As you've probably heard, MODX Revolution 2.1 is almost here and we thank everyone in our developer community who has helped test and report issues along our cycle of Release Candidates which has led to an incredibly solid upcoming Public Launch.
Revolution 2.1 introduces MS SQL Server support, a major overhaul of caching, manager optimization and dozens of fixes and improvements. These changes make it: accessible to more client server stacks; faster and more scalable; and, management and development more nimble.
One of the key changes in 2.1 which has been on the roadmap since before we even had a name for what has become MODX Revolution, was the removal of thousands of lines of code that retained the Evolution way of doing things. We kept the Evo "ways" in order to speed the migration of Extras and Addons from Evo to Revo as well as ensure custom code would still work after a site migration. You may have heard us speak of the deprecated methods in the forums or on IRC but many of you hear deprecated and think old way but what it really means is that these things have been marked to be removed forever. Well for Revolution, the time to lose the weight of the old days has come.
Implications for You as a Developer or Site Builder
First, not all Extras you may be using will work in 2.1. This means you need to review the Extras you have installed to see if they are compatible with the current codebase. In addition, your custom scripts, add-ons and scripts should be checked for the old methods.
Second, you'll probably want to look at doing a staged test upgrade on another server or Virtual Machine to ensure the site works as expected once upgraded. This will allow you time to carefully check things out—front and back—before updating it.
If you find that the Extras you rely on are not yet ready, there is no reason you can't stay with 2.0.8 until they are. It might help to ask for an update by the developer of the Extra via the forum topic for that Extra.
Add-on, Extra and 3PC Developers: We Need Your Help
If you have developed an Add-on or Extra of any kind for Revolution, we need your help to get your code checked and ensure it works in 2.1. The simplest thing for you to do is to make sure your Add-on or Extra is not using any of the removed methods. Beyond that, you should probably install the latest RC-4 or grab the source from GitHub and test your scripts. Once you have done that, update your extra and ensure you mark that your Extra "Supports up to" 2.1. This will help other people know your Extra is ready for 2.1 and more importantly enable it to show in Package Management as PM only displays Extras compatible with the installed version.
If you don't have time to maintain or test your Extra you could always solicit someone in the Community to adopt your extra.
We know it's a big leap but progress is seldom made in small steps.