Well, as you can read from my forum response, there are several reasons but that won’t stop us from working hard on getting it completed and released as soon as we possibly can.

If you haven’t already purchased ClassiPress and are holding out until 3.0, I recommend you get in now while the prices are still low. They will increase once 3.0 comes out so even if you don’t want to install 2.9.3, you can lock in your price and just wait for the free 3.0 update. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In the meantime, I wanted to treat you to a sneek peek at what the new ClassiPress will look like. This is a first hand look of never before seen screen shots. There will be 5 different color variations so don’t be upset if you don’t like this shade of blue.

The inner pages are still being finalized but i will post them as soon as they are finished and approved. When will ClassiPress 3.0 be available? Read the forum post link included above to find out the details.

Any feedback of this design is of course welcome but it’s already pretty much locked and loaded at this point.

If you are already using v2.9 or v2.9.1, the main difference (besides some bug fixes) is how the ad form works and looks. There were some people who were having trouble with the modal box form button (it just wouldn’t work) but others didn’t have a problem at all.

Myself and my developer spent many hours working with customers trying to troubleshoot and isolate the problem. We released one patch that fixed it for some, but I still was not satisfied until it was working for everyone.

So v2.9.2 now has the sliding jquery form which is actually the original one CP used (what v2.8 uses). It will be the supported ad form going forward so it’s highly recommended you upgrade from any flavor of 2.9 to 2.9.2 immediately. If you’ve made any changes to your CP theme, I advise you to bring them over into v2.9.2 instead of trying to upgrade your existing v2.9 or v2.9.1.

View the changelog.txt file included in the download and you’ll see the exact changes and files affected. The /classipress/classifiedform directory has also been removed and replaced with process_form.php and post-form.php in the CP root which is how v2.8 was structured.

Upgrading from v2.9 or v2.9.1

1. Download and unzip v2.9.2. You can get the latest version by clicking on your original e-junkie email link. If you deleted or lost the email, contact me and include the email address you used to purchase CP (your PayPal email address). Please don’t be lazy and actually look for the original email first before contacting me.
2. Put your site in maintenance mode. Download and install this plugin if you don’t already have it.
3. Turn off any WP Cache plugins such as WP Super Cache (if applicable).
4. Rename your existing ClassiPress theme folder to “classipress_OLD”. This will essentially turn off your CP theme and use the default WP theme.
5. FTP only the v2.9.2 “classipress” folder into your themes folder. Also FTP the contents of the “plugins” folder to your WP plugins folder. Skip if you’ve already got the latest plugins.
6. Now go and activate v2.9.2 from within WordPress. You will see two that look exactly the same. Pick one and activate it. If it says v2.9.2, then you selected the correct one. If not, activate the other one.
7. Step through your CP config, settings, and payment pages and save each one. Your settings will still be the same as what you previously had before (except maybe the color scheme).
8. View your site and try submitting a new ad. You will notice the form is different than what you previously had.
9. If everything looks ok, then delete your test ad and turn off maintenance mode. Activate your cache plugin (if applicable).
10. If you were using CP in a different language (i.e. using a .mo file), you will need to update your classipress.pot and regenerate a .mo file. Read below for more details.

Upgrading from v2.8, v2.8.1, v2.8.2

This upgrade will be a little more involved for those who are using the 2.8 version series. The good news is there are a lot more features and benefits in the latest release. If you haven’t already read about them, check out the ClassiPress Features page to understand all the new goodies you get for free.

1. Follow the first 7 steps above.
2. When you get to step #7, make sure to review the new options on each of the ClassiPress admin pages. You will see lots of new features which will need to be setup and saved. If this isn’t done correctly, you will have problems with the ad submissions. CP admin pages (configure, settings, payment) must be saved first.
3. There are three new pages you need to setup to create the dashboard, profile, and ad edit functionality. Detailed instructions can be found within the install guide in the “User Dashboard & Profile Setup” section. Please read it carefully before asking for support. Most questions asked are because people didn’t read everything.
4. Now continue with steps 8-10 listed above.

ClassiPress in your language

If you are already using ClassiPress in a different language you will need to update your .po and recreate your .mo file. There is new text in v2.9.2 that needs to be translated and some text has moved to different lines. If you do not do this, your upgraded CP will not translate the text properly and look funny on your site.

Once you receive the new v2.9.2 .pot file, you need to open your existing translated .po file (i.e. pr_PR.po) in POEdit and select the “Update from POT file” option under the “Catalog” menu. Point it to the v2.9.2 .pot file and PoEdit will show you what text is new and needs to be translated. After you have translated the new text, save the project and then it will create your new .mo file. Overwrite your old .mo file in your /themes/classipress directory and look at your site.

Questions or comments

If you have any support or upgrade questions, please post them in the online support forum and NOT the comments section below. You can use the comments section below for general remarks or to thank me for spending my entire weekend preparing the upgrade for my customers.

I am sure you will enjoy this update as it addresses the most popular requests from everyone. ClassiPress has come a long way since it’s inception last year and you can expect it to evolve even further!

The main focus of this release has been to address a couple of things. Primarily to build in the most requested customer features submitted in our Feature Request forum and to better organize the underlying ClassiPress framework and code. When existing customers get the latest upgrade, you will notice how some files have been moved around and additional directories have been created. This is not an attempt to confuse you or make things difficult when upgrading but rather to organize ClassiPress more logically so additional growth and features will be easier to add.

This release is also taking more time than I originally anticipated but it’s important not to rush it out. There are lots of new advanced features packed into this release so it’s important to thoroughly test everything before launching it.

The great news is there’s been a lot of buzz around this upcoming release and the excitement continues to build. I’ve had people emailing and asking me in the forums as to when it will be released so let me officially answer that now. The launch date will be May 24th of course pending any last minute bug fixes or issues.

Ok, now it’s the part you’ve been waiting for. Here is a high-level list of features expected to be included in v2.9:

• Customer dashboard listing all their ads current status, edit & pause ad features
• Customer profile page where they can update their own info & include a picture
• Category-level pricing. Supports free categories as well
• Percentage-based pricing. Ad cost will depend on what item listing cost is
• Featured ad option so you can charge extra to be highlighted and listed at the top
• Themed login, register, and forgot password pages.
• New multi-step ad form with better validation and easier to add additional fields
• Column ascending and descending sorting for all listings
• Redesigned header with page nav, login, and a 468×60 banner spot
• Google maps  so ads will show map of item location
• Revamped categories to support multiple dropdown sub-categories
• Created 2 levels of dropdown navigation for the header pages
• Countdown timer to show remaining time left for each ad
• Added a new ad form field called URL
• Replaced prototype and scriptaculous with jquery
• Replaced lightbox with fancybox for image viewing
• and much more!

Here are a couple of screen shots to see what it will look like.

Ok, now that I’ve gotten you all excited you’ll have to hang on for just a little bit longer until it’s released. In the meantime I recommend joining our high paying affiliate program and write a blog post of your own. Doing a review of ClassiPress and then linking to us within your post is the best way to generate some bucks.

Prices will also be going up 20% starting July 1st so if you plan on buying ClassiPress, it’s a good idea to purchase it sooner rather than later. Keep in mind that all updates are free so you don’t need to worry about paying upgrade fees later.

For those of you who are ready to buy but not until v2.9 is released, I recommend you sign-up on the home page to receive updates. I will send out an email once it’s available so you’ll be one of the first to download it!

UPDATE: ClassiPress v2.9 is now available! Just released on 5/24 and is the best release yet. Check out the new live demo now! Existing customers – You will receive an email later this week with instructions on how to obtain this free update.

~David
Founder, ClassiPress