Jul - Aug 2025 Product Updates

As we roll into September, it’s time for another bi-monthly recap of what we’ve been building for you across our Joomla extensions. This update brings fresh features, helpful fixes, and a few quality-of-life improvements that should make your daily work with Joomla more enjoyable.

Highlights this cycle include easier file previews in Convert Forms submissions, smoother popup animations in EngageBox, and better address precision in Advanced Custom Fields.

If you missed them, you can also check out our May - Jun and Mar - Apr to stay fully up to speed.

Convert Forms

Our contact form extension continues to grow with improvements in usability, accessibility, and integrations. This release focuses on making the backend more practical, addressing nagging issues, and refining the functionality of Smart Tags.

File Upload Preview Button

Until now, when you viewed or edited a form submission with file uploads, you only saw the file paths. Previewing an uploaded image meant copying the path and pasting it into a new browser tab, which was far from convenient.

We fixed this by adding a small preview icon next to each file path. Clicking it instantly opens the file in a new tab, so you can quickly check what was uploaded without extra steps. It’s a simple change that saves a lot of time, especially for users handling submissions with multiple files.

Learn how to use it in the File Upload Field documentation.

New Shortcode Argument --skipPrepareContentRender

If you’ve ever embedded a form inside a Joomla article using {convertforms ID}, you may have noticed that cached pages can cause forms with Smart Tags or dynamic values to display outdated data. That happens because Joomla’s cache stores the entire article, including the form HTML.

To address this, we introduced a new optional argument: {convertforms ID --skipPrepareContentRender}. Adding it tells Joomla not to cache the pre-rendered form, so your dynamic values stay fresh. Think of this as a temporary fix. If it proves stable enough, we’ll make it the default behavior so you won’t need the extra argument at all.

For more details and troubleshooting tips, see our Troubleshooting Form Rendering Issues guide.

Improved Accessibility with Higher Contrast

We updated the default input field colors to meet AAA accessibility compliance. Forms should now be easier to read and interact with, especially for users with visual impairments. It’s a small but important step toward making Convert Forms friendlier for everyone.

HubSpot Multiple Checkbox Fix

A bug was preventing multiple checkbox values from being passed correctly to HubSpot, throwing a confusing error message. This has now been fixed, so your data flows smoothly when working with multiple checkbox properties.

If you’re using HubSpot with Convert Forms and want to see the proper setup for all your fields, check out our HubSpot Integration Guide. It walks you through mapping form fields, handling multiple checkboxes, and avoiding common errors, so your forms and HubSpot data stay perfectly in sync.

Smarter Smart Tags

Convert Forms Smart Tags are a powerful feature that lets you output field values or even entire submission data directly in emails, messages, or other parts of your site. They can save a lot of time and make your forms more dynamic, but they only work as intended if set up correctly.

Previously, Smart Tags with boolean modifiers required you to explicitly pass a value, like {shortcode --prepareContent=true}. This extra step was easy to forget and could cause errors or confusion. In the latest update, we’ve made these boolean modifiers optional. Now, {shortcode --prepareContent} automatically defaults to true.

This small change makes Smart Tags easier to use while keeping their power intact. If you haven’t explored Smart Tags yet, it’s a great time to start. 

EngageBox

Our Joomla popup builder is all about delivering the right message at the right time. This release improves animations, fixes visual issues, and makes triggers easier to manage.

CSS-Based Animations

For years, EngageBox relied on VelocityJS to animate popups. It worked, but the library is outdated, and browsers have since adopted faster native options. We’ve now switched to Animate.css, a lightweight CSS-based solution.

The switch means smoother animations, smaller files, and no extra JavaScript slowing things down. To keep things easy, we added backwards compatibility along with a migration script that updates your existing popups automatically. Some old effects had to be retired, but the end result is cleaner and snappier. Hopefully, we won’t be hunting for another animation library anytime soon!

Fixed Backdrop Duplication

Many users like to enable a backdrop on their popups because it helps focus the visitor’s attention on the popup content. By dimming the background, it makes your message or call-to-action more noticeable and reduces distractions from the rest of the page.

Some users ran into an issue where the popup backdrop appeared multiple times, making the overlay darker each time the popup opened. This could be distracting or even visually jarring for visitors. We’ve fixed this, so your popups now display a single backdrop consistently, keeping the focus where it should be—on your content, not a multiplying shadow.

Unified Page Load Trigger

We merged the “Page Ready” and “Page Load” triggers into a single, easier-to-manage option. The trigger name stays as Page Load, but it now comes with a new Early Trigger setting.

By default, the Page Load trigger fires after the entire page finishes loading, including images, fonts, and iframes. If you enable Early Trigger, it fires as soon as the HTML is fully parsed and the DOM is ready. This makes trigger management simpler without losing any functionality.

For more details on how to use the Page Load trigger check our Page Load Trigger page.

Advanced Custom Fields

Our custom fields collection extension also gets a couple of useful upgrades this round, focusing on maps and address details.

Initial Zoom Level for Maps

Previously, when loading the Map Field editor, the map would zoom out to show the entire world. If you only cared about one region, this meant constantly zooming in before placing markers.

Now you can set an initial zoom level for your default coordinates. This saves clicks and makes adding markers to specific areas much quicker, especially if you’re creating many articles in the same region.

House Number in Address Autocomplete

We’ve added “House Number” as an optional component in the Address Autocomplete field. Alongside street, city, postal code, and country, you can now include house numbers for more precise addresses. No more leaving out the little details that matter when accuracy counts.

Supporting the Joomla Community Around the World

This year, we’re proud to support several JoomlaDay conferences as sponsors. It’s our way of giving back to the community that has supported our journey from the very beginning. These events bring together Joomla users, developers, and enthusiasts to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences, and we’re excited to be part of them, even if remotely.

JoomlaDay Netherlands (October 3–4)

We are proud to be a Silver Sponsor of JoomlaDay Netherlands in Utrecht this October. In addition to sponsoring, I will also be presenting an online session on Building Better Joomla Registration Forms. This session will cover practical tips and best practices for creating custom registration forms that are user-friendly and efficient. Even if you can’t attend in person, you can join the session virtually and learn how to improve your Joomla registration forms.

Other JoomlaDay Events

• JoomlaDay USA, Washington (April 23–26) Gold Sponsor ✅
• JoomlaDay Spain, Malaga (November 7) Silver Sponsor
• JoomlaDay DACH, Freiburg (November 14–15) Bronze Sponsor

Milestones, Moves & More

• Google Structured Data 300+ Reviews Milestone: We’ve now surpassed 300 reviews on the Joomla Extensions Directory, all five stars! We’re incredibly grateful for your support. If you haven’t left a review yet, you can write one here.
• We are on Trustpilot: Your feedback means a lot. Please consider sharing your experience with our Joomla extensions on Trustpilot so others can benefit from your insights.
• Join Our Facebook Group: Connect with other users, ask questions, and share your experiences. Our community is active and friendly, and it’s a great place to get help or show off what you’ve built. Join our Facebook Group today.
• Using Multiple Extensions?: If you use more than one of our Joomla extensions, the Bundle Plan might be worth checking out. It can simplify your setup and even save you money.
• Using WordPress, too?: If you also manage WordPress sites and need popups, FireBox is our WordPress popup plugin, the counterpart of EngageBox. It’s been around for a while and can handle all your WordPress popup needs.