Compass Designs .net

The steady march to Joomla 1.6 picked up further steam recently with the release of the project's second alpha release.

Joomla 1.6 Alpha 2 became available last week, and shows the development team is making great strides toward a next generation Joomla.

Front and center in this new release is the long-awaited Access Control Level feature, or ACL. A first release of the "nested categories" and a new backend template made it in the second alpha as well.

With Joomla 1.6 getting closer to a beta release (anticipated sometime in the next few months), the Joomla leadership team is hosting the first-ever Joomla Developer Conference in early December.

From the conference's website:

Third party developers are vital to the success of Joomla!.  To be effective developing extensions they need up to date information about developments in the Joomla! core and how to work effectively and using best practices when extending it... The conference will include training targeted to experienced developers, information about Joomla! 1.6 and opportunities for networking with other developers and core developers.

Before you go running off to register, however, be sure to check that you "already have good working knowledge of Joomla! extension development and the Joomla API. [The conference] is appropriate for extension development firms, custom Joomla application developers, and in house Joomla development  specialists."

If you want to attend, hurry to register as seats are filling fast. The event is $100 but some scholarships are available.