The next minor release (Joomla 3.6)

[Chris Davenport]

Now that 3.5 has reached its Stable milestone the time has come to start work in earnest on our next minor release.  As Release Leader for Joomla 3.6 it falls to me to coordinate efforts towards that release and I want to give an outline of the plan to get us there.

For the past couple of years we have been getting two minor releases out per year, so roughly one every six months.  This has tended to mean that the releases contain lots of new features, but also that the developers of those features have had to wait a long time to see their work adopted.  The Production Leadership Team (PLT) has therefore decided to pick up the pace a little and aim for more frequent, but smaller minor releases.  This should also tend to reduce the overall risk associated with each release.

With that in mind we’d like to tentatively aim for the next minor release, Joomla 3.6, towards the end of June 2016.  Working back from this date means that we should target a first beta release at the end of April 2016.

In order to maintain a reasonable pace for minor releases we will not be delaying these dates significantly unless there are exceptional circumstances (such as those that caused the delay to 3.5).  What this means is that the feature list for the stable release will be established by the first beta release.  If a feature isn’t ready by then, it gets bounced to 3.7.  “Ready” doesn’t necessarily mean bug-free, but it should be in a state where it is ready to be tested by end-users with the full expected functionality and a high probability that it can be production-ready by the scheduled Stable milestone date.

Prior to the first beta release we will make at least one alpha release to give everyone a feel for what the release might look like.  Some features might be included which are later withdrawn.  Following the first beta release we won’t be merging any new features and the focus will be on fixing bugs and generally stabilising the code in preparation for the Stable milestone release.

My role in this is to coordinate and shepherd contributions so that we end up with some nice new features in a stable release on time.

There are a number of features and improvements that we are keen to see implemented in Joomla 3.6.  The following is a list of the features currently being worked on, with the Feature Leads who will be leading the effort to get them in.  Whether they make it in or not, as with any feature contribution, will depend on whether they are ready in time.

• Custom fields (Allon Moritz)

• New media manager

• New router (Hannes Papenberg)

• Service layer (Chris Davenport)

• Web services (Chris Davenport)

• Mobile app (Matias Aguirre)

• Admin template (Cliff Pfeifer)

With the short timeframe for 3.6 and given where we are with their development right now, I think it is unlikely that the last three on this list will make it in time for the beta release, but we should of course continue to work on them anyway.

I invite anyone with an interest in helping out with any of these features to get in touch with the relevant Feature Lead.

I am also looking for someone to take on the role of Documentation Lead for the 3.6 release.  This will entail organising contributors to ensure that all new features are properly documented in time for the stable release. Please get in touch with me if you’d like to take it on.

This is an ambitious schedule, but I’m confident that we can produce a solid release with a useful collection of new features and still have time for a 3.7 release by the end of the year.

Let’s all work together to make Joomla 3.6 a nice, smooth, bug-free stable release!

Chris.

--

Chris Davenport
Joomla Production Leadership Team

[Michael Babker]

I hate to sound like the Negative Nancy here, but honestly I don't see how this timeline can be achieved unless every one of these features is already in a beta/RC state.  If you remember there were ambitious timelines set for all new releases coming out of the revised development strategy in 2014 and thus far only two of those minor releases have gone out the door (IIRC had that actually been met we'd be somewhere around 3.9 or 3.10 now).  3.4 had a timeline of 3 months after 3.3's release and it took almost 10 to ship and 3.5's timeline I don't believe ever had a "firm" schedule until the first beta and that slipped severely (for the right reasons, just to make sure that's clear).

I don't think an ambitious timeline is an unrealistic goal.  Having a release as you've envisioned here with the timeline you've described though I think is unrealistic.  Of the items you've listed, AFAIK only one is actually merged to core (the router code which is a culmination of years of effort) and two are in a feature complete or testing state (custom fields which is based on an existing third party extension and web services which has been a work in progress for well over a year); one I'm not sure I can comment on its state (service layer).  The first three items I mentioned alone would make for a strong release and I'd say focus on just these three "large" things for a 3.6 release.  If the others come together at the same time then that makes it even better, but at a first glance this feels like too much in too short of a timeframe.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Joomla! CMS Development" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to joomla-dev-cm...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to joomla-...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-cms.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[brian teeman]

I guess time will tell Michael - its amazing what people can achieve when they work together instead of working against each other.

[Ole Ottosen (ot2sen)]

Agree. It seems reasonable to target the first 4 items for a 3.6

It is a good mix of user orientated features and developer orientated features. Custom fields, router improvement and media manager will all be note worthy features for the end users, and developers alike.

Good luck on your stint Chris. J36 looks promising already :)

On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 10:04 PM, 'brian teeman' via Joomla! CMS Development <joomla-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I guess time will tell Michael - its amazing what people can achieve when they work together instead of working against each other.

--

[Webdongle Elgnodbew]

It might be a good idea for you to post a couple of the most needed test's on here ?  I tend mostly to test patches that relate to issues I see in the forum.  There are so many in the issue tracker it is difficult on which ones to prioritise.  If you were to prioritise patches that needed testing and post a couple on here from time to time ... it might help testers like me focus our attention better.  Yes I can be slack to decide which patch to test but a lot of that is indecision.  A clear call from yourself( about issues that are holding up a release) may help keep the schedule on target ?

[Allon Moritz]

What needs definitely some testing is the custom fields feature. We created a repository https://github.com/joomla-projects/custom-fields where you can create issues and open pull requests.

[Webdongle Elgnodbew]

OK Allon ... will try my best to break it tomorrow.

[Cyril Thibout]

Hi Chris

I am available to be a tester for the custom fields part. Who should I contact please ?

thanks

cyril 

 

[brian teeman]

You can download a full install with custom fields from here  https://github.com/joomla-projects/custom-fields/archive/custom-fields.zip
And report any issues here https://github.com/joomla-projects/custom-fields/issues

[Walt Sorensen]

Out of all the features listed and those that are out there, there is one that I would love to see implemented for 3.6 more than others.

Either the Repeatable field type needs to be actually fixed, or the feature Repeatable subforms needs testing and implementation.

[piotr_cz]

Hi, are there any new estimates on the 3.6-beta release date?

[Chris Davenport]

I'll do another update soon.  Stay tuned.

Chris.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Joomla! CMS Development" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to joomla-dev-cm...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to joomla-...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-cms.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Beat]

Hi Chris,

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for what you, and to all the contributors to Joomla 3.6, are doing!

Continue doing! Continue ignoring the experts explaining why it's impossible to achieve the possible. Continue providing a safe heaven to your contributors. Continue providing a vision. And great things will continue to happen. Joomla urgently needs that and your positive message.

Thank You, all Joomla 3.6 team! You rock!

Beat
http://www.joomlapolis.com/