Calling All Adventurers: Plone 5's Newest Pre-Release!

Who it's for and what to expect in this test version.

What is a pre-release?

Pre-releases are alpha quality and not intended for deployment on production sites. Alpha quality software is released into the wild for testing and experimentation only. A typical development cycle includes several alpha versions before the software is released to the wider public for deployment on production sites.

Who is this for and how will Plone 5 make my life easier?

Plone 5 pre-releases are for Plone community members interested in:

  1. Discovering what’s new in Plone 5
  2. Quality Assurance (QA) testing and reporting bugs or other issues

In Plone 5 will make your life easier with enhancements—in many cases, complete overhauls—that allow greater flexibility and control over:

  1. Themeing
  2. Managing content
  3. Security
  4. Extending site capabilities with Add-ons

Listed below are what you will see in the current Plone 5 pre-release.

Themeing

Barceloneta is the name of the new basic theme. Out of the box it is accessible, responsive, compiled with LESS, and can be edited through the web. It features:

  • Diazo theming by default
  • HTML 5
  • Hooks for your Diazo rules with new selectors and cleaner HTML
  • New toolbar that stays outside the theme and can be repositioned
  • Ability to choose your front-end framework (ex. Bootstrap )
  • Fuzzy date formatting (like “yesterday” and “last Tuesday”)
  • Customizable registration/membership forms
  • Chameleon rendering engine that serves pages 20% faster

Absent from the new design are:

  • Plone Classic theme
  • Presentation mode
  • Base tag
  • Layout tables
  • Deco Grid
  • Inaccessible selectors like <dl> and <dt>
  • Faculty Staff Directory
  • Client-side date formatting

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Content Management

New for TinyMCE

  • More accessible
  • Mobile friendly
  • Drag/drop uploads

New for Folders

  • Bulk edits to add/remove tags, properties, and workflow
  • Drag/drop content reordering
  • Bulk drag/drop uploads

Dexterity

  • Archetypes will not be enabled by default
  • All current content types have direct replacements that consume less memory
  • Event settings now include all day, open-ended, or recurring
  • Content migrations can be customized, use schema extender, and/or type-by-type

Migration, Tags, Related Content, Widgets

  • Tags are added by search and find, can be reordered
  • Related Content is added through an improved search and find
  • Widgets function independently from content

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Security

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Add-ons

plone.api

  • Integrates documentation for your version of Plone
  • Extends your site without breaking it when migrating to the next version

Documentation

  • More than 2,000 pages have been rewritten, more coming
  • Will be geared toward different audiences, from end users to core developers
  • Are versioned, translated, and include (automated) screenshots
  • Easy for Plone Community members to contribute

Get It

If you’re not up to testing the pre-releases, no worries! It won’t be long before you can start using some of the features from Plone 5. Beginning with Plone 4.3.4 (coming soon), version pins will be available for the Dexterity-based content types, widgets, and the Chameleon rendering engine.

For those feeling adventurous or curious, the Plone 5 pre-release is available at plone.org/try-five. We want—no, we need!—to hear from you. Please report bugs, quality assurance (QA) issues, and general feedback in the Feedback on Plone 5 Pre-release Versions forum in community.plone.org.