites.xml files (16397)

Language

• Translated description for Component, Module, Plugin, etc. after installation (13898)
• Change in Montenegrin language ISO Code (16112)
• Modified Montenegrin language code to be ME from SLA for consistency (16349)
• Install language changes (16405)

Administrator

• Global Configuration “Undefined Variable” warning now resolved (15699)
• Legacy code in installer premigration system causes unrelated errors (16236)

System

• Installation of some packages no longer fails (15701)
• Installation Version Display corrected (15913)
• JFile::getName() loses first character (16007)
• db->updateObject function outdated (15417)
• PHPDoc Comment for JFactory getDocument method incorrect (16314)
• offline.php file now has correct stylesheet (16500)

Statistics

Statistics for the 1.5.11 release period:

• Joomla 1.5.11 contains:
  • 26 issues fixed in SVN
  • 33 commits
• Tracker activity resulted in a net increase of 13 active issues:
  • 76 new reports
  • 27 closed
  • 25 fixed in SVN
• At the time the 1.5.11 release was packaged, the tracker had 157 active issues:
  • 90 open
  • 49 confirmed
  • 18 pending

It’s been a long while since I’ve updated this blog. Been very busy building my resource website, which includes a web design resource category, Joomla of course. Also concentrated on SEO and SEM for the past few months, which the resource website I’m building would also have a category for it. Also ventured into Social Media Marketing, another category in my resource website.

After the hacking incident a few weeks ago and a Security release, 1.5.6, Joomla once again has another security release, Joomla 1.5.7.

This is a security release and contains a number of bug fixes, improvements as well as security fixes. It is strongly recommended that users immediately upgrade. It has been nearly four weeks since Joomla 1.5.6 was released on August 12, 2008. The Development Working Group’s goal is to continue to provide regular, frequent updates to the Joomla community.

Security

• Several security issues were fixed in this release. There was 1 critical, 1 major and 2 moderate security vulnerabilities fixed in 1.5.7. For more information, visit the Security Center.

Articles

• com_content: Metadata handling; Alias not copied for Articles
• String Escaping: External links; Titles; Alt tags missing on images
• Blog Layout: Article Page break; new Left-to-Right option; Breadcrumbs; Archive Intro Text formatting issues; Section Blog Article links
• Submit Article: Article Order Drop-Down List on Front End Shows Archived and Trashed Articles; Preview edited Article does not use Template Editor.css
• RSS Feed: Publish Date fix; External URLs rendering incorrectly
• SEO: Index and Follow Meta Tag for Print View

Modules

• Show_noauth problem; Module Deletion after uninstall; Colspan in mod_latest; Copy Newsflash Module
• Name and Username in mod_login; Menu item is locked after closing
• Search: Textfield Width Parameter; Show Search Results option; Category Search

Legacy

• Menu Access Rights Corrections; Menu Separator shows as Link

Templates

• Beez: Contact Image; Typo in Attribute value; Newsflash Article URL
• ja_purity: e-Mail and Print Button files; Default Article Layout does not display Edit Icon for Authors; Site Logo Text goes under Header background; Top menu
• UPDATE (Sept. 10, 2008): New function countMenuChildren() added for hiding empty split menus

Administrator

• $row is not Initialized
• Help: Latest Version check; Help Key Reference Update for Modules: New Screen
• Configuration: Time Zone correction
• Media Manager: Base path missing slashes
• Sample Content: Outdated Links in “Welcome to Joomla”, Newsfeed Fixes, several updated articles and statistics
• Installation: Remove confusing error message about language files for extension installations

System

• IIS 6 and IIS 7: JRoute::_() and Application Redirect() fixes
• Parameter Types: SQL, Textarea for Templates
• E-mail: JMail class ignores JConfig.sendmail path for sendmail; Incorrect SEF URLs for outgoing recommendation e-mails
• API: JHTMLSelect fix; queryBatch logging in debug mode; JSite::getParams(); strpos(); setMetadata creates duplicate meta tags; $row is not initialized
• XML-RPC client ID is too high; Profiling J1.5 framework; $row is not initialized
• Cache: JCacheStorageFile::gc flawed logic in cache expiry; Clean Cache file with Cache Manager

I have just created a new blog, which would be concentrating on Joomla Extensions, Joomla Templates, and Web Design.

It’s practically new though, so I’m still adding new posts. Do drop by and leave a message if you want a particular Joomla Extension to get featured.

Thanks.

It has been 3 fruitful years for the Joomla community. 3 years of swiftly moving forward through hurdles and hard times. And Joomla has definitely grown into the highest proportions imaginable.

Full details of the story here…

I recently tied-up with a start-up web design company in Western Australia, HCS Technology. The owner of the company subscribed to YouJoomla, and I personally like their member templates. Professionaly done, cool designs, and some nice extensions.

About 2 weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Barrie North of Compass Designs, telling me about a security vulnerability within Joomla 1.15 wherein a person could get in and change my admin password, thus advising me to urgently upgrade to version 1.5.6 to avoid disaster. Sadly, I did not take notice.

A few days after that, I received an e-mail from somebody, telling me about the same vulnerability. The only difference is that he told me he would fix the issue for $200. So I logged in to my administrator’s control panel and behold… that person changed my admin password. Luckily though, that was the only problem and I have a database back-up so I restored the original password. Right away I downloaded and applied the patch from Joomla.

Lesson learned: always check and apply new patches, especially security patches, and always listen to experts. Yeah I should have listened to Barrie in the first place…

After a few months from its official release, I finally got a chance to use Joomla 1.5 in a production environment, not just test sites. It’s a little different from the earlier versions and I’m still getting the hang of it. It seems to me though that it’s easier to use when you get more familiar with it. Maybe a few more sites and I will grasp the essence of the new version of Joomla.

Anyway, here’s the new site: The Philippine Condotels

I just built another site, Condotels Cebu, using the free template and slideshow module provided by JoomlaShine.

I just built another Joomla! powered website using the FREE template from Shape5. The project is for Hilton Cebu Resort and Towers.