Exponential Basic CMS v2.4.0.3 Released
7x Releases Exponential Basic 2.4.0.3: Extension Modules, Admin UI Refresh, and PHP 8 Hardening
August 18, 2026
Overview
7x today announced the release of Exponential Basic 2.4.0.3, the latest version of the open-source, PHP 8-ready eZ Publish 2 kernel upgrade. This release completes the extension-module API, ships the first fully working sample extension with database storage, and hardens the admin interface and core modules for production use.
Exponential Basic is 7x's long-running project to preserve and modernise the eZ Publish 2 codebase, bringing the proven community-building and personal-home-page CMS engine to PHP 8.1 - 8.3. With 2.4.0.3, developers can now build and activate new modules, admin views and database-backed features without touching the core application files.
For Immediate Release
7x Releases Exponential Basic 2.4.0.3: Extension Modules, Admin UI Refresh, and PHP 8 Hardening
August 18, 2026
Overview
7x today announced the release of Exponential Basic 2.4.0.3, the latest version of the open-source, PHP 8-ready eZ Publish 2 kernel upgrade. This release completes the extension-module API, ships the first fully working sample extension with database storage, and hardens the admin interface and core modules for production use.
Exponential Basic is 7x's long-running project to preserve and modernise the eZ Publish 2 codebase, bringing the proven community-building and personal-home-page CMS engine to PHP 8.1 - 8.3. With 2.4.0.3, developers can now build and activate new modules, admin views and database-backed features without touching the core application files.
Highlights
- Extension modules now work end-to-end: active extensions can supply user and admin views, per-view translations, module.info, admin menuboxes and module icons.
- eZExtension helper class: a stable PHP API for discovering module files, menus, icons and translation directories.
- create_extension.php skeleton generator: generates the new module layout, module.info, menubox.php and datasupplier skeletons.
- helloworld sample with eZDB storage: a complete CRUD-style admin list and public read-back using a minimal eZDB storage class.
- Admin UI refresh: the white admin design uses CSS borders instead of GIF tiles, with improved desktop spacing and mobile responsiveness.
- Core module hardening: eZArticle, eZStats, eZTrade, eZCompany, eZImage, eZFile, eZNewsfeed and more load cleanly on PHP 8.
Extension modules become a first-class part of the system
The biggest change in 2.4.0.3 is a complete extension-module pipeline. Active extensions can now supply their own modules/<module>/{user,admin}/ views, per-view intl/ translation files, module.info metadata, admin side-menu menubox.php files and module icons. The front controller and eZTemplate system resolve these in the right order and merge extension translations into the active language.
New eZExtension helpers provide a stable API for discovering module files, menus, icons and translation directories without hard-coding extension/ or kernel/ez paths. A revised create_extension.php skeleton generator creates the new module layout, module.info, menubox.php, admin and user datasupplier.php files and design templates.
The helloworld sample has been expanded into a full create-and-list example. It includes the eZHelloWorldItem storage class, which uses eZDB::globalDatabase() for create, fetch, search, update and delete, plus an admin list view styled like the core article archive and a public view that lists stored messages.
Admin experience and core stability
The white admin design has been overhauled. GIF-tile borders have been replaced with CSS, desktop body spacing has been tightened, and mobile responsive styles have been improved. Footer branding now uses the Exponential Basic badge, and referrer list parsing no longer produces broken http://Direct links for blank referrers.
Dozens of PHP 8 compatibility and correctness fixes have been applied across the core modules, including eZArticle and eZStats schema creation, eZImageVariation row insertion, eZCompany email handling, eZStats reporting, cron script autoloading and admin fatal/rendering errors in contact, file manager, trade, article, newsfeed and eZPBFile views.
Other improvements include moving eZ Basic caches from kernel/ to var/cache/, restoring /proc-based sysinfo pages with a PHP 8-safe fallback, defaulting the site root to the article front page and updating the bundled phpunit dependency to a secure version.
Availability and upgrade
Exponential Basic 2.4.0.3 is available immediately from the GitHub release page:
https://github.com/se7enxweb/exponentialbasic/releases/tag/v2.4.0.3
Existing sites should back up their settings/override/ directory and database, then regenerate autoloads and clear caches. The full technical changelog is available in doc/changelogs/2.4.0.3.md in the repository.
About Exponential Basic
Exponential Basic is the eZ Publish 2 kernel implementation upgraded for modern PHP. It is maintained by 7x and released under the GNU General Public License. The project provides a lightweight, educational and production-suitable starting point for personal home pages, community websites and simple PHP applications.
“This release is a practical milestone,” said Graham Brookins, founder of 7x. “Extension modules were always part of the eZ vision, and now they actually work again on PHP 8. With the helloworld storage sample and the updated admin list, developers can see exactly how to extend the system without changing the core.”
Media contact
7x