Based on the initial release of JoomFish 2.0 the version 2.2 integrates several enhanced features and fixes for issues we had been reported. The primary focus in this version was the future integration and requirements of the Joomla 1.6 codebase. The version 2.2 is not compatible with Joomla 1.6 yet, but it integrates features of this release into your Joomla 1.5 codebase. The major advantage of this release for you is an enhanced language manager with more easy management of flags/images and an extended behavior regarding the future content language management.

Additionally this release is a fully optimized for the usage of PHP 5.3 and includes declarations of all methods and variables as well as removed all the deprecated function calls used before.

Please read this article for details on the new feature set as well as installation instructions. It is important to read these instructions as JoomFish changes a lot of files and related configurations.

What will be new on JoomFish 2.2?

JoomFish 2.2 is dedicated to a more intuitive user interface and better integrated documentation of the translation process or how to manage multilingual websites. Our primary goal is to allow the users to use the existing features in a more easy way.

Will be integrated in the release

The features listed below are be integrated in the release of JoomFish 2.2

• Fixed issues as reported in the bug trackers
• Support for the translation of languages
• Further optimized support for PHP 5.3
• Optimized installation process including system relevant tests
• Revisit the language strings for the dialog translations
• Better integrated documentation and help
• Optimized default settings for better usage of first time users
• Support for Google Translation API (paid services)
• Languages are now treated as the new content languages in Joomla 1.6, 1.7 & 2.5
  With this change JoomFish 2.2 will be transparent for the Joomla 2.5 language management and extends the core features. Your Joomla 1.5 system will work quite similar as Joomla 2.5 will do in future.
• The new language manager allows you to pic your language image (flag) in a nice modal window. Your flags are still automatically suggested by matching the sef code of your language to an existing file - with the new dialog you can easily overwrite the automatic settings.

What is changed or dropped?

• PHP 4 support;
  The new version is no longer compatible with PHP 4 at all. All classes require PHP 5 declarations and will fail on older systems. This changes are applied as PHP 4 support was dropped by the PHP development team already long ago
• Hard linking between front-end language files and content language management
  You can now add as many content languages as you like and work with them for translations and site management. The Joomla 1.5 limitations in terms of language management still apply at the moment
• All flags and related media files are now re-located to the new /media/com_joomfish directory. You can create new set's of flags using subdirectories. Your personal root directory can be configured in the component parameters.
• The global configuration settings are now editable in a modal window reducing the amount of re-loads on your site.

How to install JoomFish 2.2?

JoomFish 2.2 comes with a number of changed and relocated files. Therefore we decided against the Joomla upgrade method for your installation process. The JoomFish installer however will do the important database updates automatically if needed. Please follow the following steps for a successful upgrade of your JoomFish 2.0 installation.

Please be aware that JoomFish 2.2 does not include any upgrade from prior versions such as JoomFish 1.x - if you need to upgrade your website from any JoomFish 1.x configuration you need to upgrade to 2.0.4 first!

Also be aware that JoomFish 2.2 is not backwards compatible with 2.1 table structure and there is no downgrade path available. If you like to go back a version you are recommended to use your backup.

1. Backup your website and database e.g. using manual tools or extensions such as Akeeba Backup
2. Copy all administrator/components/com_joomfish/contentelements/ files that you added to a different directory or download them
3. Copy all your additional image flags (default path /components/com_joomfish/images/flags) to a different directory or download them
4. Uninstall JoomFish 2.0/2.1 from your Joomla installation
   Please verify that all the directories and additional extensions such as the module and plugins are removed as well
5. Install JoomFish 2.2 from our distribution package
   1. The new installation will automatically detect your database table structure and upgrade it to the 2.2 requirements
   2. The upgrade process will create backup tables called _languages_bak, _jf_content_bak and so on. If your JoomFish 2.2 extensions works without further failure you can remove these tables. If you have any problems you may want to use these backups for downgrades or anything similar
   3. The installer will install all required extensions such as the language selection module for the front-end or the required plugins. The JoomFish control panel shows you a status information if everything is installed correctly
6. Please go to the JoomFish control panel by using the Administrator Menu and verify the status settings as well as your extensions parameters
7. Enjoy the power to localize your website and have fun