CMS Release Notes - Overview and history

NewHaven Software typically releases one CMS major and a few minor releases each year. To clarify our versioning convention, we use a major.minor.release.build scheme such as 10.0.3.18 where 10 represents the major, 0 the minor, 3 the release number and finally 18 represents the build number.

Note: Changes that affect your PCI DSS compliance will only be included in major or minor releases (e.g. 10.0 or 10.1) and would not be included in releases or builds (e.g 10.0.1 or 10.0.2.145) See below for additional details on our versioning and how it applies to PA-DSS changes.

Each of these releases can contain many changes which may include new features, rate changes, bug fixes, new reports and form templates, updated documentation, performance improvements, new/revised integrations (e.g. shipping, e-commerce, payment) user interface improvements, etc.

With each release you'll want to familiarize yourself and your staff with the new capabilities in CMS. Important points to consider when preparing to install a new version are:

Are there changes that affect my PCI DSS compliance?
What impact will it have on how I use CMS every day?
Are there changes that affect my integrations?
Are there changes that affect any custom work you've had done (by us or anyone else?)
Are there changes that affect the way I am currently importing or exporting data?
What new features should I consider adopting?

In order to effectively deploy a new version of CMS into production, you will want at the very least consider #1 and 2. Ideally all six should be taken into account before adopting a new release.

To this end, each edition of the Release Notes will start with important notes at the top to help address the first five points. Even if you do not have time to read and understand the feature lists, please at least take the time to read and heed the warnings and important information at the top of the page.

We've broken the introductory notes into two sections:

Information you should read before installing - This largely pertains to the person performing the actual software update. What do you need and what should you expect when installing the update. Some updates also have an element of timing that should be considered (when they should be installed) and this too would be mentioned in this section.
Information you should read before using - What changes have been made to CMS that may affect your day to day use of the software. If screens or features have changed, here we will warn you of them so you and your staff will be prepared when they experience them.

After the Introduction the release notes will provide a quick list of all of the changes followed by another list that provides a more detailed description of each. Later editions of Release Notes will link from the quick list down to their corresponding descriptions.

Finally, at the bottom is a list of all of the changes and bugs fixed. This list is typically includes all of the fixes from this release back to the previous release. In the case of minor releases that list may go all the way back to the last major release, just in case you missed a minor along the way.

Release notes from previous versions can be accessed by clicking on the following links (supported versions in bold):

Version 8
Version 8.0 Release Notes (8.0.1/8.0.2)
Version 8.0.3 Release Notes (USPS - 2012 rates)
Version 8.0.4 Release Notes (UPS - 2013 rates)
Version 8.0.5 Release Notes (FedEx - 2013 rates)
Version 8.0.6 Release Notes (USPS - 2013 rates)
Version 8.0.7 Release Notes (2014 UPS and FedEx rates)
Version 8.0.8 Release Notes (2014 USPS rates)
Version 8.0.9 Release Notes (2015 UPS and FedEx rates)
Version 8.0.10 Release Notes (2015 May USPS rates)

Version 7
Version 7.0 Release Notes
Version 7.0.2 Release Notes
Version 7.0.3 Release Notes
Version 7.0.4 Release Notes
Version 7.0.5 Release Notes

Version 6
Version 6.0 Release Notes
Version 6.0.2 Release Notes
Version 6.0.3 Release Notes

Version 5
Version 5.0 Release Notes
Version 5.2 Release Notes
Version 5.2.2 Release Notes
Version 5.2.3 Release Notes
Version 5.2.4 Release Notes

Version 4
Version 4.0 Release Notes
Version 4.0.4 Release Notes
Version 4.1 Release Notes
Version 4.1.3 Release Notes
Version 4.2 Release Notes
Version 4.2.2 Release Notes
Version 4.2.3 Release Notes
Version 4.2.4 Release Notes

Version 3
Version 3.0/3.1 Release Notes
Version 3.2 Release Notes
Version 3.3 Release Notes
Version 3.4 Release Notes
Version 3.4.2 Release Notes

Additional Details on CMS Versioning:

Major or Minor versions may or may not have an impact on PA-DSS (PCI). Releases and Builds (defined below) will never have an impact on PA-DSS. Please see the Release Notes for any Major or Minor version for clarification on if that version includes any changes that impact PA-DSS.

Major (e.g. 10.x) - Usually once a year and may include significant UI redesigns, upgrade to newer database software version, functionality changes or additions that affect the day to day use of the software and/or the scope of what the software can be used for. CMS's initial PA-DSS validation fit into this category as it added significant security and interface changes and affected the capability and daily use of the software.

Minor (e.g. 10.1.x.x) - Typically between 0-2 minors per year and includes new features or significant enhancements to existing features that improve on but do not change the scope of what the software does. As it relates to PCI, a minor would be used if we added support for a new payment gateway/processor, support for tokenization or made changes to address evolving PA-DSS requirements (e.g. PA-DSS 2.0).

Release (e.g. 10.0.3.x) - Customers notified of availability. As many as a few releases a year are made available with all of the bug fixes from the daily builds and may include new reports, documentation, significant fixes, shipping rate changes, and small enhancements that do not affect the day to day use of the software. No changes that affect PA-DSS would be included in a new release.

Build (e.g. 10.0.3.21) - Created as often as daily but availability not announced. This is a means of getting bug fixes quickly to users affected by a problem. Users that have reported the issue will be notified directly of the availability of the build. No affect on software capabilities or use. No changes that affect PA-DSS would be included in a new build.