Added

Joomla 5 native API

• Full Joomla 5 namespace compliance across the template entry-point, helpers, and parameter-echo paths — JFactory → Factory, JText → Text, JRoute → Route, JUri → Uri, JHtml → HTMLHelper, JComponentHelper → ComponentHelper, and the rest of the deprecated J* static-class family.
• templateDetails.xml rewritten to the J5 manifest schema with method="upgrade" declared so existing customers can install in place without uninstall-first. Extension-version declaration bumped to 5.4.0.
• Native Joomla 5 jQuery (loaded via the CMS) used in place of the previously-bundled jQuery 1.8.1.
• VirtueMart 4 helper integration refactored end-to-end for J5 namespace resolution.

Swiper 11 slideshow

• The legacy Camera slideshow plugin has been replaced with Swiper 11 — CDN-loaded (swiper-bundle.min.{css,js}), touch-friendly, accessible, and actively maintained. Same visual look and feel as the prior slideshow; modern engine underneath.
• Slideshow markup updated to Swiper's expected DOM shape (<div class="swiper camera_wrap"> → <div class="swiper-wrapper"> → per-slide <div class="swiper-slide" style="background-image: url(/...); background-size:cover">); the legacy camera_caption markup is preserved verbatim so existing caption CSS keeps matching.
• Swiper init (~12 lines) honours the donor's existing cam_time + cam_pagination parameters with effect: 'fade', loop, and autoplay.
• Slide container sizing: aspect-ratio: 3/1; max-height: 480px; min-height: 280px; — banner proportions matching the original Camera plugin's apparent height. Required because Swiper slides with only a background-image (no text/img children) collapse to 0 height by default; Camera used to set its own slide height in JS.

Modern social-network support

• Social-media set parity — added Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Discord, Instagram, Pinterest.
• X (the Twitter rebrand) replaces the legacy Twitter icon with the current logo.
• Removed dead networks: Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, Blogger, MySpace.
• Social-block parameter set extended: each network now has its own *ON visibility toggle plus URL field, all wired into the Template Style admin form's Community fieldset.
• Per-network icon glyphs delivered via the bundled FontAwesome 6 set.

Security helpers (XSS hardening)

• New output-escape helpers added to index.php:
  • phEsc() — HTML attribute escaping for href, src, alt, title, and Swiper caption output.
  • phHexColor() — color parameter validation (regex ^#?[0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?$) with fallback to #000000 on bad input.
  • phCssDim() — dimension parameter validation accepting px / em / rem / % / vh / vw / pt / ex / ch / cm / mm / in.
• 285 admin-controlled echoes across the template tree wrapped with these helpers wherever user-controlled parameters reach the output.

Changed

Admin form modernization — J5-native switchers

• 89 legacy class="switch" type="checkbox" field declarations across every fieldset of templateDetails.xml converted to J5-native type="radio" layout="joomla.form.field.radio.switcher" with explicit <option value="0">JNO</option><option value="1">JYES</option> pairs.
• Scope covers every fieldset, not just the Community-tab social ON toggles: sliderON, cookielaw, jumpToTop, all the Camera-era FX toggles, and the rest of the legacy boolean-input set.
• Customers opening the Template Style edit screen now see Joomla 5's native pill-switcher UI instead of the 2014-era checkbox controls.

jQuery cleanup

• Removed bundled jQuery 1.8.1 — template now uses Joomla 5's native jQuery.
• Removed the jQuery.browser = {} shim (extinct as of jQuery 1.9; only present to support legacy IE detection that has no modern relevance).
• Removed the Superfish / Supersubs menu init — menu hovers are now CSS :hover only, via nav.css.
• Removed jquery.mobile.customized.min.js and jquery.easing.1.3.js — both were Camera-slideshow dependencies superseded by Swiper.

Bootstrap migration

• Template now renders against Joomla 5's bundled Bootstrap 5 natively — the Bootstrap 4 shim that earlier releases carried has been dropped.
• 89 toggle conversions from Bootstrap 4's data-toggle / data-target attributes to Bootstrap 5's data-bs-* API across the template tree.
• Layout markup updated where BS2-era grid syntax remained; existing column structure preserved, class names modernized.

Bundled extensions refreshed

• Akeeba Backup Core updated from 10.2.1 to 10.3.4 — current stable release.
• Weblinks Extension Package updated from 4.3.1 to 5.1.0 — current Joomla 5-compatible release.
• Customers installing the 5.4.0 quickstart land on a clean Extensions Update screen with zero pending updates.

Fixed

• Slideshow zero-height regression after the Camera → Swiper swap — Swiper slides with only a background-image collapsed to 0 height on first render. Resolved with the aspect-ratio: 3/1; max-height: 480px; min-height: 280px; container sizing block on .swiper within .camera_wrap.
• PHP 8 dispatcher-removed-variable warnings — null-coalesce fallbacks added for parameters Joomla 5's dispatcher no longer passes to the template's index.php directly.

Quickstart database hardening

• Phase 5j: customer-facing aggregate counters reset to 0. Donor-site preview / dev hits no longer leak into a customer's fresh install. Fourteen counters now zeroed at build-quickstart.sh time:
  • Joomla core — #__content.hits (72 articles × 16,977 accumulated hits on donor → 0), #__categories.hits, #__contact_details.hits, #__newsfeeds.hits, #__tags.hits, #__ucm_content.core_hits, #__weblinks.hits, #__redirect_links.hits, #__core_log_searches.hits, #__finder_logging.hits.
  • VirtueMart — #__virtuemart_products.hits, #__virtuemart_products.product_sales, #__virtuemart_categories.hits, #__virtuemart_manufacturers.hits.
  • Users — #__users.resetCount (cleared so first customer password reset isn't pre-counted).
• Install wizard verified clean on PHP 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3.

Removed

• Bundled jQuery 1.8.1 + jQuery.browser IE shim.
• Superfish / Supersubs menu init scripts (replaced with CSS :hover).
• Camera slideshow library (superseded by Swiper 11): camera.min.js, camera.js, jquery.mobile.customized.min.js, jquery.easing.1.3.js.
• Joomla 3 + Joomla 4 compatibility shims.
• Bootstrap 4 fallback assets.
• Deprecated J3-era API call sites that survived the J4 transition.
• Dead social networks: Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, Blogger, MySpace — params + icons + admin fields all stripped.
• Legacy BS4 data-toggle attribute references.

Package format

• Standalone template: pkg_activeshopping-5.4.0.zip — Joomla package wrapper that installs the tpl_activeshopping template extension and registers it under the package manager.
• Quickstart bundle: activeshopping-quickstart-J5.4.0-03.06.2026.zip — complete Joomla 5.4.6 install with VirtueMart 4.6.8 and Active Shopping pre-loaded as the active template, with all customer-facing aggregate counters zeroed on first install.