[annotator-dev] [ANN] Annotator v2.0.0-alpha.2 released!

[Nick Stenning]

Dear all,

It is with much excitement, and not a little relief, that I announce the general availability of a first alpha release of Annotator v2.0.0.

"But Nick," I hear you cry. "How can it be the *first* alpha release when it says v2.0.0-alpha.*2*?"

Because life is hard and Father Christmas will only bring you presents if you behave. (Alternatively, because I mucked up the alpha.1 release. Believe what you prefer to believe.)

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This is an **early alpha release** of Annotator v2.0.0, which represents a major update from the v1.2.x release series. It's important to state clearly, with ringing bells and flashing lights, that this release has rough edges, missing features, and may in some rare circumstances cause harm to your pets and loved ones.

With that warning out of the way, here's a sampling of what you'll find in this release:

- a code base rewritten in plain JavaScript
- a dramatically improved extension architecture
- support for composing applications from all, some, or none of the default user interface
- support for asynchronous module hooks
- support for custom storage modules
- support for custom authorization and identity modules -- integrate Annotator with your own user database and permissions models

Some things didn't quite make it into this release, but we hope to get to them shortly:

- the Auth plugin -- if you use the Annotator v1.2.x Auth plugin you may wish to hold off on upgrading for now
- an Open Annotation-compatible storage component -- this will now probably appear in v2.1

The annotation format used by this release of Annotator is compatible with that used by v1.2.x, although you will need to update your code for the new version. For full upgrade guidelines [please see the documentation](https://annotator.readthedocs.org/en/latest/upgrading.html).

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How to get started?

1. Download [`annotator.min.js`](https://github.com/openannotation/annotator/releases/download/v2.0.0-alpha.2/annotator.min.js) from the [GitHub release page](https://github.com/openannotation/annotator/releases/tag/v2.0.0-alpha.2)
2. Consult [the documentation](https://annotator.readthedocs.org/en/latest/). If you are upgrading from Annotator v1.2.x be sure to read the [upgrading guide](https://annotator.readthedocs.org/en/latest/upgrading.html).

You can now also use Annotator from [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) using [browserify](http://browserify.org/). If you are familiar with browserify then something like the following should get you started:

    npm install annotator at 2.0.0-alpha.2
    npm install browserify
    browserify -r annotator -s annotator >annotator.min.js

---

Happy hacking! For those of you out here in San Francisco for I Annotate, Randall and I will both be around at the Fort Mason Centre tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday to help people who want to play with this early alpha.

Best,
Nick
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