All the Joomla News for February 2023

: Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge; Published: 03 March 2023 03 March 2023

Thanks for using Joomla and Joomlashack. Every month we post a round-up of news from around the Joomla community.

We've posted all of these updates, plus a lot more in the Joomlashack Facebook group, so join if you want daily Joomla updates. We have over 1,000 members now!

JCal Pro is Almost Ready for Joomla 4

I have news for JCal Pro users. JCal is our biggest extension and by far the most difficult to migrate to Joomla 4. The process has already taken many, many months but the end is in sight. If you want to test a Beta version, please open a support ticket on Joomlashack.com.

2023 CMS Critic People’s Choice Award

Joomla is the winner of the 2023 CMS Critic People’s Choice Award as the "Best Free CMS"! Joomla has won this prize several times since the awards started back in 2022.

See this year's award winners

New Book: Mastering Joomla 4

Maarten Blokdijk has released a new book called "Mastering Joomla! 4". The book is available for only 10 Euros. "This book aims to inform and get a new, first time user, up and running in a short period of time".

See Maarten's new book

More than 30 gems for Joomla 4

Marc Dechèvre has a new article in the Joomla Magazine. He says, "I wanted to share with you my own list of those little extensions that I use on most of my Joomla 4 websites, together with a few tips & tricks."

See Marc's 30 gems

Find Free Images for Your Joomla Site

Tim Davis has a new video out. You may already know some fantastic sites, such as Unsplash.com and Pixabay.com. where you can download royalty-free images.
But those sites have their limitations. Tim has a tip that will help you find more free images your Joomla site.

Watch Tim's video

What Features Will Be in Joomla 4.3?

Joomla 4.3 will be released on April 18th. Here are some of the key new features:

Media Manager improvements including ordering, Image thumbnails, and support for more file types.
Guided Tours, which will help guide new users through administrative tasks.
Conditional fields for custom fields.

What's coming in Joomla 4.3

How to Test Mobile Layouts for New Joomla Sites?

A user in the Joomlashack Facebook group asked this question: "What do you use for testing your mobile layouts besides the browser tools?" This prompted some great answers from the community.

See the ideas for mobile testing

Turn Your Joomla website into an ActivityPub Server

Astrid Gunther has an interesting tutorial in the Joomla Magazine: "I briefly describe what I have implemented to make a Joomla website support the ActivityPub protocol and allow a Mastodon user to follow a Joomla website user."

Read Astrid's article on Joomla and Mastodon

New Joomla 4 Admin Menu from Joomlaworks

Quick Menu is a Joomla 4 administrator module which adds a handy quick menu to the Joomla 4 backend. This makes Joomla 4 look much more like Joomla 3 for administrators.

Check out the Quick Menu module

Find the File You Want to Make a Joomla Layout Override For

Tim Davis has a video with a solution to this problem: "There have been many times I wanted to make a layout override in Joomla but I could not find where the file was that I needed to edit. Thanks to Ruud van Lent for showing me how to solve this mystery so I could make this video and show you."

Watch Tim's Video

New Book: Joomla! 4 Masterclass

Luca Marzo has a new book out on Joomla 4. There are several very positive reviews on Amazon. Luca has been involved with Joomla for many years and is currently the Lead Editor for the Joomla Community Magazine. This book is probably more advanced than Maarten's book that's also in this newsletter.

See Luca's new Joomla 4 book

Create a Podcast Website With Joomla

Mathew Tamin has a new video out with a plugin recommendation for podcasters: "4Podcast is a modern, integrated solution to add a podcast to your Joomla 3 and Joomla 4 website. It uses Joomla native custom fields for a seamless integration and ease of use."

Watch Mathew's video on 4Podcast

Joomla Day USA is Next Month

Mark your calendars for Joomla Day USA 2023 on April 21 - 23. They are hoping for a hybrid event, with the in-person portion to be in Austin, Texas. The list of sessions is up on the website now.

See the sessions at Joomla Day USA

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