"Some of the end-user features include: An easier, more robust installation (...) A new, more consistent default theme (...) A redesigned administration section (...) Sticky forms and renewing security tokens (...)
In addition to the user-facing changes, Elgg 1.8.0 also includes many features for developers, including: Standards compliant markup and improved CSS (...) A new menu system. 1.8.0 includes a new menu system that addresses multiple problems and limitations in previous versions of Elgg (...) A new JavaScript engine (...) A new plugin system (...) Standardized API (...) More robust river, metadata, and annotation API."