/**
* @version $Id: README.txt 4823 2011-05-07 13:01:30Z fxstein $
* Kunena Component
* @package Kunena
* @Copyright (C) 2008-2011 Kunena All rights reserved.
* @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU/GPL
* @link http://www.kunena.org
**/

Kunena README

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE FILE BEFORE INSTALLING Kunena 1.6.4!

Introduction
============

The Kunena Team is excited to announce the release of Kunena 1.6.4. This is a 
maintenance release for Kunena 1.6 and all users are recommended to upgrade to 
Kunena 1.6.4, which provides native support for Joomla 1.6. This release also 
brings a number of new features like threaded view in topics, subscription 
options, and more options for deleting/trashing posts.
Since the stable release of Kunena 1.6, the Kunena Team has been focused on 
fixing over 400 bugs; including fixing issues with CSS, router, API, HTML 
validation, Joomla 1.6 issues, and general usability. The official Kunena 
modules, plug-ins, and language translations have also been updated.
Kunena 1.6 marks a major milestone for the Kunena Project. A long list of open 
source contributors have committed over 3,000 improvements and changes, helping 
make Kunena the leading forum solution for both Joomla 1.5 and 1.6. A long list 
of new features, various optimizations, and code restructuring have resulted in 
the most advanced version of Kunena to date.
We continue to put a big emphasis on usability and ease of installation. The 
installer has been further enhanced to allow for multiple installation and 
upgrade options. It performs incremental steps to avoid timeouts on slower hosts. 
It automatically performs safeguarding actions such as taking the forum offline 
during the installation or upgrade and re-enables it after completing the 
install.
Kunena now supports Joomla 1.6 style language files that are backward-compatible 
with Joomla 1.5. Thirty languages are included in the base install packages and 
more can be installed separately. Kunena 1.6 supports multiple languages 
installed on a single system and, together with Joomla, allows users to select 
their preferred language.
Templates have now been separated from the underlying code, which allows for 
version-independent template development. Like Joomla templates, Kunena 
templates use parameters configurable in the Kunena Template Manager (e.g. 
putting the avatar position on left, right, top, or bottom in the new default 
template, Blue Eagle).
The Kunena Team is fully committed to Joomla 1.6 and beyond and a number of 
modules have been developed to lay the groundwork for future releases of Joomla.

What is New?
============

The new features in Kunena 1.6.x include:
-----------------------------------------

Improved Language Support:
Included languages: Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, 
Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, 
Taiwanese, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Yugoslavian, new in Kunena 1.6.0: Arabic, 
Brazilian Portuguese (more to come)
Uses standard Joomla! 1.6 language files (backwards compatible with Joomla 1.5.x)
Added support for installable language packs (using the Joomla installer)

New Kunena Template Manager:
----------------------------

Centralized template system with installable templates
New default template Blue Eagle
New auto-blending option (codename: "Skinner") as part of the default template
Example template included, for use as a foundation when creating new templates
Template parameters that allow more freedom for template designers and site 
administrators
Added support for icon sets allows different button and icon variations
New Integrated Polls Feature:
Allow forum members to setup and participate in polls
Category specific: enable the feature from Category Manager
Global settings to modify the poll behavior
Migrate data from the Kunena 1.5 poll hack

Improved Topic and Post Moderation:
-----------------------------------

Ability to restore and purge deleted posts within the Trash Manager (backend)
Unapproved or deleted topics and posts can be seen in many views
Delete, restore and approve posts while reading topic
Simplified move, merge and split
Move current or newer posts into another category or (new) topic
Ability to move or delete all posts of a particular user (supports better spam 
management)
User profile access for moderators even if integrated with JomSocial, CB or 
others

New User Moderation Features:
-----------------------------

Users can be banned directly from their profile
Ban only from the forum (= read only access) or from the entire website
Ban user for a limited time (ban from the forum only)
Allow moderators to share ban reasons and add comments to it
Ban history and show all previous bans on the user's profile page
List banned users in the Ban Manager on the moderator's profile page

New Posting and End User Features:
----------------------------------

Multiple attachment support (AJAX-based)
Category subscriptions
New 'Thank you' system for thanking the poster for their message
Users can delete their own messages (configurable by time)
Anonymous Tipping: allow users to post topics in a defined category completely 
anonymously (no IP, no tracking, totally anonymous)
Google Maps integration - display basic maps inside of posts
New BBCode tags like [article], [attachment], [confidential], [map], [table], 
[tableau] and others
Enhanced BBCode [quote] with reference to user and post
Selectable date/time format display options for all time displays and 
independent for tooltips (relative "ago" vs absolute)

Usability Improvements:
-----------------------

Improved RSS features
Color coded categories
Color coded usernames
Code highlighting with Geshi
Many improvements in administrator backend interface

Integration with Other Components:
----------------------------------

New integration system that allows easy integration of avatars, profiles and 
user lists, login and registration, private messaging, activity notifications 
and basic access control
Integrations included: Alpha UserPoints, Community Builder, JomSocial and UddeIM
New Router and Menu System
Uses Joomla menus to navigate the Kunena component
Easy to build your own custom Kunena menus with Joomla's Menu Item Manager
Option to have categories located outside main forum
Automatic super-routing uses best matching menu item for each page

New Installer:
--------------

Step-by-step details of the installation process
Fully automatic migration from Kunena 1.0.x and 1.5.x
Migrate from FireBoard 1.0.0 - 1.0.5 without using external tools
If migration fails, restore from backup or try again
Option to cleanly uninstall Kunena 1.6 completely from your site
Support third party ACL components with Joomla 1.5
JXtended Access Control
NoixACL Access Control
ArtofUser Access Control
Integration with JomSocial Groups
Discussions in JomSocial groups are now saved and synched in Kunena thanks to a 
specific plug-in

Threaded view:
--------------

Display user posts in an indented "thread view"
Other Changes:
Converted from jQuery to MooTools 1.2 for better compatibility
CSS and JavaScript minification using the YUI compressor for faster loading 
(disabled when debug is turned on)
Uses CSS sprites for faster loading and fewer server hits
Almost all code moved out of templates
Basic API for Joomla modules and plug-ins
Now uses #__kunena prefixed tables instead of #__fb
Use /media/kunena instead of /images/fbfiles for avatars and new attachments
Version checking
Improved error handler which doesn't reveal full error path and shows only 
necessary parameters for Kunena support
Native Joomla 1.6 support

System Requirements
===================

Joomla 1.5.20 Minimum Version Required (Mootools 1.2.x)
Kunena 1.6.x no longer uses jQuery and requires MooTools 1.2+. Since the release 
of Joomla 1.5.20, the Mootools 1.2.4 system plug-in is now included with Joomla 
1.5 and this Joomla! contains various fixes on router mecanism. The MooTools 
plug-in that was included in previous development versions of Kunena is no 
longer needed.
More details about Mootools in Kunena : Mootools_1.2.4_(Part_1)
Joomla 1.6.3 Minimum Version Required
Joomla 1.6.x includes Mootools and it's loaded by default, the plugin mootools 
doesn't exist anymore in this Joomla! version, so you don't need to take care of 
it.

PHP 5.2.3
---------
Kunena 1.6.x requires PHP 5.2.3 or higher. We have also tested it on PHP 5.3.x. 
In general we currently recommend PHP 5.2.x due to its maturity.

MySQL 5.0.0
-----------
Kunena in general and especially version 1.6.x rely on advanced SQL features 
introduced in MySQL 5.0.x. MySQL 4.x is no longer support even though Joomla 1.5 
itself can be run on certain versions of MySQL 4.x. The main difference is the 
amount of database workload generated by a forum component compared to the basic 
CMS functionality.

Third party components requirements
-----------------------------------
If you want running with Kunena 1.6.4, JomSocial, Community Builder, UddeIm or 
Alpha User Points, the following are the minimum version requirements:
JomSocial 1.6.x
Community Builer 1.2.3
UddeIm 2.1
Alpha User Points 1.5.12

Third party ACL components requirements
---------------------------------------
If you want use third party ACL components with Kunena 1.6.4 and Joomla! 1.5, 
you need to use at least the following versions :
NoixACL 2.0.6
JXtended Control 1.0.7
ArtofUser 1.0.5
Directories which needs to have write permissions
The following directories need to have write permissions, in order to allow 
Kunena to be installed on your Joomla installation.
/administrator/components/
/components/
/media/
/plugins/system

Downloading Kunena
==================

Find the latest installation package files here: View Packages
We use the power of JoomlaCode as our public SVN repository. We encourage all 
users and open source developers to help develop fixes, features and 
enhancements to the existing code base. If you are interested in contributing, 
please provide a patch or enhanced branch and we will be happy to consider it 
for inclusion in the main code branch (quality and feature completeness 
permitting).
Find the SVN source code repository here: View SVN
The only official Kunena distributions are available from the links above or 
directly at www.kunena.org. There are currently no officially supported 
alternative download mirrors supported and users are encouraged to visit 
www.kunena.org for the latest version of all available Kunena packages.

Compatibility with Third-party Kunena Templates
===============================================

Templates designed for Kunena 1.5.x will not work with Kunena 1.6.4 due to major 
changes in the code and structure.

All the logic has been removed from the template to make it much easier for 
template designers to create Kunena templates.
Check out the short guide on how to quickly customize a Kunena 1.6 template in 
just a few minutes: http://www.kunena.org/forum/159-common-questions/53519-the-5-minute-quick-and-dirty-kunena-16-template
More tutorials and instructions are available in the forums to make template for 
Kunena 1.6.x.

Compatibility with Third-party Kunena Modules
=============================================

Kunena 1.6.4 is not compatible with modules or plug-ins designed for previous 
versions and we recommend you uninstall all Kunena 1.5 extensions before 
installing or upgrading.

Kunena 1.6.x now provides an updated API for easily creating modules or plug-ins. 
The Kunena team has created a few new plug-ins and modules which leverage the 
new API and can be used with Kunena 1.6.x. These extensions can be found in the 
Kunena Extension Directory: http://www.kunena.org/ked

Installing or Upgrading Kunena
==============================

Be sure your setup meets or exceeds the minimum Technical Requirements or the 
install/upgrade process will fail. If it fails, your data will be left untouched.
To install Kunena, make sure you read our K 1.6 Installation Guide before 
beginning. To upgrade Kunena from previous versions (including FireBoard), make 
sure you read the K 1.6 Upgrade Guide.
The Kunena installer now handles both installs and upgrades of existing 
installations without the need for user intervention, manual SQL execution, or 
migration procedures. It also keeps a detailed log of all Kunena versions 
installed on your site in order to perform incremental upgrades as necessary. 
This means that a site administrator doesn't have to worry about complicated 
installation or upgrade procedures.
We would like to underscore the importance of backups before and after any 
upgrade process. Never perform an install or upgrade without a full backup.

Credits
=======

An open source project like Kunena requires the dedication and investment of 
personal time from various contributors. This version of Kunena Forum has been 
made possible by the following contributors:

fxstein Kunena developer and admin of http://www.starVmax.com/forum/
Matias Kunena developer
severdia - Kunena developer, Joomla Leadership Team Member, admin of 
PlayShakespeare.com
xillibit Kunena developer
@quila Kunena contributor
810 Kunena contributor
alakentu Kunena moderator
LDA Kunena contributor
Rich Kunena moderator
sozzled Kunena moderator
Special thanks go to Beat and the CB Testing team, Cerberus, DTP2, LittleJohn 
and JoniJnm for significant contributions to Kunena. In addition many members of 
http://www.Kunena.org have contributed and helped make this a more stable and 
bugfree version. Our thanks go out to all contributors of Kunena!
Language credits
English translation was made by the Kunena Team with many suggestions and 
corrections from our community. We also like to give special thanks to all our 
translators, who have worked hard to localize Kunena in their own languages.

ONLINE README
=============

For details about this release and how to install or upgrade to it please see:

http://docs.kunena.org/index.php/Kunena_1.6.4_Read_Me

END OF README
=============
