Joomla! 3.4 - New Features & Moving Towards Lighter Core
The Joomla! 3.4 release introduces new features into the CMS such as improved front end module editing, decoupling of web links, composer integration, Google new reCaptcha and security improvements by implementing UploadShield code which can detect most malicious uploads by examining their filenames and file contents.
More than 700 bugs have also been resolved with the 3.4 release of the Joomla! CMS.
Front-end Module Editing
Editing modules is faster and easier in Joomla 3.4. Incorporating Front End Module editing allows you to to edit modules directly on the page without the need to use the admin dashboard. This new feature simplifies the administration of websites by making them incredibly easy to edit.
Decoupling com_weblinks
The Joomla is on its way on creating a lighter core. The first step in this is achieved by removing com_weblinks from the core distribution. These extensions are maintained on GitHub. A new category is created within the Joomla! Extensions Directory (JED). This new category will be for extensions marked as core-supported.
Composer Integration
Joomla 3.3 introduced code from the Joomla! Framework into the CMS, however, the method in which it is installed into the filesystem does not align with how Composer installs code. Joomla 3.4 release is integrating Composer into the CMS for managing external dependencies such as the Joomla! Framework and PHPMailer.
No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA
Google introduced a no CAPTCHA CAPTCHA API in December 2014. Joomla updated the reCAPTCHA plugin to protect login and registration forms against spam. While still supporting the old reCAPTCHA 1.0, you can now also use it for the new reCAPTCHA version 2.0. A significant number of your users can now attest they are human without having to solve a CAPTCHA. Instead with just a single click they’ll confirm they are not a robot.
Core en-GB standardization
The official language of Joomla is en-GB, and the goal is to standardize all the en-GB language strings in the core of Joomla based on the style guide that you can see. This will ensure consistency throughout Joomla. It will provide translation teams with an easy framework and guidelines to create their own style guides to ensure consistency throughout the project.