RocketTheme Blog

Gantry5 Requirements and Initial Details

Friday, 18 July 2014 12:50
Ryan M Pierson

RocketTheme

The RocketTheme team has been hard at work creating Gantry5, the largest and most significant update to the popular WordPress and Joomla framework since its initial launch in 2009.

The Gantry Framework is a free, powerful framework that makes rapid development of templates and themes for WordPress and Joomla an easier and more efficient process.

While we do not have an expected release date at the ready just yet, we do have some details available that will answer some of the most popular questions we have received about the upcoming update.

In this article, we will take a look at Gantry5's requirements, as well as explore some additional details ahead of the release.

What are Gantry5's Requirements?

Gantry5 is being built with the future in mind. Because of this, the requirements for this edition of Gantry will be a bit more limited than previous versions. These requirements are as follows:

WordPress 4+
Joomla 3.4+
PHP 5.4+
Latest versions of Chrome/Firefox/Safari/Opera, IE9 (limited), and IE10+

Gantry5 will take advantage of the latest features WordPress and Joomla have to offer.

Additionally, we believe that by requiring PHP 5.4+, we can ensure that templates and themes built on the framework are fast and efficient. The improvements made with PHP 5.4 provided this benefit, as well as a cleaner code base that is easier to work with.

Both Joomla and WordPress have shown noticeable speed improvements on PHP 5.4+, despite remaining compatible with older versions. With virtually all hosting providers supporting 5.4, and PHP 5.3 no longer being supported after this month (July 2014), this update makes perfect sense.

Our goal here was to make sure that Gantry5 is built for the latest versions of WordPress and Joomla upon its initial release. If a newer version of either platform becomes stable prior to the launch of Gantry5, these requirements may change.

Will Gantry5 be Backwards Compatible?

The short answer to this question is no. Gantry5 is a major update to the framework, with virtually every aspect of it being changed in one way or another.

Gantry5 is being developed for the modern Web. A lot has changed since the initial release of Gantry, and we want to be able to make this new version clean, efficient, and as easy to use as possible.

A template built for Gantry5 will have the advantage of being created for a whole new set of tools and features that wouldn't be possible on the existing framework.

This doesn't mean we will not continue to support and update Gantry version 4 and any products we have created to run on this platform. We are dedicated to continuing to support them as long as people want to use them.

What Can We Expect with Gantry5?

Gantry5 will be our fastest, most reliable version to date. The framework is being built from the ground up with the modern Web in mind, leaving room for future technologies while shedding the weight of old, outdated standards.

Flexibility is an area of key importance to us. Inspired by feedback from our community, we are designing the settings interface to make rapid template development and customization as easy as possible.

We are working to make Gantry5 friendlier for the end user, as well. With new drag-and-drop settings pages and detailed documentation from day one, it will be easier than ever to make changes to an existing template, even if you have little or no experience in Web development.

Our primary focus is on speed. Gantry5 is going to be the fastest version of the framework yet. This will be accomplished through updated server/platform requirements that minimize the necessity for cumbersome backwards compatibility, a streamlined codebase, and many other minor improvements.

Will RocketTheme Stop Supporting Gantry 4 and/or Existing Products?

No. RocketTheme is dedicated to continuing to support both Gantry version 4 and any products built for the framework.

This includes updating RocketLaunchers for the latest version of Joomla and/or WordPress, and providing regular feature updates requested by our community.

Gantry version 4 will continue to receive full support by our team for the foreseeable future, and will only benefit from any compatible development work put in to Gantry5.

Will Gantry5 Have the Same License as Previous Versions?

Yes! All versions of Gantry Framework will continue to exist under the same GPL license it has been released under since its founding.

Remember to check the RocketTheme blog regularly for additional updates and previews of Gantry5.

For more information about Gantry5, please check out these other blog posts from our ongoing series: