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Let’s make a comparison of Joomla 2.5, Joomla 3 and Joomla 4!

Joomla 4 alpha version was released for testing, which means the day that stable version release will not be far anymore. As a Joomla fan, we are waiting for more amazing new core functionalities and features of Joomla 4. Since its version 2.5, the Joomla development team has gone through a long path to achieve the best quality and features of Joomla possible, in order to bring their fans the best experience. Today blog post will give you an outlook on three main versions of Joomla, from 2.5, 3 to Joomla 4. Take a look!

Installation process

When we installed Joomla 2.5, the process was quite complex. It has been simplified when Joomla 3 released, but the UI still not performed as good as we expected.

All of the issues of previous versions will be solved by Joomla 4 introduction. They simplify the installation process more in Joomla 4 and the interface will be more user-friendly with a good-looking view.

Bootstrap

This is a frontend library with HTML and CSS based responsive design templates for navigation, forms, typography, buttons, interface components and Javascript extensions.  As we have known, Twitter Bootstrap was used for building Joomla 2.5, while Joomla 3 was Bootstrap 2, now, Joomla 4 will be developed by Bootstrap 4.

Bootstrap 4 has been launched from the beginning of 2018, with Bootstrap 4 integration, the whole process of Joomla 4 will be faster and more responsive.

PHP minimum requirement

Minimum PHP version requirement:

Joomla 2.5:  since PHP 5.2.4

Joomla 3: since PHP 5.3

Joomla 4: at least PHP 7

PHP requirement also let us know that we can help a better and safer performance besides many new amazing Joomla 4 features.

Code standard

The upcoming version 4 code quality has been optimized and cleaner than the previous versions. With the main base on the core, Joomla 4 is promising to provide us with a better performance and stability (several functionalities are rewritten with coding standard).

Frontend template

Joomla 2.5: front-end template Beez 3 

Joomla 3: has two front-end templates

Joomla 4: provides 1 new front-end template Cassiopeia (based on Bootstrap 4).

Admin backend

Admin backend system structure of Joomla 4 has been completely revolutionized. It used to not show its best with user-friendliness, that is the reason why Joomla development team concentrated on redesigning admin backend, so we can wait for an introduction of the new brilliant user-friendly interface with many accessibility features.

Backend template

Joomla 2.5: Bluestork (this is the default template) and Hathor

Joomla 3: ISIS (default template) and Hathor

Joomla 4: provides a new template called Atum which is built on SASS and Bootstrap 4.

The development team also changed the layout of default template, therefore, you will see the menu will be on the left side, like WordPress!

SASS and LESS

Since Bootstrap 4 built on SASS, Joomla 4 obviously integrates with SASS, when previous versions using LESS. By this change, we will definitely have a greater performance. 

Responsiveness

While previous version 2.5 and 3 template responsiveness based on Bootstrap and Bootstrap 3. The problem is that the ultimate responsive did not perform like what we expected. By using frontend and backend template which based on Bootstrap 4, which will improve responsiveness much.

Media Manager

In Joomla 4, a brand new Media manager has been introduced with new features. Media manager of Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3 have missed many useful functionalities, therefore, this new one will provide more new features such as uploading the image by dragging-dropping, image edition which allows editing image from the backend without using any tools.

Mootools

jQuery Javascript libraries and Mootools have been introduced in Joomla 3, however, Mootools will be removed from the version 4 to avoid code conflicts and provide a greater performance.

CONCLUSION

That’s all of today article! Thank you so much for reading. If you have any relating question, feel free to let us know by leaving a comment below, we will reply as soon as possible!

AgeThemes Digital Team

We’re Digital Content Marketing team from AgeThemes Marketplace. We provide quality content for everyone who using open source CMS like Joomla and WordPress. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free leave your comment, we happy to assist you asap.