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 1.6.0 ==
   7
   8 April 5, 2006
   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
  31 == Compatibility ==
  32
  33 Older PHP 4.2 and 4.1 releases are no longer supported; PHP 4 users must
  34 upgrade to 4.3 or later.
  35
  36 MediaWiki 1.6 is the last major version to support PHP 4; future versions
  37 will require PHP 5.
  38
  39 MySQL 3.23.x is longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  40 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  41
  42
  43 == Upgrading ==
  44
  45 Several changes to the database have been made from 1.5; these are relatively
  46 minor but do require that the update process be run before the new code will
  47 work properly:
  48
  49 * A new "templatelinks" table tracks template inclusions.
  50 * A new "externallinks" table tracks URL links; this can be used by a
  51   mass spam-cleanup tool in the SpamBlacklist extension.
  52 * A new "jobs" table stores a queue of pages to update in the background; this
  53   is used to update links in including pages when templates are edited.
  54
  55 To ensure that these tables are filled with data, run refreshLinks.php after
  56 the upgrade.
  57
  58
  59 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  60 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  61 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  62
  63 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  64
  65
  66
  67 === Caveats ===
  68
  69 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  70 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  71 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  72 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  73 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  74
  75
  76 For notes on 1.5.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  77
  78
  79 === Online documentation ===
  80
  81 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  82 built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  83 License:
  84
  85   http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
  86
  87
  88 === Mailing list ===
  89
  90 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
  91 wikitech-l list:
  92
  93   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
  94
  95 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
  96
  97   http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
  98
  99 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 100 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 101
 102
 103 === IRC help ===
 104
 105 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net