Joomla 4, Joomla 3, and Joomla 2.5 comparison: The evolution of Joomla

Joomla 4 alpha 2 has already arrived. Users are peeking at the amazing core functionalities and features introduced with Joomla 4. Joomla is gradually evolving from version 2, and now Joomla 4 is on its way with improved quality and features. So, let’s have a feature comparison among Joomla 4, Joomla 3.x, and Joomla 2.5 (both released in 2012).

Installation

The installation of Joomla 2.5 was pretty complex. The installation in Joomla 3 was simplified with a three-step installation process. It was relatively easy but the UI was not up to the mark. Now Joomla 4 overcomes each of these issues. Joomla 4 installation is much simplified and the interface is absolutely user friendly with a good outlook everywhere.

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a front-end library that contains HTML and CSS based responsive design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation and other interface components, as well as optional JavaScript extensions. Joomla 2.5 used Twitter bootstrap. Joomla 3 evolved Bootstrap 2 version. But now as Bootstrap 4 has been released (Jan 2018), Joomla 4 has been being developed with Bootstrap 4. With the presence of Bootstrap 4, the whole process is now faster and more responsive than ever before.

PHP version

Joomla 2.5 required minimum PHP version 5.2.4+. From Joomla 3 the required PHP version is 5.3+. And from Joomla 4 the required minimum version will be PHP 7. This ensures securer and faster performance with a lot of new features in Joomla 4.

Code standard

Joomla 4 code is much optimized and cleaner than both Joomla 3 and Joomla 2.5. Joomla 4 is developed staying more to the core, giving two times better stability. For better performance, some of the functionalities are rewritten with standard coding.

Frontend template

Joomla 2.5 had Beez 3 as the frontend template. In Joomla 3 there are two frontend templates. Joomla 4 has one frontend template named CASSIOPEIA developed with Bootstrap 4.

Admin backend

The system structure of admin backend is completely revolutionized in Joomla 4. In Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3, the admin backend structure was not fully top notch when it comes to the question of user friendliness. But Joomla 4 admin backend has been redesigned, given a superb user friendly interface and holds accessibility features.

Backend template

The backend template for Joomla 2.5 was Bluestork and Hathor. Bluestork was the default template. Joomla 3 backend template was Hathor and ISIS. The default backend template in Joomla 3 is ISIS. In Joomla 4, Atum is given as the backend template developed with Bootstrap 4 and SASS. Layout of the default template has been changed, now the whole menu is on the left side. Yes, it is similar solution as you might see in WordPress, it's nothing to be ashamed of!

LESS and SASS

As Bootstrap 4 is based on SASS (Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets), Joomla 4 had to integrate SASS. The previous version of Joomla used LESS. With the update, Joomla 4 ensures better performance.

Responsiveness

Template responsiveness of Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3 is based on Bootstrap and Bootstrap 3. But the ultimate responsive performance was not utterly satisfactory. But the responsiveness of Joomla 4 backend and frontend templates is based on Bootstrap 4. The responsiveness of Joomla 4 is way better than the previous versions of Joomla.

Media manager

Joomla 4 media manager is totally rebuilt and has some new features. The media manager in Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3 misses a number of useful functionalities. Joomla 4 media manager offers several new features including drag-and-drop image uploading, image edition to help editing images (e.g. rename, crop, resize, rotate) via your Joomla backend instead of using other tools.

Mootools

Joomla 3.x has both Mootools and jQuery JavaScript libraries. But to avoid code conflicts and for better performance, Mootools will be completely removed from Joomla 4.

So, this is the comparison among Joomla 4 and its older versions. Joomla 4 is absolutely promising. With a smarter interface, better stability, 2x faster approach and ultimate security, we can say, the future is secure and full of advancements with Joomla 4.