> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.storefront.co.za/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.storefront.co.za/release-notes/july-2026.md).

# July 2026

V8.016.005 - V8.017.005 - 5 new features and 34 enhancements

**Releases:** V8.016.005 - V8.017.005

A large month of platform work. The back office was split into its own application, caching was reworked to support running across multiple servers, and the storefront gained an llms.txt file so AI crawlers can understand your catalogue.

**In this release:** [New features](#new-features) - [Enhancements](#enhancements)

## New features

* [Platform breakout (Backoffice Split)](/release-notes/july-2026/platform-breakout-backoffice-split.md) - The back office has been split into its own standalone application with its own login and user creation, plus the ability to switch between subscriptions directly within it.
* [LLMs.txt](/release-notes/july-2026/llms.txt.md) - Added support for a store llms.txt file and an accompanying product feed, helping AI crawlers discover and understand your store content.
* [Add Provinces (both in and out of SA) to Shipping Policies](/release-notes/july-2026/add-provinces-both-in-and-out-of-sa-to-shipping-policies.md) - Added the ability to include provinces, both inside and outside South Africa, when configuring shipping policies.
* [Store Locator Directions Link](/release-notes/july-2026/store-locator-directions-link.md) - Store locator map pages can now display the registered store name and details alongside the map, with a new setting to enable this.
* [Inventory of third-party components and licences the platform depends on](/release-notes/july-2026/inventory-of-third-party-components-and-licences-the-platform-depends-on.md) - Added automated software bill-of-materials generation, vulnerability scanning and licence scanning to the build pipeline, for better visibility into third-party dependencies.

## Enhancements

* [Rework Cache for Multi Pod](/release-notes/july-2026/rework-cache-for-multi-pod.md) - Cache keys have been reorganised and the storefront now supports running across multiple servers, which is what allows it to scale under load.
* [Redis](/release-notes/july-2026/redis.md) - Added Redis-based caching across the platform, a change needed to support the back office split.
* [Cache Auto Clear](/release-notes/july-2026/cache-auto-clear.md) - Cache entries now clear automatically in most cases when related data is updated, created or deleted.
* [Store Home Improvements](/release-notes/july-2026/store-home-improvements.md) - The back office Store Home page no longer loads every store setting unnecessarily, cutting its load time from over five seconds to about a tenth of a second.
* [Minor dashboard improvements](/release-notes/july-2026/minor-dashboard-improvements.md) - Adding, removing and reordering dashboard widgets is smoother, and the page no longer waits for every widget to load before becoming usable.
* [Webhook Key Header Missing](/release-notes/july-2026/webhook-key-header-missing.md) - Fixed webhook callbacks sometimes failing to fire or reach their destination, by reworking the delivery pipeline and adding a webhook key header.
* [CDN region setting introduced](/release-notes/july-2026/cdn-region-setting-introduced.md) - Added the ability to specify a custom region for a store's media storage, and fixed back office file operations to consistently use the same bucket, region and credentials.
* [S3 Storage region and credentials fix](/release-notes/july-2026/s3-storage-region-and-credentials-fix.md) - Fixed transactional emails such as forgot-password failing to send for stores whose media storage is hosted in a different region to the platform default.
* [Email validation for email subscribe](/release-notes/july-2026/email-validation-for-email-subscribe.md) - Added bot protection to the newsletter subscribe form, including honeypot fields, fake-domain detection, timing checks and rate limiting. New subscribers confirm via email.
* [Add feature to fire off an email from the contact form](/release-notes/july-2026/add-feature-to-fire-off-an-email-from-the-contact-form.md) - Customers who submit the store contact form now automatically receive a confirmation email.
* [Create a Toast Notification that mentions Min and Max Product Quantity that is set](/release-notes/july-2026/create-a-toast-notification-that-mentions-min-and-max-product-quantity-that-is-set.md) - Customers now see a notification about minimum and maximum quantity limits when they add a product to the cart, rather than discovering the limit at the cart.
* [Please dont show decimals on qty to customers](/release-notes/july-2026/please-dont-show-decimals-on-qty-to-customers.md) - Fixed product quantities being displayed to customers as decimals instead of whole numbers.
* [Stock Display Table on PDP](/release-notes/july-2026/stock-display-table-on-pdp.md) - The product page stock table now defaults to the first available colour, with rows sorted by size and grouped by colour. Also fixed bulk Add to Cart failures.
* [Disable Checkout button after first click (Core)](/release-notes/july-2026/disable-checkout-button-after-first-click-core.md) - The Place Order button now disables immediately after the first click and shows a spinner, preventing customers double-clicking and failing their order partway through.
* [Product Family Vs Product Variant colour update](/release-notes/july-2026/product-family-vs-product-variant-colour-update.md) - Product family changes such as colour now update immediately on the product page without needing to clear the cache.
* [Branch & session context sent to third-party wallet](/release-notes/july-2026/branch-and-session-context-sent-to-third-party-wallet.md) - Third-party wallet integrations now receive the customer's selected branch and session reference on balance, debit and refund requests.
* [Fix Master Pricing](/release-notes/july-2026/fix-master-pricing.md) - Added a setting that makes Fix Master Pricing use maximum-quantity-based pricing logic.
* [Account Password (Core)](/release-notes/july-2026/account-password-core.md) - Changing your account password now shows a confirmation message after saving, and the password policy is correctly scoped to the store.
* [User Filtering by Store on the Back Office](/release-notes/july-2026/user-filtering-by-store-on-the-back-office.md) - Added a store column and store filter to the Individuals and Company lists in the back office.
* [Stop enforcing the Reply to Email on the Email sender setup in back office](/release-notes/july-2026/stop-enforcing-the-reply-to-email-on-the-email-sender-setup-in-back-office.md) - Email sender settings now populate with sensible defaults when left empty.
* [Inconsistent Order Statuses](/release-notes/july-2026/inconsistent-order-statuses.md) - Expired order statuses are now shown consistently in both the order list and the order detail view.
* [handle /setup when store is published](/release-notes/july-2026/handle-setup-when-store-is-published.md) - The store setup page is no longer reachable once a store has completed setup.
* [Backoffice Code/Template Editor](/release-notes/july-2026/backoffice-code-template-editor.md) - The code and template editor now includes a compare feature that lets you diff your changes against the original file.
* [Theme Editor and Compile](/release-notes/july-2026/theme-editor-and-compile.md) - The theme editor now highlights syntax and structure errors in stylesheets, and Compile reports exactly which file and line is causing a problem.
* [Increase EditorCodeLens height](/release-notes/july-2026/increase-editorcodelens-height.md) - The stylesheet code editor window now resizes automatically for a more comfortable editing area.
* [Content Editor Image Lazy Load and Cache](/release-notes/july-2026/content-editor-image-lazy-load-and-cache.md) - Fixed the content editor's image lazy-load and cache settings, which previously failed to save and did not render images correctly.
* [Auth0 expire should log you out (need middleware to check)](/release-notes/july-2026/auth0-expire-should-log-you-out-need-middleware-to-check.md) - The back office now logs users out automatically when their session expires, and tokens are properly checked and refreshed.
* [Logout](/release-notes/july-2026/logout.md) - Fixed a back office user's cached profile persisting after logging out, which left stale information behind.
* [Redis & Auth0 Updates and investigation](/release-notes/july-2026/redis-and-auth0-updates-and-investigation.md) - Reliability improvements to caching and authentication, including better multi-factor handling.
* [Backoffice switch to broken subscription](/release-notes/july-2026/backoffice-switch-to-broken-subscription.md) - Switching to a subscription with a misconfigured database no longer breaks your profile; the system validates the database before allowing the switch.
* [Check backoffice developer exception displaying on prod](/release-notes/july-2026/check-backoffice-developer-exception-displaying-on-prod.md) - Raw developer error details are no longer shown to back office users; a proper error page is displayed instead.
* [Add migration middleware into backoffice](/release-notes/july-2026/add-migration-middleware-into-backoffice.md) - Database migrations now run automatically on the back office.
* [Local Subscriptions](/release-notes/july-2026/local-subscriptions.md) - Local development environments now filter the subscription list according to local settings.
* [Fix stock modal](/release-notes/july-2026/fix-stock-modal.md) - Added a product-page-loaded tracking event to the product detail page.

## Need help?

If anything in this release affects your store and you are not sure what to do, please contact our support team.