doc/release_notes_archive/1.2/Notes-1.2.4.txt

   1 /*****************************************************************
   2  * Release Notes: SquirrelMail 1.2.4                             *
   3  * The "Dobby's Tears" Release                                   *
   4  * 25 January 2002                                               *
   5  *****************************************************************/
   6
   7   Note: Please see the ChangeLog for 1.2.0, 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 bugs
   8         that have been fixed in this 1.2.2 release.
   9
  10   Note: This release is a security fix. Fixes a nasty remote
  11         arbitrary command execution vulnerability in the
  12         spellchecker plugin. Upgrading is very much recommended,
  13         also if you do not use that plugin.
  14
  15   Note: This is not the promised PHP 4.1 fix release. This one came
  16         in between because of the urgency of the fix.
  17
  18 After a long wait, SquirrelMail is finally making a new major stable
  19 series release. The past year has been ANYTHING but uneventful for
  20 the SquirrelMail Project. This year has seen two leadership changes,
  21 the release of the 1.0 series, the 1.1 development series, and now
  22 finally the much awaited 1.2 release.
  23
  24 In this edition of SquirrelMail Release Notes:
  25    * All about this Release!!!
  26    * Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.2 bug
  27    * Important Note about PHP 4.1.0
  28    * Where are we going from here?
  29    * About our Release Aliases
  30
  31 All about this Release!!!
  32 =========================
  33
  34 Being one of the most popular webmail clients, the developers of
  35 SquirrelMail feel a huge desire and responsibility to continue push
  36 the envelope and make SquirrelMail the best it can possibly be. You
  37 will not be disappointed with this release, as it is by far the most
  38 feature rich, and yet it is still the same sleek and unbloated and
  39 cuddly webmail application that we have all grown to love. Here is
  40 an incomplete list of new features and enhancements since the last
  41 stable release.
  42
  43   * Collapsible Folders - The folder list can be collapsed at any
  44           parent folder. This makes folder lists with large
  45           hierarchical structures much easier to manage and navigate.
  46   * The Paginator! - This enables quick access to any page in the
  47           message list by simply choosing the page number to view
  48           rather than tediously clicking "next" 50 times.
  49   * Hundreds of UI tweaks - The user interface has been given a
  50           face-lift. The HTML has been largely overhauled, and while
  51           it still has the same general feel, it has been made more
  52           intuitive.
  53   * Drafts - It is now possible to compose a message and save it to
  54           be sent at a later date with the drafts option.
  55   * New Options Page - The options page has been completely
  56           rewritten for several reasons, the main of which was to
  57           allow seamless integration of plugin options and to
  58           provide uniformity throughout the entire section.
  59   * Multiple Identities - It is now possible to create different
  60           identities (home, work, school) that can be chosen upon
  61           sending. Each identity can have its own email address,
  62           full name, and signature.
  63   * Reply Citations - Different types of citations are now possible
  64           when replying to messages.
  65   * Better Attachment Handling - The plugin, attachment_common, has
  66           been fully integrated into the core of SquirrelMail.  This
  67           allows inline viewing of several different types of
  68           attachments.
  69   * Integration of Several Plugins - The following plugins have been
  70           put directly into the core. As a result, be sure not to
  71           install these as plugins, as the result may be (at best)
  72           unpredictable: attachment_common, paginator, priority,
  73           printer_friendly, sqclock, xmailer.
  74   * Improved support for newer versions of PHP. Note that you may
  75           have trouble if you are running PHP version 4.0.100
  76           (commonly distributed with Debian 3.0).
  77   * Ability to mark messages as read and unread from the message listing.
  78   * Alternating Colors - The message list now alternates row colors
  79           by default.  This presents a much cleaner and easier to
  80           read interface to the user.
  81
  82 Aside from these obvious front end features, there are hundreds of
  83 bugs that have been fixed, and much of the code has been optimized
  84 and/or rewritten.  This stable release is far superior in all
  85 aspects to all previous versions of SquirrelMail.
  86
  87    Home Page:    http://www.squirrelmail.org/
  88    Download:     http://www.squirrelmail.org/download.php
  89    ScreenShots:  http://www.squirrelmail.org/screenshots.php
  90
  91
  92 Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.2 bug
  93 ==========================================
  94
  95 Of course, in the words of Linus Torvalds, this release is officially
  96 certified to be Bug-Free (tm).
  97
  98 However, if for some reason some bugs manage to find their way to the
  99 surface, please report them at once (after all, they ARE uncertified
 100 bugs!!!) The PROPER place to report these bugs is the SquirrelMail Bug
 101 Tracker.
 102
 103    http://www.squirrelmail.org/bugs
 104
 105 Thank you for your cooperation in that issue. That helps us to make
 106 sure that nothing slips through the cracks. Also, it would help if
 107 people would check existing tracker items for a bug before reporting
 108 it again. This would help to eliminate duplicate reports, and
 109 increase the time we can spend CODING by DECREASING the time we
 110 spend sorting through bug reports. And remember, check not only OPEN
 111 bug reports, but also closed ones as a bug that you report MAY have
 112 been fixed in CVS already.
 113
 114
 115 Important Note about PHP 4.1.0
 116 ==============================
 117
 118 First of all, let me say that you all HAVE been warned: the
 119 SquirrelMail Project Team is not supporting PHP 4.1.0 for the 1.2.0
 120 release. Basically, SquirrelMail was in the final death throws of
 121 this development series when the witty PHP folks decided to make the
 122 release of 4.1.0. Of course, we greatly appreciate their hard work! :)
 123
 124 However, we were too close to the end of this whole thing to be able
 125 to spend the week or two EXTRA that it will take to get SquirrelMail
 126 1.2 PHP 4.1.0 ready. This will, on the bright side, be a major
 127 priority amongst the team in the immediate future. At first look, it
 128 seems that 4.1.0 support should just require a collection of
 129 relatively minor tweaks. You can expect 4.1.0 support within 2-3
 130 weeks, as a part of a later 1.2.X release.
 131
 132
 133 Where are we going from here?
 134 =============================
 135
 136 After things cool down a bit and the smoke clears from 1.2,
 137 progress will begin on the Great SquirrelMail Rewrite, also known as
 138 the 1.3 development branch. This branch will eventually become the
 139 long talked about SquirrelMail 2.0. The major developmental emphasis
 140 for SquirrelMail 2.0 will be in making SquirrelMail more flexible
 141 and modular so that it might do a better job meeting the needs of
 142 our system administrators and end-users. We are greatly anticipating
 143 working in this area.
 144
 145 At the same time, we will kick start the SquirrelMail Teams. For
 146 some time now, we have been planning a reorganization of the project
 147 into a variety of sub-teams. Each sub-team will focus on a different
 148 aspect of SquirrelMail Project work. These teams will hopefully help
 149 keep the SquirrelMail project more on track and to provide some
 150 semblance of order. This project has grown so large in the past two
 151 years that an orderly structure is necessary if anything is to get
 152 done effectively. The teams (as planned) are as follows:
 153
 154    Stable Series Team:      Maintains the stable series
 155    Development Series Team: Works on the development series
 156    i18n Team:               Handles i18n (internationalization) work
 157    Plugin Team:             Manages the mass of plugins
 158    User Support Team:       Helps users with their problems
 159    Documentation Team:      Manages the documentation
 160    Evangelism Team:         Spreads the good news of SquirrelMail
 161
 162 Teams will be led by one or two SquirrelMail team members. And team
 163 members can participate in as many teams as he or she desires.
 164
 165 For the next few weeks, the developers will be working on bug-fixing
 166 and making the 1.2 series rock solid. After that, about mid January,
 167 focus will shift toward getting the teams in gear and starting work
 168 on the SquirrelMail 1.3 development series.
 169
 170
 171 About our Release Aliases - by Wouter Teepe
 172 =========================
 173
 174 Malfoy's house elf had been saying "Bad hole, bad hole", for a change
 175 to "Bad Dobby, bad Dobby". Konstantin lent him a sock. Although
 176 Konstantin is not Malfoy, the sock fitted over the hole, and we were
 177 all pleased. Even Dobby stopped crying.
 178
 179 Enough Potterese. We're glad we fixed the hole.
 180
 181
 182 See http://www.squirrelmail.org/wiki/SquirrelRelease for more details.
 183
 184                   Happy SquirrelMailing!
 185                     - The SquirrelMail Project Team