Whats_New_0.8.a
English | Français | Deutsch | Magyar
By Septor http://e107.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?201277
Last local SVN update: July 14th, 2010 @ 01:03AM EST Post last updated: July 14th, 2010 @ 09:20PM EST
In an effort to inform any inquiring minds as to what exactly is new, changed, or removed in 0.8 I have, as previously said in another thread, decided to compile all the information into one forum thread for people to look over. The first few posts in this thread will contain information on plugins, themes, core features, and anything else I think should be mentioned. At first the information will be lax, but over time I will attempt to expand on each section with more information.
Keep in mind that 0.8 is in constant development and things posted about here may change multiple times. By reading this information you understand that it is current up to the last time I personally updated my local 0.8 install with the latest SVN files (I will try and do this at least once a week, the svn update date will be posted at the top of this post). If you notice an error in my information please inform me via PM so that I can fix it. If it is something the rest of the community could gain knowledge on, please post it inside this thread.
Below this paragraph I will list a table of contents that will link to the posts that contain the respective information. I was going to try and keep this all in one post but I fear it may get to the post limit (if it exists) and I also think that breaking the information up will allow for easier reading in the long run.
Also note, the finished product of these posts will be walls-of-text and will require you to read and not skim. I am attempting to add as much information as possible and this will not be done by just listing off changes. If you thought this would be a replica of what was on the wiki; you are wrong again, thank you for playing!
Table of Contents
Notice: All below information is all being gathered as either I am told about it or I discover it in my local install. The local install was installed on July 14th at around 1AM EST.
Post last updated: July 14th, 2010 @ 12:24PM EST
- The requirements to run 0.8 have been slightly altered. You are recommended to have MySQL 5.x, with 4.1.x still being supported for now. The PHP requirement has been bumped up to 5.x from 4.x. It should be noted that the 4.x branches of both MySQL and PHP are no longer being supported by their developers, so getting your servers upgraded is highly recommended.
- Upgrading e107 can only be done from the 0.7 branch. If you are still using the 0.6 branch you will be required to upgrade to 0.7 first and then take the jump to 0.8. In saying this you should seriously consider performing the 0.6 to 0.7 upgrade right now so that you can iron out any issues.
- IPV6 Addresses are now supported.
- New XML interface class, with filter to restrict the amount of data retained in memory.
- New DB table update manager class - changes table definition while minimizing data loss.
- thumb.php now in e107_images only (version in e107_files removed).
- Resize handler supports image enlargement.
- PDF class updated (now uses TCPDF) - should be backward compatible, but possible issues.
- The lime image has been removed! Just kidding.
- The dashboard has been redesigned and now offers a small degree of customization. You can now define which "quick link icons" are displayed as well as add any menu that can be displayed on your main site to the dashboard.
- The Front Page selection feature now uses a hierarchical rule-based system, with the option to force a user to a specific page following a successful login as well as the normal Front Page feature. This basically means that you can set a page to direct your users to as soon as they login (eg: forum.php) but any following visit you can have them be direct to the normal news.php (or whatever).
- New scheduling system allows you to perform regular tasks. This can be used to perform backups every week, send out an email every month to your users/administrators/moderators to keep them in the loop in case they don't visit the site often, etc.
- The navigation buttons at the top have been rearranged slightly. The new Manage button links to several manager pages for plugins, themes, comments, menus, files, and media. The plugins, themes, files, and menu manager pages are very similar to what you're currently use to. Comment and media manager pages are new. The former allows you to manage all comments posted to all things (news posts, profile pages, etc), with the latter allowing you to, from my best guess, manage all media (images, etc) used around the site.
- The banlist feature has been updated. When you issue a ban you select you can leave a reason, an admin note, and set an optional expiration time. You can now also select an optional message to be displayed to the banned user when they attempt to access the site based on their ban type. The whitelist feature allows you to define a group of IP addresses, email address, or specific users from ever getting banned. Some notable options include: the ability to refresh any ban if the banned user attempts to access the site during their banned period, setting a maximum access rate for guests and members, and an import/export feature that allows you to transfer a banlist, in CSV format, from one site to another.
- System logging allows you to keep track of the going-ons of your site. The filtering system allows you to view the events by date/time, IP, user ID, etc. It can be used to track users by class or event type, as well as keep an eye on the download history. Another feature of the logging, that sort of ties in with User management is admin logging. This allows you to keep track of what your admins are doing around the site.
- Additonal user features have been added as well. You can now send an email from the Quick Add User page. Along with this, when you create a user from the previously mentioned page you can now opt to sending the password to that user. Timezone information is now an optional extended user field. Random auto-generated login names can be used as well as the user having the ability to login with their email address.
- User classes are going to recieve a lot of love in 0.8. A Hierarchial based system allows you to create userclass groups for other userclasses. An example of this is the Everyone class, or group, consists of Members, Guests, and Administrators. You could modify this to remove access from Guests, or whatever. Along with the group-based system is the ability to set a userclass of all newly registered users, with the option to place them in a "not-verified" group when they first sign up and then put them into the "new member" group once they verify their information (via email).
- You can now configure which themes are available for users to select as their theme based on their userclass. Using the previous userclass example; "new members" may only have access to the default theme where "members" get access to three additional themes and "full members" get acccess to all themes without ads being displayed.
- Public uploads can now be configured based on userclass, with the allowed types configured in filetypes.xml. Based on your class you may have access to more file types and larger file sizes. Note: Regardless of the precautions implemented in Public Uploads you should still be very careful what you allow to be uploaded to your web server!.
- The bulk mailer option allows you to schedule emails to be sent to your members. The mail queue can be auto-emptied by a task. You can define a start and stop time for all mailouts. There will be more bounce handling options.
- A new, extremely great, security feature is the option to salt all passwords before being encrypted. Salting passwords adds a layer of protection to all existing passwords as it helps cut down on dictionary cracking, as a lot of users choose their passwords based on simple words or catchy phrases (which is a terrible idea). Optional CHAP-based logins are also being implemented.
- The IMG BBcode can now auto-generate the link to a picture from a thumbnail. It can also choose a random image to be displayed.
Post last updated: July 14th, 2010 @ 09:06PM EST
- A new file, plugin.xml, is being used to install all plugins. While plugin.php is still being supported, it is recommended to all plugin authors to upgrade to the new system as plugin.php may be deprecated in a later release.
- Most plugins that are semi-current and working right now should work just fine with 0.8 as the development team is attempting to make sure all new changes work with the old way of things. Take note that this is not a reassurance that all of your current plugins will survive the upgrade!
- The installation and removal of plugins is now done on separate pages. With that said, you can now install more than one plugin at a time, but are still restricted to uninstalling one at a time.
- The download system has been removed as a core feature and has been rewritten in plugin form with added features and bug fixes. (Not sure what these are as I haven't messed with the new plugin yet. More information later!)
- TinyMCE has been converted into plugin form as well. I will have to do additional research on this one before I can provide more information.
- Several new core plugins have been added. Some include: Facebook Connect, Tagwords, and a FAQ plugin.
- The forum has undergone a substantial rewrite. Many new features have been added and things have been changed around a bit. A small example is the ability to define who can view a forum, who can post in the forum, and who can create a new thread in the forum (plus the basic who can moderate the forum, blah blah blah).
- The Content Management plugin has gained many improvements and simplifications. I do not personally use this plugin so I'll need to wait for more information to be given to me or until I have time to mess around with it.
- Statistics have been updated a bit. You can now view month by month statistics for browsers, OSs, resolutions, etc. There is now also the ability to export your stats in CSV format for later analysis.
- From the wiki information: Alternate Authentication (to be considered a "test feature"). Copy selected user-related values from the source DB into the e107 user table. RADIUS support. Support for wider password encodings, and the ability to use user databases imported from other systems.
- Event Calendar has undergone some additions and changes. See below for the blurb from the wiki:
Event Calendar - Templating of subscription emails by category - including a set of default templates
* A 'list generator' allowing you to produce event lists for display/print/PDF
multiple templates - to allow a variety of formats
Optional user selector for start/end/category/output
Easy generation of links (queries) for 'fixed format' lists
Options for 'events in next n months'
* Admin page to display voluntary subscriptions and allow deletion of them
* More options for recurring events - most variations on weekly and monthly
* Better handling of recurring events within the display routines
* Option to create multiple events according to a pattern
* Various improvements on the templates and code
Post last updated: July 15th, 2010 @ 10:42PM EST
- As with the plugins; themes are now using a theme.xml file to be generate. It would appear that the old theme.php is still supported, but as with plugin authors theme authors should attempt to upgrade to the new method as soon as possible. Actually, scratch my last. it would appear (to me) that theme.xml is an extension to the current theme system and that it's existence is top secret (mostly because I don't have access to the wiki so I can't look it up!)
This post is very dull and doesn't have a lot of information yet because I am still looking for what is new (minus the theme.xml bit) that is really ground breaking enough to post about. Give me time!
Post last updated: July 15th, 2010 @ 10:45PM EST
A: When it cleans it's room and takes out the trash. Seriously, there is no deadline or release date set. If you wish to help speed up the development; install 0.8 locally and look for bugs and test the features so you can provide feedback. This is the single greatest helping hand you can give the developers.
A: 1. Download TortoiseSVN.
-
Create a folder on your computer where you want 0.8 to be installed.
-
Right click on that folder an select "SVN Checkout"
-
Type this url to field URL of repository: https://e107.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/e107/trunk/e107_0.8/
-
Click OK and that's it.
NOTE: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU RUN 0.8 ON A PRODUCTION/LIVE SERVER AS IT IS NOT FULLY TESTED! PLUS, IT IS BEING DEVELOPED SO FEATURES OF TODAY MAY NOT EXIST TOMORROW!
Post last updated: July 14th, 2010 @ 09:18PM EST
* 0.8 Changelog http://e107.org/svn_changelog.php?module=e107_0.8
More links will be posted once the wiki is back online. I feel so lost without it.
e107 v2.x