Joomla 5 will be released in October 2023. I hear you thinking "But my website has only been migrated to Joomla 4, do I have to start over again?". I will answer that question in this article.
What's new in Joomla 5?
Oh no, not again...
Joomla 4.0 was released 2 years ago (August 17, 2021), after 6 years of development and endless discussions among ourselves. Migrating from Joomla 3 to 4 was somewhat easier than, for example, from version 2.5 to 3, but it still took a lot of time and effort to transfer everything neatly. One thing was immediately clear. We don't want this again. So a plan has been made that a completely new version will be released every 2 years. Keeping the timeframe short would also reduce the step between versions, making upgrading a lot easier.
Can I upgrade from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5 with 1 push of a button?
It would be great if I could immediately say YES to that question, but the answer here depends on your hosting party and the installed extensions.
To start with the hosting party. This must support the following things:
PHP: 8.1+
Database: MySQL 8.0.11+, MariaDB 10.4+ or PostgreSQL 12+
In many cases this will not be a problem, although I see several parties that do not yet offer this. Is it not possible with your hosting party? Then perhaps it is time to look further and move your website to another hosting.
Then, your extensions.
My advice here is to install as few extensions as possible. Much can be done within Joomla itself without using extensions. And if you install anything, only do so from known/active developers.
If the extensions work on Joomla 4 (with PHP8.1 or higher), there is a good chance that it will also work on Joomla 5. If the extension contains code that is only suitable for Joomla 3, then it may be possible. that this will produce an error message.
But something has been devised for this, a Compatibility plugin, which ensures that this error message is circumvented. More information about this below.
So can you upgrade with 1 push of a button? Most likely yes.
Many new possibilities
This release brings many code improvements and cleanups, as well as a number of options and new capabilities. In this article I will show you the most important changes.
For a complete list of all changes, check Joomla's public Github repository.
Backward Compatibility - Behavioral Plugin
If you are using extensions that do not use current Joomla coding standards, this plugin, if enabled, will provide backward compatibility with the previous major version. This plugin is automatically activated when you upgrade from Joomla 4 to 5. You can disable this plugin yourself and check whether the website still works properly. Ultimately, your website will need to be able to work without this plugin if you need to move to Joomla 6 in the future. If you have extensions that cannot function without this plugin, please contact the developer. This plugin is disabled with a new installation of Joomla 5.
Installation progress bar
The current installation is quite opaque when it comes to the actual installation on the server. There is no real progress indicator, nor is it clear what Joomla does during installation. The moving Joomla logo during installation has therefore been replaced by a progress bar.
Installation progress bar in Joomla 5
Administrator template in Dark Mode
If you use a dark mode on your device, the Joomla 5 administrator template will automatically adjust. It will look like this.
(The colors will probably be adjusted in the next Beta version)
Joomla 5 admin panel in dark mode
More fonts in Cassiopeia
If you use the standard Joomla template Cassiopeia, you can now select more fonts. These are system fonts and therefore do not use Google Fonts or other external services. These fonts can be used as Heading and/or Body text.
The error page for the 403 and 404 pages can now be fully customized.
To do this, create a new module and place it in the position error-403 or error-404.
Joomla 5 - 404 error module
And on the website it looks like this.
New 404 error page in Joomla 5
It is useful if you use this page to send people to the correct page with links, a contact form, etc.
Allow Joomla to be loaded from a public folder
In Joomla 5, it is possible to load the website from a public folder, a subfolder in the root. In this folder you will find an index.php, an administrator/index.php and an api/index.php with a few helper files and symlinks. The other files from your Joomla installation can be found in a parent folder.
Public folder - Joomla installation
An advantage of this method of installation (which is currently only possible via the CLI) is that all parent folders and files are protected and can only be executed by Joomla itself. This makes your installation less vulnerable to malware and hackers.
In the video below, Dimitris Grammatikogiannis takes you through the installation.
Rich Snippets - schema.org implementation
Search engine robots like Google's use structured data to generate rich snippets. Currently, Joomla! a rich snippet generation feature, but it uses inline microdata that is difficult to modify from the backend because it is hardcoded in the HTML.
Joomla 5 allows adding and configuring structured data through the Joomla backend, simplifying the optimization of website content for search engines and improving website visibility in search results.
To start, enter the general (company) details in the System plugin - Schema.org
Joomla 5 System plugin Schema
There is also a Schema tab for articles.
In this tab you can choose a type. You can choose from: BlogPosting, Book, Event, Vacancy, Organization, Person, Recipe. Depending on your choice, the schema.org fields will now be shown, such as (for recipe) preparation time, preparation, kitchen, diet, instructions, ingredients, etc. The information entered is not visible on the website for visitors but is only intended as an structured data for the search engines. The result may look like this on the search engine:
Joomla 5 Schema markup frontend
Search in Custom Fields
Finally! Custom Fields is one of the most powerful applications within Joomla and you can now search in these custom fields. To do this, you must indicate per field whether you can search or filter on the entered values. You do this in the options of the field.
You can choose from:
Do not search
Make searchable
Add as taxonomy (filter within smart search)
Make searchable and add as taxonomy
After that, you need to re-index the smart search results.
Searchable:
Joomla 5 - Search in custom fields
Taxonomy:
Joomla 5 - Custom fields taxonomy
Photos of contacts in search results
In the (smart) search results it was already possible to show the intro images of articles, now you can also add the photos of contacts to the search results.
Hide/show archived articles in search results
The Smart Search - Content plugin includes a new option to show or hide archived articles in the search results.
SQL field adjustment
The SQL custom field is expanded with a header. This text is used to select no value.
Joomla 5 - SQL field
Adjust menu order in the sidebar
You have always been able to adjust the menu items to your wishes, but now it is also possible to move an entire menu. This is especially useful when you use many different menus. In this video by Brian Teeman you can see how this works.
Joomla 5 - Menu item ordering
Fontawesome 6 in Joomla 5
The icons used in the administrator have been converted from Fontawesome 5 to 6. As a result, they may look slightly different. The icons that differ greatly, such as the dashboard icon in the left menu, have been replaced by homemade SVG files.
300 characters for meta description
In Joomla 4, a limitation was imposed on the meta description of 160 characters, the remaining text was hard truncated. This was done because Google uses approximately 160 characters. Some users had difficulty with this limitation, so the number of characters was increased to 300 characters. Personally, I would stick to the 160 characters, although you can now deviate a little more.
Code mirror 6
The Codemirror text editor has been updated from version 5.65.12 to 6.0.0
TinyMCE editor 6.7
The default TinyMCE text editor has been updated to version 6.7. This makes it look a bit more modern and uses the latest options.
Joomla 5 - TinyMCE editor 6.7
Align images in TinyMCE
Based on users feedback, the ability to add "Left, Right & Center" alignment for images using the tinymce image button has been added. This way you don't use inline styles. In this video by Brian Teeman you can see how this works.
Joomla 5 - TinyMCE images align
Password requirements in profile page
The user can change his password via the profile page on the website. In Joomla 5 you can now see the minimum password requirements and you will see the indicator whether your entered password meets these requirements.
Joomla 5 - Passwords requirements
User column rights
In the screen for user rights of a specific user, 5 columns have been removed due to a smart adjustment. This concerns "website login", "management login", "web services login", "offline access" and "Super user". This information has been moved to the top of the table. Because these settings apply to all options, it was not necessary to display these columns in their entirety.
Joomla 5 - User column rights
Action Logs
The following functions have been added to the action logs
User creates new custom field
User edits custom field
User is blocked
Users will be unblocked
user not found
When an author/user is removed from the website, you will see the message "user x not found". This error message is hidden from Joomla 5.0. It is not the case that an article is linked to another user, so technically an author is still missing.
WebAuthn is renamed to Passkey
"WebAuthn" is generic and confusing to end users. Passkeys are expected to become the standard way to log in. Microsoft, Apple and Google have already started offering passkey-only login to their services. Joomla will therefore also use this term.
AVIF support in media manager
Avif files (an alternative to WebP) can now also be uploaded in Joomla's media manager.
This article is an authorized translation of Wat is nieuw in Joomla 5? written by Jeroen Moolenschot.
Joomla 5 will be released in October 2023. I hear you thinking "But my website has only been migrated to Joomla 4, do I have to start over again?". I will answer that question in this article.
What's new in Joomla 5?
Oh no, not again...
Joomla 4.0 was released 2 years ago (August 17, 2021), after 6 years of development and endless discussions among ourselves. Migrating from Joomla 3 to 4 was somewhat easier than, for example, from version 2.5 to 3, but it still took a lot of time and effort to transfer everything neatly. One thing was immediately clear. We don't want this again. So a plan has been made that a completely new version will be released every 2 years. Keeping the timeframe short would also reduce the step between versions, making upgrading a lot easier.
Can I upgrade from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5 with 1 push of a button?
It would be great if I could immediately say YES to that question, but the answer here depends on your hosting party and the installed extensions.
To start with the hosting party. This must support the following things:
PHP: 8.1+
Database: MySQL 8.0.11+, MariaDB 10.4+ or PostgreSQL 12+
In many cases this will not be a problem, although I see several parties that do not yet offer this. Is it not possible with your hosting party? Then perhaps it is time to look further and move your website to another hosting.
Then, your extensions.
My advice here is to install as few extensions as possible. Much can be done within Joomla itself without using extensions. And if you install anything, only do so from known/active developers.
If the extensions work on Joomla 4 (with PHP8.1 or higher), there is a good chance that it will also work on Joomla 5. If the extension contains code that is only suitable for Joomla 3, then it may be possible. that this will produce an error message.
But something has been devised for this, a Compatibility plugin, which ensures that this error message is circumvented. More information about this below.
So can you upgrade with 1 push of a button? Most likely yes.
Many new possibilities
This release brings many code improvements and cleanups, as well as a number of options and new capabilities. In this article I will show you the most important changes.
For a complete list of all changes, check Joomla's public Github repository.
Backward Compatibility - Behavioral Plugin
If you are using extensions that do not use current Joomla coding standards, this plugin, if enabled, will provide backward compatibility with the previous major version. This plugin is automatically activated when you upgrade from Joomla 4 to 5. You can disable this plugin yourself and check whether the website still works properly. Ultimately, your website will need to be able to work without this plugin if you need to move to Joomla 6 in the future. If you have extensions that cannot function without this plugin, please contact the developer. This plugin is disabled with a new installation of Joomla 5.
Installation progress bar
The current installation is quite opaque when it comes to the actual installation on the server. There is no real progress indicator, nor is it clear what Joomla does during installation. The moving Joomla logo during installation has therefore been replaced by a progress bar.
Installation progress bar in Joomla 5
Administrator template in Dark Mode
If you use a dark mode on your device, the Joomla 5 administrator template will automatically adjust. It will look like this.
(The colors will probably be adjusted in the next Beta version)
Joomla 5 admin panel in dark mode
More fonts in Cassiopeia
If you use the standard Joomla template Cassiopeia, you can now select more fonts. These are system fonts and therefore do not use Google Fonts or other external services. These fonts can be used as Heading and/or Body text.
The error page for the 403 and 404 pages can now be fully customized.
To do this, create a new module and place it in the position error-403 or error-404.
Joomla 5 - 404 error module
And on the website it looks like this.
New 404 error page in Joomla 5
It is useful if you use this page to send people to the correct page with links, a contact form, etc.
Allow Joomla to be loaded from a public folder
In Joomla 5, it is possible to load the website from a public folder, a subfolder in the root. In this folder you will find an index.php, an administrator/index.php and an api/index.php with a few helper files and symlinks. The other files from your Joomla installation can be found in a parent folder.
Public folder - Joomla installation
An advantage of this method of installation (which is currently only possible via the CLI) is that all parent folders and files are protected and can only be executed by Joomla itself. This makes your installation less vulnerable to malware and hackers.
In the video below, Dimitris Grammatikogiannis takes you through the installation.
Rich Snippets - schema.org implementation
Search engine robots like Google's use structured data to generate rich snippets. Currently, Joomla! a rich snippet generation feature, but it uses inline microdata that is difficult to modify from the backend because it is hardcoded in the HTML.
Joomla 5 allows adding and configuring structured data through the Joomla backend, simplifying the optimization of website content for search engines and improving website visibility in search results.
To start, enter the general (company) details in the System plugin - Schema.org
Joomla 5 System plugin Schema
There is also a Schema tab for articles.
In this tab you can choose a type. You can choose from: BlogPosting, Book, Event, Vacancy, Organization, Person, Recipe. Depending on your choice, the schema.org fields will now be shown, such as (for recipe) preparation time, preparation, kitchen, diet, instructions, ingredients, etc. The information entered is not visible on the website for visitors but is only intended as an structured data for the search engines. The result may look like this on the search engine:
Joomla 5 Schema markup frontend
Search in Custom Fields
Finally! Custom Fields is one of the most powerful applications within Joomla and you can now search in these custom fields. To do this, you must indicate per field whether you can search or filter on the entered values. You do this in the options of the field.
You can choose from:
Do not search
Make searchable
Add as taxonomy (filter within smart search)
Make searchable and add as taxonomy
After that, you need to re-index the smart search results.
Searchable:
Joomla 5 - Search in custom fields
Taxonomy:
Joomla 5 - Custom fields taxonomy
Photos of contacts in search results
In the (smart) search results it was already possible to show the intro images of articles, now you can also add the photos of contacts to the search results.
Hide/show archived articles in search results
The Smart Search - Content plugin includes a new option to show or hide archived articles in the search results.
SQL field adjustment
The SQL custom field is expanded with a header. This text is used to select no value.
Joomla 5 - SQL field
Adjust menu order in the sidebar
You have always been able to adjust the menu items to your wishes, but now it is also possible to move an entire menu. This is especially useful when you use many different menus. In this video by Brian Teeman you can see how this works.
Joomla 5 - Menu item ordering
Fontawesome 6 in Joomla 5
The icons used in the administrator have been converted from Fontawesome 5 to 6. As a result, they may look slightly different. The icons that differ greatly, such as the dashboard icon in the left menu, have been replaced by homemade SVG files.
300 characters for meta description
In Joomla 4, a limitation was imposed on the meta description of 160 characters, the remaining text was hard truncated. This was done because Google uses approximately 160 characters. Some users had difficulty with this limitation, so the number of characters was increased to 300 characters. Personally, I would stick to the 160 characters, although you can now deviate a little more.
Code mirror 6
The Codemirror text editor has been updated from version 5.65.12 to 6.0.0
TinyMCE editor 6.7
The default TinyMCE text editor has been updated to version 6.7. This makes it look a bit more modern and uses the latest options.
Joomla 5 - TinyMCE editor 6.7
Align images in TinyMCE
Based on users feedback, the ability to add "Left, Right & Center" alignment for images using the tinymce image button has been added. This way you don't use inline styles. In this video by Brian Teeman you can see how this works.
Joomla 5 - TinyMCE images align
Password requirements in profile page
The user can change his password via the profile page on the website. In Joomla 5 you can now see the minimum password requirements and you will see the indicator whether your entered password meets these requirements.
Joomla 5 - Passwords requirements
User column rights
In the screen for user rights of a specific user, 5 columns have been removed due to a smart adjustment. This concerns "website login", "management login", "web services login", "offline access" and "Super user". This information has been moved to the top of the table. Because these settings apply to all options, it was not necessary to display these columns in their entirety.
Joomla 5 - User column rights
Action Logs
The following functions have been added to the action logs
User creates new custom field
User edits custom field
User is blocked
Users will be unblocked
user not found
When an author/user is removed from the website, you will see the message "user x not found". This error message is hidden from Joomla 5.0. It is not the case that an article is linked to another user, so technically an author is still missing.
WebAuthn is renamed to Passkey
"WebAuthn" is generic and confusing to end users. Passkeys are expected to become the standard way to log in. Microsoft, Apple and Google have already started offering passkey-only login to their services. Joomla will therefore also use this term.
AVIF support in media manager
Avif files (an alternative to WebP) can now also be uploaded in Joomla's media manager.
This article is an authorized translation of Wat is nieuw in Joomla 5? written by Jeroen Moolenschot.
About Daniel
Passionate about the Web since 2007, Daniel defends the widow and the orphan of the Web by creating W3C-compliant sites. With his experience, he shares his knowledge in an open source mindset. Very involved in favor of the Joomla CMS since 2014, he is the founder of the Joomla User Group Breizh and a speaker in Joomla events.
