1
.. _releases-1.0-beta-2:
3
===============================
4
Django 1.0 beta 2 release notes
5
===============================
7
Welcome to Django 1.0 beta 2!
9
This is the fourth in a series of preview/development releases leading
10
up to the eventual release of Django 1.0, currently scheduled to take
11
place in early September 2008. This releases is primarily targeted at
12
developers who are interested in testing the Django codebase and
13
helping to identify and resolve bugs prior to the final 1.0 release.
15
As such, this release is *not* intended for production use, and any
16
such use is discouraged.
18
What's new in Django 1.0 beta 2
19
===============================
21
Django's development trunk has been the site of nearly constant
22
activity over the past year, with several major new features landing
23
since the 0.96 release. For features which were new as of Django 1.0
24
alpha 1, see :ref:`the 1.0 alpha 1 release notes
25
<releases-1.0-alpha-1>`. For features which were new as of Django 1.0
26
alpha 2, see :ref:`the 1.0 alpha 2 release notes
27
<releases-1.0-alpha-2>`. For features which were new as of Django 1.0
28
beta 1, see :ref:`the 1.0 beta 1 release notes <releases-1.0-beta>`.
30
This beta release includes two major features:
32
Refactored ``django.contrib.comments``
33
As part of a Google Summer of Code project, Thejaswi Puthraya
34
carried out a major rewrite and refactoring of Django's bundled
35
comment system, greatly increasing its flexibility and
36
customizability. :ref:`Full documentation
37
<ref-contrib-comments-index>` is available, as well as :ref:`an
38
upgrade guide <ref-contrib-comments-upgrade>` if you were using
39
the previous incarnation of the comments application..
41
Refactored documentation
42
Django's bundled and online documentation has also been
43
significantly refactored; the new documentation system uses
44
`Sphinx`_ to build the docs and handle such niceties as topical
45
indexes, reference documentation and cross-references within the
46
docs. You can check out the new documentation `online`_ or, if you
47
have Sphinx installed, build the HTML yourself from the
48
documentation files bundled with Django.
50
.. _Sphinx: http://sphinx.pocoo.org/
51
.. _online: http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/
53
Along with these new features, the Django team has also been hard at
54
work polishing Django's codebase for the final 1.0 release; this beta
55
release contains a large number of smaller improvements and bugfixes
56
from the ongoing push to 1.0.
58
Also, as part of its ongoing deprecation process, Django's old
59
form-handling system has been removed; this means ``django.oldforms``
60
no longer exists, and its various API hooks (such as automatic
61
manipulators) are no longer present in Django. This system has been
62
completely replaced by :ref:`the new form-handling system
63
<topics-forms-index>` in ``django.forms``.
66
The Django 1.0 roadmap
67
======================
69
One of the primary goals of this beta release is to focus attention on
70
the remaining features to be implemented for Django 1.0, and on the
71
bugs that need to be resolved before the final release. As of this
72
beta release, Django is in its final "feature freeze" for 1.0; feature
73
requests will be deferred to later releases, and the development
74
effort will be focused solely on bug-fixing and stability. Django is
75
also now in a "string freeze"; translatable strings (labels, error
76
messages, etc.) in Django's codebase will not be changed prior to the
77
release, in order to allow our translators to produce the final 1.0
78
version of Django's translation files.
80
Following this release, we'll be conducting a final development sprint
81
on August 30, 2008, based in London and coordinated online; the goal
82
of this sprint will be to squash as many bugs as possible in
83
anticipation of the final 1.0 release, which is currently targeted for
84
**September 2, 2008**. The official Django 1.0 release party will take
85
place during the first-ever DjangoCon, to be held in Mountain View,
86
California, USA, September 6-7.
89
What you can do to help
90
=======================
92
In order to provide a high-quality 1.0 release, we need your
93
help. Although this beta release is, again, *not* intended for
94
production use, you can help the Django team by trying out the beta
95
codebase in a safe test environment and reporting any bugs or issues
96
you encounter. The Django ticket tracker is the central place to
97
search for open issues:
99
http://code.djangoproject.com/timeline
101
Please open new tickets if no existing ticket corresponds to a problem
104
Additionally, discussion of Django development, including progress
105
toward the 1.0 release, takes place daily on the django-developers
108
http://groups.google.com/group/django-developers
110
...and in the ``#django-dev`` IRC channel on ``irc.freenode.net``. If
111
you're interested in helping out with Django's development, feel free
112
to join the discussions there.
114
Django's online documentation also includes pointers on how to
115
contribute to Django:
117
:ref:`contributing to Django <internals-contributing>`
119
Contributions on any level -- developing code, writing
120
documentation or simply triaging tickets and helping to test proposed
121
bugfixes -- are always welcome and appreciated.