There's a new version of Joomla out. It's a major upgrade in the 3.x series but not a migration. If you haven't done the 3.6.5 upgrade yet, then get the 3.7 upgrade since the 3.6.5 upgrade was a security upgrade and it'll be included in this upgrade.
Joomla! 3.7 is HERE (joomla.org)
The Joomla! Project is proud to announce the release of Joomla! 3.7, the latest in the ‘Joomla! 3’ series. This new release features over 700 improvements to the popular CMS, including many features which make administration of Joomla! Web sites easier and more feature-rich, as well as several security updates.
One of the biggest new features of this release is the ability for administrators to add Custom Fields to your articles, users, and contacts, and the ability of extension developers to use this feature within their own custom Joomla! Extensions. With 15 different field types you can now easily structure more complex content entry systems to allow your content authors to easily enter their data in a standard manner and display it consistently to your site visitors. Thanks to our great documentation crew, you can find out all about the options and process for using this new feature when you read the Custom Fields tutorial on the Joomla! Documentation site.
For those who need to create multilingual sites, the process to translate your content just got significantly easier. The Multilingual Associations Component allows you to easily translate your content from one single, unified interface. You can find out more when you read the Multilingual Associations Component tutorial on the Joomla! Documentation site.
Anyone creating new content articles that require a new menu item can now save time with the new Improved Workflow features. You can now create a category, article, and menu item all in one step from within the menu manager.
One other added menu-related benefit, for those sites where multiple people are accessing the Backend/Admin-side of the site is the ability to easily manage the admin menu with the new Backend Menu Manager. Now you can create custom menus for the Backend just like you can for the Frontend - allowing you to control what users can see which admin menu options.
This release also brings a number of new and enhanced features specifically for developers. Joomla! 3.7 brings improvements within the update system, cache systems and package/extension management, as well as a host of other under the hood advances.
Joomla! 3.7 is the eighth and latest release in the 3.x series. Please note that going from 3.6.x to 3.7 is a one-click update and is not a migration. The same is true for any subsequent versions in the 3 series of the CMS.
Is your website ready for Joomla! 3.7?
Joomla! 3.7 is a one-click update just like previous 3.x versions. If your site is not already running 3.6.5, we strongly urge you to update immediately. Joomla! 3.6.5 was a security release and your site is at risk if you are running a previous version. If you presently have a 3.6.4 (or earlier) version of Joomla, please review the update category on the Joomla! Documentation.
As always, before upgrading it is important to update all of your third party extensions and also to take and test a full backup of your site.
This is also a great time to connect with your hosting company and check your PHP and database versions. We recommend upgrading to PHP 7 or 7.1 as it will bring a considerable speed boost to your site. Further system requirements can be found on the technical requirements page.
Also, if you are using the Hathor backend template you should switch to the Isis template as your administrative template. The Hathor template is being deprecated and may not provide you with the ability to use all the latest features in Joomla! 3.7.
TYPE OF UPGRADE: Features
MAJOR OR MINOR: Major
SUGGESTED ACTION: You can wait if you want but do it if you haven't done the 3.6.5 upgrade.
WHY: Do this upgrade to get more features and stay up to date.
Our Website Maintenance Department will be in contact with all of our clients running Joomla regarding these upgrades and we’ll get you a quote.
-Tony
