Contao Open Source CMS 5.0.0

Contao 5.0.0, a new version of the Contao open source CMS, has been released.

In the eighties, crowds flocked to the cinema halls for Robot Number 5, which was struck by lightning. Almost 40 years later, a lot has changed, but it's a five again that stands for something big. The latest version of our favourite CMS has just landed. With your help, Contao 5 will write an unforgettable piece of software history. Have fun with the new arrival.

What can you expect from Contao 5?

During the development of the new major version, the focus this time was not on new features, but on getting rid of as much old code as possible. The so-called "BC layers" slow down the development of Contao and tie up a lot of resources. So Contao 5 is just a number. It is basically Contao 4.14 without ballast from older versions and therefore it must be labeled version 5.0 according to our versioning strategy.

You can read more about this in Yanick's detailed article on the developer meeting 2022.

Nevertheless, there are also new features in Contao 5. For example, the Contao install tool has been removed and moved completely to the Contao Manager.

Other improvements and changes for users:

  • Unification of the user interface for child elements.
  • Pages and files move under "Content"
  • No saving of incomplete content elements
  • New content element for unfiltered HTML
  • Contao core templates are based on TWIG

You can find a complete list of all changes in the changelog at the end of the blog post.

Extensions and Contao 5

Due to the clean-up in Contao 5, most extensions also need to be adapted to be compatible again. This means that you will hardly be able to install any extensions at the moment.

Depending on the effort, it may take a few weeks until the packages are fit for Contao 5 again and work without errors.

It is a good time to remember that for seven years now, little to no financial support was needed for the most popular extensions. This is precisely because the Contao core team has taken so much effort to always ensure backwards compatibility.

We have all been able to benefit from this for years. Now it is up to us to support the programmers financially and make sure that the ecosystem around the Contao core can be updated step by step.

trakked is ready for Contao 5

With the release of Contao 5, a new Contao Manager version 1.6 was released. As usual, trakked has performed the manager update for you automatically.

Of course, all known trakked feature are also available for Contao 5.

Changelog of the fixed issues in Contao 5.0.0:

Changelog of the fixed issues in Contao 5.0.0-RC4:

Changelog of the new features in Contao 5.0.0-RC3:

Changelog of the new features in Contao 5.0.0-RC2:

Changelog of the fixed issues in Contao 5.0.0-RC2:

Changelog of the new features in Contao 5.0.0-RC1:

Changelog of the fixed issues in Contao 5.0.0-RC1:

About Contao 5.0

The first stable version of Contao 5.0 has been released on 18 August 2022 and has been the successor of Contao 4.13. 5.0 has been updated until 14 February 2023, after which it has been replaced by Contao 5.1.

Bjarke Ammann

Bjarke takes care of the website and support. If you like reading, you might have come across his Contao Two Month Review or found an answer to your question in the official Contao user manual. He also makes sure that Contao enthusiasts from Switzerland meet regularly to exchange ideas. He loves culinary delights, good music and exercise in the fresh air.

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