New features in Joomla 4
The next generation of Joomla is more user-friendly and even more powerful for developers.
Main features and benefits of Joomla 4
- Fast Joomla installation
The installation process is easy to use and quick. - Brand new user interfaces
The user interfaces in the backend and frontend have been significantly improved and made more efficient. For example, you can create a new post in the backend with just one mouse click. - Accessibility (Level AA of WCAG 2.1)
People with disabilities can use Joomla without any additional help. - Joomla just got more powerful
The performance of the Joomla framework has been integrated into the CMS. - New media manager
The media manager has been completely redesigned and, in addition to a clear user interface, now also includes new image processing functions. - New publishing workflow
Joomla 4 will include a new publishing workflow for managing articles in an advanced and customizable way. - New security functions
Joomla 4 will include new security features, such as support for "prepared SQL statements". - New web services
Joomla 4 will include new web services so that the content can be made available to other websites. - Extended event dispatch system
- Revised application for command line interface (CLI)
Joomla 4 includes a revised command line interface application (CLI). - And much more...
Comparison of Joomla 3 and Joomla 4
Bootstrap
Joomla 4: Integrated Bootstrap 5
Joomla 3: Integrated Bootstrap 2
CSS extension
Joomla 4: SASS
Joomla 3: LESS
Responsive design
Joomla 4: Uses CSS grid for better responsive layout
Joomla 3: Uses the responsive grid system from Bootstrap 2
Standard templates
Joomla 4: Cassiopeia für Frontend & Atum für Backend
Joomla 3: Beez3 & Protostar für Frontend sowie Isis für Backend
Dashboard menu
Joomla 4: Vertical
Joomla 3: Horizontal
Installation
Joomla 4: OnePage - Installation wth Ul/UX
Joomla 3: Three-step installation
Media manager
Joomla 4: 10 MB upload with editing functions
Joomla 3: 8 MB upload without editing functions
Technical requirements
Joomla 4:
PHP 7.2.5+
MySQL 5.6+
PostgreSQL 11+
Dropped SQL server support
Joomla 3:
PHP 5.3.10+
MySQL 5.1+
PostgreSQL 8.3.18+
SQL server support
Mootools & jQuery
Joomla 4: Mootools removed and instead of jQuery now Vanilla JS
Joomla 3: Supports Mootools and jQuery
Code base
Joomla 4: Further optimized, cleaner code with new technology jQuery3, VueJS
Joomla 3: Coding quality is now out of date
Security
Joomla 4: More security features, supports prepared SQL statement, increases the minimum software
Joomla 3: Security deficiencies and the need for permanent security updates
When will Joomla 4 be released?
Joomla! 4 Stable was released on August 17th, 2021.
Upgrade from Joomla 3 to 4
Joomla 4 is the next major release of Joomla.
Joomla 3.10 was released parallel to Joomla 4.0 as the last version of Joomla 3. Joomla 3.10 a bridge between the two major series to facilitate the transition to the next major release. The Joomla update component in version 3.10 is equipped with a new function, the "Pre-update Checker". This helps with the mini-migration process. As soon as the website is updated to 3.10, the Pre-Update Checker can be used to check the compatibility of the PHP and SQL options, settings and the extensions used with Joomla 4.0. This check is absolutely necessary! The upgrade to Joomla 4 should only be done if the compatibility is ensured.
Joomla 3.10 will continue to be supported for 2 years (August, 2023). This gives you the time you need to plan a migration to Joomla 4 and update extensions to become compatible with Joomla 4.0.
Documentation for Joomla 4
A number of tutorials have already been published to help you get started with Joomla 4. Additional tutorials should help you understand the most important changes in Joomla 4. You can find the tutorials at docs.joomla.org:
Developers in particular are encouraged to help write the Joomla 4 documentation to assist users and other extension developers.
A JDocs web page offers developers an overview of existing and required documentation. It is requested that you check and update these regularly and provide the missing content:
Recommended technical requirements for J4
PHP:
7.4 (at least PHP 7.2.5)
Supported databases:
MySQL (Inno DB support): 5.6+
Postgre SQL: 11+
SQL server support has been discontinued
Supported web servers:
Apache (with mod_mysql, mod_xml, mod_zlib, mod_rewrite): 2.4+
Nginx: 1.10+
Microsoft IIS: 8
Supported web browsers:
Browser up to version n-2
Internet Explorer is no longer supported in the backend
