CMSB v3.82 Released (Improved UI, Menu Count Badges, & .env support)

Hi everyone,

We've just released v3.82, and we're already running it on our site.  

Here are some highlights from this release: 

• Database Editor
  • We've reorganized the Database Editor tabs to make it easier to find what you're looking for.
• Menu Record Counts
  • You can now show record counts on any menu with: Database Editor > Menu Link (tab) > Show Record Count
  • And record counts for all menus now load via Ajax for faster initial page load time
• .env.php Support
  • You can now store sensitive credentials outside of your web root with .env.php files.  See the included .env.example.php file to instructions
  • This is mainly useful when you want to keep your passwords out of git or backup files.
• We've also made many minor UI improvements throughout the interface
• General code modernization and cleanup

Note: We still have a queue of pending user feature requests.  We're releasing what we have now so you can start using it.  Feel free to remind us what you'd like to see next. 

The full changelog for this release is as follows:

*** January 11, 2026 - Version 3.82 (Menu Count Badges & .env.php Support)

SERVER REQUIREMENTS (Since Jun 2025): PHP 8.1+ and MySQL 5.7+ (or MariaDB 10.2+)

NEW FEATURES
- Menu Count Badges: Added "Show record count in menu" option to display record count next to menu items
    - This can be found in: Database > Table > Menu Link > Show Record Count
- .env.php Support: Optionally store sensitive credentials in a separate file outside your web root.
    - Safely commit settings files to git without exposing secrets
    - Back up your data folder without including credentials
    - Uses .php extension so credentials can't be viewed via direct URL access
    - See .env.example.php for details and instructions
- Database Editor: Reorganized Section Editor tabs and fields with improved layout

MINOR CHANGES
- Editor UI: Create button now supports middle-click to open in a new tab
- Editor UI: Editor instructions now display in a dashed border box for better visibility
- Example Cron: Improved documentation and examples for /plugins/_example_cron.php

FOR PROGRAMMERS
- SmartArray: Major refactor with ~50% better performance (removed ArrayObject dependency)
    - New sprintf() method - applies formatting to each element with auto HTML-encoding
        - Supports {value} and {key} as readable aliases for sprintf formats
        - Example (table cells): <tr><?= $row->sprintf("<td>{value}</td>")->implode() ?></tr>
        - Example (headers): <tr><?= $row->keys()->sprintf("<th>{value}</th>")->implode() ?></tr>
    - Array access deprecated: $array['key'] → use $array->key or $array->get('key')

FOR PROGRAMMERS (BREAKING CHANGES)
- Note: These changes only impact developers who have written custom PHP code using the following features
    - .env.php: Code using $_ENV['key'] to access .env values must be updated to \CMS::env('key')
    - SmartArray: Functions with "SmartArray" type hints must be updated to use "SmartArrayBase"
        - Before: function yourCustomFunction(SmartArray $input): SmartArray
        - After:  function yourCustomFunction(SmartArrayBase $input): SmartArrayBase

BUG FIXES
- CMS Link Menus: Fixed error when Authors clicked link menus ("This section isn't configured to allow 'Author' user access")
- CMS Record Lists: Viewers can now see menus and lists even when View isn't enabled (only hides the view link)
- Misc code and other minor improvements

You can download the latest version here: https://www.interactivetools.com/download/

Please feel free to ask any questions or post any feedback or comments.

Thank you!