Semantic MediaWiki 1.4.0

Version 1.4.0 of Semantic MediaWiki introduced a number of new features to SMW. This page explains the major enhancements and modifications compared to SMW 1.3.0.

Upgrading existing installations
Upgrading from SMW 1.3 is easy, using the new online interface for upgrading SMW data. Also, the database setup should be triggered again. Details are explained in Help:Installation 1.4.0. Note that the old storage implementation, SMWSQLStore, is no longer supported in SMW 1.4.0. If you still use this backend (i.e. if you have an according setting in your LocalSettings.php) then it is possible to move to the new store now.

Most extensions of SMW will also require to be updated to versions that are compatible with SMW 1.4. Please check your extension's documentation for information on the supported SMW version. Major extensions like Semantic Forms and the Halo extension will provide synchronised releases that establish compatibility.

Also, the timeline and eventline formats have been moved to the Semantic Result Formats extension that is available separately. If you use those formats, you probably want to install this extension (until then, all timelines will simply display as tables).

Easier installation, upgrade, repair
It is sometimes needed to repair data in SMW, or to otherwise refresh the data after an upgrade or new installation. This operation can now conveniently be triggered and managed using the web interface of Special:SMWAdmin. This option is still complemented by the known maintenance script for refreshing all data from the command line, which is sometimes more convenient if command line access to the server is available.

Better datatype Date
Dates and times can be stored in SMW using properties of datatype Date. This datatype has now been extended to support a much larger amount of inputs:


 * Dates can now range over essentially all conceivable points in human history or future instead of being restricted to fairly present times.
 * Internationalised inputs are supported, e.g. to allow translated month names in other languages.
 * Single year numbers are now accepted and properly understood.
 * Incomplete dates (lacking a time or even parts of the date) are now handled correctly.

For further details, see here.

Query for page modification date
As a first feature of the DPL extension that finds its way into SMW, it is now possible to use the last modification date of a page during querying. The according property is called Property:Modification date (in English, but this name should always be available as an alias in other languages, too). It can be queried and browsed just like any other property of datatype Date.

This feature is still slightly experimental. Note that modification dates are available only after upgrading/refreshing all data in your wiki, e.g. using the interface on Special:SMWAdmin.

Full integration of "special properties"
SMW includes certain pre-defined properties with special meanings, such as Property:Has type. In SMW 1.4.0, those properties can be used in all places where user-defined properties could also occur. For instance, it is now possible to query for such special properties and to display their values in results. Moreover, pages of special properties also show their current uses, and various statistical special pages of SMW have a better integration of these properties.

This update required major internal changes that led to many simplifications of code.

Improved parsing process
The core process of collecting data on wiki pages has been improved in SMW 1.4.0. Various causes for wrongly stored data items have been removed. Moreover SMW is now assumed to be compatible with the majority of MediaWiki extensions, including extensions like Poem that used to interfere with SMW's parsing and page display in former versions. Factbox display (disabled by default) is more reliable.

Shorter and cleaner code
SMW 1.4.0 is significantly smaller than SMW 1.3, which is due to substantial code cleanup and restructuring. The developer documentation was extended significantly.

Extended translations
As usual, translations have been extended significantly. There are translated messages in 57 languages, and more than 20 of those provide complete or almost complete localisations. Please support Betawiki for further extending this impressive coverage.

Many bugfixes
SMW 1.4.0 closes a number of bugs and feature requests, including various long-standing issues.