With SilverStripe version 4.0.0 finally hitting stable release we want to share some reasons why you should upgrade your Content Management System to version 4.0.0.
Long Term Stability (LTS) commitment:
SilverStripe ltd, the company that created and maintains the SilverStripe CMS has committed full support to version 4.0.0 until mid 2019, with security fixes through to mid 2021. This is important to your business because it means committing your website to version 4.0.0 ensures years of support. This could mean new features, bug fixes and security patches for the technology powering your website. If your website records any personal information from its visitors then security should be a top priority. If your customers discovered your website was compromised it could damage their trust with your business.
SilverStripe support roadmap
Richer and faster user experience:
The CMS now uses a technology called ReactJS, developed by Facebook. It hasn't been woven into every aspect of the CMS, but will be an ongoing effort throughout the development of 4.0.0. The CMS is also now fully responsive meaning you can more easily use the CMS from your tablet or phone. Great for content authors on the go!
Enhanced versioning support:
If you've used SilverStripe at all you should be familiar with the ability to draft and publish pages. SilverStripe 4.0.0 has moved beyond pages with the concept of ownership and introduced the new Ownership API which allows for recursive publishing of dataobjects. This gives you more fine tuned control over what gets published. You can learn more about that here: SilverStripe 4.0.0 ownership API.
Better filesystem abstraction:
Remote filesystems like Amazon S3 are becoming increasing popular, especially for large organizations that need to store a lot of assets. SilverStripe 4.0.0 out of the box has much better filesystem abstraction than previous versions meaning it is easier to program the capability of using assets in a remote filesystem.
Campaigns:
The new Campaigns feature makes it easier for teams to work together and publish content. You can learn more about campaigns here: Campaigns in SilverStripe 4.0.0.
Content blocks:
Content blocks are going to be a whole new way to manage content in the CMS. While there are already some content block modules available for SilverStripe 3, none received support from the SilverStripe team. SilverStripe 4.0.0 will see the first content block module developed by SilverStripe. If you're interested in learning more about content blocks check out this blog post: don't reinvent the block
Conclusion
SilverStripe 4.0.0 is jam packed with great new features and the new CMS looks beautiful as well! We believe SilverStripe is the best CMS available, and version 4.0.0 and beyond are going to be even better! If you're interested in upgrading your SilverStripe website contact us today, we'd love to hear from you.