The next major version of Joomla - Joomla 1.6, is available in pre-release, Alpha version. I would like to inform you about what this initial release has to offer. If you're an extension maintainer, a site builder or just a person who really can't wait to check out the next generation of tools you can get some valuable info here.
What To Expect
Joomla 1.6 requires PHP 5.2 or above, and MySQL 5.0.4 or above. According to some sources this new new version will addresses some of the system's most serious limitations, in particular, limited user management and content hierarchies.
The changes that are considered particularly significant:
•An improved menu manager
•Much more granular control for user management
•Improved content hierarchies
•Code clean-ups, dropping the package size by about 30%
Other major changes, according to the Joomla 1.6 roadmap:
•A new JForm library package
•A simple method of providing translation using JavaScript
•New controller dispatchers for more robust request routing
•Create and standardize several new event triggers
•Create a JContent class that can be used by content plug-ins and views
•Complete the new extension updater
The Access Control Changes: A Closer Look
The Access Control List (ACL) changes involved building a new access control system that allowed adding of new groups, access levels and setting new "view" fields for articles at minimum. In order to accomplish this, the new ACL admin area offers you three types of rules, the ability to create new user groups and to create new access levels.
Three main types of rules.
•Type 1 - Permissions related to actions, such as managing languages and the installer.
•Type 2 - Permissions related to content, such as adding and publishing articles.
•Type 3 - Permissions related to actions related to access levels, such as allowing the public to view all articles.
When shaping the rules, you select from the existing user groups (Editor, and Administrator) and assign the permissions this set of groups should have ( the ability to manage categories, articles and the front page).
Important for Extension Maintainers!
Extension maintainers always want to test. They ll want to compare their existing versions against the pre-release. In particular, Joomla 1.5 extensions that are "truly native" will require the least work to convert them to Joomla 1.6. All maintainers whose extensions require legacy mode in order to run will no longer be able to rely on doing so. These extensions have to be be updated for Joomla 1.6 other way they will not work anymore.
Try It Out
There's a lot more to come for Joomla 1.6. Just downloading the alpha, trying it, giving your feedback and submitting bug reports is a great help to any development team. .It is a lot that you can bring on the table and help with development at this point. Your participation is helpful and more than welcome.
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