diff --git a/.classpath b/.classpath
index 0843599..fc9be77 100644
--- a/.classpath
+++ b/.classpath
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <classpath>
-	<classpathentry kind="src" output="target/share-updates-2.3.1-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/java">
+	<classpathentry kind="src" output="target/share-updates-2.4.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/java">
 		<attributes>
 			<attribute name="optional" value="true"/>
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
 	</classpathentry>
-	<classpathentry excluding="**" kind="src" output="target/share-updates-2.3.1-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/resources">
+	<classpathentry excluding="**" kind="src" output="target/share-updates-2.4.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/resources">
 		<attributes>
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@
 			<attribute name="org.eclipse.jst.component.dependency" value="/WEB-INF/lib"/>
 		</attributes>
 	</classpathentry>
-	<classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.7">
+	<classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.8">
 		<attributes>
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
 	</classpathentry>
-	<classpathentry kind="output" path="target/share-updates-2.3.1-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes"/>
+	<classpathentry kind="output" path="target/share-updates-2.4.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes"/>
 </classpath>
diff --git a/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs b/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
index 443e085..b257af7 100644
--- a/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
+++ b/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 eclipse.preferences.version=1
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.inlineJsrBytecode=enabled
-org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.7
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.8
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=1.7
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.assertIdentifier=error
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.enumIdentifier=error
diff --git a/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.xml b/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.xml
index 664cfd0..4067f6f 100644
--- a/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.xml
+++ b/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.xml
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 <faceted-project>
   <fixed facet="wst.jsdt.web"/>
   <installed facet="wst.jsdt.web" version="1.0"/>
-  <installed facet="java" version="1.7"/>
   <installed facet="liferay.portlet" version="6.0"/>
   <installed facet="jst.jaxrs" version="2.0"/>
   <installed facet="jst.web" version="3.0"/>
+  <installed facet="java" version="1.7"/>
 </faceted-project>
diff --git a/distro/changelog.xml b/distro/changelog.xml
index 063c23b..cd42ccb 100644
--- a/distro/changelog.xml
+++ b/distro/changelog.xml
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 <ReleaseNotes>
+	<Changeset component="org.gcube.portlets-user.shareupdates.2-3-1"
+		date="2017-05-03">
+		<Change>Ported to Java8</Change>
+	</Changeset>
 	<Changeset component="org.gcube.portlets-user.shareupdates.2-3-1"
 		date="2017-04-12">
-		<Change>Fixes an issue where the sharing of posts in any VRE would not generate any notification in some cases, Incident #7553</Change>
-		<Change>Fix for Bug #8063, Share Updates links are truncated in some cases</Change>
+		<Change>Fixes an issue where the sharing of posts in any VRE would not
+			generate any notification in some cases, Incident #7553</Change>
+		<Change>Fix for Bug #8063, Share Updates links are truncated in some
+			cases</Change>
 	</Changeset>
 	<Changeset component="org.gcube.portlets-user.shareupdates.2-3-0"
 		date="2017-02-20">
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a05d20e..190ff4c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	<groupId>org.gcube.portlets.user</groupId>
 	<artifactId>share-updates</artifactId>
 	<packaging>war</packaging>
-	<version>2.3.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>2.4.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<name>gCube Share Updates Portlet</name>
 	<description>
 		gCube Share Updates for exchanging updates with other users of VREs.
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 		<distroDirectory>distro</distroDirectory>
 		<liferay.version>6.2.5</liferay.version>
 		<maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
-		<maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
+		<maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
 		<webappDirectory>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}</webappDirectory>
 
 		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
@@ -277,8 +277,8 @@
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>2.3.2</version>
 				<configuration>
-					<source>1.7</source>
-					<target>1.7</target>
+					<source>${maven.compiler.source}</source>
+					<target>${maven.compiler.target}</target>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<!-- SA Plugin -->