Past release and support cycle
From Joomla! Documentation
Joomla! is now developed using Semantic Versioning (2.0.0) release cycles, please see the current release and support cycle page for more information. The acronyms, LTS and STS are no longer valid. For the entire text of the new development strategy, please read it here. Still have questions? Please check the FAQs.
Joomla! is developed using a fixed release cycle. Every six months, the Joomla! Project releases a new minor or major version of Joomla!. Joomla!'s version format is:
[major].[minor].[maintenance]
Each version of Joomla! is supported by the Joomla! Project for a limited amount of time. There are two classifications for support: short term support (STS) and long term support (LTS). Every fourth release will be assigned long term support.
- STS (short term support) releases are supported for seven months. Their support ends one month after the next release of Joomla is released. They are one click upgrades to the next STS or LTS version.
- LTS (long term support) releases are supported for twenty-seven months.
Please note that both STS and LTS releases, once they have reached the GA (General Availability) status, are fully functional and ready to be used in production environment. The disadvantage of using STS releases is that you will need to update your installation of Joomla! every six months, while the advantage is that you will have access to new features and extensions earlier.
Generally, the first STS release after an LTS release indicates the beginning of a new major release cycle. This STS release introduces fundamentally new features and changes that break compatibility with the previous LTS. Two more STS releases follow (usually compatible with the first STS release), and the release cycle is finished by the release of an LTS release which finalizes the work of the three STS releases. The four releases in one cycle will usually be numbered [major].0,[major].1 and [major].2 (STS) and [major].5 (LTS). For example, the STS release 3.0 will include breaking changes from 2.5, and 3.5 will include matured versions of the changes in 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2.
Usually, there will be a migration path (an officially supported way of migrating to the next version) between two LTS releases (from [major].5 to [next major].5) and between an LTS release and the STS releases in its major release cycle (from [major].2 to [major].5, for example), but not necessarily to the following STS releases (from [major].5 to [next major].0). In the case of 1.5 to 2.5 (LTS to LTS), for example, there is a migration path. Note that in the case of 2.5 to 3.0 (LTS to STS), there is also built-in migration path, since the changes aren't too incompatible.
Version References
Joomla! version 3.0.0 to 3.3.0
- 27 September 2012 - Joomla! version 3.0.0 was the first release in the 3.x series and was developed using the LTS and STS version strategy until 25 April 2014.
- 11 June 2014 - Joomla! version 3.3.1 was the first version released under the new development strategy.
Joomla! version 1.6.0 to 2.5.28
Total development to EOS of Joomla! major version 2.5 was 5 years, 8 months and 10 days.
- 22 April 2009 - Joomla 1.6 Alpha was released followed by various alphas and betas till 10 January 2011 when Joomla version 1.6.0 was released.
- 19 July 2011 - Joomla 1.7.0 released
- 24 January 2012 - Joomla 2.5.0 released
Joomla! version 1.5.0 to 1.5.26
Total development to EOS for Joomla! major version 1.5 was 5 years, 6 months and 21 days.
- 10 March 2007 - approximate date based on first tracker, Joomla! 1.5 alpha.
- 22 January 2008 - Joomla! version 1.5.0 released.
- 27 March 2012 - Final version of 1.5 released, Joomla! version 1.5.26
- 30 September 2012 - EOS for Joomla 1.5
Joomla! version 1.0.0 to 1.0.x
- Information needed