V2

Author: Frooodle

docs/FAQ.md

@@ -39,15 +39,18 @@ All endpoints provide the same functionality.
 ### Q8: What's different in V2.0?
 
 V2.0 is a major frontend rewrite with significant improvements:
-- **Modern React Frontend**: Complete rewrite using React + TypeScript replacing the old Thymeleaf templates
+- **Modern React Frontend**: Complete rewrite using React + TypeScript replacing Thymeleaf
+- **Stateful Processing**: Upload PDFs once and chain multiple tools without reloading
+- **History & Undo**: Full undo/redo functionality and file versioning
 - **Better Performance**: Handles large PDFs (up to 100GB+) with improved memory management
-- **Stateful Processing**: Upload PDFs once and chain multiple tools without reloading files
-- **Client-Side Storage**: Uses IndexedDB for file persistence and thumbnail caching
+- **Client-Side Storage**: Files persist between tool switches using IndexedDB
 - **Native Desktop Apps**: Powered by Tauri for improved native experience
 - **Flexible Deployment**: Can deploy frontend and backend separately for better scalability
 
 The backend and API remain largely unchanged, so existing integrations continue to work.
 
+For a comprehensive overview of all changes and the reasoning behind V2.0, see [Getting Started - Welcome to V2.0](/).
+
 ### Q9: Can I customize the UI in V2.0 like I did in V1.5?
 
 No, the V1.5 `customFiles/` folder override system no longer works in V2.0 due to the React-based frontend.

docs/Getting Started.md

@@ -13,13 +13,73 @@ slug: /
 - **Open-Source:** Community-driven with frequent updates and GitHub support.
 - **Multi-Language Support:** Available in 38+ languages with active translations.
 
+## Welcome to Stirling-PDF V2.0
+
+We're excited to introduce Stirling-PDF V2.0 - a complete frontend rewrite that brings significant improvements to performance, user experience, and architecture.
+
+### Why V2.0?
+
+V1.5 served us well, but as Stirling-PDF grew in popularity and feature set, we identified key areas for improvement:
+- **Performance bottlenecks** with large PDFs and complex workflows
+- **Limited interactivity** due to server-side rendering (Thymeleaf)
+- **Scalability challenges** with the monolithic frontend/backend coupling
+- **User experience gaps** - no file history, no undo functionality, files had to be re-uploaded for each tool
+
+V2.0 addresses all of these limitations with a ground-up rewrite of the frontend.
+
 ### What's New in V2.0
-- **Modern React Frontend:** Complete rewrite with React + TypeScript for improved performance and user experience
-- **Stateful Document Processing:** Upload PDFs once and chain multiple tools without reloading
-- **Enhanced Performance:** Handles large PDFs (up to 100GB+) with improved memory management
-- **Client-Side File Storage:** IndexedDB for persistent file storage and thumbnail caching
-- **Improved Desktop Experience:** Native desktop apps powered by Tauri
-- **Flexible Deployment:** Separate frontend/backend deployment options for scalability
+
+#### 🎨 Modern React Frontend
+Complete rewrite using React + TypeScript with Mantine UI components for a more responsive and intuitive user experience.
+
+#### 🚀 Significantly Improved Performance
+- Handles extremely large PDFs (up to 100GB+) with optimized memory management
+- Client-side processing for faster operations
+- Background Web Workers for thumbnail generation
+- Smooth UI even with hundreds of files loaded
+
+#### 📁 Stateful Document Processing
+**This is a game-changer:** Upload your PDFs once, then chain multiple tools without reloading!
+- Split a PDF → View the results → Merge some pages → Compress → Download
+- Files persist between tool switches
+- No more re-uploading the same file for each operation
+
+#### ⏮️ History & Version Control
+- **Undo/Redo functionality** - Made a mistake? Just undo it!
+- **File versioning** - Keep track of changes as you process documents
+- **Preview before committing** - See the results before replacing your original file
+
+#### 💾 Client-Side File Storage
+- Files stored locally in your browser using IndexedDB
+- Automatic thumbnail caching for faster previews
+- Files persist across page refreshes
+- Privacy-first: Files stay on your device until you explicitly upload them to the server
+
+#### 🔀 Flexible Deployment Architecture
+- **Unified Mode (default):** Single container with both frontend and backend
+- **Split Mode:** Deploy frontend and backend separately for better scalability
+- **Backend-Only Mode:** Use Stirling-PDF as an API-only service
+- Load balance frontend and backend independently
+
+#### 🖥️ Enhanced Desktop Experience
+Native desktop applications powered by Tauri (replacing jcefmaven) for better performance and native OS integration.
+
+### What Stays the Same
+
+- **All existing features** - Every PDF tool from V1.5 is available in V2.0
+- **Backend API compatibility** - Existing integrations and scripts continue to work
+- **Configuration** - Same environment variables and settings.yml structure
+- **Docker deployment** - Same Docker images, same volume mounts (except customFiles)
+- **Security features** - SSO, user management, and permissions unchanged
+
+### Migration from V1.5
+
+For most users, upgrading to V2.0 is seamless:
+1. Pull the latest Docker image
+2. Restart your container
+3. That's it!
+
+**Note:** The V1.5 `customFiles/` template override system no longer works. See [UI Customisation](/Advanced%20Configuration/UI%20Customisation) for V2.0 customization options.
 
 Please feel free to request new features or report bugs through our [GitHub](https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/issues) or [Discord](https://discord.gg/Cn8pWhQRxZ).