Release notes for Knowledge base 5.1.7

Introduction

As part of Easy8 version 15.10.0, we also are releasing Knowledge base 5.1.7. The jump from 4.5 (previous version) to 5.1.7 includes a refreshed platform, several new headline features, and a long list of usability improvements.

The main technical change is that the add-on will run on suburi (yourapp.com/kb) instead of a separate URL as before. For this reason there are compatibility requirements:

Easy8 15.10 requires KB version 5.1.7
KB version 5.1.7 cannot run on Easy8 version lower than 15.10
KB version 4.5 (previous version) cannot run on Easy8 version 15.10 and higher

Any action needed?

Cloud solution

Nothing to do on your side. Update happens automatically with release of Easy8 v15.10.

On-premises

Update of Easy8 and Knowledge Base need to happen concurrently. Due to significant backend changes, Knowledge Base 5.1.7 is not compatible with previous versions of Easy8.

Same goes the other way - Easy8 version 15.10 is not compatible with Knowledge base 4.5.4 (previous version).

You will find instructions for Knowledge Base module migration from version 4.5 to version 5.1 inside the docker image.

BPMN process diagrams

A proper BPMN process editor is now built into the Knowledge Base. Draw your processes inline, and each process step can have its own sub-page pre-filled from a template. Steps are linked together with their own navigation, so it's easy to follow a process from end to end.

Process diagrams now also respect the approval workflow — you can stabilize a process the same way you stabilize a regular page. The version history shows added, removed, and moved shapes in a visual diff.

New PDF export

PDF export has been rewritten. You can now create your own PDF templates to match your corporate design, and the output is WCAG-compliant out of the box — so the documents you export are accessible by default.

Along the way we fixed dozens of long-standing export quirks: ampersands in titles, umlauts in headings, oversized images, file and media links, glossary terms, BPMN shapes, and book covers all export reliably now.

Improved blogging and comments

The blogging system has been completely rebuilt. Creating comments is simpler and more user-friendly, and setting up separate blogs for things like company news is much more straightforward than before.

Matomo integration

If you use Matomo for analytics, you can now connect it to your Knowledge Base and build dashboards on top of your wiki usage data. The integration is included in the box — no separate install.

More control over workflows

A new magic word, __NOWORKFLOWEXECUTE__, lets you mark a page so that workflow triggers don't fire on it automatically. Useful for template pages, drafts, or any page where you want full manual control over when a workflow runs. Just add the magic word in the source editor.

A faster, calmer interface

Loading is now asynchronous in many places — the subpage tree, the enhanced MediaWiki sidebar, and the search center all load only what's needed. You'll see consistent skeleton loaders and loading indicators wherever the system is working, so it's always clear when something is in progress.

Other smaller touches you'll notice:

New-page dialog tells you immediately when a title is invalid or already taken.
Move and copy dialogs no longer create accidental duplicate pages when a name clashes — they prevent the clash up front.
Right sidebar is now visible by default for new users.
Unsaved-changes warnings in the book editor and process editor so you don't lose work.
Visual editor toolbar tidied up — no more two-line wrap.
Banner colours aligned to the brand style guide.

Books: smarter "Add to book"

When you add a page to a book, you can now choose where in the book it should go — no need to edit the book structure afterwards. You can also create a new book directly from the same dialog.

Pages now also have a Books property you can query with ask, so you can build overviews based on book membership.

Security and privacy

Several behind-the-scenes hardening items landed across the 5.1.x line, including fixes for BSSA-2025-05, BSSA-2025-06, BSSA-2026-01 (CVE-2025-14847), and tightened file permission checks (CVE-2026-24732). Access checks on Special:FormEdit, Special:Browse, and property pages were also tightened to prevent any accidental information disclosure on pages with restricted access.

On the configuration side, license and API keys (DeepL, OpenAI, and similar) are now encrypted at rest and no longer visible in plain text in the configuration manager.

⚠️ Things that have changed

A few items behave differently than in 4.5. Please review these before upgrading:

Framework migration. The legacy ExtJS framework has been replaced by OOJSPlus throughout the application. If you have custom UI extensions built on ExtJS, they will need to be ported.
PDF templates. vertical-align:center no longer works in PDF templates. Default templates have been updated to use vertical-align:middle. New installations get this automatically; if you are upgrading an existing system, please update your custom templates manually.
Drawio diagrams now save as SVG. Existing PNG diagrams continue to work, but new ones are saved as SVG by default.
<uenoexport /> tag is deprecated. It still works as a stub for backward compatibility, but please use <pdfexclude /> going forward.
Legacy bookshelf tag removed. This eliminates the empty page that previously appeared before the table of contents in book exports.
Workflow definition pages. Definition pages cannot be moved while a workflow built from them is still active. Stop the workflow first, then rename or move.
Enhanced MediaWiki sidebar. The subpage tree now loads asynchronously and uses an active-path model. If you have CSS or scripts that customise the old active-path behaviour, they may need to be revisited.
API keys. DeepL, OpenAI, and similar keys are now encrypted. You may need to re-enter them in the configuration manager after the upgrade.

Technological stack

This section is mainly relevant for on-premises customers. Cloud users do not need to worry about any of this — we manage the stack for you.

MediaWiki: REL1.43 LTS (long-term support)
PHP: 8.3 compatible
Semantic MediaWiki: 5.0
Skin: BlueSpice Discovery, refreshed for the 5.x line
Frontend framework: OOJSPlus (replaces ExtJS)