Joomla 3.9 is live. Discover new features.

26 November, 2021

Joomla! team has released Joomla! 3.9.0, the last massive upgrade of Joomla! 3.x series. The next step will be the release of Joomla 4, which is the priority now.

The new release brings about 250 new features, improvements and bug fixes for the Joomla CMS. It’s also the first 100% GDPR Compliant release of Joomla!

Improvements include a full package of privacy protection tools, making it faster and easier to ensure the compliance of the site with the law.

What’s new in Joomla 3.9?

Package of Privacy Protection Tools

Joomla 3.9 the ‘Privacy Tool Suite’ comes with many features focused on privacy that will help you to handle user-consent and data management. Everything you need is now included in Joomla! Core.

Privacy Policy

Thanks to Joomla 3.9, the issue of consent to the privacy policy works automatically. Now you can easily configure forms in which you ask for permission before downloading personal data. You can also easily define their validity period, which will be controlled by the system (it will notify you when it is time to renew your consent).

This is a handy feature, primarily if your company is based within the EU borders or is doing business with EU customers. Track and manage all the consents from your dashboard.

User information requests

Now you can manage user requests for access to personal data or delete them. Everything is handled automatically, so you can easily export data or delete it. There is also a reminder option - you will not forget about any application because the system will not allow it.

An API for extension developers

If you are a developer of Joomla extensions, this is good news for you. Now the Joomla privacy functions are also the basis for extension programmers with whom you can integrate.

If your extension collects user data, you can use the plugin, and Joomla will support your privacy and other relevant information. This feature will help the extension administrators and website owners decide if any modification or disclosure is required in the documentation.

User Actions Log

This new extension allows you to track who is doing what on your site. If your site has multiple administrator accounts, you as the super-administrator can now see what the user in Joomla 3.9 is taking administrative steps.

These will be detailed logs containing the date, time and export / clean options. Also, supported extensions will also share activity logs.

Other features

Easier content management

Joomla 3.9 makes it easier to manage contents on your website with some simple new features. You can add notes to your Joomla articles in the backend.

Besides, you can filter articles by note. These notes are visible in the backend list environment so admins can learn if there is anything special about an article.

With Joomla 3.9, you can also search inside the Joomla article contents from the backend.

Invisible reCAPTCHA

Joomla 3.9 provides support for Invisible reCAPTCHA, which gives much better UX experience for the users using the form. Google's reCAPTCHA service will now recognize safe users and will entirely skip the traditional captcha verification. It does not require the user to click on the checkbox. When the user is considered a suspect, a captcha call will appear.

Repeatable custom fields and alternative layouts

Joomla 3.9 adds one more custom field type: the "Repeatable" field. It’s a kind of enhanced List field type. The user of this field will be able to select one of the values you enter. When you create a Repeatable field, you create a mini-form inside this field.

You will also be able to create your custom layouts for Joomla custom fields. With the support of the layout system, you can now create alternate layouts for additional fields that work the way you want.