jdownloads logo bigWe are proud to present all interested visitors a first look at the forthcoming new jDownloads version 3.9.

Our aim for the new version is to support the newly added functions of the current Joomla Version 3.9 as far as possible and to integrate them in jDownloads.  But it was also necessary to remove or change some old parts.  This means that version 3.9 will not be backwards compatible with version 3.2.  More detailed information will be available at the time of jDownloads publication in the documentation.  Likewise, a guide to easily upgrade easy an existing 3.2 installation to the new version 3.9 will be available.  It is an upgrade not a migration!

Developers whose Joomla extensions support jDownloads in any way, or have developed their own plugins or modules for this purpose, can of course receive a version in advance to make the appropriate adjustments early.

New major features in version 3.9

  • The same look and feel for the downloads and categories as the articles and categories in Joomla!
  • Uses the Joomla! style Options in place of the Configuration
  • The same search, filtering and sort methods as the core extensions in Joomla!
  • Newly designed backend control panel with more information together with quick and easy data access
  • Reworked and faster monitoring tool with many new options in the jDownloads control panel
  • Support for Joomla field groups and fields in jDownloads (replaces the previous jDownloads custom fields)
  • New multilingual association function directly in jDownloads
  • Enhanced support for single user access to Downloads
  • Support for Joomla! User Actions Log function
  • Optional inquiry form for users to complete before downloading
  • and much more

Here can you see some new features in action:

What is still to do?

  • We will start in the next weeks with the first public beta version and hope that many jDownloads users will help to get the new version as soon as possible to the final release
  • New documentation for the coming version is in progress (by Colin Mercer) and will be published step by step in our documentation center
  • Translators can very soon start work on www.transifex.com to make also the new version multilingual

On the horizon is also the new Joomla major release 4.0 which again brings a lot of changes.  We hope that we have the time to publish by the end of the year a fully compatible jDownloads 4.0.