nopCommerce 4.7 Release

Apologies for the recent radio silence from us. We were holding off until nopCommerce 4.7 was released and that got delayed a bit but fortunately, as of last Friday, this new release is now official. So without further ado……

We are very pleased to announce the release of nopCommerce 4.7, a significant update to the open-source e-commerce platform. This release brings forth a plethora of improvements, enhancements, and bug fixes that will elevate your online store's performance and user experience. The most notable change is the migration to .NET 8, which provides a solid foundation for enhanced performance, scalability, and development efficiency.

Embracing the Advantages of .NET 8

The nopCommerce development team has diligently worked to migrate the platform to .NET 8, the latest iteration of the .NET framework. This migration allowed them to take advantage of the most recent advancements in the .NET ecosystem, resulting in significant architecture improvements, thorough source code refactoring, and optimised performance.

To ensure a smooth transition to nopCommerce 4.7, please verify that you have the following prerequisites:

- Visual Studio 2022 (17.9.0) or above

- .NET 8 SDK (8.0.204)

- ASP.NET Core Runtime (v8.0.2) - Windows Hosting Bundle

It's worth noting that the .NET 8 SDK and ASP.NET Core Runtime 8.0.2 are available for various operating systems (Linux, macOS, and Windows) and processor families (Arm64, x64, and x86). You can obtain the appropriate versions from the official Microsoft website.

One of the main advantages of .NET 8 is that it is Long Term Support (LTS) release. To explain, Microsoft releases major .NET versions annually in November each year. Short Term Support (STS) releases occur in even-numbered years and LTS are release in odd-numbered years. STS get support and patches for 18 months, LTS gets support for three years.

Here’s a graph showing .NET versions and the version of nopCommerce that uses them:

New Features and Integrations

nopCommerce 4.7 introduces several new features and integrations that will enhance your e-commerce capabilities:

1. Omnisend Integration: They have integrated Omnisend, a powerful email marketing and SMS platform, allowing you to create engaging campaigns and drive customer engagement seamlessly.

2. OAuth2 Authentication for Email Accounts: You can now configure your email accounts using OAuth2 authentication, providing a more secure and convenient way to manage your email communications.

3. VAT Validation for UK: They have added VAT validation specifically for the United Kingdom, ensuring that your store complies with the latest tax regulations.

4. CAPTCHA for Newsletter Block: To prevent spam and improve security, they have added CAPTCHA support for the newsletter subscription block.

5. Google Analytics 4 Support: nopCommerce now supports Google Analytics 4, enabling you to track and analyze your store's performance using the latest version of Google's analytics platform.

6. PayPal Zettle Plugin Enhancements: They have made several improvements to the PayPal Zettle plugin, including cost value synchronization and inventory doubling fixes.

Performance Optimisations and Caching Improvements

Performance is crucial to providing a seamless shopping experience for your customers. In nopCommerce 4.7, they have made significant strides in optimising performance and improving caching mechanisms:

1. Caching Improvements: They have optimised various caching strategies, including distributed caching, to ensure faster response times and reduced database load.

2. Query Optimisations: Several database queries have been optimised to improve performance, particularly in areas such as product searching, category sorting, and discount calculations.

3. Asynchronous Operations: nopCommerce has expanded the use of asynchronous operations throughout the platform, allowing for better utilisation of system resources and improved responsiveness.

4. Indexes and Foreign Key Constraints: Additional database indexes have been added, and foreign key constraints have been optimised to enhance query performance.

Enhanced User Experience and Accessibility

nopCommerce 4.7 brings forth several improvements to enhance the user experience and accessibility of your online store:

1. Improved Shopping Cart Functionality: They have made it more user-friendly to change the quantity of items in the shopping cart, providing a smoother and more intuitive experience for your customers.

2. Accessibility Enhancements: They have made several accessibility improvements to ensure that your store is accessible to a wider audience, including those with disabilities.

3. Localised Customer Full Name: Customer full names are now localised, allowing for better internationalisation and localisation of your store.

4. Product Review Placement: Product reviews have been moved to the product page, making it easier for customers to access and read reviews while browsing products.

Upgrading to nopCommerce 4.7

To take advantage of the improvements and new features in nopCommerce 4.7, we recommend upgrading your existing nopCommerce store. Upgrading nopCommerce is relatively straightforward unless you have a lot of customisation in place. For those of you with customised implementations, by all means drop us a line and we can talk you through the steps and process necessary to get up and running with this version.

Conclusion

nopCommerce 4.7 represents the ongoing commitment to delivering a robust, flexible, and user-friendly e-commerce solution. With the migration to .NET 8, numerous performance optimisations, and exciting new features, this release sets the stage for enhanced e-commerce success.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the dedicated community of developers, contributors, and users who have contributed to shaping nopCommerce into the powerful platform it is today. Your feedback, support, and enthusiasm are invaluable in driving the platform forward. We invite you to upgrade to nopCommerce 4.7 and experience the benefits it brings to your online store. We look forward to seeing the ecommerce websites that we will build with it.