| 1 | /***************************************************************** |
| 2 | * Release Notes: SquirrelMail 1.2.0 * |
| 3 | * The "And I Still Have Not Wrapped My Wife's Presents" Release * |
| 4 | * aka the "Miriam Noel" Release * |
| 5 | * 25 December 2001 * |
| 6 | *****************************************************************/ |
| 7 | |
| 8 | After a long wait, SquirrelMail is finally making a new major stable |
| 9 | series release. The past year has been ANYTHING but uneventful for |
| 10 | the SquirrelMail Project. This year has seen two leadership changes, |
| 11 | the release of the 1.0 series, the 1.1 development series, and now |
| 12 | finally the much awaited 1.2.0 release. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | In this edition of SquirrelMail Release Notes: |
| 15 | * All about this Release!!! |
| 16 | * Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.2.0 bug |
| 17 | * Important Note about PHP 4.1.0 |
| 18 | * Where are we going from here? |
| 19 | * About our release Aliases |
| 20 | |
| 21 | All about this Release!!! |
| 22 | ========================= |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Being one of the most popular webmail clients, the developers of |
| 25 | SquirrelMail feel a huge desire and responsibility to continue push |
| 26 | the envelope and make SquirrelMail the best it can possibly be. You |
| 27 | will not be disappointed with this release, as it is by far the most |
| 28 | feature rich, and yet it is still the same sleek and unbloated and |
| 29 | cuddly webmail application that we have all grown to love. Here is |
| 30 | an incomplete list of new features and enhancements since the last |
| 31 | stable release. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | * Collapsible Folders - The folder list can be collapsed at any |
| 34 | parent folder. This makes folder lists with large |
| 35 | hierarchical structures much easier to manage and navigate. |
| 36 | * The Paginator! - This enables quick access to any page in the |
| 37 | message list by simply choosing the page number to view |
| 38 | rather than tediously clicking "next" 50 times. |
| 39 | * Hundreds of UI tweaks - The user interface has been given a |
| 40 | face-lift. The HTML has been largely overhauled, and while |
| 41 | it still has the same general feel, it has been made more |
| 42 | intuitive. |
| 43 | * Drafts - It is now possible to compose a message and save it to |
| 44 | be sent at a later date with the drafts option. |
| 45 | * New Options Page - The options page has been completely |
| 46 | rewritten for several reasons, the main of which was to |
| 47 | allow seamless integration of plugin options and to |
| 48 | provide uniformity throughout the entire section. |
| 49 | * Multiple Identities - It is now possible to create different |
| 50 | identities (home, work, school) that can be chosen upon |
| 51 | sending. Each identity can have its own email address, |
| 52 | full name, and signature. |
| 53 | * Reply Citations - Different types of citations are now possible |
| 54 | when replying to messages. |
| 55 | * Better Attachment Handling - The plugin, attachment_common, has |
| 56 | been fully integrated into the core of SquirrelMail. This |
| 57 | allows inline viewing of several different types of |
| 58 | attachments. |
| 59 | * Integration of Several Plugins - The following plugins have been |
| 60 | put directly into the core. As a result, be sure not to |
| 61 | install these as plugins, as the result may be (at best) |
| 62 | unpredictable: attachment_common, paginator, priority, |
| 63 | printer_friendly, sqclock, xmailer. |
| 64 | * Improved support for newer versions of PHP. Note that you may |
| 65 | have trouble if you are running PHP version 4.0.100 |
| 66 | (commonly distributed with Debian 3.0). |
| 67 | * Ability to mark messages as read and unread from the message listing. |
| 68 | * Alternating Colors - The message list now alternates row colors |
| 69 | by default. This presents a much cleaner and easier to |
| 70 | read interface to the user. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | Aside from these obvious front end features, there are hundreds of |
| 73 | bugs that have been fixed, and much of the code has been optimized |
| 74 | and/or rewritten. This stable release is far superior in all |
| 75 | aspects to all previous versions of SquirrelMail. |
| 76 | |
| 77 | Home Page: http://www.squirrelmail.org/ |
| 78 | Download: http://www.squirrelmail.org/download.php |
| 79 | ScreenShots: http://www.squirrelmail.org/screenshots.php |
| 80 | |
| 81 | |
| 82 | Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.2.0 bug |
| 83 | ============================================ |
| 84 | |
| 85 | Of course, in the words of Linus Torvalds, this release is officially |
| 86 | certified to be Bug-Free (tm). |
| 87 | |
| 88 | However, if for some reason some bugs manage to find their way to the |
| 89 | surface, please report them at once (after all, they ARE uncertified |
| 90 | bugs!!!) The PROPER place to report these bugs is the SquirrelMail Bug |
| 91 | Tracker. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | http://www.squirrelmail.org/bugs |
| 94 | |
| 95 | Thank you for your cooperation in that issue. That helps us to make |
| 96 | sure that nothing slips through the cracks. Also, it would help if |
| 97 | people would check existing tracker items for a bug before reporting |
| 98 | it again. This would help to eliminate duplicate reports, and |
| 99 | increase the time we can spend CODING by DECREASING the time we |
| 100 | spend sorting through bug reports. And remember, check not only OPEN |
| 101 | bug reports, but also closed ones as a bug that you report MAY have |
| 102 | been fixed in CVS already. |
| 103 | |
| 104 | |
| 105 | Important Note about PHP 4.1.0 |
| 106 | ============================== |
| 107 | |
| 108 | First of all, let me say that you all HAVE been warned: the |
| 109 | SquirrelMail Project Team is not supporting PHP 4.1.0 for the 1.2.0 |
| 110 | release. Basically, SquirrelMail was in the final death throws of |
| 111 | this development series when the witty PHP folks decided to make the |
| 112 | release of 4.1.0. Of course, we greatly appreciate their hard work! :) |
| 113 | |
| 114 | However, we were too close to the end of this whole thing to be able |
| 115 | to spend the week or two EXTRA that it will take to get SquirrelMail |
| 116 | 1.2.0 PHP 4.1.0 ready. This will, on the bright side, be a major |
| 117 | priority amongst the team in the immediate future. At first look, it |
| 118 | seems that 4.1.0 support should just require a collection of |
| 119 | relatively minor tweaks. You can expect 4.1.0 support within 2-3 |
| 120 | weeks, as a part of a later 1.2.X release. |
| 121 | |
| 122 | |
| 123 | Where are we going from here? |
| 124 | ============================= |
| 125 | |
| 126 | After things cool down a bit and the smoke clears from 1.2.0, |
| 127 | progress will begin on the Great SquirrelMail Rewrite, also known as |
| 128 | the 1.3 development branch. This branch will eventually become the |
| 129 | long talked about SquirrelMail 2.0. The major developmental emphasis |
| 130 | for SquirrelMail 2.0 will be in making SquirrelMail more flexible |
| 131 | and modular so that it might do a better job meeting the needs of |
| 132 | our system administrators and end-users. We are greatly anticipating |
| 133 | working in this area. |
| 134 | |
| 135 | At the same time, we will kick start the SquirrelMail Teams. For |
| 136 | some time now, we have been planning a reorganization of the project |
| 137 | into a variety of sub-teams. Each sub-team will focus on a different |
| 138 | aspect of SquirrelMail Project work. These teams will hopefully help |
| 139 | keep the SquirrelMail project more on track and to provide some |
| 140 | semblance of order. This project has grown so large in the past two |
| 141 | years that an orderly structure is necessary if anything is to get |
| 142 | done effectively. The teams (as planned) are as follows: |
| 143 | |
| 144 | Stable Series Team: Maintains the stable series |
| 145 | Development Series Team: Works on the development series |
| 146 | i18n Team: Handles i18n (internationalization) work |
| 147 | Plugin Team: Manages the mass of plugins |
| 148 | User Support Team: Helps users with their problems |
| 149 | Documentation Team: Manages the documentation |
| 150 | Evangelism Team: Spreads the good news of SquirrelMail |
| 151 | |
| 152 | Teams will be led by one or two SquirrelMail team members. And team |
| 153 | members can participate in as many teams as he or she desires. |
| 154 | |
| 155 | For the next few weeks, the developers will be working on bug-fixing |
| 156 | and making the 1.2 series rock solid. After that, about mid January, |
| 157 | focus will shift toward getting the teams in gear and starting work |
| 158 | on the SquirrelMail 1.3 development series. |
| 159 | |
| 160 | |
| 161 | About our Release Aliases - by Paul Joseph Thompson |
| 162 | ========================= |
| 163 | |
| 164 | Most importantly, this release of SquirrelMail is dedicated to my |
| 165 | wife and the new baby that she had on 13 December 2001, Miriam Noel |
| 166 | Thompson. |
| 167 | |
| 168 | See http://www.squirrelmail.org/wiki/SquirrelRelease for more details. |
| 169 | |
| 170 | Have a Merry Christmas! |
| 171 | Happy SquirrelMailing! |
| 172 | - The SquirrelMail Project Team |