Exciting times are here; the first public installer for the next major Joomla version (Joomla 3.0) was released this weekend. The STS (short term release) Joomla 3.0. It’s looking pretty sweet.
What’s new in Joomla 3.0?
- New more friendly Admin area
- Mobile friendly (both admin and frontend)
- Twitter Bootstrap for the UI and templates
- PostgreSQL support (In addition to the already supported MySQL and MSSQL)
Now here’s a surprise. Most 2.5 native modules and plugins will require only tiny changes to be made by their devs, so unlike the Joomla 1.6 release there will be a significant level of extensibility available. Components and templates are another matter, but in time template and extension developers get around to releasing updates for many of their products.
Just as a reminder the “current” releases for each of the major Joomla! versions are:
- Joomla 1.0 stream – 1.0.15 (this is way beyond end of life)
- Joomla 1.5 stream – 1.5.26 (reaching end of life any day now)
- Joomla 2.5 stream – 2.5.6 (the current Long Term Support Joomla version)
- Joomla 3.0 stream – 3.0 (the new STS version)
What version of Joomla should I use? Should I upgrade to Joomla 3.0?
Many will be asking the question of whether they should develop new sites using 2.5 or 3.0. 3.0 is a short term support version; this stream will not reach long term support until version 3.5 is released, and that will probably be a year from now (The fall of 2013) so the easy answer is:
Use Joomla 2.5 if:
- You do not need any of the new features added by 3.x
- You want a stable version of Joomla without having to make upgrades – security patches will be available for roughly two years
- You want the maximum compatibility with extensions4/ You are going to use commercial templates
Use Joomla 3.0 if:
- You are an early adopter or developer and want to play around and educate yourself about the new system
- You are a template or extension developer wanting to write new products for 3.0 or update existing ones.
- Really really need the new features available in 3.0 and are aware that support and extensions will be limited for the near future.
I’m not trying to put anyone off using Joomla 3.0. Quite the contrary, but do be aware that it is geared towards devs at the moment. I will be using it, but only for personal projects and testing purposes.
We will cover installing a new Joomla 3.0 site and migrating current sites to Joomla 3.0 in later posts.