The Joomla! Project is pleased to announce the availability of Joomla! 1.7 RC1 for download. This is the first release made within the new six-month release cycle that started with the delivery of Joomla 1.6 in January 2011.
What is this release for?
There are several goals for this release:
- To allow advance testing of sites and custom extensions so that site administrators and developers can report any problems before the final release.
- To raise awareness that the end of the current development cycle is fast approaching.
- To allow testing of the upgrade from version 1.6.5 to 1.7.0.
What is this release NOT for?
This beta version of Joomla 1.7 is not suitable for production sites. It should be used for testing only.
When is the final release due?
Joomla 1.7 GA (general availability) is due to be released on 19 July 2011. The planned milestone after this date are:
- 19 August 2011 - Joomla 1.6 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
- January 2012 - Next version of Joomla is released
- February 2012 - Joomla 1.7 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
- April 2012 - Joomla 1.5 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
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 1.6.4 to Joomla 1.7 will be easy. You can test the upgrade from 1.6.5 to 1.7.0 RC1 with the following simple steps:
- Create a test version of 1.6.5. (Do not use a production 1.6 version!)
- Navigate to the Extension Manager -> Install tab.
- In the Install from URL, enter the URL for the RC1 test update package: http://joomlacode.org/gf/download/frsrelease/15233/66395/Joomla_1.6.5_to_1.7.0_RC1_Update.zip.
- Press the Install button.
- The system will work for a minute and then (we hope) display a success message. That's all there is to it! If you have any problems, please post in the forum on on the issue tracker.
If you are using Joomla 1.5 then you will still be required to migrate your site using the jUpgrade component.
What’s new in this release?
In addition to the new Joomla Platform, a number of new features have been added. Some of them are described in Elin Waring's recent blog. Here is a list, with links to the Feature tracker issue.
- 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)
- Improve the installation (Rouven Weßling)
- Make single contact view ready to use dynamic forms (Elin Waring)
- JToolBar cleanup for Save and Create New and Save as Copy (Joseph LeBlanc)
- Add ability to save a search in a menu item (Elin Waring)
- Mass Mail - exclude disabled user (Rune Sjøen and Bill Richardson)
- Add PHP and HTML modes to CodeMirror (Rouven Weßling)
- JModelList casts $query to string unnecessarily making it impossible to implement Joomfish (Geraint Edwards)
- Add to debug log information component and module start time and memory use when showing (Vladimir Serotyukov and Dennis Hermatski)
- View Access Level not testing in Administrator Models (Amy Stephen)
- Add support for OpenSearch to com_search (Rouven Weßling)
- Automatic DB update (Christophe Demko)
- Add WAI-ARIA and HTML5 support the progressbar.js (Rouven Weßling)
- Make loadmodule plugin more useful (Elin Waring)
- "Select a Menu Item Type" in modal box in menu item edit page (Dennis Hermatski)
- Add to debug log information component and module start time and memory use when showing
- Association between menu items in multilingual settings.
- Add an ordering column to table jos_languages
We have also fixed over 200 bugs since the 1.6.5 release!
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: