Thanks for using Joomla and Joomlashack.
Every month we post a round-up of news from around the Joomla community.
We've posted all of these updates, plus a lot more in the Joomlashack Facebook group, so join if you want daily Joomla updates. We have over 1,000 members now!
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Smart Search and Joomlashack Extensions
In July, we spent some time updating our extensions to use the new Smart Search feature in Joomla 4. Both OSDownloads and Shack Locations have new releases with Smart Search integration. In the next couple of months, OSCampus and JCal Pro will both be available for Joomla 4 and they'll be ready for Smart Search too.
See more about Smart Search in Joomlashack extensions
What Are the Plans for Joomla 5?
This article introduces the initial plans for Joomla 5.0. I've picked three highlights but there's a while lot more in this post:
- The most important “feature” is removing deprecated code.
- Increase the minimum PHP version to 8.1.
- For Joomla 4, they planned multi-domain functionality, but decided to move this feature to a later version. Now with Joomla 5.0, the time could be right.
Read about the initial plans for Joomla 5
Using Joomla's new Task Scheduler with Nick from Akeeba
Nick from Akeeba gave a video presentation showing how to automate tasks using Joomla 4’s new Task Scheduler feature and his own Akeeba extensions:
Easy Shortcodes is Ready for Joomla 4
Easy Shortcodes is a plugin we've used frequently at Joomlashack. It allows you to use macros. It's an updated version of the old RokCandy from Rockettheme. We use this extension to put code (iframe, icons) in places they wouldn't normally go such as menu links.
Click here to see more about Easy Shortcodes
Video: Tim Davis Introduces Hikashop in Joomla 4
I know some of you are still looking for eCommerce options in Joomla 4. In this video, Tim introduces the new version of Hikashop which he is using with a Joomla 4 client.
Meet the Joomla Security Team
This is a neat introduction to the five members of Joomla's security team. The team writes patches for security issues, reviews new code, and helps keep Joomla.org safe:
Read more about the Joomla security team
How Does Joomla 4 Handle Overrides?
I have seen the new "Overrides to check" feature in Joomla 4 but didn't fully understand it before reading this article. Thanks to Astrid Guenther for a detailed introduction to how Joomla 4 handles overrides:
Read more about the Joomla 4 overrides system
Joomla 4.3 Has New Release Managers
Congratulations to Olivier Buisard and Shirelle Williams for stepping up as the Release Managers for Joomla 4.3. It's great to see new faces leading Joomla development.
See the report that introduces Olivier and Shirelle
Video: How to Create Versions for Modules
In this new Tim Davis video, you can see how to have module versions in Joomla 4, in the same way that you can have article versions. Tim is testing an extension called "ModuleVersion" from R2H.
Watch Tim's video on ModuleVersion
TechFry: A New Source of Joomla Tutorials
I hadn't found TechFry before, but it has some useful Joomla development tutorials. They just published a new guide for Joomla 4.1 and the new Task Scheduler feature:
Check out the new tutorial on using Task Scheduler
Keyboard Shortcuts in Joomla 4
If you use keyboard shortcuts when building websites, Peter from Regular Labs has just updated his "Keyboard Shortcuts" extension for Joomla 4. There will also be some shortcuts available in the Joomla core with the release of 4.2 this month.
See more about the new Joomla 4.2 keyboard shortcuts
Video: Improving the Joomla Editing Experience
Rod Martin has a new video for OSTraining. When you hand off that new Joomla 3 or 4 site to a client and they edit an article for the first time, more often than not they are overwhelmed by the WYSIWYG editor's couple dozen buttons. Why not give them a toolbar with just what they need? You can do that in just a few clicks with Joomla Content Editor.