Not much time has passed since our post about version 4.2, and October CMS 4.3 is already here. Let's take a look at what's new in this release and discuss how useful these new features are in practice.
Here's a quick overview of what's new:
- Document Form Design - Taylor record editing layouts are now available for any plugin
- Theme Translation Editor - manage language files in a convenient table view
- View Transitions - animated page transitions enabled with a single meta tag
- Partials as Components - a modern attribute-based approach to templates
- October Boost - AI-powered tools that understand the specifics of October CMS
- Official Debugbar - Laravel Debugbar with October-specific tabs
- Per-Site Plugin Management - enable or disable plugins separately for each site
- Attachment Import and Export - ZIP archives containing the actual uploaded files
Among all the new features, these are the ones we believe will be the most valuable for our clients:
Managing Translations with the Theme Translation Editor
Version 4.3 introduces a dedicated Languages section in the CMS editor. Language files are displayed in a table, with translation keys on the left and values on the right. There's no longer any need to edit raw JSON files or worry about extra commas or missing brackets.
The built-in search highlights matching entries across the entire table in real time, and pressing Enter jumps to the next match. This is especially convenient when your theme contains hundreds of translation strings. You can also add and remove entries directly from the admin panel, and everything is saved as clean JSON.
Previously, translations in the RainLab.Translate plugin were stored in the database. Now they are stored as files instead. This makes translation management much easier and more convenient for content managers. It also significantly reduces the risk of accidentally breaking something. :)
Attachment Import and Export
Version 4.3 adds native attachment support to the import/export system. When exporting records with attachments, October CMS automatically creates a ZIP archive containing the data file and a files/ directory with the actual uploaded files stored under meaningful filenames.
Importing is just as straightforward: upload the ZIP archive, and the files are automatically extracted and linked to the appropriate records. The feature works everywhere - in the backend import/export controller, during theme seeding, and in programmatic imports. Plugin developers get this functionality automatically through the base ImportModel and ExportModel classes.
This update is especially useful for e-commerce projects, where import and export operations are used frequently.