RELEASE-NOTES

   1 = MediaWiki release notes =
   2
   3 Security reminder: MediaWiki does not require PHP's register_globals
   4 setting since version 1.2.0. If you have it on, turn it *off* if you can.
   5
   6 == MediaWiki 1.7 ==
   7
   8 THIS IS NOT A RELEASE YET.
   9
  10 MediaWiki is now using a "continuous integration" development model with
  11 quarterly snapshot releases. The latest development code is always kept
  12 "ready to run", and in fact runs our own sites on Wikipedia.
  13
  14 Release branches will continue to receive security updates for about a year
  15 from first release, but nonessential bugfixes and feature development happen
  16 will be made on the development trunk and appear in the next quarterly release.
  17
  18 Those wishing to use the latest code instead of a branch release can obtain
  19 it from source control: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Download_from_SVN
  20
  21 == Changes since 1.6 ==
  22
  23 * (bug 5458) Fix double-URL encoding in block log link in contribs and contribs
  24   link in block log
  25 * (bug 5462) Bogus missing patch warning in updater
  26 * (bug 5461) Use of deprecated "showhideminor" in Special:Recentchangeslinked
  27 * PHP warning when allow_call_time_pass_reference is off
  28 * Update to Finnish localization
  29 * (bug 5467) Link to page histories in watchlist edit mode
  30 * Further additions to Hebrew localisation
  31 * (bug 5476) Invalid xhtml in German localization
  32 * (bug 5479) Id translation for preferences tabs caption
  33 * (bug 5493) Id translation for special pages
  34 * Added skinname and style path parameters to CBT version of MonoBook
  35 * Include subversion revision number in Special:Version if available
  36 * (bug 5344) Fix regression that broke slashes in extension tag parameters
  37 * Improve Special:Log performance on big log sets
  38 * (bug 5507) Changed mediawiki:logouttext from plain to wikitext
  39 * (bug 4760) Prevent creation of entries in protection log when protection levels haven't changed
  40 * (bug 861) Show page protection/unprotection events in histories
  41 * (bug 5499) Don't clear the tag strip state when asked not to clear state.
  42   Fixes regression with use of <ref> in a template breaking <nowiki> etc.
  43 * Minor grammatical improvements in English language files
  44 * Display the anon talk page info message on anon talk pages again
  45   (moved outside the parser cache)
  46 * Optional {{DISPLAYTITLE|title with markup}} magic word
  47   Deactivated by default, set "$wgAllowDisplayTitle = true" in LocalSettings.php to activate
  48 * Cleaned SpecialContributions a bit
  49
  50 == Compatibility ==
  51
  52 Older PHP 4.2 and 4.1 releases are no longer supported; PHP 4 users must
  53 upgrade to 4.3 or later.
  54
  55 MediaWiki 1.6 is the last major version to support PHP 4; future versions
  56 will require PHP 5.
  57
  58 MySQL 3.23.x is longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  59 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  60
  61
  62 == Upgrading ==
  63
  64 Several changes to the database have been made from 1.5; these are relatively
  65 minor but do require that the update process be run before the new code will
  66 work properly:
  67
  68 * A new "templatelinks" table tracks template inclusions.
  69 * A new "externallinks" table tracks URL links; this can be used by a
  70   mass spam-cleanup tool in the SpamBlacklist extension.
  71 * A new "jobs" table stores a queue of pages to update in the background; this
  72   is used to update links in including pages when templates are edited.
  73
  74 To ensure that these tables are filled with data, run refreshLinks.php after
  75 the upgrade.
  76
  77
  78 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  79 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  80 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  81
  82 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  83
  84
  85
  86 === Caveats ===
  87
  88 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  89 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  90 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  91 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  92 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  93
  94
  95 For notes on 1.5.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  96
  97
  98 === Online documentation ===
  99
 100 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
 101 built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
 102 License:
 103
 104   http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
 105
 106
 107 === Mailing list ===
 108
 109 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 110 wikitech-l list:
 111
 112   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 113
 114 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 115
 116   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 117
 118 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 119 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 120
 121
 122 === IRC help ===
 123
 124 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net