Gallery 2.3 Release Candidate 1

Gallery 2.3 RC1 is now available for download! This is the first of two release candidates before Gallery 2.3 will be complete. A release candidate helps users like you test out new features and provide feedback so that the final version has as many possible issues resolved. We have 6 different packages for you to choose from. You can read all about it on our Gallery 2 Download Page.

As always before you ask for help, please, please read the README and the installation docs -- we've made an effort to answer all of your questions there. Also consider looking at the known issues. Upgrading is quick and easy. There are a few things you should know first so be sure to scan the upgrading instructions. Then head on over to the Gallery 2.3-RC-1 Forum Topic and let us know what you think!

Thanks for your continued support! Read on for more details...

Note: This is a pre-release version, and you should be sure to backup your Gallery before upgrading your current Gallery.

New Features of Gallery 2.3 Include:

1. New version of the slideshow module now uses PicLens to provide a rich, full screen slideshow.
2. Comment module now offers moderation and Akismet support to help weed out spam comments.
3. New email notification module allowing users to configure events they wish to get notified for. You can watch albums for changes, items for new comments, etc.
4. Support for SQLite 3.x as a database backend.
5. Smaller downloads available
   1. English only version, with new Language Manager that allows the addition or removal of translations.
   2. Significantly fewer language related directories in all versions
6. New SnapGalaxy module for prints from snapgalaxy.com.
7. New Jpegtran module to support rotation and cropping of jpeg images with no loss in image quality.
8. New database backup feature. Backup at start of upgrade, or anytime from Site Admin / Maintenance. Restore a backup from lib/support interface.
9. New event logging system records Gallery errors, viewable in the Site Admin interface.
10. Remote module now bundles the Gallery Remote client and makes it available via Java Web Start. Users with a Java enabled browser can then launch Gallery Remote with a single click instead of manually downloading and installing.
11. Themes can now override module template files, allowing a themed look to more aspects of the application.
12. Performance and stability improvements.
    1. Smarty templates now permanently cached by default. Turn this off in Site Admin / Performance when working on tpl files, so changes take effect immediately during development.
    2. Avoid reading EXIF data multiple times in Carbon theme.
    3. Some added caching in GalleryUrlGenerator.
    4. Use progress bar when adding items to avoid server or browser timeouts. Particularly helpful when adding many items from local server.
    5. Refactor of translator hints to avoid some processing when translations are not used (en_US).
    6. Faster plugin and language package downloads.
    7. Refactor of event system working towards a performance improvement in the next release.
13. User interface changes.
    • Use AJAX to speed up deleting comments(spam) on items/albums.
    • Use quick DHTML confirm dialog for deleting single items. Dialog offers link to bulk delete several items from an album.
    • Use YUI ItemTree instead of plain select box to select target album when moving items, creating replicas or link items.
14. Security improvements resulting from internal and external audits.
15. Many bug fixes!