The Joomlashack Blog
Joomlashack Products and Joomla 4 and 5
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 03 August 2023 03 August 2023
Over the last two years, we've been hard at work upgrading Joomlashack products for Joomla 4 and 5.
Some of the extension updates were done in an afternoon. Some of the biggest extensions took over a year to update.
As we learned more about the Joomla 4 and 5 update process, we came to decisions about each product. We evaluated how many people were using it, how difficult it was to upgrade, and whether the product still had value for users in 2023.
Here is a list of the Joomlashack products which we will continue to develop and support, plus a separate list of those that are discontinued.
OSpam-a-Not Pro is Now Available
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 25 May 2023 25 May 2023
OSpam-a-not is the easiest way to protect your Joomla site from spam bots filling out your forms. The OSpam-a-not plugin uses a clever and unobtrusive technique to protect your forms from a flood of spam.
We created OSpam-a-not because we needed better Joomla spam prevention. We use OSpam-a-not ourselves, so we maintain it and update it regularly. OSpam-a-not supports all the forms in the Joomla core and many from third-party extensions.
For a long time, there was only a Free version of OSpam-a-not. This limited how much support we gave to the product. So this week, we've released a Pro version of OSpam-a-not.
The new Pro features aren't huge, but this is a first step and it means that OSpam-a-not will be supported into the future. This Pro version is now available to Everything Club members and is also available for individual purchase.
This is our 25th Pro extension. All the extensions we have for sale are now ready for Joomla 4, except for Simple Renew.
JCal Pro is Ready for Joomla 4
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 18 April 2023 18 April 2023
JCal Pro is now available for Joomla 4 users! You can download JCal Pro version 5.0 and it will work on your Joomla 4 sites.
This is the 24th extension that we've updated for Joomla 4!
JCal Pro is the best calendar and event registration extension for Joomla. JCal Pro offers simplicity, flexibility, event moderation, and a robust feature set. From private and community calendars to commercial events, JCal Pro is sure to fit your calendar needs.
Some Thoughts on Joomla Migrations and Joomla 5
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 18 April 2023 18 April 2023
This week, we were really happy to announce the release of JCal Pro for Joomla 4.
It took us around a year to update this extension. Overall, it has taken us nearly two years to prepare all our extensions for Joomla 4, and we're not finished yet.
I wrote a little about this process in our 2022 review: "We found that it was possible to move a simple extension from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 in a couple of hours. Our first upgrades were easy, and we migrated several basic extensions in one day. With bigger extensions, the upgrade time increased exponentially. Our medium-sized extensions took three or four months each to migrate to Joomla 4. The largest and most complex extensions have taken us up to a year."
A JCal Pro Release Candidate is Available for Joomla 4
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 22 March 2023 22 March 2023
We're delighted to say that we've nearly finished completing our last major extension upgrade for Joomla 4.
There is a Release Candidate available for JCal Pro on Joomla 4.
If you are launching a new Joomla 4 site, you can install and use this latest version.
We would love to hear your real-world feedback. The more feedback we get, the faster this release can be officially marked as "Stable".
Read more: A JCal Pro Release Candidate is Available for Joomla 4
Joomlashack 2022 Review and Thank You
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 09 January 2023 09 January 2023
Thank you all for your support of Joomlashack.
Joomlashack started in 2005, but our team took over the site in 2016.
At the end of every year we write a review of what happened at Joomlashack. If you want to look back, here is our 2016 review, 2017 review, 2018 review, 2019 review, 2020 review and 2021 review.
We always aim to avoid writing "everything was awesome" posts. We try and give you honesty and insight into Joomlashack's year. There are always plenty of ups and downs. You'll find plenty of stories of both success and failure in these posts.
OSCampus is Ready for Joomla 4
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 14 September 2022 14 September 2022
OSCampus is now available for Joomla 4 users! You can download OSCampus version 3.0 and it will work on both Joomla 3 and Joomla 4. This is the 23rd extension that we've updated for Joomla 4.
OSCampus is the best way to build an online training site with Joomla.
OSCampus allows you to publish online classes. You can use OSCampus to create classes with multiple lessons and quizzes. The lessons can consist of anything from videos or text, to presentations and PDFs. Your lessons can be YouTube or Vimeo Videos, Slideshare or Google presentations, simple text or complex code.
Do you want to test and rewards your users? When users finish your classes, you can let them take a quiz, and earn certificates when they pass.
If you want a Joomla LMS, then OSCampus is absolutely your best choice!
Smart Search Plugins for OSDownloads and Shack Locations
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 03 August 2022 03 August 2022
Over the last few weeks we've spent some time updating our extensions to use the new Smart Search feature in Joomla 4.
Both OSDownloads Pro and Shack Locations Pro have new releases with Smart Search integration.
Because of this work, those two extensions also now support the Smart Search feature in Joomla 3.
In the next couple of months, OSCampus and JCal Pro will both be available for Joomla 4 and they'll be ready for Smart Search.
Read more: Smart Search Plugins for OSDownloads and Shack Locations
Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics Together in Joomla
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 24 June 2022 24 June 2022
Google Analytics 4 is the newest version of Google's ultra-popular tracking platform.
Google is encouraging users to move to this new version of the platform in the next few months. This is because the older version, called Universal Analytics, will stop working in the summer of 2023, and it not backward-compatible. This post has more background on the new Google Analytics 4.
So, if you want to keep using Google Analytics, you will need to actively update your sites in the next year.
We've heard from Joomla users who plan to run both Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics on their site at the same time. This is a perfectly valid approach, and will make for a smooth handover. In this guide, I'll show you how to run both versions on your site.
PS. If you don't want to use Google Analytics at all, Joomlashack still has you covered!
Read more: Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics Together in Joomla
Shack Icons Pro is Ready for Joomla 4
- Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
- Published: 25 May 2022 25 May 2022
Shack Icons is now available for Joomla 4 users! You can download Shack Icons version 4 and it will work on both Joomla 3 and Joomla 4. This is the 22nd extension that we've updated for Joomla 4.
We have changed the name of this extension from "Easy Social Icons" to "Shack Icons".
The Shack Icons module is a simple way to add icons for all of your social network accounts. You just need to add a link to your accounts, select the icon style that best matches the look of your site, and publish the module. Shack Icons Pro supports 18 different social networks.