It has happened! The first version of thirty bees is out now and ready for you to use! Go ahead and download it, is you haven’t done so.

With the first version of thirty bees we had the chance to add new features, besides fixing the old code. And, boy, did we take that chance! With all the resources we had at hand, we have implemented as many of the features you have requested as possible, to bring you the e-commerce framework that works for you.

Now what?

Now that the first version has been released, an inevitable question pops up: now what?

thirty bees follows Semantic Versioning (or SemVer in short). What this means for you as a user, is that future versions will be predictable.
How so?

  • PATCH versions can be applied immediately. They do not introduce new features, but instead improve existing ones by fixing bugs.
  • MINOR versions do require you to check how the new version affects your website. Things might have changed for the better, but some parts of your site might need adjustments, because new features have been introduced or features have changed. Since we’re currently dealing with a code base that requires some very heavy maintenance, expect a feature or two to change in the upcoming two/three MINOR versions. SemVer also states that new features need to be implemented in a backwards compatible way, so expect to be able to use your PrestaShop™ 1.6 modules for a long time.
  • MAJOR versions break backwards compatibility. With thirty bees 2.0.0, you might likely have to check every single aspect of your store, because new features have been added, but also removed. SemVer gives the software author full freedom here, so be aware that you will have to check this update in a separate test environment before going live. This is also the first version where we expect that PrestaShop™ modules might no longer work.

One of the exciting (okay, I’m speaking as a developer here) new features we have added is the new testing framework. We have invented a testing framework that will allows us to test every single line of the code. We will be using it extensively in the upcoming months as it will allow us to remove bugs at a staggering rate. In fact, we want to spend so much time on fixing bugs, that in the next four months, we will not be processing any new feature requests. In order to make this e-commerce software work for you, we will fix what is broken. This doesn’t mean we do not keep track of new features anymore, so feel free to keep them going, but we will be focusing on upcoming PATCH versions, until it is time to release a new MINOR version.

Any dates?

No, we do not want to rush out new software, but instead release new versions when we think they are ready. We feel that putting deadlines on a new version will kill the stability and feature-richness of new versions.

So how do I prepare for new versions, then?
You don’t! We will give you a new version when we think you can reach higher conversions with it, when you will be more successful than with the previous version, but in the meantime encourage you to stay where you are and patiently wait for the new version to be released.

Internally, however, we work with the following schedule and we hope to reach this frequency:

  • At least every month a new PATCH
  • Twice a year, a new MINOR version
  • When the time has come, release a new MAJOR version

Every MINOR version will be supported for at least two years. If we feel it needs to be supported any longer, like the first and last MINOR version of a range, we will surely extend the support period.

As always, if you feel things aren’t going fast enough, feel free to contribute code on GitHub, report bugs, work on our documentation and/or fill our request list with new feature requests. Thank you very much for using the framework. Let’s make the best open source cart software, together!