What in the world has happened with the layout 3.0.18.5?

[Miku]

Hi
1. I see no option to speparate the Shopfront Settings (BE) between the Front page and the categories. These settings affect on both at the same time.
2. Category view - when I use the 'Show latest products' for example the layout of the page breaks apart - the whole "left position" goes outside the browser view.
Temple type : responsive
3. 'Sort by' issue?:
For example, when I use sort by product name or price for category view, the feature sorts all the products of the shop (not only those from a particular category) and it all takes place in the front page..
So I'm in the category view:
/domain/en/main-category/subcategory
- I choose the 'sort by' feature and it takes me to the
/domain/en/by,product_name

[jenkinhill]

The homepage view is now deprecated (http://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=135818.msg474637#msg474637) and the category view used instead. The page layouts can now be configured within the Joomla menu options, providing improved control.  There may be incompatibilities with some commercial templates, especially those that use hacked VM2 templates to provide the layout for VM3.  In addition those using template overrides and updating from VM versions earlier thaan VM3.0.18 should pay attention to the last section in this news release: https://virtuemart.net/news/latest-news/477-release-of-3-0-18-connecting-the-loose-ends

[Miku]

The homepage view is now deprecated (http://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=135818.msg474637#msg474637) and the category view used instead.

Ok, it's clear.

In addition those using template overrides and updating from VM versions earlier thaan VM3.0.18 should pay attention to the last section in this news release: https://virtuemart.net/news/latest-news/477-release-of-3-0-18-connecting-the-loose-ends

I'm using some commercial template but without overrides. I have updated VM from 3.0.18 where everything was ok with the layout so isn't it a proof that the "culprit" is VM itself?
Investigating the "layout break" issue I noticed that the problem had occurred when used 'Show products of the selected category' and some featured products like 'Recent' or 'Latest' together.

What about

'Sort by' issue?:
For example, when I use sort by product name or price for category view, the feature sorts all the products of the shop (not only those from a particular category) and it all takes place in the front page..
So I'm in the category view:
/domain/en/main-category/subcategory
- I choose the 'sort by' feature and it takes me to the
/domain/en/by,product_name

I still have problem with that. Can you please give a feedback whether or not you've been experiencing the same problem?

[Studio 42]

Sorry jenkinhill, but it's first time i think you should stop to say that it's a template problem.
The default behavior has changed, and if it's deprecate, the shop home link should work as before, but this is not the case and brek your design and add feature by default that some don't want !
I don't understand why by default the render is changing. search in the list is most not wanted by my customer and i think it's 50% of all the shops.

[AH]

VM has changed the way it handles the homepage and category views in the 3.0.18.5 - that much is very clear.

In order to see the impacts, you will undoubtedly want to upgrade a test environment and review.

You may need to update various aspects of your site - including template overrides and configurations.

The new category view functionality may provide you with very little stuff you want or, you  can make use it. This may take you time to configure/modify templates to get back to a state of having exactly the look you had before the update.

For some users and new users the new features will be welcomed.  For others it will provide no obvious advantage.

[Milbo]

When you do not use layout overrides for the /category/default.php then it is just a configuration problem. You may tell us what you had to set manually to get the old view, so we can adjust the updater

[Miku]

When you do not use layout overrides for the /category/default.php then it is just a configuration problem.

As I've mentioned before  - I don't use any layout overrides. Yes, it looks like it's just a configuration problem  - and actually I'm able to get back to the "old front page view" layout using category layout. 
But I see an issue for the category layout when using 'Show products of the selected category' together with 'Latest Products' for example  - the layout "breaks apart" -  the whole "left position" of the template goes outside the browser view.  The issue occurs no matter what the layout is: fixed or responsive.
In VM 3.0.18 I see no such issue.

There is also a bug with 'Sort by' in category view:
So I'm in the category view:
/domain/en/main-category/subcategory
I choose the 'sort by name' feature and it takes me to the
/domain/en/by,product_name
In VM 3.0.18 I see no such issue.

[Miku]

There is also a bug with 'Sort by' in category view:
So I'm in the category view:
/domain/en/main-category/subcategory
I choose the 'sort by name' feature and it takes me to the
/domain/en/by,product_name
In VM 3.0.18 I see no such issue.

Really, noone have experienced such an issue?
Please even try the demo of VM  - http://demo.virtuemart.net
Go to: http://demo.virtuemart.net/headpiece , and use "sort by name' feature.
You can see something like: http://demo.virtuemart.net/by,product_name?q=/headpiece

Looks like a bug - the function sorts all the items from the shop instead of the ones from a particular category.