The Joomla! Project is pleased to announce the availability of Joomla 5.3 Alpha 3 for testing.

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 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 alpha version of Joomla 5.3 is not suitable for production sites. It is for testing only.

Where to get it?

Download Joomla 5.3 Alpha 3

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:

• Alpha1: 26. Nov 2024
• Alpha2: 24. Dec 2024 
• Alpha3: 24. Jan 2025 (This release)

Beta (Feature Freeze)

• Beta1: 18. Feb 2025
• Beta2: 04. Mar 2025
• Beta3: 18. Mar 2025 

Release Candidate (Language Freeze)

• RC1: 01. Apr 2025

Stable Release

• 15. Apr 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 Alpha 2?

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 5.3. We expect to commit other features for the next beta1 release.

• Disable language debug to prevent debug_lang_const being added to the string [44624]
• Consistent Database Name Validation [44623]
• Replace system-site-offline RTL css file by using logical css properties and removing unused css [44615, 44613]
• Removed field to select users from the batch modal in com_contact [44600]
• Add log entry when edit a contact from frontend [44596]
• Implement "none-ID" usage for the CRON scheduler [43817]
• Exclude self from mail notification [44640]
• Tagged Items RSS category [44628]
• Apply mail cloaking in finder results [44641]
• Remove Cassiopeia color overrides [44661]
• Check if finder content plugin is enabled [44632]
• Archive Content - layouts [44601]
• Move code to log model in new scheduler history view [44587]
• Remove redundant code [44552]
• Control access to component preferences individually [41496]
• Fix deploy version plg_system_actionlogs [44697]

What are the plans for Joomla 5.3?

Currently, we’re at the start of the journey of Joomla! 5.3. There are several projects which, with your help, could become part of Joomla! 5.3, if they are release-ready before the first beta is released on February 18th 2025.

• Add Files folder to Media component and to "FileSystem local" adapter. This will change the default location for files from images to files for new installations. [43532]
• The test mail button in the global Joomla configuration now sends the test mail to the currently logged in user and not the email address of the configuration. [44002].
• Further improve the routing in Joomla
• Remove all legacy code usage in the core itself and prepare better internal error handling with exceptions 

We are almost starting the Beta phase of the development of Joomla! 5.3! This means we’ve almost reached the feature freeze phase, if you have any new features you like to add you need to do so before Beta 1 is released.

Be aware that these features are not release-ready yet, and it depends a lot on testers and feedback if they make the cut.

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

How can you help 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.

• Working with the Joomla Feature Tracker
• General developer mailing list
• Joomla developer network
• Joomla and UI framework

A Huge Thank You to Our Volunteers!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who contributed to the release!