[END OF LIFE ALERT] Support for WeBWorK 2.16, 2.17, and 2.18

[Alex Jordan]

Do you have a PreTeXt project that relies on a version 2.16, 2.17, or 2.18 WeBWorK server? PreTeXt will end explicit support for these versions in the summer of 2026. Target date is August 1, assuming WeBWork/PG 2.21 has been released by then. The reasons for ending support are (a) so that more new PG features can be leveraged by PTX and (b) so that the PTX code base has fewer parallel tracks to maintain.

Note that if you have a PreTeXt HTML book hosted somewhere and it relies on a 2.16, 2.17, or 2.18 WeBWorK server, it will continue to work just fine as long as you don't rebuild. This notice is about *building* your project with up-to-date PreTeXt following the summer 2026 retirement. That is what will no longer work.

WeBWorK version 2.19 was released in summer 2024. Version 2.20 in summer 2025. And Version 2.21 is coming up in summer 2026. The AIM WeBWorK server at webwork-ptx.aimath.org is currently version 2.20, and you might want to transition to that server for your needs if you are not able to upgrade your own WeBWorK server in time.