Joomla is a highly regarded open-source content management system (CMS) that has been widely used for website development and management for over a decade. With its object-oriented design and PHP architecture, Joomla has proven to be a user-friendly CMS, allowing content curators to easily manage and classify content in various categories. The latest version of Joomla, v3.9, includes over 250 core module improvements, a testament to the platform’s continued development and evolution.
Let us delve into the comprehensive timeline of Joomla’s evolution, from its roots to the present day.
The Origins and Joomla v1.0
Joomla’s beginnings can be traced back to Mambo, an earlier CMS that was released under the GNU General Public License in 2001. Mambo rapidly became a favourite among content curators, and served as the foundation for the emergence of Joomla.
In 2005, Mambo became embroiled in a copyright dispute, causing the majority of the team to resign. This led to the development of a new version of Mambo, named Joomla, derived from the Swahili word “jumla,” which means “all together.” Joomla was officially launched on September 16, 2005, with minimal changes to Mambo, including bug fixes and moderate security enhancements.
Over the next two years, the Joomla team released more than 14 small updates, earned a substantial following, and received numerous open-source awards for the platform.
Joomla v1.5-v1.7
In 2008, Joomla v1.5 was released, marking the first major release of the CMS. The update brought Joomla to new heights, incorporating a plethora of features that are now standard in the CMS world. The new API extended Joomla’s language capabilities to include right-to-left languages.
Joomla v1.6 was released in 2011, and included full access control lists, user-defined category hierarchies, and improvements to the admin interface for better content management.
Just six months later, Joomla v1.7 was released as a small update, adding enhanced security and migration features. V1.7 marked the end of the 1.0 line of Joomla.
Joomla v2.5
Joomla v2.5 was released in early 2012, following v1.7 by just six months. V2.5 was initially supposed to be named v1.8, but the development team decided to adopt a new naming scheme in which every long-term support (LTS) release would be an X.5 release.
V2.5 was the first Joomla platform to use databases other than MySQL, making it accessible to users who were proficient in other database languages. Additionally, V2.5 included an improved core search functionality and an automatic extension update notification.
Joomla v3.0-v3.5
Joomla 3.0 was the next major release, launched on September 27, 2012, after scheduling conflicts caused the team to push back the initial release date from July. V3.0 was one of the first major CMSs to incorporate responsive design, a crucial feature for modern websites.
V3.0 also introduced a Twitter Bootstrap integration, PostgreSQL support, and an overhaul of the admin interface to improve usability. V3.1-v3.5 were released in the following two years, incorporating new features such as content versioning, tagging, password hashing, microdata documentation, CAPTCHA integration, drag & drop images, and insert modules.
Joomla v3.6-v3.9: A Brief Overview of Small Updates
Joomla v3.6-3.9 releases mostly contained minor updates aimed at improving the code architecture. In Joomla v3.6, a new download subform field, improved user interface, and a new Menu type ACL were added. Additionally, Joomla v3.7 introduced a multilingual associations manager that enabled connection of similar content in different languages.
With Joomla v3.8, released in September 2017, the routing system was improved, encryption support was added, and minor code improvements were made. The most recent version of Joomla is v3.6, which was released on October 30, 2018, with v3.9 being the most recent addition to the series. Joomla v3.9 came with a comprehensive “privacy tool suite” to align Joomla documentation with GDPR regulations.
The Future and Beyond: Joomla 3.10-???
Joomla v3.10, set to be the last release of the Joomla 3.X series, will be an LTS release. Its primary aim is to introduce API changes to simplify the transition to Joomla v4.0, the next major release of Joomla.
Joomla v4.X series will be the next major version of Joomla. V4.0 is expected to raise the minimum supported PHP version to PHP 7, add final router improvements, features to improve SEO, and a new administrative template. As of now, Joomla v4.0’s alpha build is out, and the beta is expected to drop during the third quarter of 2019, with the stable build likely to be released in early 2020, subject to change based on volunteer availability to help with the source code.
Conclusion
Joomla is one of the leading CMS platforms today, owing to its commitment to open source data. With over 8,000 free and commercial extensions available, IT professionals and info disseminators worldwide prefer the platform. Joomla is the second most used CMS in the world, after WordPress. As the Joomla team continues to release updates, we may see the platform surpass WordPress to take the number one spot.