bbPress 2.6.18
bbPress 2.6.18 is a maintenance release, released on September 21, 2026. It requires WordPress 6.0 or newer and PHP 7.2 or newer, and is tested through WordPress 7.1.
What changed
This release improves first-login password upgrades for users imported from older forum platforms. It restores login for several native password formats, handles malformed converter metadata more safely, and lets users with complete imported password metadata upgrade their passwords even after the source forum database is retired. Existing imports missing per-user converter class metadata can use the saved importer platform when the required password data remains available.
PHPWind imports now preserve topic status and reply counts, set forum dates correctly, and avoid incrementing imported counts a second time. New and repeated PHPWind 9 imports retain the account data needed for first-login password upgrades. Super Moderators regain edit links on eligible front-end bbPress user screens.
Upgrade notes
The minimum supported PHP version rises from 5.6.20 to 7.2. Check the site’s PHP version before upgrading. The WordPress requirement remains 6.0 or newer, and the bbPress database version remains 263.
The release does not reconstruct password salts discarded by historical PHPWind imports. Those accounts may still need the retained source database or a password reset. The importer fixes apply to new and repeated imports, with compatibility paths for existing imports where the necessary metadata was saved.
Developer notes
Converters now defer source-database connections until an import actually begins, allowing first-login password verification from stored metadata. Existing per-user converter class metadata remains authoritative; the saved importer platform provides a fallback only when that class metadata is missing. Conversion suppresses its own post-status count synchronization while inserting posts with preserved source counts.
