[TYPO3-core] Draft for 4.0beta1 announcement

[Michael Stucki]

@core-list: for your information

Dear News-Team,

Please take this mail as a basis for a 4.0 beta1 announcement.

IMPORTANT: At the moment I am still preparing the beta release. Please do NOT 
announce it before I confirmed the beta is online.

Regards, michael

-------------------------------------------------------

Announcement 4.0 beta1
=======================


<todo: some nice words>

Moving forward: New package concept / drop all global extensions
=================================================================

Unlike past releases, starting with TYPO3 4.0 there will only be one source,
one site, and one package containing both of them:
typo3_src:	CVS core, no global extensions
dummy:		A skeleton archive containing all local directories (fileadmin,
typo3conf, typo3temp, uploads)
typo3_src+dummy: A compilation of the typo3_src and the dummy archives which
is ready to be used on sites with only one TYPO3 site

All of these archives will be published as tar.gz and zip files while the only 
difference is still that the zip archives still contain some duplicate 
directories instead of symbolic links (for use with Windows, FTP sites).


Additionally to this change, TYPO3 4.0 does not ship with any global
extensions anymore! The developers decided to empty the typo3/ext/ location
for personal use to the server administrators. This could be especially useful 
for installations that share one source. (However make sure you check for 
required database changes - hint: superadmin.php!)


Project overview
=================

TYPO3 4.0 was attended by a lot of projects. You can find the whole list of
projects at the website of the TYPO3 Association:
http://association.typo3.org/index.php?id=83

Below is a status overview of those features that are ready for testing.
Although they might not be 100% free of bugs, the developers want to invite
you to look at the new features and especially test the steps which are
listed below:


PHP4+PHP5 compatible
=====================

Project is finished, nothing to test.


TemplaVoila 1.0
================

It has been decided that TemplaVoila will not be published as a System
Extension, therefore it is not shipped with the Beta package. You can however
download the current release at the location below:
http://robertlemke.de/en/resources/extensions/templavoila/resources.html

Todo:
- Solve additional bugs from which are reported from now on
- Integration of integrity check / references handling so elements can be
deleted easily and safely
- Until 4.0 final: Maybe some additional features if time allows but nothing
promised.
- Documentation: In January if time / money allows

Test:
- Many bugs have been fixed (see Changelog) - are they really gone?
- Multilanguage features should now work fine
- Clipboard integration is new - any problems?
- Sorting field is now handled - Do older extensions (like Directmail etc.)
now work flawlessly?
- Does workspaces integration work fine?


Workflow
=========

Project is making good progress but not ready for testing yet.


Versioning / Workspaces
========================

Todo:
- See "TODO.txt" in typo3_src, section "Versioning/Workspaces". Not all of
these items are planned to be implemented for 4.0!
- Fix bugs that have/will be reported

Test:
- workflows in daily usage => is it stable and is there something that needs
to be explained more detailed?

Have a look at this document to find out more about it:
http://130.228.0.33/t3dl/src/workspaces_beta_release.pdf


Digital Asset Management 1.0
=============================

It has been decided that DAM will not be published as a System
Extension, therefore it is not shipped with the Beta package.

A development snapshot of the upcoming version 1.0 of the DAM system is
available at http://typo3lab.colorcube.de/dam.html. Please have a lock at
this page for the changes and news. This snapshot is not for production use
and might have bugs or will not even work as expected.

Todo:
- A few smaller functions missing in the file module
- Integrated category management (remove Categories module)
- Language support (underway)
- Clipboard functions
- Context menus

Test:
- Daily usage => is it stable and is there something that needs to be
explained more detailed?


Extension Manager for TER 2.0
==============================

Making good progress but not ready for use yet. A beta release is planned for
mid January.


TER 2.0
========

The final TER2 testing server will be ready until the beta release of the 
Extension Manager.


New default RTE
================

The extension "rtehtmlarea" is finally available as a system extension.
 Please test it and give feedback in the mailing list "typo3-project-rte".


Improved element browser
=========================

It has been decided to postpone this feature because of missing resources.


DBAL 1.0
=========

DBAL is now available as a system extension. Most of the work is finished
although it still needs some more testing.

Test:
- Basic
  * Enable DBAL and set the handler type to "native". Then just try to do
about everything you can in the BE and FE and see if it works.

- Advanced
  * Configure it to use PostgreSQL, Oracle, .... Proceed like above.
  * Configure mapping of field/table names. Proceed like above. Mapping
 should be tried in "native" mode as well.

If something does not work, enable debugging in the DBAL configuration. This
should produce a log that contains the error(s). Submit that to the bug
tracker, tx_dbal, and attach as much debugging output as possible: PHP error
log, database log, DBAL debugging output, a detailed description of the setup
used and the action tried.


Indexed Search 3.0
===================

Test:
- Please test Indexed Search that it works as it shoulds
- You might want to test the new "Indexing Configuration Records" for
 cron-job based editing, but it requires the extensions "crawler" and there
 is no documentation yet.

Todo:
- Documentation
- Additional small features (see TODO.txt inside sysext/indexed_search/doc/)


Data integrity check / Cleanup functions
=========================================

Test:
- The new "reference index" is in the beta. (Use "Tools > DBint" to build
reference index). A long mail about it was posted on the dev-list
mid-december. Please test the index by building it, using the site, changing
content and check if index integrity is maintained. If not, please find
reason and report.

Todo:
- Implement integrity check and clean-up tools. See "TODO.txt" in
typo3_src-core, section "INTEGRITY / CLEAN_UP / REFERENCE TRACKING"


Zapped Gremlins
================

More than expected, the Gremlin Zapper Department was able to fix more than
 40 Gremlins until now (although 7 of them are still being reviewed at the
 moment).

See http://typo3.org/development/projects/zap-the-gremlins/ for more
information.

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