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Joomla 5.0 Release Candidate - Test the final package

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Joomla 5.0 Release Candidate

The Joomla Project is pleased to announce the availability of the Joomla 5.0 Release Candidate for testing.

What is this release for?

There are two main goals for release candidates:

  • Providing developers with the basis to test their extensions and reporting any issues well before the final release
  • Allowing users to discover the new features introduced to Joomla  5.0

For a complete list of known backward compatibility issues for version  5.0, please see Potential backward compatibility issues in Joomla 5 on the documentation site.

What is this release NOT for?

This release candidate version of Joomla  5.0 is not suitable for production sites. It is for testing only.

Where to get it?

Download Joomla  5.0.0 Release Candidate

To always use the latest build of Joomla 5, we invite you to use the nightly build packages (updated every night).

When is the final release due?

Joomla! 5.0 (general availability) is due to be released on or about 17th October 2023. The planned milestones are:

Alpha releases

Where new features are added and many changes are made.

  • Alpha 1: 30th May 2023 - Done
  • Alpha 2: 27th June 2023 - Done
  • Alpha 3: 25th July 2023 - Done
  • Alpha 4: 22nd August 2023 - Done

Beta releases

In the Beta stage, we are making a freeze on what features can be added, but minor changes to what is already in can be made.

  • Beta 1: 5th September 2023 - Done
  • Beta 2: 19th September 2023 - Done
  • Beta 3: 26th September 2023 - Done

Release candidates

When in the release candidate phase, no more can be added or changed; we are testing and bug fixing, making the product stable for launch day.

  • Release candidate 1: 3rd October 2023 - This release
  • Final release: 17th October 2023

This whole process relies on people coming forward to help make it happen.

Please note that dates may be subject to change depending on the availability of volunteers and circumstances beyond our control.

What’s new in Joomla  5.0 Release Candidate?

  • The good news is that mostly small bug fixes has been merged into RC
  • Some speed improvements could be achieved by automatically optimizing the source code thanks to phpcs fixer.
  • Many improvements for the administrator dark mode style
  • Issue with session handling for error reporting has been resolved
  • Changes from Joomla 4.4

Already included from Alpha 1-4 and Beta1-3

  • New Colors for Backend
  • Add Welcome Tour
  • Event argument setters now use onSet callback
  • Solve JHtml and HTMLHelper b/c issues
  • Administrator Dark Mode improvements
  • Improved PHP 8+ compatibility
  • Webauthn library update
  • Bootstrap 5.3.2 update
  • All changes from 4.4
  • Stabilization & Cleanup
  • New dialog design improvements
  • Design improvements on dark mode for atum
  • Many improvements on cleanup and readability for the source code
  • Minimum nodejs version increased to 18.0
  • Workaround updating issues for System plugins using deprecated classes
  • Removed Wincache Support
  • Several custom implementation of scheduled tasks have been moved from system plugins to scheduler plugins (Log rotation, Update Notification, delete action logs, session garbage collection, Privacy constants)
  • Block and Unblock are now logged to the action log
  • Implemented public directory creation with CLI installer and CLI script #41446
  • Improved custom defines of JPATH constants
  • Confirm dialogs uses now the new Joomla modal window
  • Many Guided tour improvements
  • First implementation for Darkmode for Backend template done
  • TinyMCE 6.7 Update and image alignment implemented
  • Archived content can now be excluded from smart search indexing
  • Improved Web Installer
  • Sampledata improvements
  • ShowOn filter rules are now applied to custom fields
  • AVIF support for media manager
  • New Modal window added and used for most of our select buttons like (Article Select), new method uses postMessages for communication between iframe and main window
  • JSON document will no longer be forced to download #39397
  • Removed no longer working Recaptcha plugin also on update and and removed from core recaptcha invisible for now installations.
  • One-Time-Password field has now a proper autocomplete setting
  • Activated translation repository for Joomla 5
  • Schema.org implementation improvements
  • Smart search index now Contact images
  • Finally all Events have been migrated to own classes
  • Indexing Contact Images in Smart Search
  • Convert of events from simple events to event classes
  • Introducing a new Joomla modal dialog replacing Boostrap dialog
  • Toolbar is now available in HTMLDocument
  • CodeMirror is now used in tinymce again
  • Deprecation fixes for php 8.2
  • Many improvements to Schema.org implementation
  • JS Import map Support for Web Asset Manager
  • Remove es5 support #39618
  • Add the possibility serving Joomla from a public folder #40509
  • Allow custom modules for error messages in cassiopeia and default template
  • Internal code restructure to use more modern APIs
  • Tinymce 6.1
  • Fontawesome 6.4
  • Webauthn Library has been updated
  • Many Smart Search improvements (Debugging, Additional Taxonomy options, Indexing custom fields)
  • Codemirror 6 #41070
  • Backward Compatibility Plugin #40664
  • Allow to order the Backend Menu #38149
  • And many more!

 

We are firmly committed to making the next generation of Joomla the best.

What are the plans for Joomla  5.0?

Currently, we’re at the start of the journey of Joomla!  5.0. With Joomla! 5.0 as a new major version we plan to create a cleaned-up foundation for the future of Joomla!. There are several projects which, with your help, could become part of Joomla!  5.0, if they are release-ready by Joomla  5.0 Beta:

  • Update the system requirements to PHP 8.1 & MySQL 8.0.13+, MariaDB 10.4+ and PostgreSQL 12+
  • Bootstrap 5.3
  • Codemirror 6
  • B/C plugin for deprecations - #40664
  • Heavily code cleanups - Check PRs

To learn more about our development strategy, please read this article.

How can you help Joomla  5.0 to develop?

To help ensure the  5.0 release and our major features are “production-ready”, we need your help testing releases and reporting any bugs you may find at issues.joomla.org.

Most of all, we encourage extension developers to roll up their sleeves, seek out bugs and test their extensions with Joomla  5.0 and communicate their experience.

Where can I find documentation about Joomla 5?

There are some tutorials to help you with Joomla 4. You can find the existing ones, like creating a Plugin or a Module for Joomla 4, namespaces conventions, prepared statements, using the new web asset classes and many more in https://docs.joomla.org/Category:Joomla!_5.x

We encourage developers to help write the documentation about Joomla 5 on docs.joomla.org to help and guide users and other extension developers.

A JDocs page will help developers to see the existing documentation and the documentation still needed.

We invite you to check it regularly, update it and provide the missing content: https://docs.joomla.org/JDOC:Joomla_4_Tutorials_Project

Related information

If you are an extension developer, please make sure you subscribe to the general developer mailing list, where you can discuss extension development. News that may affect custom development will also be posted there from time to time.

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