New Joomla Version 2.5 Released Today

Good news for Joomla users everywhere! Joomla version 2.5 was released today! If you're already running version 1.7, the update is easy as pie. If you need to migrate from 1.5, check this link for detailed instructions on the migration process. For even more assistance, JoomlaChicago will host a live learning session on Joomla 1.5 migration at the JoomlaChicago meeting in March (Palatine, March 14th). Here are some of the highpoints of this major long-term release of Joomla version 2.5:

• Advanced SmartSearch Capabilities
• Multi-Database Support For Enterprise
• Automatic Update Notification
• Powerful New JPlatform Release (under the hood, for more power, less footprint)
• Much more!

THANK YOU to all volunteers who helped Joomla 2.5 take flight today! Developers & engineers, UX pro's, designers, marketers, infographic artists, documentation writers and 3rd party developers ALL "came together" to make this long-term release possible!

Joomla 2.5 adheres to Joomla’s newly-adopted six-month release cycle that began with the previous  Joomla CMS release of Joomla 1.7 in July, 2011. Downloading the latest version of Joomla is the best way to ensure organizational and personal security needs are being met since it will have the most recent updates to protect against the latest security threats. 

Get Joomla 2.5 Now, And Take Your Site Even Higher: 

• Download Joomla 2.5
• JRelease Announcement
• New Features in 2.5
• Changelog

Want To Get Involved?
If you, or someone you know would like to get involved in spreading the good word about Joomla, either here in Chicago or at an international level, LET ME KNOW, we'll get you involved! You'll be happy to know, there's a group of over 70 people working on improving communications and "evangelizing" Joomla! If you want to join this group, contact John Coonen today.

 

 

While we were in the midst of our JoomlaChicago meeting yesterday in Palatine, we got the good news that The Joomla! Project released the beta2 version of Joomla 2.5. You can download it and gie it a whirl at Joomla.org. While we don't recommend you use this beta version yet on your own live site, there's really no better way to get to know what's shakin' with the new version than giving it a test drive!

Good news for folks wanting more structured training in Joomla, on a beginner or intermediate basis! JoomlaChicago members OS Training are holding two training sessions soon, and offering a 25%'discount to fellow members. All you need to do is enter the dicount code "jcchicago" when signing up, and poof! Discountio! Here are the links to the two sessions: http://www.joomlatraining.com/chicago/ http://www.joomlatraining.com/chicago-intermediate/ Now, here's the difficult part, forcing you to make a choice: the dates for training are on September 13th and 14th. The 14th is our regular JoomlaChicago meeting on the 2nd Wednesdqy of the month at Durty Nelloe's. Ha! Bottom line is, as long as you're getting your Joomla fix, that's all that matters, so it's a WIN no matter which you choose!

That said, providing first-timers an intro to Joomla! has served an important purpose for the past four years. It's given dozens of local folks valuable insights on how to go about implementing Joomla, while providing them with vital contacts to help them when they run into trouble. The question now is, should it continue?

 

So in this Quick Poll, we ask that if you're a registered member of JoomlaChicago, please login and vote. 

You have three choices:

Vote Yes = Continue offering KickStart during the regular monthly meetings
Vote Yes, But Not At Meetings = Provide a separate time and date for KickStart training
Vote No = Discontinue offering KickStart at meetings, and refer folks to local area training pro's or online resources

Please take a moment to vote on this important question:
Should JoomlaChicago Continue Offering KickStart Training For Newer Joomla Users?

{acepolls 1}

Thanks for your input! Once you vote, you can click to see the results. If you'd like to discuss this issue further, login first, then head to the KickStart Discussion to chime in!

So far this year, we have:

• 36 new members in 2011
• Held 5 free monthly meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of the month
• Additionally, held a free "Meetup Monday Night" during CMS Expo
• 8 local Joomla Chicago members were featured as speakers at the annual CMS Expo, receiving international exposure in the CMS Community
• Averaged 48 attendees per meeting, with 88 at Meetup Monday Night
• Offered over 16 FREE Learning Sessions on Joomla! CMS
• Provided free lunch for over 200 attendees
• Established new location for meetings in Palatine
• Member Mike Carson is planning JoomlaDay Chicago (Aug 5th & 6th)
• In the process of the 3rd major site update/upgrade to JoomlaChicago.com
• Received over 7,000 unique site visitors
• Over 150 volunteer hours by our Core Team on learning session planning, presentations, meeting planning, site development, writing design & admin
• Lunch Sponsors Arc Technology Group & JoomlaZoomla provided over 250 complimentary meals to JoomlaChicago attendees

Looking forward, in following our mission of providing the best resource for Chicago area Joomla! users, here is what is planned for us to accomplish for the balance of 2011:

• Hold 6 free monthly lunch meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of every month (July through December), 2011
• Provide 18 free learning sessions for those interested in Joomla! CMS
• As part of one scheduled meeting, focus on a business networking mixer local Joomla! enthusiasts
• Recruit at least 30 new members to participate in JoomlaChicago
• Provide support to the JoomlaDay Chicago event in August, 2011
• Complete our 3rd major site update/upgrade, using Joomla! 1.7+
• While keeping in step with the current site design, improve functionality of the site, with focus on establishing an improved Forum and User Profile/Directory
• Research additional location(s) in Chicago to hold monthly meetings

If you have suggestions on what to do to make the JoomlaChicago Group better, feel free to share them with a comment, or contact us via email, phone, or in-person, at one of our monthly meetings.

Pardon our dust over the next 10 days as we work on upgrading to the latest version of Joomla! We're moving from 1.5 to 1.6 via jUpgrade, so we'll have some minor hiccups along the way, especially when it comes to our 3rd Party extensions.

Key job functions would include:

• Working with a team to implement new web initiatives
• Updating and creating new content
• Performing software upgrades to existing websites
• Helping with ecommerce cart management
• Learning about site/server security and upkeep
• Performing website audits

Required Skills:

• HTML and css coding
• Understanding of databases
• Basic Photoshop skills
• Content management system experience a plus
• PHP programming a plus
• Knowledge of linux a plus
• Experience with video conversion a plus
• Working knowledge of social media

 

Our culture demands driven, energetic thinkers who possess leadership qualities and the desire for aggressive personal growth. Please send your resume and letter of interest itjobs [at] sourcebooks.com. This position is open immediately and require 15-30 hours per week (schedule is flexible).

Unless you're a developer who digs into the code, you won't realize significant change to Joomla right away. The suspension will ride the same, handling's still great, with comparable acceleration and mileage. That said, you WILL realize the power of Joomla's re-engineering as new apps and add-ons are added to the Joomla repertoire, providing you with added "snap-on" flexibility to adapt, improve, add, remove and otherwise change and fine-tune your site capabilities as-needed, to fit your market. More to come on this subject...

Feature Changes: There have been a number of new features added to the Joomla Platform itself, which will be discussed in a future article. Feature changes to the Joomla CMS include the following:

• Add support to log deprecated API (Andrew Eddie)
• JToolBarHelper functions for Save and Create New and Save as Copy (Joseph LeBlanc)
• Mod_custom with backgroundimages (Angie Radtke)
• Allow preselection of categories in com_content (Peter Kneisel)
• Add JFormRuleOptions rule to validate type="list" parameters (Mark Dexter)
• Make copy/move consistent across components (Michael Babker)
• Update TinyMCE to version 3.4 (Rouven Weßling)
• New parameters are present for the language switcher (Jean-Marie Simonet)
• Translation teams can now include a css file in their admin pack to change the fonts used in back-end (Jean-Marie Simonet)
• Language manager now displays installed language in tabs (Michael Babker)
• (a few more are under review ...)

Issues & Bug Fixes: Thanks to the efforts of the Joomla! Bug Squad, Production Leadership Team (PLT) Member Mark Dexter reports that 375 bugs have been squashed! Kudos to all on the team who have contributed to these improvements for the entire Joomla Community!

Additional Joomla! Milestone Dates:

• 05 June - Joomla alpha 1 released for public testing
• 10 June - Feature freeze to prepare for beta release
• 13 June - Joomla beta 1 to be released for public testing
• 27 June - Joomla beta 2 to be released for public testing
• 4 July - Version 11.1 of the Joomla Platform to be released
• 10 July - Joomla 1.7 GA released
• 10 August - Joomla 1.6 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
• January 2012 - Next version of Joomla is released
• April 2012 - Joomla 1.5 reaches end of life

Read more on 1.7 on the  Joomla.org CMS Site here.

 

OK, who's the clever promoter in the southern hemisphere, holding up the cardboard cutout of the Joomla! logo again?

What is this release NOT for?

This alpha version of Joomla 1.7 is not suitable for production sites. It is to be used for testing only.

When is the final release due?

Joomla 1.7 GA (general availability) is due to be released on or about the 10 July 2011. The planned milestone before and after this date are:

• 05 June - Joomla alpha 1 released for public testing
• 10 June - Feature freeze to prepare for beta release
• 13 June - Joomla beta 1 to be released for public testing
• 27 June - Joomla beta 2 to be released for public testing
• 4 July - Version 11.1 of the Joomla Platform to be released
• 10 July - Joomla 1.7 GA released
• 10 August - Joomla 1.6 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
• January 2012 - Next version of Joomla is released
• April 2012 - Joomla 1.5 reaches end of life

Please note that dates may be subject to change depending on availability of volunteers and circumstances beyond our control.

How do I upgrade to Joomla 1.7?

Upgrading from Joomla 1.6 to Joomla 1.7 will be relatively easy. You will just use the Extension Manager just like you would upgrade from, for example, Joomla 1.6.2 to 1.6.3. This feature is not available for the alpha version of Joomla 1.7.

If you are using Joomla 1.5 then you will still be required to migrate your site using the jUpgrade component. When Joomla 1.7 GA is released you will be able to migrate directly from Joomla 1.5 straight to Joomla 1.7 (you can conveniently skip migrating to Joomla 1.6).

What’s new in Joomla 1.7 so far?

One of the major goals of Joomla 1.7 was to separate the Joomla Platform, that is the engine upon which the Joomla CMS runs, into it’s own product. The separation of the platform from the CMS, and its subsequent reinsertion, was completed last month. The new Joomla Platform includes many new features that will be of interest to developers. More information about those features and the platform will be made available closer to the release date.

Other features have been submitted to the Joomla Feature Tracker by members of the community and several of those are being reviewed for inclusion. Some have already been added to the 1.7 alpha package.

Compared to previous huge releases, such as Joomla 1.5 and Joomla 1.6, Joomla 1.7 is going to be a relatively gentle release with no big surprises.

What happens to Joomla 1.6?

Joomla 1.7 is the direct upgrade for Joomla 1.6. Joomla 1.6 will be supported for critical security issues only for a period of one month after the release of Joomla 1.7. After that time, only Joomla 1.5 and Joomla 1.7 will be available for download and will be supported by the Joomla project.

How can you help Joomla development?

The great news is you don’t have to be a developer to help build Joomla. The Joomla Bug Squad is one of the most active teams in the Joomla development process and is always looking for people (not just developers) that can help with sorting bug reports, coding patches and testing solutions. It’s a great way for increasing your working knowledge of Joomla, and also a great way to meet knew people from all around the world.

If you are interested, please read about us on the Joomla Wiki and, if you wish to join, email Mark Dexter.

You can also help Joomla development by thanking those involved in the many areas of the process. Since the release of Joomla 1.6, a whopping 375 issues have been fixed by the JBS. The project also wants to thanks all of the people that have taken the time to prepare and submit work to be included in Joomla 1.7, and to those that have worked very hard on the Joomla Platform separation project.

Related information

If you are an extension developer, please make sure you subscribe to the general developer mailing list as this is a place where you can discuss extension development and news that may affect custom development will be posted from time to time.

Following is a list of previous news and information about Joomla 1.7 and other sites of interest:

• Wanted: New features for Joomla 1.7
• Working with the Joomla Feature Tracker
• New features for Joomla 1.7
• Potential backward compatibility issues in Joomla 1.7 and Joomla Platform 11.1
• General developer mailing list
• Joomla developer network
• Joomla development strategy

New features - CMS

• Add support to log deprecated API (Andrew Eddie)
• JToolBarHelper functions for Save and Create New and Save as Copy (Joseph LeBlanc)
• Mod_custom with backgroundimages (Angie Radtke)
• Allow preselection of categories in com_content (Peter Kneisel)
• Add JFormRuleOptions rule to validate type="list" parameters (Mark Dexter)
• Make copy/move consistent across components (Michael Babker)
• Update TinyMCE to version 3.4 (Rouven Weßling)
• New parameters are present for the language switcher (Jean-Marie Simonet)
• Translation teams can now include a css file in their admin pack to change the fonts used in back-end (Jean-Marie Simonet)
• Language manager now displays installed language in tabs (Michael Babker)
• (and a few more are under review ...)

In addition, a number of new features have been added to the Joomla Platform. These will be discussed in a future article.