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 1.18 ==
   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 1.18 ===
  22 * The WantedPages::getSQL hook has been removed and replaced with
  23   WantedPages::getQueryInfo . This may break older extensions.
  24 * $wgUseCombinedLoginLink controls whether to output a combined login / create account
  25   link in the personal bar, or to output separate login and create account links
  26 * Skin names are no longer created based on a ucfirst version of the key in $wgValidSkinNames but now
  27   the value. This means for $wgValidSkinNames["monobook"] = "MonoBook"; the skin
  28   loader will no longer try loading SkinMonobook and will instead load SkinMonoBook.
  29
  30 === New features in 1.18 ===
  31 * Added a special page, disabled by default, that allows users with the
  32   'disableaccount' privilege to permanently deactivate user accounts.
  33 * (bug 8130) Query pages should limit to content namespaces, not just main namespace
  34 * Search suggestions (other than in the Vector skin) will now use the HTML5
  35   datalist feature where supported, currently only Firefox 4.
  36
  37 === Bug fixes in 1.18 ===
  38 * (bug 23119) WikiError class and subclasses are now marked as deprecated
  39 * (bug 10871) Javascript and CSS pages in MediaWiki namespace are no longer
  40   treated as wikitext on preview.
  41 * (bug 22753) Output from update.php is more clear when things changed, entries
  42   indicating nothing changed are now all prefixed by "..."
  43 * Page existence is now not revealed (in the colour of the tabs) to users who
  44   cannot read the page in question.
  45 * (bug 19006) {{REVISIONUSER}} no longer acts like {{CURRENTUSER}} in some cases
  46 * (bug 16019) $wgArticlePath = "/$1" no longer breaks API edit/watch actions
  47 * (bug 18372) File types blacklisted by $wgFileBlacklist will no longer be shown as
  48   "Permitted file types" on the upload form
  49 * (bug 26379) importImages.php gives more descriptive error message on failure.
  50 * (bug 26410) + signs are no longer treated as spaces in internal links if
  51   link has a % sign in it.
  52 * (bug 26412) Search results headers no longer show a bogus edit link.
  53
  54 === API changes in 1.18 ===
  55 * (bug 26339) Throw warning when truncating an overlarge API result
  56 * (bug 14869) Add API module for accessing QueryPage-based special pages
  57 * (bug 14020) API for Special:Unwatchedpages
  58 * (bug 24287) Wrap API Help output at 100 characters
  59 * Add a realname uiprop option to query=userinfo so a user's realname can be extracted
  60
  61 === Languages updated in 1.18 ===
  62
  63 MediaWiki supports over 330 languages. Many localisations are updated
  64 regularly. Below only new and removed languages are listed, as well as
  65 changes to languages because of Bugzilla reports.
  66
  67 == Compatibility ==
  68
  69 MediaWiki 1.18 requires PHP 5.1 (5.2 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer
  70 supported.
  71
  72 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  73 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  74
  75
  76 == Upgrading ==
  77
  78 1.18 has several database changes since 1.17, and will not work without schema
  79 updates.
  80
  81 If upgrading from before 1.11, and you are using a wiki as a commons reposito-
  82 ry, make sure that it is updated as well. Otherwise, errors may arise due to
  83 database schema changes.
  84
  85 If upgrading from before 1.7, you may want to run refreshLinks.php to ensure
  86 new database fields are filled with data.
  87
  88 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  89 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  90 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  91
  92 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  93
  94
  95 === Caveats ===
  96
  97 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  98 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  99 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
 100 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
 101 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
 102
 103 For notes on 1.17.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
 104
 105
 106 === Online documentation ===
 107
 108 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
 109 built up on MediaWiki.org, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
 110 License (except for pages that explicitly state that their contents are in
 111 the public domain) :
 112
 113         http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
 114
 115
 116 === Mailing list ===
 117
 118 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 119 wikitech-l list:
 120
 121         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 122
 123 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 124
 125         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 126
 127 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 128 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 129
 130
 131 === IRC help ===
 132
 133 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net