Let’s celebrate! The Joomla! Project is pleased to announce the release of Joomla 5.3.0 Release Candidate 1
What is this release for?
There are two main goals for Release Candidates:
- Providing developers with the basis to test their extensions and reporting any issues well before the final release
- Allowing users to discover the new features introduced to Joomla 5.3.
For a complete list of known backward compatibility issues for version 5.3, please see Potential backward compatibility issues in Joomla 5.3 on the documentation site.
What is this release NOT for?
This release candidate version of Joomla 5.2 is not suitable for production sites. It is for testing only.
Where to get it?
Download Joomla 5.3.0 Release Candidate 1
To always use the latest build of Joomla 5, we invite you to use the nightly build packages (updated every night).
To make it easier for newcomers, you can launch a free Joomla 5 website for testing at launch.joomla.org.
When is the final release due?
Joomla! 5.3 (general availability) will be released on or about 16th April 2025. The planned milestones are:
Alpha
- Alpha 1: 26. Nov 2024
- Alpha 2: 24. Dec 2024
- Alpha 3: 24. Jan 2025
Beta (Feature Freeze)
- Beta 1: 18. Feb 2025
- Beta 2: 04. Mar 2025
- Beta 3: 18. Mar 2025
Release Candidate (Language Freeze)
- RC1: 01. Apr 2025 (This release)
Stable Release
- 15th April 2025
Please note that dates may be subject to change depending on the availability of volunteers and circumstances beyond our control.
What’s new in Joomla 5.3 Release Candidate?
We are firmly committed to making the next generation of Joomla the best. These are the features that have been committed to version 5.3.
- Add CORS settings when install from CLI [45129]
- Fix Light Mode Visibility for Table Headers in User Profile [45188]
- Author column check and show None when none assigned [45179]
- Fix unescaped slashes that break markup in script tag [44717]
- Update TUF client to fix PHP 8.4 [45166]
- Major update IDNA converter [45140]
As it's a release candidate, we now have a language freeze. From now on, no pull Requests touching the language files will be merged unless absolutely necessary (e.g., by fixing a critical bug). We’re two weeks away from a stable release, so the task is now: test, test, test.
We will not include any other new features in the 5.3 branch from now on. But you’re welcome to propose enhancements and fixes for existing features.
What are the plans for Joomla 5.3?
As it's a release candidate, we now have a language freeze. From now on, no pull Requests touching the language files will be merged unless absolutely necessary (e.g., by fixing a critical bug). We’re two weeks away from a stable release, so the task is now: test, test, test.
Google is shifting their email authentication method, which means a basic authentication via username + password is not possible anymore very soon. Therefore it could be that the oAuth method will be implemented into core, if we find someone to contribute. If you’re a PHP developer and interested in contributing, please reach out to us on Mattermost.
To learn more about our development strategy, please read this article.
How can you help with Joomla 5.3 development?
To help ensure the 5.3 release and our major features are “production-ready”, we need your help testing releases and reporting any bugs you may find at issues.joomla.org.
Most of all, we encourage extension developers to roll up their sleeves, seek out bugs and test their extensions with Joomla 5.3 and communicate their experience.
Where can I find documentation about Joomla 5?
There are some tutorials to help you with Joomla 5. You can find the existing ones, like creating a Plugin or a Module for Joomla 5, namespaces conventions, prepared statements, using the new web asset classes and many more in https://docs.joomla.org/Category:Joomla!_5.x
We encourage developers to help write the documentation about Joomla 5 on docs.joomla.org and manual.joomla.org to help and guide users and other extension developers.
A JDocs page will help developers to see the existing documentation and the documentation still needed.
We invite you to check it regularly, update it and provide the missing content.
Related information
If you are an extension developer, please make sure you subscribe to the extension developer channel https://joomlacommunity.cloud.mattermost.com/main/channels/extension-development-room
Where you can join the community of extension developers.
A Huge Thank You to Our Volunteers!
A big thank you goes out to everyone who contributed to the release!
Translations
French : Joomla 5.3 RC 1 disponible pour des tests
Turkish: Joomla! 5.3.0 Sürüm Adayı 1