Joomla 4 - Release date, new templates, features and download
The project for developing Joomla 4 has started way back in 2016, bearing the hope of a revolutionary version for Joomla. In the present time, Joomla 4 is on the horizon.
To keep you up to date with this new version. This article will contain everything you need to know about Joomla 4.0 version.
- When is the release date?
- Why Joomla 3.10 is important?
- How can I download Joomla 4?
- What are the requirements for installation?
- What are the new features in this version?
- What are the new templates?
- JoomlaShine’s plan with Joomla 4
- Experience Joomla 4 demo
When is Joomla 4 release date?
Till now, there are only the RC3 version has been released with its latest version come out on 29th June 2021: Joomla 4.0 RC3.
According to Joomla.org, the final release date of Joomla 4.0 is still determined. To be specific, The Joomla 4 RC 4 will be released in early July 2021 and the stable version will be expected at the end of 2021. This is great news for Joomla community when we can finally experience the better version of Joomla 4.
Since Joomla is a community-based CMS, so if you want to have a closer look at the process of developing Joomla 4, you can visit their Github project.
Why Joomla 3.10 is important to Joomla 4?
Joomla 3.10 is a minor update version of Joomla 3.9 where it will become a bridge to upgrade to Joomla 4.0.
It will contain backports of API changes from the 4.0 development branch to help ease the transition to the next major release for the community. Joomla 3.10 and 4.0 will be released simultaneously.
Therefore, we can guess the Joomla 3.10 stable version will also be released at the end of 2019.
However, you can try out the Nightly Build version of Joomla 3.10 which has been updated on 16th June 2019. This version is for testing purpose only and you can compare to the stable versions during the process experience.
How can I download Joomla 4?
At present, you can download the latest Joomla 4 version from the link below. For future versions, you can check it out here.
Joomla Alpha 12 will be the final alpha version of Joomla 4
Right now, you could try Joomla 4 demo in local hosting with simple installation steps.
What are the requirements for installation?
The system requirements have been updated as follows:
- PHP 7 +
- MySQL 5.5.3 +
- PostgreSQL 9.2 +
- SQL Server support has been dropped.
Joomla no longer supports using PHP's ext/MySQL driver (which was removed in PHP 7.0). Joomla will automatically try and use the MySQL extension (available since PHP 5.3) or the MySQL PDO driver (available since PHP 5.3) else it will fail to create a database connection. If you plan to use Joomla in the future, it's time to update your site. Start with updating PHP
For more details, have a look at this article: Potential backward compatibility issues in Joomla 4
Read more: Joomla 4 vs Joomla 3 - What is the difference?
What are the new features of this version?
Since it’s the next major version, Joomla 4 is packed with many new and useful features. These changes mostly aim to enhance the system performance and revamp UI/UX design, making this version more convenient to use. Joomla is widely known as hard for a new user, so the development team makes sure to change this thought in this version.
This are the summary of these changes:
- More powerful and much cleaner codebase. This new version will remove any outdated functions from the previous version. Moreover, Joomla developer will love the new use of PHP namespaces, it will allow you to bring more robust extensions, components to the version.
- Remove jQuery from the core.
- Install Joomla 4 within a minute. Very fast and simple installation process.
- Brand new backend and frontend template. If you have familiar with and love the WordPress backend admin, Joomla 4 is for you.
- Using Bootstrap 4. Neat!
- Joomla Framework's power has been merged into the CMS
- Rebuilt Media Manager with a cleaner UI and better UX (new image editing capabilities).
- A new Publishing Workflow to manage your articles in an advanced and customizable way.
- New security features: support for prepared SQL statements.
- An enhanced event dispatching system.
- Reworked Application for Command Line Interface (CLI)
- And many more!
(According to joomla.org)
Read more: Joomla 4.0 new publishing workflow: A step-by-step guide
Joomla 4 new templates
We can finally say goodbye to Breeze 3 and Protostar front-end template and isis template in the backend.
Let say welcome to Joomla 4 new front-end template: Cassiopeia and new backend template: Atum.
New front end template: Cassiopeia
Continuing the space theme (SolarFlare from 1.0, MilkyWay from 1.5, and Protostar from 3.0), Cassiopeia is the Joomla 4 site template based on Bootstrap 4.
At first look, the template design still somewhat reflects its predecessor. However, the design is much lean and has adapted the modern style. Even without a 3rd-party template, you still can make a good-looking and professional site.
Read more: Joomla 4 template Cassiopeia - 6 things you need to know
New back end template: Atum
Continuing the Egyptian god/goddess theme (Khepri from 1.5, Hathor from 1.6, Isis from 3.0), Atum is the Joomla 4 administrator template based on Bootstrap 4.
The backend user interface looks very promising even when we are still on the RC 3 version. Easy to notice that the menu bar has been changed from horizontal to vertical. The admin panel looks more logical and easy to understand.
Read more: The outstanding enhancement in Joomla 4 Amin template: Atum
If you want to know more about the current status of Joomla 4 backend template, you could watch this presentation of JoomlaDay Florida 2019: "Joomla 4 Backend Horizon" by Elisa Fotyn, the lead designer of Joomla team.
JoomlaShine’s plan with Joomla 4
As in our previous blog, we are planning in detail what we are working to prepare for Joomla 4. Here is the summary:
- Make JoomlaShine product compatible with Joomla 4
- Launch Joomla 4 Update Service
- Making Joomla 4 tutorials and Joomla 4.x Made Easy eBook
- Keep you update with Joomla 4
Try JoomlaShine premium templates
The top priority of JoomlaShine is to make sure all of our products compatible with Joomla 4.
8. Experience Joomla 4 demo
For you to experience all the changes in Joomla 4 to the fullest, we have built a Joomla 4 demo site with all the latest features. We hope with this demo site, you could easily get to know with the Joomla latest version without any installation trouble and be totally well prepared for upcoming changes. Or if you prefer to try out this version in localhost, you could see this Joomla 4 installation guide.
We will update these information constantly. So, keep in touch with us to read the latest news around Joomla 4!
![[Infographic inside] Joomla 4 vs Joomla 3 - What’s the difference?](http://www.joomlashine.com/images/easyblog_articles/875/b2ap3_medium_Joomla-4-vs-3.jpg)
