Before the release of any Joomla version, everyone has the chance to test the beta and pre-release versions.

If you use Joomla and want to contribute, or if you just want to test your site and extensions, it is absolutely worth testing. You may find some bugs that need fixing before the final release.

I'm going to show you how to test Joomla beta versions.

Disclaimer: don't try this on production sites!

Step #1. Enable updates for Joomla test versions

In a local installation of Joomla 3:

• Go to Components > Joomla Update.
• Click the "Options" button.

• Set the Update channel to "Testing".

• Click "Save and close".

Step #2. Update Joomla to a beta version

If there is a Joomla test version available (it will commonly use the suffix -beta# in "Latest Joomla version" row), click the "Install the update" button and wait until the process ends.