1. Joomla! 1.6
An update on Joomla 1.6
Akarawuth Tamrareang
www.joomla.org
#jd09de JoomlaDay.de, 26 September 2009
2. About Me
Akarawuth Tamrareang
[JoomlaCorner]
- Joomla! Bug Squad / Joomla! Event Mentor (Asia Region)
and Summer of Code administrator
- Founder JoomlaCorner.com
- Founder Marvelic Engine Co.,Ltd.
- President Open Source Education and Development Association (OSEDA)
email : akarawuth@joomlacorner.com
akarawuth.tamrareang@community.joomla.org
follow me : http://twitter.com/joomlacorner
2
Hi, my name is Akarawuth Tamrareang and I'm Joomla Bug Squad team, Asia area events manager and
Summer of Code administrator. I’m come from Bangkok,Thailand. I'm here today to talk to you about the
upcoming 1.6 release of Joomla!.
3. Basic Requirements
Joomla! 1.6 now requires :
-PHP 5.2+
-MySQL 5.0.4+
3
Perhaps from a hosting point of view what the biggest change for Joomla! with 1.6 is the requirement that
hosting providers will require PHP 5.2 and MySQL 5.0.4 to run Joomla! 1.6 as opposed to the older versions
that Joomla! 1.5 tolerated. This change shouldn't impact most people but it is best to check now to see if your
host is going to support it or if they have plans to support it in the future.
4. New Features
• UI Redesign
• Nested categories
• ACL and customisable user groups
• Improved Extension Manager
• Redirect Manager
• Integrated Trash
• Featured Items
• Under the hood changes
4
So 1.6 has a whole heap of new features slated for it, basically rounding out the feature
set. 1.6 will feature a user interface redesign with tableless layouts for both the site and
the administrator backend. As a part of this the back end will have more MVC style
extensions which will mean that you can use layout overrides in administrator templates
more successfully. Nested categories replaces the old section category system that has
existed for the longest of times enabling you to layer as many categories as desired. New
ACL features are on the table to make more user groups to have more fine grained
controlled over who can view the content as well as what editing tasks that you can do.
The extension manager gets a refresh with some more useful support features such as
system wide extension updating. There is also a new extension called the redirect
manager that provides the ability to detect dead links and puts them into a list so that you
can redirect them to the correct links. Integrated trash now shifts the trash into the
standard list views for extensions removing the need to go to a different extension to
manage the trash. Frontpage content items now get identified as 'featured items' giving
you the option to build more interesting combinations and under the hood 1.6 has had
many other changes.
5. UI Redesign
5
So lets get started with our tour around 1.6's updates. The first is the new template called
"Blue Stork" with a new UI look and feel with tonnes of smaller changes under the hood.
There are also minor changes to the menu structure to put some items in more
appropriate places. The Site menu has had a redesign to now include some items that
were previously in the Help menu such as System Information. Other items have been
culled from the menu and now live in a more appropriate location. A new addition to the
menu is the user menu which now contains links to new functionality introduced with the
updated user manager for 1.6 and has some of the items previously found else where
such as the private messaging and mass mail system. The content menu is the last with a
slight redesign and you'll note the media manager is now located in this menu. Sections
are also gone as they are merged into categories.
6. UI Redesign
6
So lets get started with our tour around 1.6's updates. The first is the new template called
"Blue Stork" with a new UI look and feel with tonnes of smaller changes under the hood.
There are also minor changes to the menu structure to put some items in more
appropriate places. The Site menu has had a redesign to now include some items that
were previously in the Help menu such as System Information. Other items have been
culled from the menu and now live in a more appropriate location. A new addition to the
menu is the user menu which now contains links to new functionality introduced with the
updated user manager for 1.6 and has some of the items previously found else where
such as the private messaging and mass mail system. The content menu is the last with a
slight redesign and you'll note the media manager is now located in this menu. Sections
are also gone as they are merged into categories.
7. UI Redesign
7
So lets get started with our tour around 1.6's updates. The first is the new template called
"Blue Stork" with a new UI look and feel with tonnes of smaller changes under the hood.
There are also minor changes to the menu structure to put some items in more
appropriate places. The Site menu has had a redesign to now include some items that
were previously in the Help menu such as System Information. Other items have been
culled from the menu and now live in a more appropriate location. A new addition to the
menu is the user menu which now contains links to new functionality introduced with the
updated user manager for 1.6 and has some of the items previously found else where
such as the private messaging and mass mail system. The content menu is the last with a
slight redesign and you'll note the media manager is now located in this menu. Sections
are also gone as they are merged into categories.
8. UI Redesign
8
So lets get started with our tour around 1.6's updates. The first is the new template called
"Blue Stork" with a new UI look and feel with tonnes of smaller changes under the hood.
There are also minor changes to the menu structure to put some items in more
appropriate places. The Site menu has had a redesign to now include some items that
were previously in the Help menu such as System Information. Other items have been
culled from the menu and now live in a more appropriate location. A new addition to the
menu is the user menu which now contains links to new functionality introduced with the
updated user manager for 1.6 and has some of the items previously found else where
such as the private messaging and mass mail system. The content menu is the last with a
slight redesign and you'll note the media manager is now located in this menu. Sections
are also gone as they are merged into categories.
9. UI Redesign
9
So lets get started with our tour around 1.6's updates. The first is the new template called
"Blue Stork" with a new UI look and feel with tonnes of smaller changes under the hood.
There are also minor changes to the menu structure to put some items in more
appropriate places. The Site menu has had a redesign to now include some items that
were previously in the Help menu such as System Information. Other items have been
culled from the menu and now live in a more appropriate location. A new addition to the
menu is the user menu which now contains links to new functionality introduced with the
updated user manager for 1.6 and has some of the items previously found else where
such as the private messaging and mass mail system. The content menu is the last with a
slight redesign and you'll note the media manager is now located in this menu. Sections
are also gone as they are merged into categories.
10. Nested Categories
10
Next on our list is the nested categories. As you can see here, there are three levels of
categories which is an improvement on the current system. Alternatively you can also have
only one level of categories as well so the old section category limitations are now gone.
Interface wise apart from the new tree style structure, creating and managing these new
categories is the same as it has been previously.
11. ACL
• 1.6 introduces greater ACL support:
• Type 1 rules: What can you do?
- Controlled by group permissions
• Type 2 rules: What can you do to this item?
- Controlled by the item
• Type 3 rules: What can I see?
- Controlled by the access level system
11
So ACL has been a long requested feature for Joomla!, and in 1.6 it now features a rich
ACL. So there are now three types of ACL rules that can be used to control different
aspects of the system. This enables a large amount of flexibility in the system without
adding extra complexity that is unnecessary. For those familiar with Joomla! 1.5, the type
3 permissions control the views which is the same as the existing public, registered and
special permissions. This has been expanded in 1.6 to enable you to create your own
groups and then assign content to those groups. Joomla! 1.6's type 1 permissions have
historically been hard coded into Joomla! 1.5, so what 1.6 is doing is liberating them and
making them more visible and controllable. So with type 1 rules you can control who gets
access to what extension in the backend. Type 2 permissions are a new feature for 1.6's
release and allows you control down to individual content items. So you might wish to
grant the ability for a user to edit a specific content item or just a specific category and
Type 2 rules will handle this for you. Type 2 rules are still being discussed and built.
12. ACL Translation
• Type 1 rules are “roles”
- Users are assigned to groups
- Groups are assigned permissions
• Type 2 rules are “discretionary ACLS”
- Users are assigned permissions on individual items
- Similar to how Windows works with files
• Type 3 rules are simple view ACLs
- Levels are assigned to groups
- Items are assigned levels
- Users in groups can see items of that level
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So when you think about traditional systems, some comparisons can be easily drawn.
Type 1 rules are more like high level roles which are assigned to groups and then users
get access to them. Type 1 roles control users ability to do generic tasks like manage
extensions. Type 2 rules are more like discretionary ACL controls available in items like
Windows that allow you to grant specific permissions on specific items to specific users.
So a user can edit a content item, a user can create items and edit their own items in a
particular category but not others. Type 3 rules are the sort that we have in 1.5 at the
moment. So you can create a group and then set content to be viewable by particular
groups. These permissions inherit so that if a user is in a child group, then a content item
being assigned to a parent will grant the user access.
13. ACL - Group Membership
• Users can now be in more than one group
13
To add to all of this power is the ability for users to be in more than one group. So now
users can be placed into multiple groups and any permissions applied to parent groups
works down the tree where relevant. This means that multiple groups can be created and
then content assigned to those groups via Type 3 rules to permit more complex views of
information. Overall the User Manager looks the same as it has had previously though
some items have been shifted around with the addition of the group membership
management panel.
14. ACL - Group Permission
•Creating new groups now supported
•You can customise their access control
14
In addition to being able to put users in multiple groups, 1.6 now grants you the ability to
create new groups and then assign the Type 1 permissions to the individual group. Type
1 rules, labelled here as "Actions Permitted", are inherited down the tree from the parent
groups as well.
15. ACL - Level Permission
•Levels are assigned to groups
•Users can see items that have been assigned a level
which their group is a member of.
15
Level permissions, the Type 3 permissions, are controlled with a level editor where you
can select the different groups who have access to a particular level. So you can create a
new level and then assign the groups you wish to see that particular level.
16. Improved Extension Manager
• Single manage screen for uninstalling
extensions
• Joomla! wide or extension specific
updates
• Ability to upload large extensions and
discover them
• Warnings tab for helping you work out
problems with your install
16
In Joomla! 1.5, the extension manager merged the different installers into a single
universal installer for all extension types however each extension type had its own tab to
be uninstalled from. With Joomla! 1.6, there is now a universal extension list to enable
extensions to be controlled from a single point and removed from a single point. The new
extension manager also features upgrades for extensions, a new way of installing
extensions called discover which allows you to upload an extension in place via FTP or
SFTP and then "discover" them to get them installed. There is a new warnings tab to help
work out why installing new extensions isn't working.
19. Extension Manager - Updates
19
In Joomla! 1.5, the extension manager merged the different installers into a single universal installer for all extension types however each
extension type had its own tab to be uninstalled from. With Joomla! 1.6, there is now a universal extension list to enable extensions to be
controlled from a single point and removed from a single point. The new extension manager also features upgrades for extensions, a new way of
installing extensions called discover which allows you to upload an extension in place via FTP or SFTP and then "discover" them to get them
installed. There is a new warnings tab to help work out why installing new extensions isn't working.
20. Redirect Manager
• Catches hits to bad links so that you can redirect them
20
The Redirect Manager catches hits to error links and adds them to a list to enable you to look up those links and redirect them to the right place.
This is a great feature for maintaining page rank with search engines for when you have incoming links that point to content that you've
removed or just have a bad link. Bad links are automatically added to the list so all you need to do is periodically go in and point them in the
right direction.
21. Integrated Trash
• Trash is now just another state
21
Trash now appears inline with everything else. As you can see there are published items along side the trashed item there. Deleting an item once
sends it to the trash, deleting it again will then delete the item forever. By default trashed items are hidden from view but by changing the state
you can see trashed items as well.
22. Featured Items
• Replaces front page and provides more power
22
Features items is a new take on an old feature. Joomla! has had the "frontpage" concept for a long time where an item could be marked to
appear in a special front page view. Featured takes this concept and will enable you to make better use of the flag so that instead of just having a
overall site "featured" list you can focus on individual items from specific categories. So a category with employee biographies might have the
CEO featured to stick out in the list. This takes the existing frontpage concept to a new level.
23. Under the Hood
• New JForm for customizable forms
• Layout overrides for administrator
components
• Improved accessibility for frontend and
backend
• This is just a selection of the changes
23
But this is just a small taste of what is available with Joomla! 1.6, new features such as JForm enable developers even more power when
customising Joomla! and integrating extensions into the Joomla! core product. Layout overrides for administrator extensions will give template
designers even more control over what they do with Joomla! and improvements in accessibility for templates both backend and front end will be
helpful to people.