= MediaWiki release notes = Security reminder: MediaWiki does not require PHP's register_globals setting since version 1.2.0. If you have it on, turn it *off* if you can. == MediaWiki 1.8 == THIS IS NOT A RELEASE YET. MediaWiki is now using a "continuous integration" development model with quarterly snapshot releases. The latest development code is always kept "ready to run", and in fact runs our own sites on Wikipedia. Release branches will continue to receive security updates for about a year from first release, but nonessential bugfixes and feature development happen will be made on the development trunk and appear in the next quarterly release. Those wishing to use the latest code instead of a branch release can obtain it from source control: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Download_from_SVN == Configuration changes == * None yet! == Major new features == * (bug 550) Allow blocks on anonymous users only. == Changes since 1.7 == * (bug 6562) Removed unmaintained ParserXml.php for now * History paging overlap bug fixed * (bug 6586) Regression in "unblocked" subtitle * Don't put empty-page message into view-source when page text is blank * (bug 6587) Remove redundant "allnonarticles" message * Block improvements: Allow blocks on anonymous users only. Optionally allow or disallow account creation from blocked IP addresses. Prevent duplicate blocks. Fixed the problem of expiry and unblocking erroneously affecting multiple blocks. Fixed confusing lack of error message when a blocked user attempts to create an account. Fixed inefficiency of Special:Ipblocklist in the presence of large numbers of blocks; added indexes and implemented an indexed pager. * (bug 6448) Allow filtering of Special:Newpages according to username * (bug 6618) Improve permissions/error detection in Special:Lockdb * Quick hack for extension testing: parser test doesn't create new message cache object. * (bug 6299) Maintain parser's revision ID across recursive calls to fix {{REVISIONID}} when Cite extension is used * (bug 6622) Removed deprecated function Image::newFromTitle * (bug 6627) Fix regression in Special:Ipblocklist with table prefix * Removed forced dereferencements (new() returns a reference in PHP5) * Note about $wgUploadSizeWarning using byte * (bug 6592) Add most viewed pages summary to Special:Statistics * Pre-strip characters ignored in IDNs from URLs so they can't be used to break the blacklists for regular URLs * Fix regression in blocking of user accounts * (bug 6635) Fix regression searching for range blocks on Ipblocklist * Fix regression searching Ipblocklist with ugly URLs * (bug 6639) Use a consistent default for upload directories * Preserve entered reason when reporting unconfirmed lock on Special:Lockdb * (bug 6642) Don't offer to unlock the database when it isn't locked * cleanupTitles.php changed from --dry-run option to --fix, so default behavior is now a non-invasive check as with namespaceDupes.php == Languages updated == * Albanian (sq) * Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) * Catalan (ca) * English (en) * French (fr) * German (de) * Hebrew (he) * Hungarian (hu) * Indonesian (id) * Russian (ru) * Telugu (te) == Compatibility == MediaWiki 1.8 requires PHP 5 (5.1 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer supported. MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade. At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases. == Upgrading == Several changes to the database have been made from 1.6: * A new "langlinks" table tracks interlanguage links * A new "filearchive" table stores information on deleted files * A new "querycache_info" table stores information on query page updates To ensure that these tables are filled with data, run refreshLinks.php after the upgrade. If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading! See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions. === Caveats === Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for MathML to display properly in Mozilla.) For notes on 1.5.x and older releases, see HISTORY. === Online documentation === Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being built up on Meta-Wikipedia, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation License: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation === Mailing list === A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia wikitech-l list: http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available: http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes. === IRC help === There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net