Moodle 2.5 release notes

Releases > Moodle 2.5 release notes

Release date: Not yet released

Here is the full list of fixed issues in 2.5.

See New features for a user-friendly tour with screenshots (work in progress)

Requirements

Recommended minimum browser: Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 8 (IE 10 required for drag and drop of files from outside the browser into Moodle), Safari 5, Google Chrome 11
Moodle upgrade: Moodle 2.2 or later (if upgrading from earlier versions, you must upgrade to 2.2 as a first step)
Minimum DB versions: Postgres 8.3, MySQL 5.1.33, MSSQL 2005 or Oracle 10.2 (oci_native_moodle_package.sql needs to be executed before upgrade on Oracle servers)
Minimum PHP version: PHP 5.3.3
New PHP extension requirements: GD2 (MDL-34331)

NOTE: We will drop support for IE8 after Moodle 2.5 (June 2013). This means IE8 will probably still work for 2.6, but developers will not be required to test their new code on that browser. Moodle, like most of the world's web sites and browser producers, encourages you to keep your browsers current to improve security and functionality while saving us valuable time. (For example see what Google is doing)

Highlights

MDL-35073 - Open Badges integration
MDL-30637 - Improvements to the usability of big complex Moodle forms in general.
MDL-37459 & MDL-37417 - More specific usability improvements to the forms for the assignment module, and for creating questions.
MDL-32652 - Block drag & drop now works throughout the site (not just on course pages)!
MDL-38016 - New "bootstrap" theme with responsive design for all screen sizes
MDL-38509 - New admin tool for installing add-ons
MDL-36804 - Assignment resubmission system
MDL-37009 - Course listings are displayed consistently throughout the site (theme changes may be required)
MDL-37284 - Unicode support in MySQL/MariaDB is now configured automatically during installation.

Enrolment improvements

MDL-36514 - New setting for preventing of new self-enrolments.
MDL-7537 - Support for more currencies in PayPal.
MDL-32387 - Implemented expiration of PayPal enrolments.
MDL-37291 - Restore support for PayPal enrolments.
MDL-37187 - Multiple problems fixed in Flat File enrolment plugin.
MDL-36504 - Complete list of all enrolment related improvements.

Performance

MDL-35716 - New performance overview report
MDL-35685 - Improved login performance.
MDL-36809 - Support for persistent connections to MariaDB/MySQL servers.

Miscellaneous

MDL-38166 - Database activity URL field has option to open link in new window
MDL-37455 - New folder resource option to display folder contents on the course page
MDL-30790 - New folder resource option to display sub-folders expanded or collapsed
MDL-37602 - Overall assessment feedback support in the Workshop module
MDL-28585 - LDAP authentication password expiry handling
MDL-20131 - Random glossary entry block can use a global glossary
MDL-35842 - Random glossary entry block alphabetical order option
MDL-37337 - Assignment settings page improvements
MDL-37644 - New setting for showing course full names in the navigation block
MDL-35332 - Improved security of hashed passwords
MDL-5875 - Option to show the word count of forum posts
MDL-23504 - Transparency and RGB support in themes colour picker
MDL-37806 - New 'Save and show next' button for workshop submissions
MDL-37728 - Role definition overview improvements
MDL-37641 - Prettier names when a file already exists
MDL-38538 - Option to auto-save during quiz attempts
MDL-36955 - Better grading for partially correct Cloze questions with Interactive behaviour
MDL-35793 - Defaults for when a question is previewed
MDL-10516 - Essay questions can have a template, so the student starts answering from the template, not a blank editor
MDL-26956 - You can now search the list of users enrolled in a course
MDL-36602 - mnethostid available as an upload users field
MDL-34137 - Option to drag and drop a media file onto the course page to create a label
MDL-33946 - Option to drag and drop text onto the course page to create a label
MDL-33688 - Drag and drop file upload progress indicator in filepicker
MDL-33669 - Option to access Equella site when using Equella repository
MDL-32341 - Configurable calendar export date range
MDL-33206 - Book resource type print dialogue link
MDL-28705 - Configurable mapping between IMS course names and Moodle course names for IMS Enterprise enrolment
MDL-31983 - Settings block renamed 'Administration' and reports moved there
MDL-34917 - Jump to section navigation for 'One section per page' setting in course formats
MDL-38708 - Option to add images and other files to the course list
MDL-36395 - New setting Maximum users per page for specifying the number of users shown in search results
MDL-37596 - Scheduled maintenance mode
MDL-35775 - Group import allows new groups to be assigned to groupings
MDL-38494 - Upload users accepts date-time format custom profile field
MDL-26649 - Date picker usability improvements
MDL-37572 - Categories edit page is separated from view and does not depend any more on global editing mode

API changes

'TODO review all upgrade.txt files in the code'

MDL-34640 - Improvements to how the question engine handles uploaded files. This should make it possible to write question types that automatically grade uploaded files.
MDL-37287 - 3rd party libraries updated, including YUI 3.9.1, TinyMCE 3.5.8, latest tcpdf and others
MDL-15727 - jQuery and jQuery UI support for add-on plugins
MDL-29996 - Legacy filters are not supported any more, developers need to migrate filters from modules to standard filter location.
MDL-35356 - Excel and ODS export improvements.
MDL-35434 - Theme developers may use new admin setting type for user uploaded logo images.
MDL-37726 - PREVIOUS and NEXT attributes are not required in install.xml files.
MDL-38558 - It is now possible to run local pre-ugprade script.

Security issues

A number of security related issues were resolved. Details of these issues will be released after a period of approximately one week to allow system administrators to safely update to the latest version.

MDL-21342 - New user account lockout mechanism.

Documentation