django/docs/releases/1.3-alpha-2.txt

================================
Django 1.3 alpha 2 release notes
================================

Welcome to Django 1.3 alpha 2!

This is the second in a series of preview/development releases leading
up to the eventual release of Django 1.3. This release is primarily
targeted at developers who are interested in trying out new features
and testing the Django codebase to help identify and resolve bugs
prior to the final 1.3 release.

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

What's new in Django 1.3 alpha 2
================================

Further tweaks to the staticfiles app
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Django 1.3 ships with a new contrib app :mod:`django.contrib.staticfiles`
to help developers handle the static media files (images, CSS, JavaScript,
etc.) that are needed to render a complete web page.

The :mod:`~django.contrib.staticfiles` app ships with the ability to
automatically serve static files during development (if the :setting:`DEBUG`
setting is ``True``) when using the :djadmin:`runserver` management command.
Based on feedback from the community this release adds two new options to the
:djadmin:`runserver` command to modify this behaviour:

    * ``--nostatic``: prevents the :djadmin:`runserver` command from serving
      files completely.

    * ``--insecure``: enables serving of static files even if running with
      :setting:`DEBUG` set to False. (This is **not** recommended!)

See the :doc:`staticfiles reference documentation </ref/contrib/staticfiles>`
for more details, or learn :doc:`how to manage static files
</howto/static-files>`.

Translation comments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to give translators hints about a translatable string, you
can add a comment prefixed with the ``Translators`` keyword on the line
preceding the string, e.g.::

    def my_view(request):
        # Translators: This message appears on the home page only
        output = ugettext("Welcome to my site.")

The comment will appear in the resulting .po file and should also be
displayed by most translation tools.

For more information, see :ref:`translator-comments`.

Backwards-incompatible changes in 1.3 alpha 2
=============================================

Introduction of STATIC_URL and STATIC_ROOT settings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The newly introduced :mod:`~django.contrib.staticfiles` app -- which extends
Django's abilities to handle static files for apps and projects -- required the
additon of two new settings to refer to those files in templates and code,
especially in contrast to the :setting:`MEDIA_URL` and :setting:`MEDIA_ROOT`
settings that refer to user-uploaded files.

Prior to 1.3 alpha 2 these settings were called ``STATICFILES_URL`` and
``STATICFILES_ROOT`` to follow the naming scheme for app-centric settings.
Based on feedback from the community it became apparent that those settings
created confusion, especially given the fact that handling static files is also
desired outside the use of the optional :mod:`~django.contrib.staticfiles` app.

As a result, we took the following steps to rectify the issue:

  * Two new global settings were added that will be used by, **but are not
    limited to**, the :doc:`staticfiles</ref/contrib/staticfiles>` app:

    * :setting:`STATIC_ROOT` (formally ``STATICFILES_ROOT``)

    * :setting:`STATIC_URL` (formally ``STATICFILES_URL``)

  * The ``django.contrib.staticfiles.templatetags.staticfiles.get_staticfiles_prefix``
    template tag was moved to Django's core (``django.templatetags.static``) and
    renamed to :ttag:`get_static_prefix`.

  * The ``django.contrib.staticfiles.context_processors.staticfiles`` 
    context processor was moved to Django's core
    (``django.core.context_processors.static``) and renamed to
    :func:`~django.core.context_processors.static`.

  * :ref:`form-media-paths` now uses :setting:`STATIC_URL` as the prefix
    **if the value is not None**, and falls back to the previously used
    :setting:`MEDIA_URL` setting otherwise.

The Django 1.3 roadmap
======================

Before the final Django 1.3 release, several other preview/development
releases will be made available. The current schedule consists of at
least the following:

* Week of **November 29, 2010**: First Django 1.3 beta release. Final
  feature freeze for Django 1.3.

* Week of **January 10, 2011**: First Django 1.3 release
  candidate. String freeze for translations.

* Week of **January 17, 2011**: Django 1.3 final release.

If necessary, additional alpha, beta or release-candidate packages
will be issued prior to the final 1.3 release. Django 1.3 will be
released approximately one week after the final release candidate.


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

In order to provide a high-quality 1.3 release, we need your help. Although this
alpha release is, again, *not* intended for production use, you can help the
Django team by trying out the alpha codebase in a safe test 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 new tickets if no existing ticket corresponds to a problem you're
running into.

Additionally, discussion of Django development, including progress toward the
1.3 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:

    * :doc:`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.

Several development sprints will also be taking place before the 1.3
release; these will typically be announced in advance on the
django-developers mailing list, and anyone who wants to help is
welcome to join in.