Blog

Feature Highlight - Changing the Logo

January 7, 2021 | Posted by Paul


How do I upload my logo? Like editing the navigation, this too has become any increasingly common question. With version 5, changing the logo is really simple.

To change the logo in Blesta version 4.12 and older you must export the default theme, import it, then edit it to set the URL to your logo (which, by the way, you have to upload somewhere first). In Blesta version 5, changing the logo is incredibly simple. You can set the URL or relative path to your logo, or you can upload your logo directly through Blesta, and preview it before you save.

How does it work?

Watch the short video below!

  1. Visit Settings > Company > Look and Feel > Customize.
  2. Select the Client or Staff tab to change the respective logo.
  3. Enter the URL to your logo, or upload your logo and save.

Tip! To revert to the default Blesta logo, just change the theme to another and back.

Have you installed the 5.0 beta yet?

The ability to upload your logo was added in Blesta 5.0 (currently in beta as of this post), but you can install the beta and give it a try!

Feature Highlight - Navigation Editor

December 30, 2020 | Posted by Paul


How do I edit the navigation? This question has become increasingly common, so we implemented a new navigation editor.

In Blesta version 5 (currently in beta as of this post), you can create, delete, and sort navigation items for the staff, client, and public areas. Previously you had to either edit a template file, write your own plugin, or use a third party CMS plugin. Editing the navigation now is super simple and requires no code.

How does it work?

Watch the short video below!

  1. Visit Settings > Company > Look and Feel > Navigation.
  2. Create your own Actions (Navigation links) for the staff, client, or public navigation.
  3. Click to add or remove, and drag & drop to sort navigation links.

Tip! Drag items into a primary navigation item to make it a sub-navigation item.

Have you installed the 5.0 beta yet?

The Navigation Editor was added in Blesta 5.0 (currently in beta as of this post), but you can install the beta and give it a try!

Blesta 5.0 Beta Released

December 23, 2020 | Posted by Paul


We are pleased to announce that Blesta 5.0.0 BETA 1 has been released!

Can I participate in the beta?

If you have an owned or monthly license with us directly, you may download blesta-5.0.0-b1.zip in the client area now (Login Required). If you obtained your license from a reseller or distributor, you may be able to participate. Contact your reseller to find out. As with any beta, this release is for non-production use only and is unsupported. DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR PRODUCTION. During installation, choose to start a free trial, open a ticket to request a trial key, or use your dev license if you have one.

Once you are up and running, head to the forums to report any issues and let us know what you think! If you have a license and are verified or become verified on our Discord chat, you’ll have access to a license holder only beta forum.

Visit the Beta Forums! Visit Discord Chat!

New Navigation editor lets you drag & drop sort, remove items, and add your own nav elements.

(Caption: New Navigation editor lets you drag & drop sort, remove items, and add your own nav elements.)

So what is new in 5.0?

Blesta version 5.0 paves the way for the next generation of updates, increasing system requirements and removing deprecated code and superfluous libraries. It also includes new features like Bootstrap 4, a Staff, Client & Public Navigation Editor, improved staff area for mobile, emoji support system-wide, and more.

Minimum Requirements

Minimum system requirements were increased to the following:

  • PHP 7.2+ (7.2 or 7.3 recommended)
  • MySQL 5.6.0, or MariaDB 10.0.5+ (full-text index + utf8mb4 collation support required)
  • Ioncube loaders 10.1+ (Blesta no longer ships with hotfixes for older, now unsupported versions)

Updated Extensions

  • All extensions updated to support Bootstrap 4 and Font Awesome 5.
  • Order Manager updated to allow sorting of order forms, in addition to packages and package groups.
  • Support Manager ticket search now includes all replies and notes.
  • Support Manager ticket system and knowledge base now include support for emoji’s.
  • Twilio updated to use the latest SDK.
  • SolusVM updated to add support for noVNC console.
  • ISPManager updated to no longer require usernames start with a letter.
  • Square updated for compatibility with their latest API.
  • GoCardless updated to add support for USD and CAD.
  • 2Checkout renamed for compatibility with modern versions of composer.

Changes to the Core

  • Upgraded Bootstrap v3 to Bootstrap v4.
  • Added a new Navigation Editor. Staff, Client, and public navigation items can be sorted and created.
  • Added support for uploading a logo for use in the Staff and Client areas.
  • The Staff area was improved for mobile devices.
  • Added support for VAT verification through VIES.
  • Added emoji support system-wide, updating the character set from utf8 to utf8mb4.
  • Session names can now be renamed in the config file. Useful for multiple installs on the same domain.
  • Order Received and Order Received (Mobile) email templates now include additional tags for Address 2, City, State/Province, Zip/Postal Code, and Country.
  • File based monologs generated by the cron are now named differently.

Changes for Developers

  • All deprecated code and libraries have been removed.
  • Bootstrap, jQuery, Font Awesome, and other libraries have been updated.
  • System Requirements have been increased.

Client Template Changes

  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/_404.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts_cc_info.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts_editach.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts_editcc.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_contacts.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_contacts_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_contacts_contact_info.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_contacts_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_contacts_phone_numbers.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_dialog_confirm.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_dialog_password.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_emails.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_invoices.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_invoices_applied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_login.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_login_confirmreset.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_login_forgot.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_login_otp.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_login_reset.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_card.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_getcurrencyamounts.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_invoicemethod.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_myinfo.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_maintenance.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_pay.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_pay_confirm.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_pay_method.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_pay_multiple_invoices.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_addaddon.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_addons.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_cancel.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_changeterm.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_configure_addon.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_manageoptions.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_package_options.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_review.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_service_infobox.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_serviceinfo.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_tabs.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_totals.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_upgrade.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_transactions_applied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/message.pdt updated
  • /app/views/client/bootstrap/structure.pdt updated

Staff Template Changes

  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_billing.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_billing_invoiceapplied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_billing_printqueue.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_billing_services.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_billing_transactionapplied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_addcontact.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_addnote.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_addservice_basic.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_createinvoice.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editcontact.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editinvoice.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editnote.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editrecurinvoice.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editservice_basic.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_editserviceaddons.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_email.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_emails.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_invoiceapplied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_invoices.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_makepaymentamount.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_notes.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_packages.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_phones.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_recordpayment.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_serviceinfo.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_services.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_stickynote_list.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_stickynotes.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_transactionapplied.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_transactions.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_clients_view.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_automation.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_billing_addcoupon.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_billing_coupons.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_billing_customization.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_billing_editcoupon.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_billing_notices_form.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_client_options_addcustomfield.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_client_options_customfields.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_client_options_editcustomfield.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_currencies_active.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_emails_addsignature.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_emails_editsignature.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_emails_edittemplate.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_emails_signatures.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_emails_templates.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_gateways_available.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_gateways_installed.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_general_contacttypes.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_general_humanverification.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_groups.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_groups_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_groups_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_actions.pdt new
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_addaction.pdt new
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_customize.pdt new
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_editaction.pdt new
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_layout.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_layout_tab.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_lookandfeel_navigation.pdt new
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_messengers_available.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_messengers_installed.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_modules_addgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_modules_available.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_modules_editgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_modules_installed.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_plugins_available.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_plugins_installed.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_plugins_settings_actions.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_taxes_basic.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_taxes_rules.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_company_themes.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_main.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_main_calendar.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_myinfo.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_options_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_options_addgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_options_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_options_editgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_addgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_editgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_packages_groups.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_reports_customize.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_settings_company.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_settings_system.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_api.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_automation.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_companies.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_general_basic.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_general_geoip.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_general_paymenttypes.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_help.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_add.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_addgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_edit.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_editgroup.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_groups.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_system_staff_manage.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_tools_gatewayloglist.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_tools_logemail.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/admin_tools_moduleloglist.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/config.json updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/message.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/settings_leftnav.pdt updated
  • /app/views/admin/default/structure.pdt updated

Note Regarding Hotfixes

Blesta no longer supports versions older than PHP 7.2, so there is no longer a need to ship hotfixes.

See the release notes for more details on this release.

Is there something you want to see in Blesta? Create a new feature request or upvote an existing one!

When is the final release?

Version 5.0 will be officially released after the beta phase has completed, which we expect to happen soon. Once we deem 5.0 stable for production, a final release will be issued. You can help speed things along by participating in the beta!