4 posts tagged with "xforms"

XForms Standard will no longer be available from August 2019.

We’re retiring the basic Jadu XForms Standard (Jadu XFS) module that longer standing customers may still find available within their Jadu CMS environment.

The module will be removed from all of our customers systems as part of a regular Continuum patch that will be released during August 2019 onwards.

We will communicate to you again within which release this is confirmed to be happening.

What is XForms Standard?​

XForms Standard is a very basic tool for building out simple web forms that doesn’t have the capabilities and security support that is provided by the XForms Pro module. XForms Standard was installed with the Jadu CMS alongside for example, the ‘Publishing’ and ‘Utilities’ modules for anyone without XForms Pro up until recently.

XForms Pro is the software that the majority of our customers are now using due to it being a fully functional forms management system, especially with the introduction of our now re-imagined ‘Form Builder’.

Why do customers use Jadu XFP?​

There are a number of reasons that customers would look to use Jadu XFP, such as:

• GDPR compliance
• Branching rules
• Extensible form components
• Payments integrations (through PayBridge adapters)
• Data Integration capabilities (such as File Output & Connectors)
• PDF output of form submissions

Our latest release Jadu XFP includes our re-imagined 'Form Builder' which also includes:

• Easy and simple to use drag-drop form designer
• In-page branching
• Powerful rules engine
• Shared form pages
• Page versioning with approval and rollback
• Page sections and repeatable questions

Why are we retiring XForms Standard?​

Longer standing customers will have had one of these two forms modules from Jadu installed, with Jadu XFP / XForms Professional increasingly becoming the de facto solution.

We found that the majority of our customers who still had the basic CMS forms module available to them did not make use of it due to its basic nature, using alternative forms packages instead.

Some of the issues with the standard CMS XForms Standard module that have lead to its de-support and now removal include:

• Insecure storage of personal data (non-compliant with GDPR)
• Data is retained indefinitely with no automatic data retention / removal capabilities
• Minimal Role Based Access Controls

What happens when XForms Standard is retired?​

We will put out a release of the CMS (number to be defined and communicated closer to the time) which once patched onto your system will take the following course of action:

The XForms Standard module will be removed from the Jadu CMS Control Centre for all of your Administrators. From this point, you will not have any access to previous form submission or form definitions from this point on therefore. Previously submitted form data will be removed from the systems database if you haven’t upgraded XFS to XFP. Existing front end form URL’s will no longer be available for citizens or staff (a 404 will be thrown)

What’s next if you use XForms Standard?​

If you don’t currently use XForms Professional, then we would recommend that you speak to your Account Manager to find out more details about the retirement and the option of upgrading to Jadu XFP in advance of August 2019.

We’re making the power of PHP 7.1+ available to all of our customers.

From December 2018, PHP versions 5.6 and 7.0 will no longer receive security updates from the PHP Group. We want to ensure that you always receive the highest level of security support, therefore PHP 7.1+ or higher will need to be installed on servers running the Jadu software by this time.

From July 2018, Jadu Continuum will support PHP 7.1, so you have plenty of time to install it if you host your website yourself or use a third party hosting provider. We’ll support you to ensure the needed actions are applied before the end of December so you’re able to receive patches for security issues.

The following actions will need to be taken:​

(note: these differ depending on the server you’re currently using)

• Customers hosted by Spacecraft will be upgraded as part of your platform management agreement. You don’t need to do anything and the team will be in touch.
• Linux customers on Centos 6 should upgrade to PHP 7.1.
• Windows customers on Windows Server 2012 should upgrade to PHP 7.2.
• If you have any PHP code on your website not provided by Jadu or Spacecraft, you will need to ensure it is PHP 7.1/7.2 compatible prior to upgrading.

Some of the benefits of upgrading include:​

• A more modern and secure option for your hosting environment
• Longer term, ongoing security support
• Faster performance
• Estimated more than 30% memory consumption improvement
• Better concurrency - up to 3x as many requests can be served per second

You will also need to ensure that you have patched your Continuum software with the compatible release. You can do this by raising a support ticket, or downloading the relevant patch from the support portal.

When you’re ready to go, either follow our easy upgrade instructions (coming soon) if you self-host, or reach out to Support.

If you have any questions in the meantime see our FAQs below, or get in touch.

FAQs​

Q1. Why do we have to upgrade PHP version?

PHP is the programming language used by Jadu Continuum products. Periodically new versions of PHP are released that offer new features and other enhancements. Over time, support for older versions of PHP are dropped.

The version of PHP installed on the majority of our customers' environments is PHP 5.6. PHP 5.6 is approaching the end of its life, and security support for this version will end 31st December 2018.

In line with our security policy and the tenets set out by GDPR, we are upgrading our software to support a version of PHP that will receive longer term security updates, PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2.

Q2. When can I upgrade to a PHP 7.1 or PHP 7.2 environment?

Support for PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2 is due to be release by the Continuum CMS team on Friday 8th June 2018. Support for PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2 is due to be released by the Continuum XFP team on Friday 29th June 2018.

Customers will be able to commence the PHP upgrade process after the relevant point dependant on the Jadu software that you are running.

Q3. Who pays for the support for PHP 7.1 & PHP 7.2 updates?

Required support	Coverage/payment
Upgrading your server to PHP 7 +	Covered by your hosting and platform management agreement with Spacecraft if you have one.
Changes in CMS software	Covered by your support agreement.
Changes in XFP software	Covered by your support agreement.
Changes in your front end templates	Not covered.
Changes in custom developments provided by Spacecraft	Covered if you have a separate support agreement for this software.
Changes in customer developments created by you	Not covered.

Q4. What are the benefits of PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2?

PHP 7 is much speedier than PHP 5. Upgrading to PHP 7 is estimated to bring about a >30% improvement in memory consumption More concurrent users can be served, up to 3 times as many requests per second Long term support and lower technical debt with ongoing support of bug fixes, security patches and maintenance updates.

Q5. Can I run multiple versions of PHP concurrently?

No, we require that only one version of PHP is run on your supported environments.

Q6. Where can I find PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2 documentation?

• Please remember that customer code written by you or a third-party is outside of your Spacecraft support agreement.
• We do not provide technical services to help customers become compatible with PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2.
• Check that any code you manage is PHP 7.2 compatible, you can use the open source PHPCompatibility library to help identify any issues.
• Raise a Spacecraft support ticket to initiate the PHP 7.2 compatibility check of any code Spacecraft manage.
• If you are self hosted, download the upgrade documentation and instructions (coming soon) to initiate your PHP 7.2 upgrade process.
• If you are Spacecraft hosted, or use code that Spacecraft manage, reach out to support to initiate the PHP 7.2 upgrade process.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has applied in the UK from 25th May 2018. Here's some important information to help you understand what we're working on in order to be GDPR compliant as well as some tips and checklists.

What is GDPR?​

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an important piece of legislation that has applied in the UK from the 25th May 2018. The government has confirmed that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will not affect the commencement of the GDPR. The GDPR is in place to strengthen and unify data protection laws for individuals within the European Union and it's important that both we and you comply. See our reading list for more information.

Jadu Continuum Product Updates​

In preparation of meeting the requirements of GDPR, Jadu are undertaking work in our CXM, XFP and CMS products. We are working in partnership with a number of our existing customers to define the related features or enhancements required to provide GDPR compliance.

As of 31st December 2016, Jadu will no longer be testing our products and their regular Continuum releases against PHP version 5.3 in favour of a PHP 5.6 baseline testing regime.

So what version of PHP is now supported?​

PHP 5.6 has been tested and supported by Jadu since April 2015.

Will Jadu software still work with PHP 5.3?​

Jadu initially deprecated PHP 5.3 in CMS release #26. We have consciously not yet started to develop with features of the PHP language that only exist within later versions because we want to give our customers enough time to plan and implement any necessary changes whilst we strive to continue to ship new features and fixes regularly. We cannot however continue to test against and therefore officially support PHP 5.3 based implementations from 31st December 2016 onwards.

Why have we done this / what are the benefits that we (the customer) will realise?​

A whole host of reasons really, those of particular note include...

• Security; more secure with the removal of register globals settings etc.
• Performance; internal language optimizations as well as vastly reduced memory usage.
• PHP community support; PHP 5.3 is no longer maintained - this therefore impacts such as your PSN compliance returns for example.
• 3rd party library support; Releases Jadu, our partners and customers from older versions of libraries that have/become inactive maintainance wise (we'll be changing our compatibility requirement in composer, which will no longer enforce 3rd party compatibility with PHP 5.3).
• PHP enhancements; New and more consistent PHP language features for your developers to utilise.
• Operating architecture support; support for more modern underlying OS’s & architectures such as 64-bit support.

How long will PHP 5.6 be supported for?​

PHP 5.3 security support ended mid-2014, so it’s imperative that we progress anyone still running PHP 5.3 forwards to a maintained version.

The PHP community have announced that the current scheduled end of security fixes for PHP 5.6 will be around 31st Dec 2018. Before this time comes, Jadu will have moved our products forwards to support PHP version 7.x (or later) within our software. We expect to be able to begin to support PHP version 7.x implementations early 2017.

What is the level of effort and what is involved in this process?​

This will depend on a number of factors including:

• How many environments you have that will require the PHP version upgrading on
• Who hosts / manages these environments on a day-to-day basis for you
• Scale of any custom developments / modules that you might have and whether these are supported by Jadu or developed internally within your organisation. Any internally developed solutions should be checked / tested / changed to work under PHP 5.6 accordingly.

How do I find out if this impacts me?​

We have analysed the current customer base (both those in active projects and those already live) and will be raising a support ticket in your account if we have determined that action is required in your specific case. This ticket will give you more details about planned next steps. If you have not received a support ticket and wish to discuss this with us, then please contact the support team.

We have a support contract with Jadu/Spacecraft, what does this cover in relation to this upgrade?​

We will assist in this effort for customers with an active support agreement for the supported environment and for those environments that we host & manage for you. The upgrade of any supplemental environments not covered by an active support agreement or hosted by us, will need to be managed by the relevant team / organisation that manages these on your behalf.

We host with Jadu/Spacecraft, what does this mean for me?​

We will be undertaking a programme of work to move any customers that require any effort between now and 31st December 2016. After the initial support ticket is raised, we will continue to communicate with relevant personnel within your organisation ahead of time regarding any planned maintenance work to move you towards a supportable environment.

We host internally or with a 3rd party provider, what will we need to do?​

If you host your own Jadu software internally or via a 3rd party hosting provider, then upgrades of these environments will need to be planned by the relevant team / organisation. We can supply guidance as to the steps we will be undertaking for environments that we manage, but these may need to be adjusted / adapted for anything specific to your own specific hosting arrangements.

## We have custom written code that we’ve added ourselves, what can we do to check it will work?

You will only need to check PHP code that you have authored or changed and not the core Jadu software. This might include for example:

• Custom widgets that you’ve uploaded
• Frontend website templates added or changed
• Custom snippets that you’ve added
• Custom actions / connectors / extensions to extensible modules such as XFP
• Custom Control Centre modules / module pages that you’ve added

When beginning the process of checking any of your customised code for PHP 5.6 support, we utilised open source tools such as PHP Code sniffer and PHPCompatibility that can be used to scan a codebase and report upon the use of features of the language that may no longer exist within the 5.6 version of the PHP language for instance. Various tutorials exist for developers to follow along with when using tools such as this, a couple of examples of which are provided below:

http://enzolutions.com/articles/2015/06/07/how-to-check-php-compatibility/ https://blog.nerdery.com/2013/11/code-compatible-php-5-4-5-5/ (update to check against 5.6 respectively)

I have other questions not answered in this page, who can I speak to about these?​

If you have any initial follow on questions then please raise those in response to the support tickets that we raise on your behalf in your accounts so that we can get you and any other customers that might have the same questions all the information you need in good time to plan your upgrades during this calendar year. We will update this document with any common questions & answers as hey come through to us.