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 1.8 ==
   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 * None yet!
  24
  25
  26 == Major new features ==
  27
  28 * None!
  29
  30
  31
  32 == Changes since 1.7 ==
  33
  34 * (bug 6562) Removed unmaintained ParserXml.php for now
  35
  36
  37 == Compatibility ==
  38
  39 MediaWiki 1.8 requires PHP 5 (5.1 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer supported.
  40
  41 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  42 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  43
  44
  45 == Upgrading ==
  46
  47 Several changes to the database have been made from 1.6:
  48
  49 * A new "langlinks" table tracks interlanguage links
  50 * A new "filearchive" table stores information on deleted files
  51 * A new "querycache_info" table stores information on query page updates
  52
  53 To ensure that these tables are filled with data, run refreshLinks.php after
  54 the upgrade.
  55
  56 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  57 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  58 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  59
  60 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  61
  62
  63
  64 === Caveats ===
  65
  66 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  67 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  68 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  69 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  70 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  71
  72
  73 For notes on 1.5.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  74
  75
  76 === Online documentation ===
  77
  78 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  79 built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  80 License:
  81
  82   http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
  83
  84
  85 === Mailing list ===
  86
  87 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
  88 wikitech-l list:
  89
  90   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
  91
  92 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
  93
  94   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
  95
  96 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
  97 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
  98
  99
 100 === IRC help ===
 101
 102 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net