plugins preparation for the 4.0.0 version of ArchivesSpace
Christine Di Bella
Hello ArchivesSpace members,
The next major version of ArchivesSpace, ArchivesSpace 4.0.0, will include upgrades to many of the technologies that comprise the application, including Bootstrap, Rails, and jRuby. These upgrades are essential to ensure we are on supported versions of the most significant technologies in the application, contribute to making the ArchivesSpace technical stack easier to maintain, and better position us for the future feature enhancements that users want.
While this kind of progress is both exciting and necessary, it will also likely require additional work on the part of people who deploy or use ArchivesSpace as we move away from support for some earlier technologies and code. One area not under the ArchivesSpace team’s direct control that we anticipate will be impacted is plugins that make changes to either the staff or public interface.
The code for version 4.0.0 is currently being internally tested and will soon move on for wider testing by the Testing sub-team. Pending the results, we expect to put out a release candidate for 4.0.0 sometime in the fall. We would plan to also release additional guidance for helping to manage the transition for plugins and possibly create some tools to help with the transition for specific plugins or types of plugins.
While there is nothing you must do right now, if plugins are a significant part of your ArchivesSpace deployment, we want to advise you that you will want to leave extra time for testing release candidates that come out for 4.0.0 and for upgrading. If you are familiar with pulling code directly from GitHub, you may also want to reserve some time in August or September to check your plugins against the 4.0.0 branch of ArchivesSpace (which will be created soon) to get an early start. Your findings may not only help you assess your specific situation but also help us write guidance or tools that could make your and others’ eventual plugin transition easier.
Thanks for your understanding and participation as we continue to make ArchivesSpace better. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us at Archives...@lyrasis.org. If you have findings about specific code, please feel free to file an issue or make a pull request to our GitHub repository.
Christine
Christine Di Bella
ArchivesSpace Senior Program Manager
