The Movable Type 5.2.6 release offers fixes for bugs found after the release of version 5.2.3 and features 4 brand new functions. At the same time, Movable Type 5.15 also have been released.

This update also includes fixes for bugs found in Movable Type EZ versions 5.2.4 and 5.2.5.

For more information on the new functions and bug fixes, please refer to the release notes.

• 5.2.6 Release Notes
• 5.15 Release Notes

* Check out this previous blog entry for an explanation on the new release numbering system.

New Functions

New Responsive Web Design Theme "Eiger"

"Eiger" is especially suited for use with larger company websites and blogs. Along with Media Query (CSS) supported multi-device compatibility, logos, headers and banners, and navigation are all easily customizible with built-in Movable Type functions.

The "Smartphone Option"

The optional "Smartphone Option" is now available bundled together with either Movable Type Professional or Movable Type Advanced. (As of now, the "Smartphone Option" can only be obtained through a bundle purchase.)

The "Smartphone Option" offers a version of the Movable Type admin screen that has been optimized for smartphones, tablets and other portable devices.

For more information on using the "Smartphone Option", please refer to the "Smartphone Option User Manual" from "Movable Type 5 documentation".

Canonical Link Elements

Canonical elements can now be used with the MT tags "MTCanonicalURL" and "MTCanonicalLink".

Language settings expansion

The language in which a blog entry's date is displayed can now be set seperately from the general blog language settings.(109305, 109542) The language option can be set by accessing "Date Language" from the blog entry date "Compose" option. Once set, the date for the blog entry will be displayed in the standard format for the specified language. In connection to this change, the following tags have also been added:

• MTBlogDateLanguage
• MTWebsiteDateLanguage

We, the Movable Type team, felt that in order to better strengthen communication between us and our users, it would make the most sense to provide our users with two separate Twitter accounts, each with it's own language support.

The primary Movable Type Twitter account (movabletype) will continue providing support in both Japanese and English from now until June 6th.

For those who have not yet followed us on Twitter, we hope you will take this opportunity to start following the Japanese team on our new account, "movabletypejp".

Thank you to all our followers (and future followers) for your continued support!

Dan Wolfgang, a talented plugin developer and member of the Movable Type community, recently wrote an informative blog entry on upgrading plugins for use with both Movable Type 4 and 5.

In the blog entry, Dan offers several tips based on difficulties he personally encountered, providing a useful resource for other MT developers. The topics he covers in the blog entry include:

• Version-specific content
• Form elements
• "Undefined Subroutine" errors
• Building menus
• Listing framework
• Popup dialogs
• Object listings in pop-up dialogs

Check out Dan's blog for more information on Movable Type plug-in development along with other tips and tricks!

We understand the major issues that have been and still plague the MT Plugins Directory and extend a heart-felt apology to all Movable Type users and developers regarding the seemingly neglected state of the directory.

There are several small changes to the directory that have been made, taking effect from today.A much larger scale renewal of the Plugin Directory is being planned for release later on in the year.

Details on the small update

Because of the continuous issues with the old plugin database, we have migrated all information from the older directory to the current directory. Also, as there were more input forms than necessary, we reduced the number of forms as much as possible.

A new "theme" listing has been added to the top page. Any themes registered under the "theme" category will be displayed on the top page under this listing.

Plans for future rennovation

Today's changes and additions should be viewed as temporary patches in order to normalize directory use for the time being.

During this year, we plan on completely revamping the plugins directory registration system. We will provide more information once we have settled on the specifics for the new plugins directory, and we appreciate your continued patience during this time period.

We apologize again to our users and developers who have had to use the out-dated system up until now. We are working hard to make the directory easier to use and with the ability to provide more up-to-date information on all available plugins.

FAQ

As a developer, what should I do?

If you have plugins or themes that are compatible with MT5, then please register them to the directory.

If you have plugins or themes that are compatible with MT5, then please register them to the directory.

Starting from now, every registered plugin will be sent to our office for review, at which point it will then be published to the directory. Because of the need to verify all registered plugins, there will be a small delay between registration and publication, however, that delay should only take, at most, a few days.

How can I recommend my favorite plugins and themes to other users?

If you are not a developer but want to help promote a plugin that you use often and enjoy: in the registration form field, there is a check-box labeled "Original Author Name." Make sure this box is checked and then enter the developer's name.

This release does not include security related patches.

Users who have already upgraded to Movable Type 5.2.2 and who use a database other than MySQL, do not need to upgrade to Movable Type 5.2.3.

• 5.2.3 release notes

Six Apart has found a security issue and fixed it in Movable Type 4.2 and MT 4.3. For those of you who use Movable Type 4.2 and 4.3, Six Apart strongly recommends that you upgrade to the latest released version of Movable Type or execute the following steps immediately. This vulnerability does not exist in Movable Type versions 5.0 or later, including the latest Movable Type, version 5.2.2.

The Issue

Through the upgrade program of MT (mt-upgrade.cgi), OS command injection and SQL injection can be performed, and potentially open a vulnerability. This issue may occur when mt-upgrade.cgi can be executed on the Internet.

Versions affected

• Movable Type 4.2x, 4.3x
• Movable Type Open Source 4.2x, 4.3x
• Movable Type Enterprise 4.2x, 4.3x

The Fix for Movable Type 4.38 users

Six Apart will provide the patch code file for Movable Type 4.38 users. Please download and unzip the patch code file. Download "lib / MT / Upgrade.pm" file from Movable Type in use for backup. Then, upload unzipped Upgrade.pm, and replace it.

• MT4.38-Upgrade-Patch.zip

The Fix for those who cannot apply the patch code file (users who do not use Movable Type 4.38)

Those who cannot use the patch code file, please execute one of the following solutions.

• Remove the read permission and execute permission from mt-upgrade.cgi, so that external users on the Internet will not be able to run the mt-upgrade.cgi.
• Or delete the mt-upgrade.cgi.

Since Six Apart has already terminated the support of Movable Type 4.2x, we strongly recommend upgrading to the latest version of Movable Type 5.2.2. If you are concerned with any issues resulting from the implementation of this patch, please test this in a development environment first.

Product Life Cycle Milestones

Below are definitions for the different lifecycle phases included in the chart below

[GA (General Availability)]

During the period between GA and EOS (End of Sales), security patches and bug fixes will be released on a regular basis, with official technical support available for a fee.

[EOS (End of Sales)]

EOS designates the closure of sales for a specific product version. Major (x.0) and feature (0.x) releases for the product version released during the GA period will start to become available. Once EOS has passed, the product version released during the GA period will no longer be available for purchase. Bug fixes (0.0x) and security updates will continue to be released until EOM (End of Maintenance), and official technical support will continue to be available for a fee.

[EOM (End of Maintenance)]

EOM signifies the end of official Six Apart maintenance support for a specific product version. EOM occurs 12 months after EOS (End of Sales). At this point, the product version will go into what is defined by Six Apart as a security maintenance period: only patches for security breaches deemed critical by Six Apart will continue to be released until EOL (End of Life). It is possible to continue using the product at this time, however the user must understand that, following EOM, official technical support will no longer be available. In addition, only the latest version of the most recent feature release will be classified as EOM, with all previous versions classified as EOL (End of Life). If official technical support is necessary, the user will first have to upgrade to the most recent product release.

[EOL (End of Life)]

EOL signifies that a product version has reached the end of it's life span. It will no longer go under maintenance and will no longer receive bug fixes, security patches, or additional feature updates. Third party support may remain available, but there will no longer be any official Six Apart technical support. It is possible to continue using the product at this time, however the user must be aware of the security risk in doing so. It is strongly recommended that the user upgrade to the most recent version of the product before EOL occurs.

* Version Support Phase Chart

This chart shows the dates of each phase (GA, EOS, EOM, EOL - refer to above definitions) for each version of Movable Type. Note that for Movable Type 4.38, the period between EOM and EOL has been extended from 12 months to 24 months.

Contact Us

Please send any questions concerning the product life cycle policy via following page:

• http://www.movabletype.com/info/contact.html

I was one of the attendees at the "Movable Type Idea Exchange in NYC" in October earlier this year, and as a speaker, I made several promises:

• To provide English translations of Japanese plugins
• To provide English translations of MT related Japanese documents
• To renovate the plugin directory
• To share knowledge, in English, on the Github wiki

I introduced several Japanese plugins recently, and am currently in the process of fulfilling the rest of the promises that I made during the conference.

Though it have not been perfect, but as of now, we have officially started translating documents and articles currently available on the "MovableType.jp" website for publication in English on the "MovableType.org" website.

New documents are located here:

• http://www.movabletype.org/documentation/mt5/

Developers notes and plugins will be continue to be translated. Also, we plan on revisiting previously published MT4 related documents in order to update them with more recent screenshots and information.

Finally, several articles on the Github Wiki page that were previously only available in Japanese have been translated and published in English.

Little by little, we hope to bring the international MT community up to speed with what is happening on the Japan side. Stay tuned for future updates!

For more information on bug fixes, please refer to the following release notes:

• 5.2.2 release note

About the New Functions

Boilerplate Function

The boilerplate text function lets users register often repeated text, such as for event announcements, which can then be recalled and inserted in blog entries. Boilerplate can be pre-formatted using Markdown or the Rich Text Editor.

For more information on using the boilerplate function, please refer to the manual below:

• Boilerplate

New Theme: Rainier

The new blog theme, "Rainier" is now available for use with Movable Type.

"Rainier" is a multi-device compatible theme based on Media Queries (CSS). "Rainier" offers header banner and navigation customization options.

Key Features

• Ability to evaluate the user's access method and automatically changes site design to best match the user's environment
• Customizable thumbnail image used when sharing your website on Facebook or other social media related sites
• Blog entry summary list pagination (divided into 10 entries per page)
• Bread crumb navigation
• Ability to preview blog posts before posting, as well as easily edit their appearance
• Multi-device compatibility via Media Queries for Classic Blog designs (such as the Cityscape series and the Minimalist series)

For more information on using "Rainier", please refer to the manual below:

• Setting Up "Rainier"

Movable Type 5.2.2 (the new numbering) will be released in December and will be the newest version of Movable Type 5.2. We will start the new numbering policy with this new release.

**Please continue reading for more details on this update**

Until now, major releases were written as such: 4.0, 5.0, etc., with minor releases for each version, including minor bug fixes and new functions, written as such: 4.x, 5.x, etc. Any further releases after the initial minor release would be written with the additional version number in the second decimal slot, such as MT5.12.

Starting with the release of Movable Type 5.2.2, instead of adding a second decimal slot for additional small scale releases, a new decimal point and a new number will be added. For example, MT5.22 under the old system would become MT5.2.2 under the new system.

Why did we feel this change was necessary?

Primarily because of our new upcoming cloud service, currently in development by the Movable Type development team.

In general, major releases and upgrades happen every two to three years. During that two to three year period between major releases, and excluding emergency security updates, minor upgrades to the most current version of MT are released every six months to a year.

The main problem with the old release system is that huge gaps between major releases translate to delays in releasing new innovative features, bug fixes and enhanced compatibility for preferred browsers.

When the new Movable Type cloud service is in place, we will be able to release patches and new innovative feature updates every 1 to 2 months, enhancing the value of your Movable Type installation.

These new bug fixes, patches and additional features will be reflected not only in the cloud version of MT, but also in all purchased self hosted releases and will become permanent additions to feature software versions of Movable Type.

Future MT Version Numbering Policy

In order to more easily organize future releases, we decided to make a minor change to the version numbering method. In short, from now on, instead of releases being numbered as such: 5.21, 5.22, etc., they will be numbered like this: 5.2.1, 5.2.2, etc.

Please note there is a possibility that future releases may not follow a strict chronological order, with some numbers being skipped over. An example release order might be as follows:

5.2 => 5.2.2 => 5.2.3 => 5.2.5

We hope this numbering change will make it easier for our users to keep track of the most recent versions of MT, and allow you to keep up to date on the latest features to improve your experience using our software. We are looking forward to the advantages the new cloud system will bring to the future of Movable Type and hope you will be excited when it is released!

During the "Movable Type Idea Exchange" conference held in New York in October, I introduced several Japanese developed plug-ins. Today, I am happy to announce that approximately 40 of those previously Japanese only plug-ins are being released to the international community.

Along with the new releases, some previously released plug-ins have been given upgraded manuals, reference links and screen shots. Please try out these brand new plug-ins and see what the Japanese community has developed!

A list of currently available plug-ins are available here:

• http://www.movabletype.org/2012_Japanese_Plugins/index.html

Movable Type users working with Firefox browser version 16 or later cannot save selected categories and folders after checking checkboxes. This issue appears in the following areas of the Movable Type CMS:

• Choosing categories in the entry editor
• Choosing folders in page editor
• Choosing folders on the uploading assets form

If you cannot choose categories and folders in above situation, please apply the appropriate patch file for your using version.

• For Movable Type 4.38
• For Movable Type 5.07
• For Movable Type 5.14
• For Movable Type 5.2

The patch includes these files:

• mt-static/js/common/List.js
• mt-static/js/mt_core_compact.js

Installation:

• Donload and unzip the patch file
• Upload List.js and mt_core_compact.js to each of the following directories.
  • /path/to/mt/mt-static/js/common/List.js
  • /path/to/mt/mt-static/js/mt_core_compact.js

If you have changed the location of the mt-static directory, please place the patch files in the directory that is appropriate for your installation.

Do you know what's special about October 8th? October 8th is Movable Type's birthday! 11 years ago, on October 8th, 2001, Movable Type version 1 was released. Since then, thanks to the use and feedback from users of Movable Type for blog and website management, Movable Type has evolved into the form it is today. Your continued feedback and support through advice, praise and critique will ensure that Movable Type will continue evolving over the next 11 years. We appreciate every one's help and we definitely could not have come this far without you!

As part of the celebration, let's see how Movable Type has changed over the past 11 years by comparing Movable Type administration screen screen shots!

Movable Type 1.x

The first version of Movable Type was released October 8th, 2001. This was just after the not to be forgotten September 11 attacks and many Americans were still in shock. Many people wanted to talk about what was happening in the world to better understand the situation and come to grips with the new future. For whatever reason, people were drawn in to Movable Type and what it could do, and the download and use of the software spread like wildfire, eventually leading to a widespread blogging movement, with "Blogger" being another big name and blogging revolutionary.

Original release articles for Movable Type still exist on MovableType.com. On MovableType.com, articles around the first release still remains. Reading over the first couple of entries, it is obvious that Mena and Ben, the original developers, were caught unawares by how well known Movable Type became over such a period of time.

Movable Type 2.x

Movable Type version 2 was released in March, 2002. The most notable addition to version 2 was the implementation of the Trackback function. (Although actually, trackback functions weren't made available until version 2.2.) By using trackback, bloggers could exchange their opinions and start discussions with one another.

From version 2.5, internationalization options were added. As people from all over the world, not just English speaking countries, were interested in blogging using the Movable Type software, language packs for major languages around the world were created and made available to the public.

Movable Type 3.x

Movable Type version 3 was released in May 2004. At that time, public recognition of the word "blog" had soared, and Internet service companies started creating their own original blogging services.

The phrase "business blog" was also born at this time. Companies started to use blogs for PR purposes, this in turn helping to make communication between businesses and consumers easier than before and more direct.

Movable Type 4.x

Movable Type 4 was released in August, 2007. At this point, six years had passed since the original release of Version 1. MT4 featured the first radical change to the Movable Type administration screen. Site navigation was changed from a vertical to horizontal layout, and the navigation bar itself was now black.

MT4 also introduced several new functions, one of which was the new ability to create web pages from within Movable Type. Other features included the inclusion of hour and minute time records for published blog entries as well as hierarchical blog entry organization.

Multiblog, a function of aggregating data over multiple blogs, was introduced, and template tags were enhanced, offering support for functions such as four arithmetic operations and conditional branching.

The ability to create and include custom fields became available from version 4.1. This function helped further define Movable Type as scalable CMS software.

Movable Type 5.x

The Japanese engineering team started leading the development of Movable Type from MT version 5, which was released in January, 2010.

MT5 introduced the Website function. By using both the Website and Blog functions, users could easily create, manage and maintain entire websites. The Theme function was also introduced, and custom field functions were further enhanced.

In version 5.1, the Listing framework, enabling users to easily sort through large amounts of data, was implemented. In version 5.2, a TinyMCE based rich text editor was introduced in order to help users create and edit blog entries.

And now we are back to the present! So, how did you like that blast from the past? As you can tell just by glancing through the screen shots, Movable Type has changed a lot from its humble beginnings. However, throughout all the years, one thing remains the same: Movable Type will never stop evolving in order to make your user experience better!

In closing, I'd like to know...what was the first version of Movable Type that you used? Do you have any fond memories of Movable Type from over the years?

Happy birthday, Movable Type!