Drupal Release: 7.0-beta1

TL;DR

Drupal 7.0-beta1: Major Overhaul with Enhanced User Experience

Drupal 7.0-beta1 represents a significant milestone in the development of Drupal 7, bringing numerous improvements to the core functionality and user experience. This release includes major enhancements to the entity system, field API, and accessibility features, along with critical bug fixes and performance optimizations.

Key improvements include a revamped entity system with better field handling, enhanced accessibility compliance with WCAG 2.0 standards, improved theme handling in Bartik and Seven themes, and numerous UI refinements. The upgrade path has been significantly cleaned up, making migrations smoother for existing Drupal sites.

This beta release is particularly important for developers and site builders who need to test their modules and themes against the upcoming Drupal 7 stable release, as well as for accessibility specialists who will appreciate the substantial improvements in screen reader support and visual indicators.

Highlight of the Release

• Enhanced entity system with new 'label' key info for better entity handling
• Improved accessibility with WCAG 2.0 compliance features including better contrast and screen reader support
• Automatic settings.php creation during installation for shared hosting environments
• Major CSS cleanup and improvements to Bartik and Seven themes
• Cleaner upgrade paths for system, node, taxonomy, and comment modules
• Enhanced AJAX framework with lazy-loading for JS/CSS in AJAX requests
• Fixed critical issues with field handling, private files, and taxonomy terms

Migration Guide

Upgrading to Drupal 7.0-beta1

Before Upgrading

1. Backup your site: Create a complete backup of your files and database.
2. Update to latest Drupal 6.x: If upgrading from Drupal 6, ensure you're on the latest 6.x version (at least 6.16).
3. Check module compatibility: Verify your contributed modules have Drupal 7 versions or update plans.

During Upgrade

1. Clean upgrade paths: The upgrade paths for system, node, taxonomy, and comment modules have been significantly cleaned up.
2. Field handling: Be aware that the field system has been completely revamped. Custom field modules will need to be updated.
3. Entity system changes: The new entity system introduces significant architectural changes.

After Upgrading

1. Check taxonomy terms: Verify taxonomy terms were correctly migrated, as some issues with term placement have been fixed in this release.
2. Review private files: If using private files, test functionality as this area has seen significant fixes.
3. Test field displays: Review all content types and their field displays as there have been numerous fixes to field handling.
4. Accessibility review: Take advantage of the improved accessibility features by reviewing your site with screen readers and accessibility tools.

Developer Notes

• The entity API has been enhanced with a new 'label' key info.
• AJAX handling has been improved with lazy-loading for JS/CSS.
• Field UI screens are now more extensible from contrib modules.
• Text formats have been significantly reworked.

Upgrade Recommendations

Who Should Upgrade

• Module developers should upgrade to test compatibility with Drupal 7's new APIs
• Theme developers should upgrade to test with the improved CSS and theming system
• Site builders creating new sites who want to test the latest features
• Accessibility specialists who want to take advantage of the WCAG 2.0 improvements

Who Should Wait

• Production sites should wait for the final release of Drupal 7.0
• Sites with critical custom modules that haven't been updated for Drupal 7
• Sites with complex workflows that depend on contributed modules not yet ported to D7

Upgrade Path

1. This is a beta release, so a full backup is essential before attempting an upgrade
2. Ensure you're running the latest version of Drupal 6 (at least 6.16) before upgrading
3. Test the upgrade on a development copy of your site first
4. Pay special attention to field handling, taxonomy terms, and private files after upgrade
5. Review your site thoroughly for any issues with content types and fields

The significant improvements in this beta release make it worth testing for developers and site builders preparing for Drupal 7, but production sites should continue to wait for the stable release.

Bug Fixes

Critical Bug Fixes

• Fixed Module page ordering issues
• Fixed 'taxo as field' update that was broken and wiped some node/term associations
• Fixed orphaned node types losing bodies on upgrade
• Fixed private images functionality
• Fixed multiple pager support that was partially broken
• Fixed field SQL storage handling of entityOrderBy (prevented fatal errors)
• Fixed image/file field breaking after uploading two files
• Fixed revisions of unpublished nodes losing their body field on upgrade
• Fixed taxonomy terms being incorrectly placed in 'Taxonomy upgrade vocabulary'
• Fixed all fields of a node type being lost on module disable

UI and Theme Fixes

• Fixed whitespace below the footer when there was not enough content
• Fixed comment display issues in Chrome
• Fixed Bartik's header styling and layout
• Fixed vertical tabs visual connection between active tab and content
• Fixed text format selection layout
• Fixed contextual link outline extending too far on search blocks in Bartik
• Fixed sticky node styling in Bartik
• Fixed featured region expansion to full width
• Fixed dashboard region wrapping

Form and Functionality Fixes

• Fixed menu form submission where Enter triggered Delete instead of Save
• Fixed select lists without #default_value always passing form validation
• Fixed form elements with invalid characters in ID attributes
• Fixed AJAX form submission handling
• Fixed breadcrumb functionality for dynamic paths and local tasks

New Features

Enhanced Entity System

• Added entity 'label' key info (e.g., title on node) for better entity handling
• Improved EntityFieldQuery with better ordering and PostgreSQL support
• Added ability to specify the language to view entities in

Improved AJAX Framework

• Enhanced drupal_add_js() and drupal_add_css() to work for AJAX requests with lazy-loading
• Improved drupalPostAJAX() for better AJAX test coverage
• Fixed AJAX form submission handling to follow same rules as non-AJAX submissions

Better Field Management

• Made Field UI screens extensible from contrib modules
• Added hook_image_effect_info_alter() for better image handling
• Fixed field behavior when changing from public to private file storage

Accessibility Improvements

• Added identifying icons to system messages for WCAG 2.0 compliance
• Improved skip link functionality for screen reader users
• Added proper headings before local tasks for better screen reader navigation
• Enhanced contrast in Bartik theme links to meet WCAG 2.0 standards
• Improved accessibility for forum icons

Installation and Upgrade

• Added automatic settings.php creation during install for shared hosting environments
• Improved installation from another language with clearer instructions
• Cleaned up upgrade paths for system, node, taxonomy, and comment modules

Security Updates

Stream Wrapper Security

• Fixed invalid scheme handling to halt processing of stream requests
• Improved file handling security for private files

Form Security

• Enhanced form validation and submission handling
• Improved handling of text formats and permissions

User Management

• Fixed _user_cancel() bypassing user_save() for better security
• Improved permission handling for comment posting

Performance Improvements

Database and Query Optimization

• Removed schema cache from being loaded on all pages for better performance
• Improved module_list() and system_list() caching
• Added back a method to the DB driver interface to report server version
• Fixed EntityFieldQuery to handle ordering correctly

JavaScript and CSS Optimization

• Optimized JS/CSS aggregation for front-end performance
• Improved handling of JavaScript settings to avoid clobbering
• Enhanced AJAX framework with lazy-loading for JS/CSS in AJAX requests

System Performance

• Improved batch API termination handling
• Enhanced file handling and stream wrapper performance
• Better handling of temporary directories

Impact Summary

Drupal 7.0-beta1 represents a major step forward in the development of Drupal 7, bringing substantial improvements to core functionality, user experience, and accessibility. This release focuses on stabilizing key systems while introducing important enhancements to the entity and field APIs.

The most significant impacts include:

1. Enhanced Developer Experience: The improved entity system with better field handling provides developers with more powerful and flexible tools for building complex sites. The AJAX framework enhancements with lazy-loading for JS/CSS in AJAX requests make for more responsive interfaces.

2. Better Site Builder Tools: Installation improvements, particularly the automatic settings.php creation for shared hosting environments, remove a major pain point for new users. Enhanced field management and dashboard configuration make site building more intuitive.

3. Accessibility Compliance: Substantial improvements for screen reader users, proper contrast ratios, and better semantic markup bring Drupal closer to WCAG 2.0 compliance, making it a more viable option for organizations with strict accessibility requirements.

4. Upgrade Path Improvements: Cleaner upgrade paths for system, node, taxonomy, and comment modules make migration from Drupal 6 more reliable, though this is still a beta release and should be approached with caution.

5. Theme Enhancements: Major CSS cleanup and improvements to Bartik and Seven themes provide a better foundation for theme developers and a more polished experience for end users.

While this beta release fixes many critical issues, it's still recommended for testing environments rather than production sites. Developers and site builders should use this opportunity to ensure their modules and themes are compatible with the upcoming Drupal 7 stable release.