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Joomla 4.4 Alpha1 - Your first chance to test

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Blue marketing image for Joomla 4.4 Alpha1

The Joomla Project is pleased to announce the availability of the first Joomla 4.4 Alpha for testing.

The final minor in the 4.x series of Joomla!

What is this release for?

There are two main goals for Alpha releases:

  • 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 in Joomla 4.4

For a complete list of known backward compatibility issues for version 4.4, please see Potential backward compatibility issues in Joomla 4 on the documentation site.

What is this release NOT for?

This alpha version of Joomla 4.4 is not suitable for production sites. It is for testing only.

Where to get it?

Download Joomla 4.4.0 Alpha 1

To always use the latest build of Joomla 4, we invite you to use the nightly build packages (updated every night).

To make it easier for newcomers, you can launch a free Joomla 4 website for testing at launch.joomla.org.

When is the final release due?

Joomla! 4.4 (general availability) is due to be released on or about 17th October 2023. The planned milestones are:

Alpha releases

Where new features are added and many changes are made.

  • Alpha 1: 30th May 2023 - This release
  • Alpha 2: 27th June 2023
  • Alpha 3: 25th July 2023

Beta releases

In the Beta stage, we are making a freeze on what features can be added, but minor changes to what is already in can be made.

  • Beta 1: 8th August 2023
  • Beta 2: 22nd February 2023
  • Beta 3: 5th September 2023

Release candidates

When in the release candidate phase no more can be added or changed, we are testing and bug fixing making the product stable for launch day.

  • Release candidate 1: 19th September 2023
  • Final release: 17th October 2023

This whole process relies on people coming forward to help make it happen.

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 4.4?

  • A new EOS plugin will add a quick icon and banner with information on when the Joomla 4.x series will end. Currently, there is an evaluation going on if a banner would be enough. So we are really grateful for any feedback. To test it, change the date on line number 42 in the file /plugins/quickicon/eos/src/Extension/Eos.php#L42 to “2022-10-17” or “2023-10-17”
  • All plugins are converted to the new Joomla 4 architecture.
  • Automated testing coverage got a big increase. This ensures stability when developers are working on the core code. Big thanks to the two students who are working on this project 

We are firmly committed to making the next generation of Joomla the best. So far, these are the first features that have been committed to version 4.4. We expect to commit other features for the coming alpha releases.

What are the plans for Joomla 4.4?

Currently, we’re at the start of the journey of Joomla! 4.4. There are several projects which, with your help, could become part of Joomla! 4.4, if they are release-ready by Joomla 4.4 Beta:

  • Modules - we still need some help converting the modules to the new Joomla 4 architecture.
  • More automated unit and system tests.

To learn more about our development strategy, please read this article.

How can you help Joomla 4.4 to develop?

To help ensure the 4.4 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 4.4 and communicate their experience.

Where can I find documentation about Joomla 4?

There are some tutorials to help you with Joomla 4. You can find the existing ones, like creating a Plugin or a Module for Joomla 4, namespaces conventions, prepared statements, using the new web asset classes and many more in https://docs.joomla.org/Category:Joomla!_4.x

We encourage developers to help write the documentation about Joomla 4 on docs.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: https://docs.joomla.org/JDOC:Joomla_4_Tutorials_Project

Most of the feature documentation will be needed once we have reached Beta (feature freeze).

Should I plan to upgrade to Joomla 4.x?

Joomla 4.x is Joomla’s latest major version.

Joomla 3.10 was released alongside Joomla 4 as the last minor release of Joomla 3 (see this article).

Joomla 3.10 will continue to be supported until August 2023 although as its now over 15 months since the release of Joomla 3.10 and 4.0 Joomla 3 will only get security releases.

You should be planning or in the process of migrating to the latest version of Joomla.

We provide resources to help with the migration on the documentation site.

Related information

If you are an extension developer, please make sure you subscribe to the general developer mailing list, where you can discuss extension development. News that may affect custom development will also be posted there from time to time.

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