🎉 JCB 5.1.1 — A Giant Leap Forward in Joomla Development

[Llewellynvdm]

After five months of focused development, we are proud to unveil JCB v5.1.1, the most ambitious and powerful release in the history of Joomla Component Builder. This version not only introduces groundbreaking features like the new Packaging Engine and Modal Select integration, but also completes foundational refactoring work to make JCB nearly 98% Joomla 6 ready. From repository-based blueprints to full history tracking in subform relationships, JCB v5.1.1 is more stable, scalable, and developer-friendly than ever.

🚀 Highlights of JCB 5.1.1

🎡 The New Packaging Engine: Blueprint to Repository

The crown jewel of JCB v5.1.1 is the JCB Packaging Engine. Every component you build in JCB is defined by a rich, relational blueprint in the database, mapping out admin views, site views, fields, and table structures. With this release, you can now push these blueprints directly to Git repositories.

This means:

• True collaborative development: teams can clone, modify, and re-push blueprints.
• Full version control of your JCB architecture.
• The ability to compile extensions directly from synchronized blueprints.
• Blueprint sharing and reuse across projects.

This transforms JCB into more than a builder. It becomes a blueprint-based, version-controlled, distributable extension factory.

Even better, you can:

• Push a single component to multiple repositories.
• Push multiple components to a single repository.
• Use Git workflows (pull requests, commits, etc.) for blueprint collaboration.

🌍 Modal Select Everywhere: A UX Revolution

Every list selection field in JCB has been upgraded to support Modal Select, offering a richer and more intuitive user experience:

• Easily search, filter, and select admin/site views, fields, and entities.
• Modal views are automatically generated in all JCB-built extensions.
• You can even create or edit referenced items directly from the modal.

This applies not just to the builder itself, but also to any extensions created with JCB.

📅 Full History Tracking for Subform Tables

Previously, subforms could save data to separate database tables. With 5.1.1, those subform tables now support full Joomla history tracking.

• Nested subforms? Supported.
• Multi-table relationships? Tracked.
• Historical audits on sub-entity edits? Done.

This empowers developers to maintain data integrity across complex forms and layered table relationships.

🌐 Improved Stability, Refactoring, and Future-Readiness

Since our last release, we've:

• Resolved nearly every reported bug.
• Refactored core builders and field handlers for maintainability.
• Introduced consistent interface structures across FieldXML and related classes.
• Improved Dynamic Get operator support.

JCB v5.1.1 is now 99% compatible with Joomla 6, with only minor touch-ups remaining. We've baked in scalability, DI architecture, and power key conventions that ensure future growth with minimal friction.

🏆 CLI & Spreadsheet Import Enhancements

• JCB now includes a CLI commands plugin for importing spreadsheet data.
• Spreadsheet features are integrated into the demo component with working examples.
• The PhpSpreadsheet library is included and utilized.

🛠️ Demo Component Upgrades

The demo component now contains:

• Import item examples.
• Country-related fields and tables.
• Integrated modal select functionality.
• History-enabled subform tables.

It continues to serve as a hands-on learning and testing playground.

🔧 Full Change Log (JCB 5.1.1)

• Move all banners to GitHub.
• Adds library phpspreadsheet to JCB.
• Adds import item example to demo component.
• Updates the Superpower class with the GetRemote class in the plugin.
• Ensures the super power autoloader triggers the correct repositories.
• Adds the ModalSelect fieldtype to Joomla Component Builder - J5.
• Adds the Data Import Function to the Demo Component.
• Adds new country related tables and fields to the Demo Component.
• Resolves the Database Updating issue in the compiler. #1212, #1209
• Adds the Component Commands Plugin to the CLI for Import of spreadsheet data-sets.
• Add edit and create options to the ModalSelect Field (in Joomla 5).
• Add all needed Powers to the release package, to speed-up the build of the demo component.
• Refactor initialization flow to accommodate future scalability and integration with all designated areas.
• Refactor the Creator Builders class.
• Refactor the FieldString and FieldXML classes.
• Add JCB new package engine.
• Enhance operator support in dynamic get system. Relates to issue #1226.
• Fixes issue with loading the Component Builder Wiki.
• Adds advanced version update notice to the Component Builder Dashboard.
• Completely refactors the class that builds the Component Dashboard. #1134
• Fix the FieldXML interface mismatch. #1228
• Adds Initialize, Reset, and Push functionality to the Repository entities.
• Completely refactors the SQL tweaks and SQL dump classes.
• Fix bug in the filter of Languages by linked entities. #1230
• Adds option to export Language Translations.

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🙌 Why This Release Matters

This isn't just a routine update — it's a major architectural evolution.

JCB v5.1.1 unlocks:

• Team collaboration using version-controlled component blueprints.
• Vastly improved usability through modals.
• Auditable, stable, and trackable subform data structures.
• A future where JCB-built components are extensible, composable, and repo-friendly.

If you're still on Joomla 4, now is the time to move. JCB 5 is the definitive builder experience — and the foundation for Joomla 6 and beyond.

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Ready to push your components to the next level? Upgrade to JCB v5.1.1 today.

🔄 Also Released: JCB 4.1.1 for Joomla 4

In parallel with JCB v5.1.1, we’ve also released JCB v4.1.1, bringing nearly all the same improvements to Joomla 4 users — including the Packaging Engine, CLI import tools, history tracking in subform tables, and numerous bug fixes and refactors that improve stability and performance across the board.

However, there are a few limitations:

• ModalSelect is not supported in Joomla 4, and therefore not included in JCB v4.1.1.
  This feature requires Joomla 5’s newer modal and field architecture.

• While JCB can still build extensions for Joomla 3, 4, and 5, features like ModalSelect are only usable when the target Joomla version is 5 or higher.

Although Joomla 5 is our primary focus going forward, we recognize that many developers still rely on Joomla 4 — due to hosting constraints, legacy environments, or gradual upgrade paths. That’s why JCB 4.x remains an actively maintained and feature-aligned version — with the exception of Joomla 5-exclusive capabilities like ModalSelect.

So if you're still working in Joomla 4, JCB v4.1.1 gives you everything you need to stay productive and modern, while maintaining compatibility with your existing setup.