The default start.php file has been expanded in order to give you more flexibility over the loading of your language, configuration, and view files. To upgrade your file, copy your current file and paste it at the bottom of a copy of the new Laravel 3.1 start file. Next, scroll up in the start file until you see the default Autoloader registrations (line 61 and line 76). Delete both of these sections since you just pasted your previous auto-loader registrations at the bottom of the file.
This option is now set at the beginning of your application/start file.
Simply add a parent::__construct(); to to any of your controllers that have a constructor.
If you have created indexes on tables using the Laravel migration system and you used to the default index naming scheme provided by Laravel, prefix the index names with their table name on your database. So, if the current index name is "id_unique" on the "users" table, make the index name "users_id_unique".
Add the following to the aliases array in your application/config/application.php file:
'Eloquent' => 'Laravel\\Database\\Eloquent\\Model',
'Blade' => 'Laravel\\Blade',
Eloquent now maintains created_at and updated_at column on many-to-many intermediate tables by default. Simply add these columns to your tables. Also, many-to-many tables are now the singular model names concatenated with an underscore. For example, if the relationship is between User and Role, the intermediate table name should be role_user.
If you are using the Eloquent bundle with your installation, you can remove it from your bundles directory and your application/bundles.php file. Eloquent version 2 is included in the core in Laravel 3.1. Your models can also now extend simply Eloquent instead of Eloquent\Model.
English pluralization and singularization is now automatic. Just completely replace your application/config/strings.php file.
A new fetch option allows you to specify in which format you receive your database results. Just copy and paste the option from the new application/config/database.php file.