It's been a while since the last release, but now the wait is over. We
present to you the 5th and best version of BlogEngine.NET. Go download it.
New features in BlogEngine.NET 1.4
New database provider
BlogEngine.NET now works with most commercial and open source
databases such as MySQL, SQL Server, VistaDB and many others. This
allow you to use practically any database supported by your hosting
provider. You can still use XML files if you don't want to use a
database.
Drag 'n drop widgets
Widgets are the pieces of content most often located at the sidebar. It
could be a list of recent posts, latest tweets from Twitter or anything
else. You can drag and drop the widgets around in your sidebar and
modify the content of them directly on the front-page. The widget works
independently of the theme you are using as long as it is implemented
in the theme. In BlogEngine.NET it is implemented in the Standard and Indigo themes and many more themes with widgets will be available for download very soon at the BlogEngine.NET website.
Extension settings
The new settings model for extensions have been upgraded to give you a
much better experience using third-party extensions. For extension
developers, it has never been easier to store your settings and let the
user change them from the admin section. The same settings model is
used by the widgets as well.
Web 3.0 improvements
BlogEngine.NET 1.4 makes full use of many semantic formats and
technologies such as FOAF, SIOC and APML. It means that the content
stored in your BlogEngine.NET installation will be fully portable and
auto-discoverable. It is possible to filter the RSS feeds based on the
visitor's interest defined in her APML file or do a site search with it
as well. Read more the APML filtering in BlogEngine.NET.
Author profiles
By utilizing the ASP.NET profile provider it is now possible to let all
authors maintain their own profile. This is used in the FOAF document
and widget/extension developers can take full advantage of the profiles
to provide new exciting visualizations and functionality.
Other new features
We've listened to what you - the user - wanted in BlogEngine.NET 1.4 and here is a list of some of those features that made it.
- Tag selector when adding new posts
- Subcategories
- Password encryption
- Improved live comment preview
- Hierarchical pages in the control panel
- Smarter comment spam protection
- Link collection widget
- Various performance improvements
- and much more...
Good luck and happy writing.
The BlogEngine.NET team