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 * (bug 26379) importImages.php gives more descriptive error message on failure.
  39
  40 === API changes in 1.18 ===
  41 * (bug 26339) Throw warning when truncating an overlarge API result
  42
  43 === Languages updated in 1.18 ===
  44
  45 MediaWiki supports over 330 languages. Many localisations are updated
  46 regularly. Below only new and removed languages are listed, as well as
  47 changes to languages because of Bugzilla reports.
  48
  49 == Compatibility ==
  50
  51 MediaWiki 1.18 requires PHP 5.1 (5.2 recommended). PHP 4 is no longer
  52 supported.
  53
  54 MySQL 3.23.x is no longer supported; some older hosts may need to upgrade.
  55 At this time we still recommend 4.0, but 4.1/5.0 will work fine in most cases.
  56
  57
  58 == Upgrading ==
  59
  60 1.18 has several database changes since 1.17, and will not work without schema
  61 updates.
  62
  63 If upgrading from before 1.11, and you are using a wiki as a commons reposito-
  64 ry, make sure that it is updated as well. Otherwise, errors may arise due to
  65 database schema changes.
  66
  67 If upgrading from before 1.7, you may want to run refreshLinks.php to ensure
  68 new database fields are filled with data.
  69
  70 If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.4.x or earlier, some major database
  71 changes are made, and there is a slightly higher chance that things could
  72 break. Don't forget to always back up your database before upgrading!
  73
  74 See the file UPGRADE for more detailed upgrade instructions.
  75
  76
  77 === Caveats ===
  78
  79 Some output, particularly involving user-supplied inline HTML, may not
  80 produce 100% valid or well-formed XHTML output. Testers are welcome to
  81 set $wgMimeType = "application/xhtml+xml"; to test for remaining problem
  82 cases, but this is not recommended on live sites. (This must be set for
  83 MathML to display properly in Mozilla.)
  84
  85 For notes on 1.17.x and older releases, see HISTORY.
  86
  87
  88 === Online documentation ===
  89
  90 Documentation for both end-users and site administrators is currently being
  91 built up on MediaWiki.org, and is covered under the GNU Free Documentation
  92 License (except for pages that explicitly state that their contents are in
  93 the public domain) :
  94
  95         http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Documentation
  96
  97
  98 === Mailing list ===
  99
 100 A MediaWiki-l mailing list has been set up distinct from the Wikipedia
 101 wikitech-l list:
 102
 103         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
 104
 105 A low-traffic announcements-only list is also available:
 106
 107         http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce
 108
 109 It's highly recommended that you sign up for one of these lists if you're
 110 going to run a public MediaWiki, so you can be notified of security fixes.
 111
 112
 113 === IRC help ===
 114
 115 There's usually someone online in #mediawiki on irc.freenode.net