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 1.9 ==
   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 == Configuration changes ==
  22
  23
  24 == Major new features ==
  25
  26
  27 == Changes since 1.8 ==
  28
  29 * (bug 6835) Removing the includes/Parser.php::getTemplateArgs() function,
  30   because it seems to be unused.
  31 * (bug 7139) Increasing the visual width of the edit summary field on larger
  32   screen sizes, for the default monobook skin.
  33 * Fix PHP notice and estimates for dumpBackup.php and friends
  34 * Improved register_globals paranoia checks
  35 * (bug 7545) Fix PHP version check on install
  36 * Disable PHP exception backtrace printing unless $wgShowExceptionDetails
  37   is set. Backtraces may contain sensitive information in function call
  38   parameters.
  39 * (bug 6164) Avoid smashing Cite state if message transformation triggers
  40   during bad image list check, by skipping message transformation.
  41   This isn't a good permanent fix.
  42 * (bug 6918) Stopped borders and backgrounds from showing through floated
  43   tables in Monobook
  44 * (bug 6868) Un-hardcode section edit link style
  45
  46
  47 == Languages updated ==
  48
  49 * Occitan (oc)
  50 * Upper Sorbian (hsb)
  51
  52
  53 == Compatibility ==
  54
  55 MediaWiki 1.9 requires PHP 5 (5.1 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer supported.
  56
  57 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  58 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  59
  60
  61 == Upgrading ==
  62
  63 Some minor database changes have been made since 1.7:
  64 * new fields and indexes on ipblocks
  65 * index change on recentchanges
  66
  67 Several changes from 1.5 and 1.6 do require updates to be run on upgrade.
  68 To ensure that these tables are filled with data, run refreshLinks.php after
  69 the upgrade.
  70
  71 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  72 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  73 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  74
  75 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  76
  77
  78
  79 === Caveats ===
  80
  81 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  82 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  83 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  84 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  85 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  86
  87
  88 For notes on 1.5.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  89
  90
  91 === Online documentation ===
  92
  93 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  94 built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  95 License:
  96
  97   http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
  98
  99
 100 === Mailing list ===
 101
 102 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 103 wikitech-l list:
 104
 105   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 106
 107 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 108
 109   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 110
 111 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 112 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 113
 114
 115 === IRC help ===
 116
 117 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net