Caveat Lector

Work proceeds apace on the modularization plugin/add-on mechanism (sorry, long day) plans, but consensus exists that they are gumming up the release schedule, so expect to see DSpace 1.4 without them.

Exactly what will be in DSpace 1.4 is still to some extent up in the air; the lead programmers are reviewing patches.

On the UI front, the Manakin group, which is developing an XML-based, customizable-by-collection UI, has formalized its existence as far as a Sourceforge page and a mailing list. The current issue is Manakin’s interaction with parts of the dspace.cfg file, especially those parts that govern what metadata is displayed for a given item.

DSpace’s lead developers are hoping to form further Manakin-like working groups to hammer at specific parts of DSpace. Desired workspaces include: the data model, modularization, rewriting the Browse subsystem, the messaging system, and unit testing.

The SRW server for DSpace doesn’t work for the current stable version (1.3.2). It’s being worked on.

The Researcher Pages patch is also running into 1.3.2 troubles, since it is currently designed to work with the unstable DSpace in development. It is at present unclear whether the patch developers will expend additional effort on 1.3.2, so if you have an investment, you need to speak up now.