Joomla! 1.6 First Look

Joomla! News

Joomla! 1.6 First Look

With the Joomla! 1.6 comes several new features, and overall usability enhancements. Joomla! 1.6 First Look is a primer to help users and developers transition to the new version. The book covers the usability changes, and also has some details for developers on what changes will need to be made to extensions.

One of the major changes in Joomla! 1.6 is the enhanced Access Control Lists (ACL) functionality. Instead of having just certain set groups, now the system allows creation of your own groups. Access to content can be provisioned in a granular way, allowing for very flexible applications. This was something missing from past Joomla! versions, and really makes the platform more appealing for developers.

The core framework has actually not changed very much. So if you are a 1.5 developer, you will be in a good position with probably minimal code changes needed to your extensions. The main difference is actually in the new features offered. There's a forms api now, and several component application classes to help with common tasks. This promotes code reuse, making your code lighter and easier to manage.

Overall the change from 1.5 to 1.6 is a lot less painful than 1.0 to 1.5 was. For developers and users that want to jump in with both feet, this book is a good resource. With this book, and also the Joomla! online docs, you will quickly overcome the learning curve. Another chapter in the Joomla! saga has been written, and this book will keep you at the cutting edge.

Note: I'm a member of the Packt affiliate program. I'm providing disclosure of this fact, so that my readers can make informed decisions.