New TWiki-5.0.1 Release: Focus on Usability and Quality

It took 4 month to release the first patch release after TWiki-5.0.0, not seen since the very early days of TWiki. This is the result of the community focusing on quality. We had no need to release immediate patch releases as it was the case with the 4.1 and 4.2 releases.

The TWiki-5.0.0 release introduced many usability enhancements (such as the new TopMenuSkin), plugin enhancements, Application Platform enhancements, as well as security enhancements.

The TWiki-5.0.1 release contains a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability with rev parameter & login script (CVE-2010-3841) that was just announced. It also includes 14 enhancements and 25 bug fixes.

Noteworthy enhancements in TWiki-5.0.1:

• Usability: TopMenuSkin: Better indication of breadcrumb in top menu:
  
• Usability: Better display of topic diffs in debug mode
• Integration: Support authenticated proxy
• Automation: SpreadSheetPlugin: Add ISO 8601 week number to FORMATTIME

See more details in TWiki-5.0 release notes. The TWiki-5.0.1 release can be downloaded immediately; an upgrade package will be made available shortly.

The community is working on some exciting new features for the upcoming TWiki-5.1 release, expected early next year. To mention just one example that has been implemented recently, TWiki has now a brand new API and GUI to manage user data. It is all data driven, giving lots of flexibilities to implementers of password managers. Here are two screenshots that illustrate the functionality when the TWiki::Users::HtPasswdUser password manager is used:

Screenshot 1: User query screen for administrators

Screenshot 2: Edit user screen for administrators

Are you a developer, tech writer or evangelist with interest in open source? As a contributor you can actively make a difference and help shape the product. A good way to get started is to participate in our biweekly release meetings. The next one is Monday 2010-10-25, Istanbul Release Meeting 2010-10-25. Many feature proposals are waiting to get implemented. We'd love to get you involved!

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