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
  23 === New features in 1.18 ===
  24 * Added a special page, disabled by default, that allows users with the
  25   'disableaccount' privilege to permanently deactivate user accounts.
  26
  27 === Bug fixes in 1.18 ===
  28 * (bug 23119) WikiError class and subclasses are now marked as deprecated
  29 * (bug 10871) Javascript and CSS pages in MediaWiki namespace are no longer
  30   treated as wikitext on preview.
  31 * (bug 22753) Output from update.php is more clear when things changed, entries
  32   indicating nothing changed are now all prefixed by "..."
  33 * Page existence is now not revealed (in the colour of the tabs) to users who
  34   cannot read the page in question.
  35 * (bug 19006) {{REVISIONUSER}} no longer acts like {{CURRENTUSER}} in some cases
  36 * (bug 16019) $wgArticlePath = "/$1" no longer breaks API edit/watch actions
  37 * (bug 18372) File types blacklisted by $wgFileBlacklist will no longer be shown as "Permitted file types" on the upload form
  38
  39 === API changes in 1.18 ===
  40 * (bug 26339) Throw warning when truncating an overlarge API result
  41
  42 === Languages updated in 1.18 ===
  43
  44 MediaWiki supports over 330 languages. Many localisations are updated
  45 regularly. Below only new and removed languages are listed, as well as
  46 changes to languages because of Bugzilla reports.
  47
  48 == Compatibility ==
  49
  50 MediaWiki 1.18 requires PHP 5.1 (5.2 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer
  51 supported.
  52
  53 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  54 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  55
  56
  57 == Upgrading ==
  58
  59 1.18 has several database changes since 1.17, and will not work without schema
  60 updates.
  61
  62 If upgrading from before 1.11, and you are using a wiki as a commons reposito-
  63 ry, make sure that it is updated as well. Otherwise, errors may arise due to
  64 database schema changes.
  65
  66 If upgrading from before 1.7, you may want to run refreshLinks.php to ensure
  67 new database fields are filled with data.
  68
  69 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  70 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  71 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  72
  73 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  74
  75
  76 === Caveats ===
  77
  78 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  79 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  80 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  81 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  82 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  83
  84 For notes on 1.17.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  85
  86
  87 === Online documentation ===
  88
  89 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  90 built up on MediaWiki.org, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  91 License (except for pages that explicitly state that their contents are in
  92 the public domain) :
  93
  94         http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
  95
  96
  97 === Mailing list ===
  98
  99 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 100 wikitech-l list:
 101
 102         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 103
 104 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 105
 106         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 107
 108 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 109 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 110
 111
 112 === IRC help ===
 113
 114 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net