Changes are coming to Joomla! and WordPress
I've been working with technology for a long time. The one thing that you can always count on is change—it's inevitable. Usually, the changes are good, sometimes they aren't, but you just have to keep moving with them anyway.
Many years ago, you never wanted to be the first to implement a new change or update. You could count on a lot of bugs and problems. It was much better to let others work through those and apply the update once issues were ironed out. It was even advisable not to upgrade until the NEXT latest and greatest was ready to be released. That was before all our systems were connected to the Internet and introduced security concerns.
Working with websites, I've had to make a mind-shift. There are constant updates—they usually work (if from reputable developers) and they are important to be applied early to keep websites safe and secure.
But, there are still those occasional upgrades that have to be planned for, researched and an upgrade strategy deployed. And that is what is coming down the pipeline for both Joomla! and WordPress. New major releases are marked by significant version changes—and a lot of buzz! Joomla! will be changing from the 3.x series to 4, WordPress is moving from the 4.x series to 5.
What's ahead for Joomla!
Time flies! We have been using the Joomla! 3.x series since 2012 and it will be supported for two years after 3.10 is released, which is planned to coincide with the next major release of Joomla! At this time, the goal is to release them at the end of 2018, but that will depend on the results of the testing that is being done right now by the developers and the extension and plugin providers.
Joomla! 4.0 is the next major feature release for this Content Management System. Many of the updates are features that only developers or more technical users will appreciate. Since these posts are not targetted to that audience, you can breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not going into all that. It is enough to tell you what the changes mean to your website:
- Level AA compliance with WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) for users with disabilities
- Modernization of code with efforts to maximize backward compatibility
- Improvements to testing capabilities which will minimize bugs with new enhancements and releases
- Faster page loading, which your visitors and Google will love
- Additional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features
- Minimum requirement of PHP 7, improving speed and security
- Bootstrap 4 integration, improving development time
If you are one of our clients that updates content on your website, you will notice changes when you log into the back-end:
- An updated media manager
- A more user-friendly interface
- Improvements to the dashboard
- An improved responsive backend for mobile viewing
- Built-in workflow to facilitate various approval levels for publishing content
Joomla! 4 will have a new, more user-friendly back-end
Will your website be upgradable to Joomla! 4
The simple answer is "Yes." None of the Joomla! sites we manage will have to "start from scratch." However, those websites that have been around longer may need some work to make the switch. Some of the template frameworks have been in use for almost 7 years and will not be backward compatible. The good news: At the same time Joomla! 4.0 will be released, the last Joomla! 3.x version will also be released and will be supported for 2 more years. So, any website that can't migrate to Joomla! 4 without extra work will have plenty of time for planning. More good news: From what we know now, none of the sites we manage should be significant to upgrade—we think it will be 2 - 8 hours of work.
We expect that most, if not all of the extensions and plugins we use will be upgradeable to Joomla! 4. We are careful to use plugins and extensions that are actively developed and widely used, so will be tested and made compatible with version 4.
For sites that "came into existence" in the last year or so, the upgrade should be no different than the minor version upgrades we perform routinely.
What's ahead for WordPress
With the release of WordPress 5.0, a new editor will be introduced named Gutenberg.
(You might recall from your school days that Johannes Gutenberg was the inventor of the movable-type printing press, which allowed the mass production of economically printed books.)
Gutenberg is a page builder. Its goal is to allow users to build complicated pages using "drag and drop" technology—and without needing coding skills. The user builds the page using an assortment of blocks of various types—text, image, gallery, header, etc.
There is no question that this new editor is being added to WordPress because of the increasing demand for page builders. Wix, Weebly and Squarespace use "drag and drop" interfaces, and WordPress is seeing some erosion to its base.
The new Gutenberg editor will be included as a standard part of WordPress, starting with version 5.0. Currently, it is a plugin that can be added to a site. A release date in late October had been suggested, but there is already talk of not expecting it until January 2019. This is just the beginning for Gutenberg, announced as Phase 1. Phases 2, 3, and 4 are already being discussed.
Some things to know about Gutenberg and WordPress 5.0
Will you have to use it? No, but if you want to continue using the Classic Editor, it will become a plugin that will have to be installed, disabling the Gutenberg editor. And, it might not be a bad idea to wait while all the bugs are worked out—especially if your site is more complex. But, this is one of those situations that you don't want to totally ignore moving forward. As more and more sites use these page builders, the Classic editors will become more antiquated.
Some homework is required to switch your WordPress site to Gutenberg
This is a good article explaining the migration approach for switching from the Classic Editor to the Gutenberg editor in WordPress. (When you see the word "migration" used with software updates, you can be pretty sure there are extensive planning and testing steps required to implement a smooth transition.)
A brief overview of steps you should follow to upgrade:
- Create a clone of your site that can be used for testing and activate Gutenberg on the clone.
- Review your plugins for those that use the editor. (Your theme may also need review if it isn't a simple one.)
- Create new content with any plugin that uses the editor. Make sure it works and has the functionality you expect. If it does, you are all set.
- If a plugin is not working as you expect, you should contact the plugin author to find out the plans to make it compatible with Gutenberg. If there are no plans, you may need to look for a new plugin.
- Once you have tested everything and found any necessary replacements, you should backup your live site before starting to implement changes.
- When everything is done, you can upgrade to WordPress 5.0.
What happens if you are already using a WordPress page builder?
Some common page builders used by our clients are Divi, Page Builder by Site Origin, Visual Composer and WP Bakery. What happens when Gutenberg arrives?
There is some disagreement about this. Some people believe that Gutenberg and the more advanced page builders will co-exist. Others believe that it is just a matter of time until Gutenberg is developed enough to put the other page builders out of business. No one will really know until some time has passed. For now, most of these page builder authors are indicating they will work with Gutenberg.
How the adoption of the new editor will go remains to be seen. Currently, the Gutenberg plugin available for people to begin downloading is not showing the most favorable rating—it's actually getting more 1-star ratings than all other ratings combined. The ratings are only from a fraction of the installations, however.
This will become the standard editor in WordPress, and for many sites that are automatically updated, it will soon just appear for users. For the less technical people, this might stop them from leaving WordPress for the new competitors. For more tech-savvy users, page builders can be somewhat restrictive and less flexible. Will this cause them to leave?
It is hard to imagine that it won't survive, and eventually, be the only page builder for WordPress. Hopefully, this won't be a situation when good and better solutions become extinct due to a mediocre product that forces the others out of the market, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Let us know if we can be of help as you implement your migration to the new version of your favorite Content Management System. For eKamria clients, we will be monitoring the progress with both Joomla! and WordPress and will be contacting everyone individually to discuss what will be involved to move forward once we feel it's time.
Do you have a question or suggestion for a future post? Leave it in the comments!
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