by Marcus Lelle
Today is the day: Contao 5.7 LTS has been released.
With 5.7, the Contao 5 series gets its next long-term support release—with many visible improvements in the backend, structural changes paving the way for Contao 6, and lots of detailed work under the hood.
As always, this release is the result of countless pull requests, discussions, reviews, and tests. Thank you to our fantastic core team and everyone else who contributed code, maintained tickets, tested, or provided feedback.
Contao 5.7 will receive updates until February 2030(!). Version 5.3 will also continue to receive updates as an LTS version. As of today, there will be no more updates for Contao 5.6 or Contao 4.13. It's time for Contao 5!
You can find out which Contao versions are currently supported in the Contao release plan.
If you are reinstalling Contao or upgrading from an older version, now is the right time.
The dark sidebar has been removed from the design. Those who prefer a dark theme can now find the switch for the dark design in the user menu.
Pull request: #8832
Another icon has changed places: you can now create favorites directly in the breadcrumb trail. With another click, you can remove it from the favorites list again.
Pull request: #8834
The filter menu has now been moved to the right-hand side. Contao is thus taking advantage of the possibilities offered by wider screens. We are excited to see what functions the core and extensions will accommodate here in the future.
Those who like to expand the filters will now benefit from greater clarity, and the filter buttons are easier to hit and much more self-explanatory. If space is tight, the filter menu folds out from the right.
There is also an auto-submit feature for the filters. This means you don't have to click “submit”; the list is updated immediately. The labels that have now been added to the filters improve accessibility. This allows you to see immediately what the active filters are filtering for.
Pull request: #8850
Speaking of narrower. Back by popular demand: The backend width limit is back, giving you three different limits to choose from. You can find them in the user's profile.
Pull request: #8967
The jump-to links that allow you to jump to the individual palettes now have visible scroll arrows.
Pull request: #9186
Breadcrumbs are now a navigation super tool.
First of all, they show you where you are. Clicking on the first entry takes you back to the beginning of the path. So far, so normal.
The three dots between the first and last entries are quite something.
If you hover over them with the mouse, they show you all the levels in between, and all of them are clickable!
Pull request: #9065
One more thing? Yes!
The inconspicuous arrows in between also have functions. When you hover over them with your mouse, they show you the elements that are on the same level as your current one, e.g., all articles on this page, all content elements in this article, etc. Now you can always get where you want to go!
Pull request: #9147
The backend search introduced in Contao 5.5 has been further enhanced and now reflects all aspects of your Contao installation.
When you search for a term, the search not only shows you all the places where it occurs, it also divides the locations into many areas. In file management, you can even filter which file extensions you want to see.
This is a feature that will significantly simplify our work and that of editorial teams. Wow!
By the way, you can now also access it via Ctrl+K or ⌘+K.
Last year, the fantastic Job Framework was implemented, which enables long or tedious tasks to be performed in the background.
Now it also has a status bar and can output file attachments.
The next time you update the search index, you can see the new features for yourself.
Do you also use the job framework in your extensions or projects? Let us know in the comments.
Pull requests: #8830, #8818, #8849, #9016, #9083, #9095, #9150, #9013, #8826
A key milestone in Contao 5.7:
Every .html5 template now has a Twig counterpart.
Twig is now the new standard for templates and replaces HTML5 templates. HTML5 templates will no longer be supported in Contao 6. However, this does not mean that the old layout for the frontend no longer exists. It is available in Twig and can still be used.
In new projects, you should consistently use Twig to be optimally prepared for Contao 6. Existing HTML5 templates should no longer be overwritten with .html5. However, when updating from Contao 5.x to Contao 5.7, your existing templates will be used so that nothing breaks.
Work has also begun on converting the HTML code from the old DC_Table to Twig.
Pull requests: #9046, #8981, #8975, #9005, #9026, #9130, #9086, #9171, #9170
Template Studio has been helping you work with Twig templates since Contao 5.5. Now it has received several improvements that make your work even easier.
You can switch Template Studio to full-screen mode so that nothing distracts you from your work on the templates and you can use the full backend width.
Individual tabs can now be closed with a middle click.
The Studio now also displays .html5 templates so that they can be better extended with .html.twig.
Syntax highlighting has been significantly improved and autocomplete now also works for Twig filters and functions from Contao and even from installed extensions.
Gone are the days of CTRL+F/ALT+F searching for templates in the backend. Shortly before the release of Contao 5.7, Template Studio also got a search function.
Pull request: #9412
The anti-spam tool in the form generator can now also be set to floating mode. It is then initially hidden in the form and only appears when you click on Submit.
Pull request: #8865
You can now allow multiple files in the upload field in forms. This will make many projects easier.
Pull request: #8890
In the YouTube element, you can now mute videos with a single click. Among other things, this is a basic requirement for autoplay in many browsers.
Pull request: #8608
Newsletter recipients can now be permanently blocked. This prevents them from being added again via a form or import.
Pull request: #9134
Have you always wanted to build more complex fields with the Contao core features? Welcome to the Row Wizard.
It allows you to use DCA to build fields as extensive as the ones shown in the screenshots.
Pull request: #8781
With the new DCA permissions, you can specify exactly which rights (create, update, delete) apply to each table.
In addition, access rights can now be assigned directly to the element. For example, when you create a new news archive, you now have the option of selecting the user groups that should have access to it. This is a real highlight for complex editorial structures.
Pull request: #9012
DCA fields without SQL definitions will now be stored as JSON in a separate database field.
This solves several known issues:
This is a major technical step forward, even if it is hardly noticeable in everyday use.
Pull request: #8838
For the integration of Symfony Forms into Contao, a class AbstractContaoType and a matching contao_layout.html.twig template have been added. This makes it easier for developers to integrate Symfony Forms into Contao.
Pull request: #8840
In addition to the visible features, a lot has been modernized:
This type of work is not immediately visible—but it is crucial for stability and future viability.
You can read about all the changes in detail in the changelog. Christian Feneberg has also created another fantastic video about Contao 5.7. The video is only available in German.
Contao 5.7 is compatible with
See also: Tickets | Compare changes to 5.6 | Compare changes to 5.3 | Changelog
Marcus has taken on the project coordination of Contao, trying to untie the Gordian knot. Since 2003 he is self-employed as BIADES and since 2005 he is project manager and numbers person at ANTWORT:INTERNET in Berlin. Through his spare time he is accompanied by Jupe, Pete and Bob as well as his family.
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