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 993 members now. Hopefully one of you will be number 1,000!
Join the Joomlashack group on Facebook
Shack Forms Import and Export
Shack Forms 5.1 is out. It cleans up all the bugs that were reported after the first release for Joomla 4. There's also a new export and import feature for forms.
See more about importing and exporting Shack Forms
Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics Together in Joomla
We've heard from Joomla users who plan to run both Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics on their site at the same time. This is a perfectly valid approach, and will make for a smooth handover. In this guide, I'll show you how to run both versions on your site.
Read More about Google Analytics 4 and Joomla
Joomla 4 Extension Development Book
Astrid Guenther's book for Joomla 4 Extension Development is on Amazon. Ignore the bad review (they just didn't like the paper copy), and the Kindle version is only $2.99. It's definitely worth three dollars if you're interested in Joomla 4 development:
Find out more about Astrid's book
Video: Joomla 4 Error Reporting
Tim Davis explains that error reporting has changed in Joomla 4. Tim shows us what has changed and why it is important:
Creating a Joomla Spinner in SVG
Dimitris Grammatiko has created a Joomla logo spinner using pure SVG:
This is the kind of thing you might see on a loading screen. Click for more details on CSS animated spinners.
See Dimitris' SVG spinner for Joomla
Common Mistakes in Joomla 4 Plugins
This is one for the developers: Nick from Akeeba talks about writing Joomla 4 plugins. He shows four major mistakes you can make in five lines of code:
Nick's guide to common mistakes and how to avoid them
Joomla Command Line Interface, Part 1
We have two articles this month on the Command-Line Interface (CLI) in Joomla 4. Both are excellent articles by Brendan Hedges. This article starts at the beginning, explains what a CLI is, and goes from there:
Read more about the Joomla 4 CLI
Joomla Command Line Interface, Part 2
Here is the other article from Brendan Hedges: "Joomla 4.1 has an effective command line interface. On a mac its just a couple of commands in terminal to access it on your server."
See Brendan's introduction to the Joomla 4 CLI
Quantum Manager is Ready for Joomla 4
Congrats to Eugene and his team on the release of a really useful Joomla 4 extension: "Meet Quantum Manager 2.0 for both Joomla 3 and Joomla 4! This release comes with extra new features, a lot of improvements and some bug fixes."
More about Quantum Manager 2.0
Question about Language Switchers
This request for advice appears in the Joomlashack Facebook group and got some great answers: "Has anyone used a language switcher extension utilizing Google translate on their site that they like? I was just going to start searching the JED for options, but I'd like feedback on any real world experience using one."
Read the conversation about language switchers
Email Beautifier is Ready for Joomla 4
Congrats to Parth Lawate and Ashwin Date on the release of Email Beautifier for Joomla 4. We use this plugin on Joomlashack and it's very helpful in making the standard system emails look good:
See Parth and Ashwin's introduction to Email Beautifier
Videos: Joomla 4 Introduction
I came across a new YouTube channel called "Kevin's Guides". He has a series of videos that do a good job of introducing Joomla 4 across four videos. It might be a good place to point your Joomla clients or newcomers:
Watch the Joomla 4 Beginner Videos
Joomla 4.3 Will Arrive in August
Joomla 4 is moving ahead. There's a beta version of Joomla 4.3, which is due to be released in August:
Get the beta version of Joomla 4.3
JoomlaDay Germany / Austria / Switzerland
Tickets are on sale now for JoomlaDay Germany / Austria / Switzerland in September. This will be an in-person event:
Visit the website for JoomlaDay DACH
Estimated Reading Time Plugin
Last but not least is a new plugin from Carlos Cámara: "This Joomla! plugin shows the estimated reading time of your articles just below the title and allows you to include a reading progress bar indicating how much of the article the reader has already read."