Version: .99.3

• Unix/Linux/OS X
  dadaimc.0-99-3.tar.gz
  MD5 Checksum: 80e16b4c334e30557874d58dbda1a72a

See the installation instructions before attempting to install this software.

Version .99.3 includes all bug fixes and patches to .99 as of 2005-09-12

Version .99 is a complete overhaul of dadaIMC

Augmented the Modular design of dadaIMC for easier module control
Several new modules, from PayPal Donations to Mailing List Archives to full-blown Discussion Fora
New User account handling to prevent identify theft
Comments are now threaded, allowing comments-on-comments
Features are now pointers to other content objects for more flexibility
Built-in Locale editor for easier localization
Built-in page hits counter for content pages
Info Library now allows for stand-alone sidebar module boxes
Much-improved caching scheme to reduce database queries
Numerous bug fixes and performance enchancements

Specific Notes for .99.3

1)This release fixes all known security holes since the original .99 release, including recent bugs involving Javascript attribute vulnerabilities.

2)User account administration has moved to the Accounts section of the Administration interface.

3)There is a new "Sections" module that allows you to customize the Section names used in the newswire or other modules which use sections. By default, the original "base" set is used, and no extra database lookups are required.

4)The format of the "userid" cookie used to remember returning visitors has been changed to an MD5-encrypted hash to make it more difficult to spoof.

5)dadaIMC, meet Ajax. Some modules now use Ajax calls to efficiently update form elements without requiring a page reload or popup window.

5)dadaIMC, meet Ajax. Some modules now use Ajax calls to efficiently update form elements without requiring a page reload or popup window.

6)Media uploads with Feature objects now display as links or thumbnails on the home page, depending on the MIME type.

7)Modules now have a customizable page_title attribute that allows you to control the page header and link name.

8)The "Watchwords" module now works when a new post is submitted to allow limited user-defined actions: hide, delete, purge, notify editors.

9)Anti-spam field added to Comments, to prevent simple bot spamming.

10)Various bug fixes and cosmetic improvements.

General Notes for .99

1)The Accounts module has been revamped to provide extra security features. By default, users can no longer enter anything they want in the "author" field. They are either verified, registered users, or they appear as "Anonymous Poster". No more silly names or identity theft. Editors, however, are always allowed to enter arbitrary author names, allowing them to easily post content by other people. This behavior can be changed in the Site Prefs using the "Allow Names" preference in the Misc. section. Turning "Allow Names" on allows users to enter arbitrary names, much like previous versions of dadaIMC. There is also a module preference for adjusting the text string used for anonymous accounts, so you could change it to "Guest," for example, rather than "Anonymous Poster".

2) Features are no longer just specially-flagged articles. There are now 2 kinds of Feature:

A) Stand-alone. A title, an author, and a summary. Nothing else. Appears in toto on the home page, with a link only to leave comments.

B) Pointer. A title, author, summary, and a "reference_class" and "reference_ID" that points to other content, e.g. a newswire article, or a media object. Editors can VOTE on a Feature to approve it, but RATING the content object it points to has no effect on approving it for display.

This method is initially a bit more awkward than previous versions, but allows for much more flexibility. Creating a "standalone" feature is just as easy as it ever was, but the process of creating an article-length feature requires a different workflow.

Under the new system, creating an article-length feature should really be thought of as "featuring an article-length newswire article." Rather than starting with the feature, you must create a newswire article object containing your article, just as if you were posting it to the newswire. After posting the article, there are 2 ways of turning it into a Feature:

1. From the Article Options page in the Editorial Administration section, simply click the "Make this a Feature" button. The software will automatically generate a Feature object that points to your newswire article. You may edit the title and summary of the Feature without affecting the newswire article itself.
2. The other method is to create a new, blank Feature. After entering the title and summary, use the "Reference Class" menu to select "Article", then click the "Reference ID" lookup button, and a pop-up window will display a menu of recent articles. Select your newly-created article, and then submit the Feature form. Your new feature will now point to the newswire article you selected for reference.

Newswire articles that have been featured no longer display on the newswire sidebar.

3) There is a new preference for the Media module. By default, media now uploaded as part of a newswire article or feature will NOT appear in the Media Gallery. Only media uploaded directly to the gallery will appear there. This reduces clutter, logos, etc. in the gallery. This option can be toggled OFF in the Site Prefs to revert to the previous behavior.

4) Previous localization files are not installed by default. They should still be in "locale.dadasaved", so you can copy them to the new Locale folder. Many strings have changed, so old files are not guaranteed to be complete anymore. There is a new "Locale" module that can be installed to provide an online messages.po editor, but there is currently no "import" mechanism to get your current file in there. If you have a non-English site, send me your existing messages.po file and I'll get it in working format for you to edit.

5) Default stylesheets can no longer be edited. You must "clone" them and create your own. This is to ensure that there will always be a useable, default stylesheet. In addition, modules now have their own stylesheets that may be edited independently. And the "batch options" contain all sorts of handy features for global color replacement, etc.

6) Double check all your Site Prefs, especially "ratings" and "misc" to check for new options.

7) Comments can now have their own comments, like a threaded discussion. Also, comments can be added to Media and other objects if you wish.

8) Two new caching schemes have been implemented to accelerate page delivery. First, output from various components is saved into static cache files whenever it is intially submitted, and these cache files are used whenever possible to reduce the number of database queries. Second, sessions are only used when necessary (i.e., after login) to allow better caching by proxy servers and mirrors. HTTP headers are added to page output to indicate the relative "freshness" of the pages, so proxy servers can cache their output more reliably.

9) The InfoDoc module now allows for the creation of extra sidebar boxes. Rather than simply listing all Info documents in a sidebar menu, you may now elect to selectively create a standalone box for individual InfoDocs.

10) There is a new "auto-update" Module that may be installed from the Administration page. This allows for easy updating of files, based on version numbers and MD5 hashes of the files on your site, compared to a master list at http://www.dadaimc.org/. A great way to release patches and small version upgrades that don't require database schema changes. A future update will allow you to save backup copies of files before updating, to preserve any customizations you may have made.

11) There are all sorts of new modules, including Mailing List Archives/Subscription interface, Discussion Fora, PayPal Donations, and a "Content Watchwords" module that will notify Editors if any admin-configurable words appear in the body of an article. Explore!