Today we are releasing what will be the final release candidate for bbPress 1.0 before it goes to 1.0 final in a couple of days.

The release is available now from the downloads page.

This release incorporates many bug fixes to BackPress via the final work in the lead up to the release of WordPress 2.8

It also has a surprise in the form of the groundwork for a new admin interface which borrows its look and feel from WordPress. The admin area is currently lacking a lot of design nuance in the content areas, but all the forms and controls are at least functional. Let’s call this the “excuse the mess” release candidate.

Despite the current changes in the admin area this code is now stable enough to use in a production environment, and in fact internally at Automattic we have been doing so for quite some time. Specifically on TalkPress and the BuddyPress.org forums. It’s important that we get as much testing and feedback occurring as possible, so that the final release is as robust as we can make it.

bbPress changes since release candidate 1 are here.

BackPress changes since release candidate 1 are here.

Please file any new issues on Trac.