Image Credit: Chiara Aliotta and Helvecio Da Silva
According to Joomla, this new release will feature many new features, including a collapsible side bar, front-end module editing, Google reCAPTCHA, composer integration, decoupled com_weblinks and extension beta testing. Security has also been improved with the implementation of UploadShield code, which can detect most malicious file uploads by examining names and content. All of these improvements were designed with one goal in mind; to help Joomla's users, "Do more."
A team of over 130 volunteers have helped contribute to 2,060 new commits since the release of 3.3.6 last October, meaning that 700 bugs have already been resolved.
As the fourth standard-term support release in the Joomla 3 series, this upgrade is one-click and a full migration is not needed from 3.3 to 3.4. Conveniently, this is the case for all current and planned future releases in the 3 series.
No background compatibility problems are expected to occur with the release of 3.4, but developers are being encouraged to use 3.4 and explore the new features available when developing and testing any new extensions.
If your site is still using any version of Joomla CMS 3.x and you aren't planning any major design/template changes, there is currently no need for you to upgrade, although it is recommended.
If you are using Joomla! 2.5 or older, however, you need to upgrade immediately. Support for this series has now officially ended. Although your site will still 'work', per se, you are now extremely vulnerable as security patches and fixes are no longer being released for this series. If you need to upgrade from 2.5, you can check out our earlier article that details why and how to complete the upgrade. After you've read that article, you can get in touch through our User Support system and discuss upgrading your CMS now.
As always, ensure that you've completed a full back up of your entire site before committing to any upgrades.
If you have any questions about updating or creating a website feel free to get in touch with us at our Contact page, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages.