django/docs/releases/1.1-rc-1.txt

.. _releases-1.1-rc-1:

=============================
Django 1.1 RC 1 release notes
=============================


July 21, 2009

Welcome to the first Django 1.1 release candidate!

This is the third -- and likely last -- in a series of
preview/development releases leading up to the eventual release of
Django 1.1, currently scheduled to take place approximately one week
after this release candidate. This release is targeted primarily at
developers who are interested in trying out new features and testing
the Django codebase to help identify and resolve any critical bugs
prior to the final 1.1 release.

As such, this release is not yet intended for production use, and any
such use is discouraged.


What's new in Django 1.1 RC 1
=============================

The Django codebase has been in feature freeze since the first 1.1
beta release, and so this release candidate contains only one new
feature (introduced as part of the resolution of a larger bug; see
below for a description); work leading up to this release candidate
has instead been focused on bugfixing, particularly on the new
features introduced prior to the 1.1 beta.

For an overview of those features, consult :ref:`the Django 1.1 beta
release notes <releases-1.1-beta-1>`.


URL namespaces
--------------

The 1.1 beta release introduced the ability to use reverse URL
resolution with Django's admin application, which exposed a set of
:ref:`named URLs <naming-url-patterns>`. This feature still exists,
but in order to provide consistent resolution of admin URLs, including
support for multiple :class:`~django.contrib.admin.AdminSite` objects
in use in a single installation, a new feature has been introduced:
URL "namespaces".

This takes the form of an additional supported argument --
``namespace`` -- to the ``include()`` function used to include groups
of URL patterns in a Django URLConf. When this argument is used,
pattern names supplied for reverse resolution may specify the
namespace in addition to the pattern name (using a colon as separator;
e.g., ``namespace-name:pattern-name``), and the reverse resolver will
take the namespace into account when searching for a match.

For more details, see :ref:`the documentation on defining URL
namespaces <topics-http-defining-url-namespaces>`.

Due to the changes needed to support this feature, the URL pattern
names used when reversing admin URLs have changed since the 1.1 beta
release; if you were developing applications which took advantage of
this new feature, you will need to update your code to reflect the new
names (for most purposes, changing ``admin_`` to ``admin:`` in names
to be reversed will suffice). For a full list of URL pattern names
used by the admin and information on how namespaces are applied to
them, consult the documentation on :ref:`reversing admin URLs
<admin-reverse-urls>`.


The Django 1.1 roadmap
======================

As of this release candidate, Django 1.1 is in both feature freeze and
"string freeze" -- all strings marked for translation in the Django
codebase will retain their current form in the final Django 1.1
release. Only critical release-blocking bugs will receive attention
between now and the final 1.1 release.

If no such bugs are discovered, Django 1.1 will be released
approximately one week after this release candidate, on or about July
28, 2009.


What you can do to help
=======================

In order to provide a high-quality 1.1 release, we need your
help. Although this release candidate is, again, *not* intended for
production use, you can help the Django team by trying out this
release candidate in a safe testing environment and reporting any bugs
or issues you encounter. The Django ticket tracker is the central
place to search for open issues:

    * http://code.djangoproject.com/timeline

Please open a new ticket only if no existing ticket corresponds to a
problem you're running into.

Additionally, discussion of Django development, including progress
toward the 1.1 release, takes place daily on the django-developers
mailing list:

    * http://groups.google.com/group/django-developers

... and in the ``#django-dev`` IRC channel on ``irc.freenode.net``. If you're
interested in helping out with Django's development, feel free to join the
discussions there.

Django's online documentation also includes pointers on how to contribute to
Django: 

    * :ref:`How to contribute to Django <internals-contributing>`

Contributions on any level -- developing code, writing documentation or simply
triaging tickets and helping to test proposed bugfixes -- are always welcome and
appreciated.