Version 01.06.2026 5.2.0/4.6.8
5.2.0 2026-06-01
First Joomla 5 native release. VMBusiness has been rebuilt from the ground up for Joomla 5.4.6 + VirtueMart 4.6.8 Pro + PHP 8.3 + Bootstrap 5 + Swiper 11, with no carry-over of the bundled jQuery 1.8.1, the legacy Camera slideshow, the Superfish menu init, the DropKick currency styling, the jQuery Backstretch background loader, or the Google Web Fonts loader script that defined the earlier 1.x-era codebase. This is the first VMBusiness release that ships with full Joomla 5 namespace compliance, modern social-network parity, and a hardened output-escaping pass.
Added
Joomla 5 native API
- Full Joomla 5 namespace compliance across the template entry-point, helpers, and parameter-echo paths —
Joomla\CMS\* classes used throughout.
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 5.2.0.- Native Joomla 5 jQuery (loaded via the CMS) used in place of the previously-bundled jQuery 1.8.1.
Swiper 11 slideshow
- The legacy Camera slideshow has been replaced with Swiper 11 — CDN-loaded, 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; existing slideshow image / caption configuration carries forward unchanged.
Modern social-network support
- Social-media set parity — added Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Discord.
- 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 13 toggles wired into the Template Style admin form.
- Per-network icon PNGs added under
templates/VMBusiness/images/ (x, facebook, instagram, threads, bluesky, mastodon, linkedin, youtube, tiktok, vimeo, pinterest, discord, rss).
Security helpers (XSS hardening)
- New output-escape helpers —
phEsc() for general HTML-escaping of parameter echoes, phHexColor() for safe color-value rendering, phCssDim() for CSS-dimension token escaping — applied throughout the template wherever user-controlled parameters reach the output.
Changed
jQuery cleanup
- Removed bundled jQuery 1.8.1 — template now uses Joomla 5's native jQuery.
- Removed the
jQuery.browser IE shim (extinct as of jQuery 1.9; only present to support legacy IE detection that has no modern relevance).
- Removed the Superfish menu init — menu hovers are now CSS-only.
- Removed the DropKick currency styling — VirtueMart 4 currency selector renders natively.
Font loading
- Google Web Fonts loader script replaced with a direct preconnected
<link> stylesheet for Open Sans — faster first paint, no third-party loader JavaScript, no FOIT/FOUT race with the loader callback.
Background rendering
- jQuery Backstretch replaced with a CSS
background declaration — same visual, zero JavaScript.
Bootstrap migration
- Layout markup converted from Bootstrap 2 grid syntax to Bootstrap 5, compatible with Joomla 5's native Bootstrap. Existing column structure preserved; class names updated.
Bundled extensions refreshed
- Akeeba Backup Core updated from
9.9.5 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 5.2.0 quickstart land on a clean Extensions Update screen with zero pending updates.
Quickstart database hardening
- Phase 5j: Article hits counter reset. All
#__content.hits values reset to 0 (was 30,148 across 69 articles, max 1,566) before quickstart export so customers install with clean view-counts.
Removed
- Bundled jQuery 1.8.1 +
jQuery.browser IE shim.
- Superfish menu init + DropKick currency styling.
- Google Web Fonts loader script.
- jQuery Backstretch.
- Camera slideshow library (superseded by Swiper 11).
- Dead social networks: Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, Blogger, MySpace (params + icons + admin fields).
- Stale Update Sites entries pointing at dead endpoints — Update Sites Manager rebuilt clean.
Notes
- Joomla: 5.4.6. VirtueMart: 4.6.8 Pro. PHP: 8.3. VMBusiness template: 5.2.0 (this release).
- VMBusiness 5.2.0 is the first VMBusiness release packaged in the modern
pkg_vmbusiness Joomla update-server format. Existing 1.x-era customers can install pkg_vmbusiness-5.2.0.zip over the top via the Extensions Manager — no uninstall-first required thanks to the method="upgrade" manifest declaration.
Package format
- Standalone template:
pkg_vmbusiness-5.2.0.zip — Joomla package wrapper that installs the tpl_vmbusiness template extension and registers it under the package manager.
- Quickstart bundle: VMBusiness-J5.4.6-Quickstart — complete Joomla 5.4.6 install with VirtueMart 4.6.8 Pro and VMBusiness pre-loaded as the active template.
