OpenCart 3.0.3.9 release - what's new?

On 16 October 2023, OpenCart 3.0.3.9 was released. Unexpectedly, two years after the last release of the third version 3.0.3.8 and seven releases of the fourth version, an official update was released that no one expected. Why is this? Apparently, because there is still no stable version 4.0.x.x, and the three versions are still very popular and when choosing between 3 and 4, people often choose the previous generation of the engine.

What has changed in OpenCart 3.0.3.9 compared to the previous release 3.0.3.8? The official website does not have a detailed description (as usual), but there is a link to the github page with a technical list of changes in the engine. Let's try to describe the changes in detail:

1. The most important update is compatibility with PHP 8.
It is controversial, because why would we support PHP 8 on the old version of the engine? Module developers have a lot of work to do - to adapt their modules, in which they declare full compatibility with OpenCart 3.0, or to add a message that the modules work only on PHP 7. Otherwise they will install OpenCart 3.0.3.9 on the newfangled PHP 8.2 and terrorise the developers with "why it doesn't work".
We have adapted our extensions for OpenCart 3.0.3.9.

2. Support for images in WEBP format.
Now you can upload images with the webp extension in the file manager. This is a useful and important update, because Google and its services love the lightweight webp format. But where is the support for avif?

3. Improvements in the Summernote text editor.
Added an italics button. Many of you have probably been looking for the "I" button in the description editor, but have forgotten about it, and now this problem has been fixed. We also added the font size "13" to the visual editor - wow, someone was not afraid to do this, it's not for nothing that this size was missed. Fixed a persistent 404 error in the admin console due to an incorrect path to the Summernote editor localisation file.

4. The addthis script (social buttons, sharing) has been removed from the product page.
It was removed and it was fine, no one used it. It was crooked, humpbacked, and there were also buttons of russian services, which took several minutes to load.

5. Fixes and patches.
A lot of small fixes in the code, which, in principle, did not cause any significant problems, because version 3.0.3.8 was and is stable and self-sufficient. But improvements are good. Pagination fixes on the pages of your personal account: Order history, Downloads, Transactions, Refunds, etc. Fixed sorting of product options in the order in the admin area. Fixes in the work of the PayPal and Klarna payment modules. And various corrections of spelling mistakes, missed translations and compliance with the general "code style".

Conclusion.

The new version of OpenCart 3.0.3.9 is worthy of attention and if you want to make an online store, you should choose, download and install it, this is as of now, because in the future version 4.0 will be updated and it will be better and more modern. Now the last "three" are quite stable, if we talk about its use on PHP 7, because on PHP 8 you can still catch something. That is, this is the same wonderful 3.0.3.8 build with only some minor improvements. And if you have any questions about whether the modules will work on 3.0.3.9 if the author only announced support for 3.0.3.7 or 3.0.3.8, the answer is: they will work, but only if you have PHP 7 on your server, because the modules may not be compatible with PHP 8.