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 1.16 ==
   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 developments
  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 in 1.16 ===
  22
  23 * (bug 18222) $wgMinimalPasswordLength default is now 1
  24 * $wgSessionHandler can be used to configure session.save_handler
  25
  26 === New features in 1.16 ===
  27
  28 * Add CSS defintion of the 'wikitable' class to shared.css
  29 * (bug 17163) Added MediaWiki:Talkpageheader which will be displayed when
  30   viewing talk pages
  31 * Add group convertsion support for LanguageConverter. New magic word
  32   "{{GROUPCONVERT:xxx}}" enabled for this new feature. You can set related
  33   conversion rules in [[MediaWiki:Groupconversiontable-xxx/language_code]].
  34 * Superfluous border="0" removed from images
  35 * Added new hook 'MessageCacheReplace' into MessageCache.php. For instance
  36   to allow extensions to update caches in similar way as MediaWiki invalidates
  37   a cached MonoBook sidebar
  38 * Special:AllPages: Move hardcoded styles from code to CSS
  39 * (bug 6092) Add parser function equivalents of {{REVISIONID}},
  40   {{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}}  (and friends) and {{REVISIONUSER}} magic words
  41 * (bug 18529) New hook: SoftwareInfo for adding information about the software
  42   to Special:Version
  43 * Added $wgExtPGAlteredFields to allow extensions to easily alter the data
  44   type of columns when using the Postgres backend.
  45 * (bug 16950) Show move log when viewing/creating a deleted page
  46 * (bug 18242) Show the Subversion revision number per extensions in
  47   Special:Version
  48 * (bug 18420) Missing file revisions are handled gracefully now
  49 * (bug 9219) Auth plugins can control editing RealName/Email/Nick preferences
  50
  51 === Bug fixes in 1.16 ===
  52
  53 * (bug 18031) Make namespace selector on Special:Export remember the previous
  54   selection
  55 * The svn-version version numbers on Special:Version have been removed
  56 * (bug 17374) Special:Export no longer exports two copies of the same page
  57 * (bug 18190) Proper parsing in MediaWiki:Sharedupload message
  58 * (bug 17617) HTML cleanup for ImagePage
  59 * (bug 17964) namespaceDupes.php no longer fails on an empty interwiki table
  60 * Improved error handling for image moving
  61 * (bug 17974) On Special:SpecialPages, restricted special pages are now marked
  62   with <strong> tags, helps with text-based browsers
  63 * (bug 18259) Special:DeletedContributions now also uses
  64   MediaWiki:Sp-contributions-logs for the link to Special:Log
  65 * Don't add empty title="" attributes to links to anchors on the current page
  66 * (bug 18291) rebuildrecentchanges.php failed to add deletion log entries
  67 * (bug 18304) rebuildrecentchanges.php got size changes wrong
  68 * (bug 18170) Fixed a PHP warning in Parser::preSaveTransform() in PHP 5.3
  69 * (bug 18289) Database connection error page now returns correct HTML
  70 * "successbox", "errorbox" and related CSS classes are now available in all
  71   skins
  72 * Fixed a PHP notice when $wgEnableSerializedMessages was set to false
  73 * (bug 18316) Removed superfluous name="fulltext" from Special:Search
  74 * (bug 18331) MediaWiki:Undelete-revision can now have wikitext
  75 * The "noautoblock" flag is no longer displayed in the block log when blocking
  76   an IP address
  77 * (bug 18009) $wgHooks and $wgExtensionFunctions now support closures
  78 * (bug 17948) Maintenance scripts now exit(0) or exit(1) as appropriate
  79 * (bug 18377) Time in Enhanced ChangesList lacking localisation
  80 * (bug 12998) Allow <sup>, <sub>, etc. in DISPLAYTITLE
  81 * (bug 1553) Lowercase navigation headings in German
  82 * (bug 7830) Pending transactions failed to commit on loginToUse() error
  83 * (bug 11613) session.save_handler being over-ridden
  84 * (bug 11381) session.save_handler being set twice (causes error)
  85 * (bug 17835) ForeignAPIRepo throwing error on first page load for file
  86 * (bug 18115) ForeignAPIRepo cache isn't working
  87 * Fixed a bug caused by LanguageConverter.php, which brings an abnormal '}-'
  88   after some parsed math syntax.
  89 * (bug 18441) rebuildrecentchanges.inc no longer ignores $wgLogRestrictions
  90 * (bug 18317) Bolded selections in 1 | 3 | etc days on RecentChanges now use
  91   <strong> instead of hardcoded styles
  92 * (bug 18449) Fixed items number per column on category pages when the total is
  93   divisible by 3
  94 * (bug 18121) maintenance/deleteArchivedRevisions.php no longer deletes
  95   revisions when --delete is not passed
  96 * (bug 13172) GPS coordinates in image Exif data are now actually displayed
  97 * Overhaul of preferences system, includes the following bug fixes:
  98 * (bug 5363) Changes to default preferences now impact registered users.
  99 * (bug 14806) Hook to enable putting preferences in existing tabs.
 100 * (bug 17191) Registration date now listed on preferences page.
 101 * Note that this change will break some extensions which have not been adapted
 102   for it.
 103 * (bug 17020) Adding fallback encodings for Traditional and Simplified Chinese
 104   languages while the the text is typed as URLs.
 105 * (bug 18535) Search tab tool-tops are corrupted
 106 * (bug 17614) Prev / Next links not need on ImagePage file history if less than limit
 107 * (bug 18207) Strange spacing before [[irc:...]] links
 108 * Removed float from the user login form in RTL interface - caused display
 109   problems in FF2
 110 * (bug 15008) Redirect images are now subject to Bad image list rules
 111
 112 == API changes in 1.16 ==
 113
 114 * Added uiprop=changeablegroups to meta=userinfo
 115 * Added usprop=gender to list=users
 116 * (bug 18311) action=purge now works for images too
 117 * Add parentid to prop=revisions output
 118 * (bug 17832) action=delete returns 'unknownerror' instead of 'permissiondenied'
 119   when the user is blocked
 120 * (bug 18546) Added timestamp of new revision to action=edit output
 121 * (bug 18554) Also list hidden revisions in list=usercontribs for privileged
 122   users
 123 * (bug 13049) "API must be accessed from the primary script entry point" error
 124 * (bug 18601) generator=backlinks returns invalid continue parameter
 125 * (bug 18597) Internal error with empty generator= parameter
 126 * (bug 16422) Don't display help for format=jsonfm unless specifically requested
 127 * (bug 18617) Add xml:space="preserve" attribute to relevant tags in XML output
 128 * Added PHP and database version to meta=siteinfo output
 129 * (bug 18533) Add readonly message to meta=siteinfo output
 130
 131 === Languages updated in 1.16 ===
 132
 133 MediaWiki supports over 300 languages. Many localisations are updated
 134 regularly. Below only new and removed languages are listed, as well as
 135 changes to languages because of MediaZilla reports.
 136
 137 * (bug 18474) Sorani (ckb - Central Kurdish) (renamed from ku-arab)
 138 * Add PLURAL function for Scots Gaelic (gd)
 139
 140 == Compatibility ==
 141
 142 MediaWiki 1.16 requires PHP 5 (5.2 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer supported.
 143
 144 PHP 5.0.x fails on 64-bit systems due to serious bugs with array processing:
 145 http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=34879
 146 Upgrade affected systems to PHP 5.1 or higher.
 147
 148 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
 149 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
 150
 151
 152 == Upgrading ==
 153
 154 1.16 has several database changes since 1.15, and will not work without schema
 155 updates.
 156
 157 If upgrading from before 1.11, and you are using a wiki as a commons reposito-
 158 ry, make sure that it is updated as well. Otherwise, errors may arise due to
 159 database schema changes.
 160
 161 If upgrading from before 1.7, you may want to run refreshLinks.php to ensure
 162 new database fields are filled with data.
 163
 164 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
 165 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
 166 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
 167
 168 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
 169
 170
 171 === Caveats ===
 172
 173 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
 174 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
 175 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
 176 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
 177 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
 178
 179 For notes on 1.15.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
 180
 181
 182 === Online documentation ===
 183
 184 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
 185 built up on MediaWiki.org, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
 186 License (except for pages that explicitly state that their contents are in
 187 the public domain) :
 188
 189   http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
 190
 191
 192 === Mailing list ===
 193
 194 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 195 wikitech-l list:
 196
 197   http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 198
 199 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 200
 201   http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 202
 203 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 204 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 205
 206
 207 === IRC help ===
 208
 209 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net