X4 Project Introductory FAQ

What is the theme called?

The new cPanel theme will be called x4 during the BETA period.

What kinds of changes will we be making as part of this project?

We are focused on several goals:

• Improvements to the look and feel of the applications.
• Better support for wide format screens.
• Built-in support for common mobile devices.
• Improvements to the consistency of the interfaces.
• Improvements to the usability of the interfaces.
• Improved localization support.
• Improved support for custom branding.

The changes will include:

• cPanel x4 Theme – general use theme similar in functionality to the x3 theme.
• cPanel x4mail Theme – a mail-only version of x4 similar in functionality to the x3mail theme.
• Webmail x4 Theme

What is not part of this project?

• We are not making changes to existing API calls.
• We are not introducing significant new features in x4.
• x4 will use a similar branding model to x3. However, x3 brandings can not be installed in x4.

What are the prerequisites you will need as a server owner?

To use the new theme, you must have version 11.35+ of cPanel on the servers that you want to host the theme.

When will the first release of the plugin be available?

The x4 plugin will require 11.35+ which is currently scheduled for the first quarter of 2013.

What will you get when you install the plugin?

Each update of the plugin will include progressive enhancements to the cPanel interfaces. Starting with the functionality available in x3, we will be updating cPanel x4 section by section. We are planning on producing monthly updates to the plugin. Each update will include the updated sections developed over the last month. The early versions of the plugin will have limited functionality and may not be suitable for deployment to real customers. These versions of the plugin will be used to get feedback from our partners, customers and forum users on the changes we are making. Your feedback will be used to refine the x4 theme as it is developed.

How can I try out x4?

We will have two ways available for testing x4.

1. Public x4 Demo website – We will have a server where interested parties can try out the x4 interfaces as they are updated.
2. Install the x4 Plugin on one of your servers – We will provide the plugin via the Manage Plugins interface in WHM. You will be able to download and install the plugin on one or more of your servers.

How can I control which accounts have access to x4?

Once you install x4 on one of your servers, there are several options for deployment of x4 to cPanel accounts.

1) The x4 theme will be available in the theme selection area in the following WHM interfaces:

• Create a New Account
• Modify an Account
• Add a Package
• Edit a Package

2) We are providing a new account feature that lets users "Try X4". When using the "Try X4" feature, a user will be able to toggle between their current theme and x4. This feature will be disabled by default for all accounts and packages. To enable this capability, server owners or resellers will need to log into WHM and modify their Feature Lists.

3) Finally, we will be providing an enhanced set of theme control settings in Basic cPanel & WHM Setup that will allow the server owner to set the default theme to x4. Please note that this option will set the default selection on the various WHM user interfaces and will affect the way that the server theme fallback logic works.

Note: When the plugin is initially installed, x4 will be disabled for all accounts and packages. To expose x4 to users, the server owner or a reseller with enough privileges must specifically enable x4 using one of the tools above.

What role will the forum play in the development of x4?

The x4 development team will be making heavy use of this forum to communicate with our customers. We will be posting information about what we are currently working on, plugin release information, how-to articles, tips and similar. We are hoping to get significant feedback from our customers about the feature changes as they are rolled out in the plugin.

What role with our customers have in the development of x4?

We are looking forward to lots of interactions with our customers via this forum. We want your input to go into the development and improvements of x4. Users of this forum will have direct access to the cPanel development team working on x4. We want your feedback. We want your ideas.

When will x4 be integrated into the product directly?

After the x4 theme development is complete we will be migrating the x4 theme into the cPanel & WHM production build. We currently have not set a time line for this integration.