[development] Announcing DRUPAL-7-0-UNSTABLE-8

[Angela Byron]

Oops! I forgot to attach the full list of commits. Sorry about that!

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On 25-Jul-09, at 2:57 AM, Angela Byron wrote:

>
> Howdy there, development list!
>
> Sadly, it's been a shamefully long time (almost two months!) since  
> our last interim unstable release. But the good news is that this  
> release is BURSTING with awesome. That's right. Not merely filled  
> with awesome. BURSTING with it. More on that in a second. Since this  
> will probably be the last interim unstable release before code  
> freeze, I have some unsightly begging to do, and I also want to take  
> as many opportunities as possible to point people towards existing  
> efforts. This e-mail will be a bit long. You have been warned!
>
> First, remember that there are *less than 6 weeks* until code  
> freeze, which is September 1 (same day Drupalcon Paris starts, which  
> you already have your ticket for, RIGHT? :)). Remember: at code  
> freeze, we need to turn off the glorious fountain of world- 
> dominating awesome (also known as new features and API changes), and  
> instead turn our attention to removing the scum that's accumulated  
> on its sides and the bits of bird poop clogging its nozzles (also  
> known as bug fixing). Hm. I think my analogy fell apart there a  
> little bit... Anyway!
>
> The point being: there has NEVER been a more critical time to help  
> drive forward important Drupal 7 patches than *right now*! To  
> support this, I've identified some of these areas that need  
> assistance inline with related new changes. Click a link, get a list  
> of oodles of would-be-totally-fantastic things that need people to  
> push them through!
>
> To help these efforts along, every weekend for the entire month of  
> August I will heading up "virtual" patch review sprints on IRC in  
> #drupal and #drupal-dev. Details on patch review sprints can be  
> found at http://drupal.org/node/442368. *Anyone* can drop by, learn  
> the ropes of reviewing patches from the Drupal ninjas, and help  
> important new features get committed by trying out proposed changes  
> and giving feedback.
>
> It would *also* be awesome for these sprints to coincide with "real  
> life" patch review sprints at local Drupal meetups, as the LA group  
> will be doing at their bug-fixing sprint: http://drupal.org/node/520184 
> . So, please! Organize something in your own community for some  
> weekend during the month of August! :) Maybe someone can head up  
> compiling a big list of these somewhere.
>
> Finally, I am away for the next week on what my wife informs me is  
> commonly referred to as some very bizarre word I've never heard of  
> before (must be Sumerian) called "vacation." So I will not be on  
> IRC, reading/responding to e-mail, or... committing patches. : 
> ( However! I'm told that these "vacations" are often very "relaxing"  
> and sometimes you even get to catch up on "sleep" (so many of these  
> new words!) so when I get back on August 2, I hope to be pounding at  
> the issue queue with renewed vigor! A nice big fat RTBC queue  
> waiting for me when I get back, filled with many fantastic  
> improvements would be a wonderful welcome-home present! :) (Note:  
> *especially* usability-related patches: I want end users to feel the  
> same sense of wonder at Drupal 7's greatness that developers will  
> feel!)
>
> Ok. Stepping off my soapbox, now. Let's get down to business: what's  
> new in DRUPAL-7-0-UNSTABLE-8!
>
> ---
>
> Changes for developers:
> =======================
>
> - Berdir has been leading the charge on lots of conversions to the  
> new database abstraction layer in Drupal 7 (DBTNG). Most of core has  
> now been converted, with just *two more* open issues! Check the  
> "DBTNG Conversion" tag http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?status%5B%5D=Open&issue_tags=DBTNG+Conversion 
>  or the "database system" component for more general issues: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?version 
> []=7.x&component[]=database+system Note that this a *great* place to  
> help out as you'll get a real jump-start on the new DBTNG syntax  
> you'll need to know to code Drupal 7 modules. (Incidentally, it's  
> also a great time to *port* your modules to Drupal 7 to ensure that  
> the new DB layer contains everything you'll need to do the job!)
>
> - Speaking of database stuff, Schema API now has support for  
> defining foreign key relations between tables. While core doesn't do  
> anything with this information yet (due to the fact that we have to  
> support stinky old MyISAM tables), contrib modules certainly could.  
> There's also now support for queries to ignore slaves when you are  
> using a replication set up, which is great for high performance sites.
>
> - The miserable DX suck-fest that is node_get_types() has been split  
> up into much more reasonable function names like  
> node_type_get_types() and node_type_get_names() etc. YAY!
>
> - Installation Profiles have at long last gotten some love! They now  
> come with .info files where all of the various metadata such as  
> name, description, dependencies, etc. goes. No more learning obscure  
> PHP functions, and this lays important ground work for being able to  
> smarten up the packaging system. Hooray! Adrian has big plans for a  
> more robust installation profile system. Check the "installation  
> profiles" tag for  places to help out: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=installation+profiles
>
> - Catch has been going bananas with a code profiler, filling the  
> issue queue with all sorts of interesting optimization issues and  
> patches. This is an important area, because right now D7's  
> performance as compared to D6's is not so hot. Wanna help? Check out  
> issues under the "Performance" tag: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=Performance
>
> - Field API improvements galore, including conversion of node's  
> "body" and "teaser" fields, a query API for our pluggable storage  
> system, alter hooks for all of the various metadata and settings,  
> and fieldable taxonomy terms. See the "Fields in Core" tag for many,  
> many more places to help out! http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=Fields+in+Core
>
> - Lots of improvements in the testing world, including user  
> interface improvements to SimpleTest module (you can now re-run the  
> same batch of tests easily), a 'verbose' debugging mode, improved  
> test coverage of long-neglected areas such as Poll module, and  
> various under-the-hood improvements for rolling out version 2.0 of  
> the testing bot. Check out http://drupal.org/project/issues/drupal?component=simpletest.module 
>  for issues about SimpleTest, or http://testing.drupal.org/%20PIFR-2-Client-Configuration-FAQs 
>  for how you can help bring about the next generation testing  
> framework.
>
> - t() now supports additional contextual information for short  
> strings, which comes in really handy since words like "View" can  
> often mean entirely different things depending on what it's  
> referring to. The "i18n sprint" tag at http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=i18n+sprint 
>  has many more issues vying for attention.
>
> Changes for themers:
> ====================
> - Under the banner of "eliminating WTFs/minute for new themers",  
> themes no longer auto-recognize scripts.js and style.css: you  
> specify those in the .info file same as you do all other CSS/JS  
> files. Additionally, themes no longer support the theme_engine  
> prefix name on function calls: always use the theme name. http://drupal.org/project/issues/drupal?component=theme+system 
>  has lots of other theme improvements that need review and code.
>
> - All dynamic classes in templates are now in a single $classes  
> string (and corresponding $classes_array). Good bye, class="node<? 
> php if ($sticky) { print ' sticky'; } ?><?php if (!$status) { print  
> ' node-unpublished'; } ?>" and hello class="<?php print $classes ?>"  
> w00t! Check out the tpl-refresh tag for similar .tpl.php clean-up  
> patches: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=tpl-refresh
>
> - New functions render(), hide(), and show() have been introduced  
> for selecting exactly when and where to print *part* of a complex  
> variable such as $content without having to micro-manage the whole  
> thing. I'm very tired and doing a horrible job of explaining this,  
> but hopefully http://drupal.org/update/theme/6/7#granular helps.
>
> - jQuery UI now ships with Drupal core! Would love to see some  
> patches that take advantage of this library to improve user  
> experience, and/or replace our old, crusty custom implementations of  
> stuff like autocomplete. Additionally, a new drupal_add_library  
> function was added, to provide a centralized registry for JS/CSS  
> libraries such as jQuery UI. Are you a JS wizard? Hit up the  
> "javascript" component: http://drupal.org/project/issues/drupal?component=javascript
>
> - Does accessibility tickle your fancy? mgifford and Everett Zufelt  
> are heading up a massive movement for making Drupal conform to WAI- 
> ARIA standards. http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=accessibility 
>  is the place to be to dive in there.
>
> Changes for end-users:
> =====================
> - A swanky-looking new admin toolbar, and some re-working of  
> administration paths. This isn't quite what you see in the mocks at http://www.d7ux.org/header/ 
>  (it's missing icons, for one), but lays the initial ground work for  
> further improvements. The "d7ux" tag has a plethora of places to  
> help drive this important work home, especially if you have front- 
> end development (JavaScript, CSS, etc.) skills. http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=d7ux
>
> - IMAGE HANDLING IN CORE!! You heard it here first. (Well. Unless  
> you heard it on Drupal Planet, or Twitter, or...) So far, we've got  
> ImageCache in core - which allows the set up of "image styles" (like  
> thumbnail or album cover) with various "image effects" attached  
> (like "scale & crop" or "rotate") which can then be applied to any  
> image in the system, such as user pictures. Check out the  
> "ImageInCore" tag if you want to help quicksketch and drewish drive  
> home the remaining patches: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=ImageInCore
>
> - Tons of work is being put forth into an effort to move "Plugin  
> Manager" into core. What is Plugin Manager you ask? Can you say  
> automatic project updates from within Drupal? I *knew* you could! So  
> far we have some underlying libraries for handling SSH/SFTP/FTP  
> communication, but there's still much more work to be done before  
> this is ready, and could use YOUR help. I don't think this one has a  
> tag, but http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?text=plugin+manager+in+core 
>  should get you the relevant issues.
>
> - Path and Search module are now enabled in the default profile,  
> thus eliminating the first step that 90% of Drupal site builders do  
> once they've installed Drupal. Core also ships with an admin role,  
> eliminating the second step that 90% of Drupal site builders do once  
> they've installed Drupal. ;) There's more of this kind of stuff  
> under the "usability" tag: http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal?issue_tags=usability
>
> - The wall of text that appears when you first install Drupal,  
> including (mysteriously) to anonymous visitors, and whose  
> instructions "helpfully" disappears when you post your first piece  
> of content thus leaving you completely straded, has been moved to  
> the landing page of the help system. In its place is a simple  
> message that there has been no front page content posted yet, and  
> invites you to either create content or go change your home page.  
> Drupal's default out-of-the-box experience is being discussed at http://drupal.org/node/483987 
> . It would be wonderful to have some folks working on this before  
> code freeze.
>
> - A variety of help text clean-up patches, mainly in removing  
> useless or overly verbose messages. If squeaky-clean text is up your  
> alley, try the "user interface text" component: http://drupal.org/project/issues/drupal?component=user+interface+text
>
> - Per-content type block visibility that we ripped out of core in  
> Drupal 5 or so is now back! There'll now be a nice little selection  
> for showing a block only on "Story" nodes, for example.
>
> - Form element titles no longer end with a colon by default.  
> Goodbye, "How old are you?:" You will not be missed!
>
> ---
>
> Hm. I think those are all the commit messages that stand out to me  
> at this hour. Thanks very much to everyone's tremendous efforts   
> towards these great improvements, and thanks in advance to everyone  
> who helps drive us through the most exciting 6 weeks of Drupal yet! :D
>
> -Angie
>