17.x [2026-08-30]

17.0.2 [2026-09-29]

Features

Message board, Administration notes, and Booking messages

• Notes can now be edited by their author, with auditing rules applied.
• Note owners can edit their own notes.
• Administrators can edit all system notes.
• Administrators can archive any notes.
• Note owners can hide their own notes.

Reporting improvements

• Activity tags can now be filtered to show activities with empty tags or with tags.
• Added user:id to activity reports.
• Removed the duplicate activity tag badge from CSV reports.
• Resolved a minor issue with ordering when entering non-standard fields.

General Updates

• Improved the display of long breadcrumbs on mobile devices.
• Added a calendar action to bookings for quicker access to adding events to a calendar.
• Improved email readability and cleaned up several email templates.
• Improved the placement of navigation buttons on mobile devices.
• Added footer buttons for important actions on mobile devices.
• Added a configuration option to show the participant list on upcoming activities.

Bugfixes

• Resolved an issue with activities in common when browsing member profiles.
• Resolved an issue where activities could be booked after their start time.
• Resolved an issue where activities could not be booked after their start time but before their end time.
• Resolved a rare issue with email verification.
• Resolved an issue where users could join a waitlist before verifying their account.

17.0.1 [2026-09-16]

Features

RSS + JSON upcoming activity feeds

• Added RSS and JSON feeds for upcoming activities.
• Partners can now add their upcoming activity feed to other websites and feed readers.
• Feed readers can access the 10 most recent upcoming activities.

Contact activity owner

• Added the ability for participants to email an activity owner.
• Messages are added to the Administration timeline.
• Added additional protection to the contact form, including CAPTCHA challenges.

Booking process improvements

• Removed the ability to create new accounts during the booking participants process.
• Early usage data showed that participants were typically being added using their existing, verified accounts.
• Participants can now only be added using their email address.
• Removed name fields when adding participants. Users are now referenced by their public username.

General Updates

• Improved report column selection so changes are automatically saved.
• Improved the wording of various system emails.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where modal popups did not appear for certain errors.
• Fixed an issue where report columns that were not configured for filtering could cause an error.
• Fixed an issue where report columns could break when filtering by a related record.
• Fixed an issue where dashboard reports could incorrectly combine membership and booking payments.
• Fixed an issue where the Void status label incorrectly described the booking status.
• Fixed an issue where the license expiry banner did not appear for some partners.
• Fixed an issue on long text input fields where character count did not correctly sum new lines.
• Fixed a spelling error in the new purchase email sent to Finance Officers.
• Added the missing user avatar to the user dropdown button on public pages.

17.0.0 [2026-09-07]

Features

Major UI framework upgrades

• Upgraded the component framework with visual improvements across the app, including a redesigned sidebar that supports more menu items and advanced dropdown menus.
• Improved breadcrumbs and moved them into the admin header bar, making it easier to identify your current location within the system.
• Added helper information to forms to provide better guidance while completing fields. These improvements are being rolled out progressively across the app.
• Improved page action buttons for consistency. Primary actions now always appear in the top-right corner, with secondary actions grouped into a dropdown menu.
• Added additional improvements to navigation menus, tabs, buttons, dropdowns, and input fields.

Report page rebuild

• Added quick filter dropdowns for common reporting actions. For example, you can quickly filter active members or activities running this month.
• Selected report columns can now be saved for the current session. For example, if you customise columns on a user report and save them, they will remain selected until you sign out or refresh your session.
• Improved sorting and paging across reporting pages.
• Added more advanced filtering for Users. You can now filter and report on active bookings and booking counts. For example, search for Guests who completed a booking and created their account within the last year.
• Replaced the old bookmark system with a new quick filter structure, which lays the groundwork for improved bookmarking features coming in a future release.
• Included performance improvements and indexing updates for reporting pages.

Added user search lookups

• When searching for a member, search the active member database or create a new activity.
• When changing an activity owner, search the entire user database.
• When adding a participant, search the active member database.
• When adding a user to the waitlist, search the active member database.
• Activity officers can search the entire user database, activity owners can search active members (similar to the member list)
• This makes it easier to find existing users rather than inputting the username or email which was prone to error.
• When searching, you can see a users public profile which includes their name, username and avatar.

Paid bookings support (OPT IN)

• Activity types can now be set up to accept payments when users book.
• Activity owners can include multiple users in a single booking where appropriate.
• Custom terms can be added to activities and bookings.
• Admins can add a credit to a user’s account when a payment needs to be adjusted.
• Membership products can now include credits that users can use towards future activity bookings.

Automatic waitlist support (OPT IN)

• This feature is completely optional. You can turn it on when configuring an activity.
• When an activity reaches capacity, users can add themselves to the waitlist.
• Waitlisted users can see that they are on the waitlist, without seeing their position.
• Activity owners remain in control of who is offered an available place.
• When enabled, Bilby can automatically notify waitlisted participants when a place becomes available.

General Updates

• Improved cloning experience with a optional start date when cloning an activity. Times are retained.
• Removed membership application approval emails when auto approve has been turned on
• Participants administration now shows the number of valid bookings alongside the number of places still available.
• Added support for dark mode, including quick controls to switch between light and dark modes.
• Improved user identification in lists by adding colour and name initials to default profile images.
• Improved Message Board notification emails with a clearer primary action.
• Users with a valid booking can now continue to post on Message Boards for activities they previously attended.
• Improved email verification messages by using numbers only and reducing the verification time.
• Improved the location of privacy settings when configuring user types.
• Improved form error handling so users receive a clear notification instead of the entire screen being blocked.
• Improved the privacy settings for full names. Full names are now available to active members and this setting cannot be changed.
• Added clearer on/off switches for checkbox fields on activities and user types.
• Improved the organisation of site configuration options for Super Admins.
• Added a link to the main Bilby website where appropriate.
• Upgraded reCAPTCHA to the latest Enterprise version.

System Updates

• Added automatic demo data when creating a new demo site, making it easier to explore Bilby.
• Upgraded the underlying software used by Bilby to improve reliability, security, and future development.
• Removed older reporting pages and related legacy code.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where participant names could appear differently depending on their privacy settings.
• Fixed missing error messages when changing a password.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause Mailchimp synchronisation to stop before completing.