This update has been long in coming and was delayed a few weeks by the server crash and subsequent restoration. (Also, I got married, honeymooned, and bought a house... all of which played a part in distracting me from the code! )

The new release may be downloaded from http://drupal.org/project/ubercart.

This release features many bug fixes that have popped up in the various systems. We've had the largest turn out of testers for this latest version and are really thankful for the community's effort in posting those last minute bug reports. Many new features have made it into this release, although there are still a few key things left on the Alpha 8 Battle Plans to move on to that version. Some of them are:

• Views integration in core.
• Directory structure reorganized - please read the notes below if updating.
• More theme functions and cleaner XHTML/CSS in the cart and checkout pages.
• Updated the Checkout Pane API to better integrate with Forms API and get rid of div/class clutter.
• Checkout updates to fix JS errors, add collapsing features, and improve address copying.
• Product and product kit updates, including kit discounts and add to cart form options.
• Tax system improvements to provide tax rules based on different product classes.
• Import/export systems for orders and CCK fields (plus JSimpleXML integration).
• PostgreSQL compatibility supplied by japerry.
• Improved shipping quotes, quote retrieval methods, and per country specifications.
• UPS order fulfillment and label printing.
• More country files.
• And more...

If you are installing a fresh version of Ubercart Alpha 7c, you can follow the installation instructions and everything should be fine. Feel free to browse the forums if you get stuck or post your questions if you can't find the answers. If installation intimidates you, you can always try our UberInstaller for an automated installation.

If you are updating from a previous version of Ubercart, please be warned that the directory structure has changed. This means you can't just copy the new files into the old directory. You are much better off making a backup of your existing ubercart folder (by copying it to a folder outside your modules directories or zipping it up), totally emptying it, and uploading the new version. Otherwise you'll end up with duplicate files.

Once you get the new version in, remember to run the update script (update.php) to have the latest changes to the database applied to your site. Just for kicks, you might go to your database in phpMyAdmin and truncate (using the Empty button) the cache_menu table, as some menu items have moved. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go to your modules page (admin/build/modules) and re-submit the form to make sure the latest file paths for your modules are stored in the database.

As always, you should backup your database and Ubercart directory before updating. If you're using custom templates or contributed modules, remember to move them back into the appropriate places. I have included a contrib directory for you to keep track of contributed modules you download from Ubercart.org.

IMPORTANT: The Checkout Panes API has changed, so modules depending on the old version (like Discounts, Coupon, VAT, etc.) will need to be updated. Do not move to Alpha 7c on a production site if you're depending on modules that create checkout panes and don't have the ability to update them yourself. Updates are fairly simple and may be done following the notes at this thread. Post there if you have any questions about making your updates.

It's exciting to get this release out the door. It's been long in coming and puts us one step closer to Alpha 8 and one step closer to Beta! We've had steadily increasing community involvement, including many new sites and contributions and many folks willing to test out the installation/update process for the new release. Thank you to everyone for all your efforts to make Ubercart a good, successful project!

Now let's have more of the same.