docs(release): add release notes for Apache Answer 1.7.1 with SchemaForm enhancements and bug fixes

Author: LinkinStars

blog/answer-1.7.1-release/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+---
+date: 2025-12-22
+title: "Apache Answer 1.7.1: SchemaForm & Stability Enhancements"
+authors: [LinkinStar]
+category: Release
+featured: true
+image: 2025-12-22-cover@4x.png
+description: "This release focuses on SchemaForm behavior improvements, frontend input enhancements, engineering quality upgrades, and multiple important bug fixes."
+---
+
+We’re pleased to announce a **new Apache Answer release**!
+This version continues to refine the developer and user experience with improvements to **SchemaForm behavior**, **frontend input validation**, **engineering tooling**, and a number of **important bug fixes** that improve overall stability and correctness.
+
+As always, thank you to everyone in the community who contributed code, reviews, and feedback.
+
+---
+
+## ✨ New Features
+
+### SchemaForm Enhancements
+
+* **New**: SchemaForm Input values are always treated as strings ([#1425](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1425)) by [@shuashuai](https://github.com/shuashuai)
+  This change unifies input value handling and avoids type inconsistencies between frontend and backend logic, improving predictability for plugin developers.
+
+* **New**: `<input type="number">` now requires setting `min` / `max` values on the frontend when needed ([#1417](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1417)) by [@Dinesht04](https://github.com/Dinesht04)
+  Improves frontend validation by enforcing numeric boundaries earlier in the user input flow.
+
+---
+
+## 🚀 Improvements
+
+### Engineering & Code Quality
+
+* **Improve**: Add `golangci-lint` to the lint target with related formatting and cleanup ([#1437](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1437)) by [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+  Helps maintain consistent Go code style and catches potential issues earlier in development.
+
+* **Improve**: Bump `mockgen` to version 0.6.0 ([#1434](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1434)) by [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+  Keeps test tooling up to date and improves compatibility.
+
+* **Improve**: Internal refactor to compile regular expressions once instead of on each text-clean invocation ([#1430](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1430)) by [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+  Reduces unnecessary overhead and improves runtime performance.
+
+---
+
+## 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+### Admin & Core Functionality
+
+* **Fixed**: “Language file not found.” error when changing the timezone in admin settings ([#1427](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1427)) by [@LinkinStars](https://github.com/LinkinStars)
+
+* **Fixed**: 500 error when opening any question ([#1426](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1426)) by [@shuashuai](https://github.com/shuashuai) & [@LinkinStars](https://github.com/LinkinStars)
+
+* **Fixed**: Edited answers were not updated correctly after moderation ([#1423](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1423)) by [@LinkinStars](https://github.com/LinkinStars)
+
+* **Fixed**: Default-generated Q&A missing initial version information when edited after installation ([#1436](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1436)) by [@krypt0n123](https://github.com/krypt0n123)
+
+### Text Handling & Localization
+
+* **Fixed**: Multi-byte rune boundary issue when truncating long titles ([#1431](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1431)) by [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+
+* **Fixed**: Null pointer access in UI when branding retrieval fails ([#1433](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1433)) by [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+
+* **Fixed**: Correct language handler usage (`GetLangByCtx`) for accurate language detection ([#1444](https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1444)) by [@liruohrh](https://github.com/liruohrh)
+
+---
+
+## 🎨 Other Changes
+
+* **Footer UI adjustment**
+  The footer layout has been refined to reduce vertical space usage, resulting in a cleaner and more compact page layout.
+
+---
+
+## 🙌 Contributor Acknowledgments
+
+A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this release through code, reviews, testing, and feedback. Your efforts help keep Apache Answer reliable and continuously improving.
+
+Special thanks to the contributors (in alphabetical order):
+
+* [@Dinesht04](https://github.com/Dinesht04)
+* [@ferhatelmas](https://github.com/ferhatelmas)
+* [@krypt0n123](https://github.com/krypt0n123)
+* [@liruohrh](https://github.com/liruohrh)
+
+---
+
+**Upgrade now** to enjoy these improvements and fixes! If you encounter any issues, please report them on [GitHub](https://github.com/apache/answer/issues).
+
+Happy browsing! 🎉
+