1.4 is reliable enough for the Wikimedia sites to use it, although
those sites are patched more often than the official releases and use
the software in a predictable configuration.
Using the 1.4 beta would involve monitoring for updates more often due
to the faster release cycle, and being prepared to do small database
schema changes as needed by any remaining fixes for performance and
bugs. If you have been changing php files, you will need to merge
them.
As far as reliablility goes, 1.4 fixes many bugs that will remain in
1.3, which only gets security fixes. MW 1.4 has probably had more
testing with PHP v5. than MW 1.3.
BTW, the latest 1.3 version is 1.3.10. 1.3 releases also need to be
monitored and there is a low traffic mailing list called
mediawiki-announce to make that easier.
For upgrade instructions, see the file in the releases called UPGRADE.
The upgrade risk can be reduced by first trying it with a test copy
from a backup. And by doing a backup before the actual upgrade. As
well as backing-up the database, make a copy of the PHP files.
LocalSettings.php is where configuration changes are usually done, but
sometimes people make hacks elsewhere.
-- Zigger
On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 17:34:10 -0500, Taneem A T wrote:
...
From what I can tell MW 1.4 is in beta for now - do you recommend I
hold off on upgrading to it? I need the wiki to work reliably, even if
this means it looks a little less pretty for now.
My second question is, if I DO upgrade to MW 1.4 from 1.3, could
someone give me a link to the upgrade instructions page? I looked for
it, but apparently I'm blind...
...