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
   7 == MediaWiki 1.4 BETA ==
   8
   9 [Not everything is 100% working in beta yet, the installer needs fixes still.]
  10
  11 Major changes from 1.3.x:
  12 * Support for table prefixes for better sharing with other web apps
  13 * (?) PostgreSQL support
  14 * Optional article validation voting features
  15 * 'Recentchanges Patrol' to mark new edits that haven't yet been viewed
  16 * Support for faster C++ diff module (WikiDiff extension)
  17 * More scary link caching modes
  18 * Old manually maintained log pages replaced with searchable Special:Log
  19 * Skins system more modular: templates and CSS are now in /skins/
  20 * New user preference for limitting the image size for images on image description
  21   pages
  22 * Error pages no more offer edit / talk / watch links (bug #502)
  23 * Allow user to preview article on first edit (bug #530)
  24 * New dark background skin named Amethyst (thanks Sorwena and Sorkhiri)
  25 * [[RFC 1234]] will now make an internal link (bug #479)
  26 * PhpTal skins shown bogus 'What links here' etc on special pages (bug #511)
  27 * Experimental code to manage user and group rights (Special:Userlevels)
  28 * UI language switching
  29 * Adding filter and username exact search match for Special:Listusers (bug #770)
  30 * Special:Listadmins outdated, use Special:Listusers instead (bug #857)
  31 * Traditional/Simplified Chinese conversion
  32 * New tag "<gallery>" to generate a table of image thumbnails
  33 * Installer die if it can not write LocalSettings.php (bug #733)
  34 * Various special pages no more show the rss/atom feed links (bug #705)
  35 * Support for external authentication plug-ins
  36 * (bug 114) use category backlinks in Special:Recentchangeslinked
  37 * ... and more!
  38
  39 === Caveats ===
  40
  41 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  42 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  43 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  44 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  45 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  46
  47 The new 'MonoBook' skin is not compatible with PHP 5 due to bugs in the
  48 underlying PHPTAL library. It will be automatically disabled when running
  49 on PHP5; the older look and feel will be used instead.
  50
  51
  52 For notes on 1.3.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  53
  54
  55 === Online documentation ===
  56
  57 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  58 built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  59 License:
  60
  61   http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents
  62
  63
  64 === Mailing list ===
  65
  66 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
  67 wikitech-l list:
  68
  69   http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
  70
  71
  72 === IRC help ===
  73
  74 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net