Umbraco 8: Better, Faster, & Able to Leap over Tall Buildings in a Single Bound

For the worldwide Umbraco community, the release of Umbraco 8 will be almost like a second Christmas. It’s the most highly anticipated release yet (and the first major release in five years)! Umbraco HQ is currently reporting that Umbraco 8 is 96% complete. It is expected to be available before the first quarter ends.

What does this mean for Fyin.com’s partners? As excited as we are about Umbraco 8, security and stability are always our primary areas of concern. So, we’ll take a minute to kick the tires ourselves before we begin migrating our client-partners. After all, even the most rigorously developed and tested software isn’t immune from a bug or two. We are expecting big things from this release and can't wait to get our hands on it. 

Umbraco 8 promises to be a true game-changer in several areas. In addition to being faster and more streamlined, there are three major features that developers and non-developers will equally appreciate: Variants, Infinite Editing, and Content Apps. Let's chat about a few of these shiny new enhancements.

Our team members are particularly excited about the Language Variants that will be baked into the new version. This feature will allow you to have content that renders in different languages, but with all of your content residing in the same Umbraco account. Previously, any company/organization with a multilingual audience needed to use third party packages or, in some cases, entirely separate websites in order to share that content. 

Another exciting new feature is Infinite Editing. Infinite Editing is a gift to all the content managers and marketers who use Umbraco (and developers will dig it, too). I think of Infinite Editing as one of those enhancements that you may not realize you needed, but can’t live without once you see it. The goal is to allow you to edit your site with a natural workflow. For example, instead of flipping back and forth between the content and media tabs, Infinite Editing gives you the ability to access everything you need without leaving the page you’re editing. 

Here is a great video from Umbraco HQ that explains this concept in a nutshell:

Umbraco 8 offers an extension option known as Content Apps. Content Apps can be added to the content node, making it easy to access these tools while creating and publishing the content that you’re sharing with the world. Content Apps are meant to enhance your editor experience by providing you with additional insights and other tools. In a recent blog post, Umbraco HQ offered a great example: adding Google Analytics as a Content App, which gives you a snapshot of your site stats without having to log in elsewhere.

Niels Hartvig (Chief Unicorn at Umbraco HQ) recently shared his excitement about Content Apps:

“With Umbraco 8 we're raising the bar. We want the CMS to give feedback about your content while you create it and also let you know how it performs once it's out in the wild.”

A Content App may be an existing third-party tool or it may be one that an enterprising developer created after seeing a need. It’s just one more way to enhance the editor experience and it’s further proof that Umbraco really is the friendly CMS!

Shortly after the release of Umbraco 8, the HQ team will host Codegarden. The Fyin.com team is also looking forward to attending again this year. Several team members will jet off to Odense, Denmark in May to be immersed in all things Umbraco. Codegarden is the largest Umbraco conference in the world. This year’s event is sure to be heavily focused on the new release. Additionally, attendees will have an opportunity to listen to engaging speakers, participate in code demos, and learn about what’s next. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a great opportunity to connect with other Umbracians!

As an Umbraco Certified Gold Partner, you can count on our team to stay on top of all things Umbraco. Watch for a dispatch from Codearden in May!