Joomla 3.5 - Everything you need to know

It's evident that with the release of Joomla! 3.5, developers of this CMS can take a slight breather, having reached a milestone where they can firmly establish themselves. It's truly a stable version, and not just because the version number happens to be a round one.

Let's recall the leaps developers had to make before, like the transition from version 2.5 to 3.0! This time, the Joomla team revisited their approach to the development cycle. More frequent releases undoubtedly bore fruit by the time they released this stable version.

One can notice a large number of updates and a more streamlined core version. Furthermore, the developers spent a considerable amount of time ensuring backward compatibility not just for the core system. They couldn't ignore the vast number of plugins released recently and did everything to maintain the functionality of all tools and extensions in the new version.

PHP 7 Support

Joomla 3.5 improvements include full support for the new PHP 7. Judging by the version number, PHP is undoubtedly poised to revolutionize web development. Following Microsoft's trend, it's currently very fashionable to skip versions, and the PHP team decided to jump from version 5.6 to 7.

Beginning with PHP 4, the community advanced the PHPNG project (PHP Next-Gen), aiming to make the language even faster and lessen the server load, aligning with the 2010 web technology trends. According to PHP, they've achieved certain successes. If in PHP 5.6 processing a typical web app request required the CPU to perform 100 million iterations, now, in PHP 7, the same task requires only 25 million iterations for the CPU.

Of course, one shouldn't expect that after updating to PHP 7, the server load will decrease precisely fourfold. Many factors directly or indirectly influence this. However, the main advantage is that this optimization will be achieved without needing to modify the existing code. Undoubtedly, it's a strong incentive for an administrator to upgrade to Joomla 3.5 and PHP 7.

New Features in Joomla 3.5

The recent development cycles can be characterized not by the term "revolution" but "evolution". From version to version, each update brought a certain number of additions, but the primary objective was to create a more flexible and extensible CMS.

Of course, it's not to say that in Joomla! 3.5 one would find any significant innovations after spending a few days exploring this version. However, it's essential to appreciate the numerous fixes and minor improvements that developers painstakingly incorporated.

TinyMCE and Image Upload via Drag&Drop

The first thing to note is the TinyMCE editor and the ability to upload images using Drag&Drop (dragging an image with the mouse cursor). This is an extremely convenient way to upload images, allowing you to upload images from a computer folder directly into the article you're editing.

Experienced Joomla users will remember the capabilities of the default media manager, but now, thanks to these new features, the article writing process is greatly simplified: while editing, simply grab the desired image and drag it into the TinyMCE editor's editing area, place it where you'd like it to appear, and the image will automatically be uploaded to the server and effortlessly take its place within your article.

It's important to highlight some aspects of the Drag&Drop functionality. Uploading images using Drag&Drop will place the images in the root directory of Joomla, and it's important to make the necessary adjustments and determine the right directory for this task. Despite the simplicity and speed of uploading images in this manner, it will take some time, depending on the size of the image and internet speed, to upload the file. Wait until the progress indicator at the top of the screen reaches its final value and turns green; a red color might indicate that something went wrong and the image wasn't uploaded to the server. It's not possible to upload files with the same name; in such cases, an error will be returned. Developers have promised to address this issue in future versions, renaming duplicate names. Remember, you can always upload the traditional way through the media manager.

New Email Plugin

Despite the fact that major updates, like Joomla 3.5, happen only once or twice a year, it doesn't mean there aren't minor updates. There's a continuous flow of updates, with developers compelled to release them after discovering critical bugs or security vulnerabilities, otherwise hackers and malicious actors could exploit them and gain access to websites.

Currently, this information is conveyed to website administrators via the admin panel, but this is changing. In the new version, all superusers of the site will receive email notifications about the need to perform updates; the body of the email will also contain a URL, which can be followed to start the CMS update process.

Remember, it's crucial to timely update your Joomla installation to the most current version. Only your vigilance can ensure the safety of your website and its content. Don't give malicious actors a chance!

Direct Links to the Frontend and Backend of the Site

Many have noticed that when accessing the admin panel, there is an element at the bottom of the page showing the number of visitors and administrators, new messages, and a link to the main page of the site. This area has seen minimal changes and has added an element "Show Admin" - a link that will lead you to the administrative panel, and "View Site" - a link, as one might guess, that leads to the main page of the site.

This is a small, yet quite convenient update for administrators who find it convenient to jump between site pages and Joomla 3.5 template and extension settings. The link remains clickable at all times, even if you are configuring any component. You can follow the link and then come back to finish the configuration.

By default, "Show Admin" is disabled. To activate it, you need to go to the admin panel, navigate to Extensions → Modules and adjust the settings for the corresponding module.

Additional Counters

Joomla! 3.5 includes a multitude of counters for articles, banners, contacts, and newsfeed feeds, making the process of tracking elements easier.

Let's delve into the details! For example, on the Content → Categories page, you can see a list of categories with columns for access level, order number, and language. In the new version, to the existing counters, the following will be added: the number of published, unpublished, archived for each of the articles.

This innovation will allow assessing the effectiveness of content managers and will make their results more understandable.

Anonymous Data Collection

Everyone is deeply concerned about their online privacy, and many are alarmed when information about them might be sent somewhere. Companies like Google and Facebook routinely collect such information, and users are extremely concerned about this. Joomla collects exclusively technical information and does so anonymously. Rest assured, the Joomla team knows what they are doing.

The truth is, developers need to know the PHP version, type and version of the DBMS, the operating system, and other technical information. However, they do not require any personal data of site users and administrators. This information assists developers in future updates.

Remember, no information can be sent without your consent, so after the installation, you will receive a message asking you to confirm consent for anonymous statistics sending. Refusing won't prevent you from using Joomla and will not affect its functionality. If you're uncertain about the risks and can't decide immediately, you can always change this setting later through the admin panel.

Once again, the data sent is purely statistical and in no way identifies the site content or its users.

What Else Should You Know?

There are many updates that you'd like to "touch" sooner, but it's essential to know about the main fixes and features of the new platform version, which helped make Joomla more stable.

Veterans remember how challenging the transition from version 1.7 to 2.5 was. The new development approach, adopted since version 3.3, aims to fully maintain backward compatibility without any surprises. The only point: to ensure compatibility with PHP 7, the String class had to be renamed to StringHelper. This is the sole and necessary measure that deviated from the principles.

One of the long-awaited updates is the new URL router (URL routing). The fact is that this functionality hasn't changed since the first version of Joomla, and many administrators expected to see this update in Joomla! 3.5. Although the code is ready, this feature will only be seen in version 3.6, as there wasn't enough time to conduct proper testing. A bit more patience is needed, and we must wait for the next version's release.

Templates

As mentioned above, all functionality is fully backward-compatible, including templates. Don't worry, after the update, the appearance of your site won't change immediately. But when can we expect new templates, specifically adapted for version 3.5?

We managed to find out that many developers are already closely working on Joomla 3.5 templates. We can be confident that, in the near future, we'll see numerous templates that will harness the entire new functionality of the CMS.

Of course, the first to appear online will be the well-known templates, adapted specifically for version 3.5. Check with the developer of your template about the release date of its new version; there's a high probability that they are already finalizing it.