Minor Release - 5.4.0

With the release of ExpressionEngine 5.4, we wanted to call peoples’ attention to a few important items and additions.

For starters, version 5.4 is our last planned minor release of ExpressionEngine 5. With the 5.4 release, we’re looking to close out a lot of bugs currently on the 5.3.2 release, set the stage for sites to be upgraded to version 6, and simplify the upgrade process from older versions of ExpressionEngine to 5.4. While this is the last planned minor release of ExpressionEngine 5, we do plan on a few more patch releases.

While this is the last planned minor release of ExpressionEngine 5, we do plan on a few more patch releases.

We’re also happy to share that in 5.4 we’ve now implemented the ability to upgrade directly from ExpressionEngine 2.x to 5.4 without needing to upgrade to version 3 or 4 in-between. In addition to this, we’ve also added a post-upgrade utility that will identify broken template tags and fieldtypes after a site has been upgraded. For people who have been keeping up with the ExpressionEngine version 6 beta releases, you may have already seen these.

Changelog below

Version 5.4.0

Release Date: November 23, 2020

• Enhancements 🚀

  • Added relationship_entries_tagdata hook, which is functionally identical to the channel_entries_tagdata hook
  • Added support for SameSite cookies via config override
  • Added config override to ignore channel stats, which can lead to improved performance when using models.
  • Add stats module action to run stats
  • Added database column type selector for textarea and RTE fields (#464)
  • Added post-upgrade and utility check for broken template tags and missing fieldtypes.
  • Added Debug Tools utility.
  • Added confirmation screen when attempting to update major versions.
  • Adds namespacing to v2 upgrades for ease of upgrading from v2 to v5
  • Added support to be able to upgrade directly from v2 to v5
  • Improved XSS filtering for CP alerts
  • Began support for PHP 8
  • Added support for MySQL 8
  • Implemented different approach to trigger before_channel_entry_delete extension hook.

• Bug Fixes 💃🐛

  • Fixed a bug #589 where putting line breaks in the {pagination_links} tag would cause rendering issues.
  • Fixed an inconsistency #582 in the toggle fieldtype properties.
  • Fixed a bug (#480) where there has been no notice when extensions are disabled.
  • Fixed a bug (#499) where categories hidden from channel layout might get lost upon saving the entry.
  • Fixed a bug (#496) where file was sent twice when using drag&drop upload.
  • Fixed a bug (#487) where custom fields data were not available for extensions when deleting entry.
  • Fixed a bug (#457) where accented characters in variables were not truncated properly
  • Fixed a bug (#450) where pagination on tables was not working correctly when performing search for html tags.
  • Fixed a bug (#438) where JS combo loader was throwing error if extra v was passed into URL.
  • Fixed a bug (#432) where parent entries were not fetched for relationship field inside grid.
  • Fixed a bug #431 where the EE Block/Allow list was not able to be downloaded from within the Block/Allow Module.
  • Fixed a bug (#428) where Grid was throwing error PHP with certain fieldtypes.
  • Fixed a bug (#421) where attachments were not sent from Communicate page.
  • Fixed a bug (#419) where deprecated pagination code in member templates could cause a PHP error.
  • Fixed a bug (#416) which prevented the version check in the CP footer from working properly.
  • Added validation for category parent (#411)
  • Fixed a bug (#383) where Moblog wasn’t functioning.
  • Fixed a bug (#379) where comment subscription emails contained an invalid unsubscribe link.
  • Fixed a bug (#283) where “field required” indicator was not showing a Grid column.
  • Fixed a bug (#230) where accepting checksum in CP might result in wrong redirect when session type is “Session ID only”.
  • Fixed a bug (#91, #417) where link button was not working and formatting not displayed in RTE field on frontend.
  • Fixed a bug (#72) where Maximum rows limit was not respected in File Grid field.
  • Fixed a bug (#53) where previous month link was not clickable in Channel Form datepicker.
  • Fixed a bug where unsaved entries were not pulled in for live preview when using status="open|closed" parameter.
  • Fixed a bug where checking for updates might produce an error.
  • Fixed a bug where removing database record for template that is used as “No access redirect” would cause error
  • Fixed a bug where searching entries in CP in content only could produce SQL error.
  • Fixed a PHP error that could occur on publish if Pages was installed and hidden via layouts.
  • Fixed a rare PHP warning in the typography class.
  • Fixed a bug where some member pages did not display in the forums when using the forum tag on regular templates.
  • Fixed a PHP warning in the control panel when IDN variants weren’t available on the server.
  • Fixed a bug where a query string could be added to URLs erroneously.
  • Altered a JavaScript filename that mod_security tended to object to.
  • Fixed a bug where input data were assumed to be URL encoded, causing certain character sequences to be stripped when cleaned.