An update to the latest Sitefinity 4.0 CMS has been released today and is available for download from your Sitefinity account.
This update includes a number of improvements including important fixes for critical issues reported by users. It is recommended that all Sitefinity 4 users apply this service pack.
Read on for a brief look at the update, or take a look a the full release notes.
Installation Instructions
For simple projects using the Project Manager, simply follow the standard Sitefinity 4 Upgrade instructions.
For other scenarios, take a look a the more detailed blog post: Upgrading Sitefinity 4 Websites.
Of course be sure that you have your current system backed up so it can be restored if necessary.
Bug Fixes
This service pack encompasses all of the bug fixes from the weekly internal builds that are available in your account. Refer to the internal releases changelog for the complete history or review the SP1 release notes.
In addition, this fixes critical issues that have been reported by customers and support, so it is important that you apply this patch as soon as possible.
Language Cultures
Sitefinity 4 SP1 adds support for specific language cultures, such as EN_US and EN_GB, allowing more flexible localization options to your website.
Network Load Balancing
The most prominent new feature of the service pack is improved support for network load balancing. We will explore this in more detail in a future post; full documentation will be available soon after.
New Starter Kit
A new Corporate Starter Kit will soon be available, showcasing how Sitefinity can be used to quickly develop and launch a company website. This kit represents a sample Real Estate website, with several new widgets and modules to help get you started.
We'll take a closer look at this starter kit in a future post. The existing Sitefinity starter kits will also be updated to SP1 soon.
PITS
Another exciting announcement is the availability of Sitefinity in the Public Issue Tracking System (PITS). For those of you who are unfamiliar with PITS, it is a tool from Telerik showing a public view of bugs and features logged into our development process.
Development on Telerik product relies heavily on customer feedback. Now, in addition to simply tracking progress, Sitefinity users can vote on which new features are most important and should be implemented first with this tool.
Evangelist Gabe Sumner has written a quick introduction to PITS for Sitefinity, and there is also a detailed overview of PITS available from Telerik.
Be sure to check out PITS and make your voice heard.
Download
As mentioned, this Service Pack represents all the fixes and enhancements completed since the January release. So it is important that Sitefinity 4 websites are updated as quickly as possible to ensure maximum performance and reliability.
Download the patch from your account and follow the instructions for patch installation. Be sure to also share your feedback with us in our discussion forums and visit PITS to suggest features for the next release!