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21 October 2026: critical security updates for PHP and YOOtheme Pro 5. Is your Joomla website up to date yet? Get it checked

Review: Joomla 5.2

Joomla 5.2 brought a new articles module, HTML mail templates, several home pages in one menu for multilingual sites and a "What's New" tour after every update. For this review we installed Joomla 5.2.6 of 8 April 2025, the last version of this line, and photographed it.

Series "Joomla history" · minor version · part of the series: Review: Joomla 5.0 · back to Review: Joomla 5.1 · next: Review: Joomla 5.3

Released15 October 2024 (Joomla 5.2.0)
Last version5.2.6 of 8 April 2025 (7 versions)
Followed byJoomla 5.3 on 15 April 2025
RequirementsPHP from 8.1.0
TemplatesCassiopeia (default); Atum in the backend
Included in the installation244 extensions
End of supportEnd of Life: Joomla 5.x

What was new in Joomla 5.2

According to the Joomla 5.2 announcement:

  • A "What's New" tour starts after the update.
  • Multilingual sites: several home pages in one menu instead of one menu per language.
  • The new "Articles" module with filters by category.
  • HTML mail templates with logo and a layout of your own in the backend.
  • Create categories right from menus, show and hide fields depending on settings, CSS classes for links in TinyMCE.
  • Stricter routing against duplicate content, support for PHP 8.4 and warnings for failed tasks.
Joomla 5.2: The module types – with the new
The module types – with the new "Articles" module.
Joomla 5.2:
"Take a Tour" in the header: the guided tours in one click.
Joomla 5.2: The mail templates
The mail templates.
Joomla 5.2: The guided tours
The guided tours.

The installation

Joomla 5.2 installer: step 1
Step 1: language and site name.
Joomla 5.2 installer: step 2
Step 2: the Super User login.
Joomla 5.2 installer: step 3
Step 3: the database.
Joomla 5.2 installer: step 4
Step 4: the ownership check – Joomla asks you to delete a file in the "installation" folder.
Joomla 5.2 installer: step 5
Step 5: done.

The website

Joomla 5.2: home page
The freshly installed website with the sample data.
Joomla 5.2: Welcome to your blog
The page "Welcome to your blog".
Joomla 5.2: Blog
The page "Blog".
Joomla 5.2: Category List
The page "Category List".
Joomla 5.2: Typography
The page "Typography".
Joomla 5.2: Love
The page "Love".
Joomla 5.2: Login
The page "Login".
Joomla 5.2: Home
The home page on a smartphone.

The backend

Joomla 5.2: The backend login
The backend login.
Joomla 5.2: The Home Dashboard
The Home Dashboard.
Joomla 5.2: The
The "Content" menu.
Joomla 5.2: The article list
The article list.
Joomla 5.2: Editing an article with TinyMCE 6.8
Editing an article with TinyMCE 6.8.
Joomla 5.2: The categories
The categories.
Joomla 5.2: The items of the main menu
The items of the main menu.
Joomla 5.2: The modules of the website
The modules of the website.
Joomla 5.2: The plugins
The plugins.
Joomla 5.2: 244 extensions in a fresh installation
244 extensions in a fresh installation.
Joomla 5.2: The template styles
The template styles.
Joomla 5.2: The global configuration
The global configuration.
Joomla 5.2: The user groups
The user groups.
Joomla 5.2: The Media Manager
The Media Manager.
Joomla 5.2: The System Dashboard
The System Dashboard.
Joomla 5.2: System information – with PHP 8.3 from our test environment
System information – with PHP 8.3 from our test environment.
Joomla 5.2: Joomla Update
Joomla Update.

2024 and today

For comparison: the same views in a fresh Joomla 6.2.

Joomla 5.2.
2024Joomla 5.2.
Joomla 6.2.
2026Joomla 6.2.
Editing an article in 5.2.
2024Editing an article in 5.2.
Editing an article in 6.2.
2026Editing an article in 6.2.

All 7 versions of Joomla 5.2

According to the Joomla downloads:

  1. 5.2.015 Oct 2024
  2. 5.2.17 Nov 2024
  3. 5.2.226 Nov 2024
  4. 5.2.36 Jan 2025
  5. 5.2.417 Feb 2025
  6. 5.2.511 Mar 2025
  7. 5.2.68 Apr 2025

Joomla 5 at a glance

VersionFirst releaseLast releaseVersions
Joomla 5.017 Oct 20235.0.3 · 20 Feb 20244
Joomla 5.116 Apr 20245.1.4 · 27 Aug 20245
Joomla 5.215 Oct 20245.2.6 · 8 Apr 20257
Joomla 5.315 Apr 20255.3.4 · 30 Sep 20255
Joomla 5.414 Oct 20255.4.10 · 13 Oct 202611

Is your website on Joomla 5?

Joomla 5 only gets security updates now, until 12 October 2027. The way to Joomla 6 leads via 5.4 and is an upgrade – we plan it with you.

See Joomla update and migration

How we did it: Joomla 5.2.6 in the original package from downloads.joomla.org, locally in Docker with PHP 8.3 and MySQL 8.4, reachable only on our own machine, files unchanged, with the blog sample data. PHP error display is switched off so that notices about outdated functions do not cover the pictures. The red warning that our PHP is outdated only appears because we run the old version today – we closed it with its own button before taking the picture.

Sources: Joomla 5.2 announcement, Joomla downloads and our own screenshots. As of 21 October 2026.

All versions of Joomla 5

All parts of the series "Joomla history"

  1. Part 1: Joomla 1.0 (2005)
  2. Part 2: Joomla 1.5 (2008)
  3. Part 3: Joomla 2.5 (2012)
  4. Part 4: Joomla 3.0 (2012)
  5. Part 5: Joomla 4.0 (2021)
  6. Part 6: Joomla 5.0 (2023)
  7. Part 7: Joomla 6.0 (2025)
Ufuk Avcu

Owner and developer of the Joomla Agency. Has been building and looking after Joomla websites since 2009.

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