The two separate option menus currently displayed in the Web Content Display widget have been merged into a single, consolidated dropdown menu for content creators. This new menu will improve the user experience by reducing confusion and unnecessary clicks, ensuring all relevant widget actions (e.g., Hide Widget, Duplicate, Export/Import, etc.) are easily accessible.

Added logging to indicate the completion of fragment deployments via the deploy folder. This provides better visibility into the deployment process and allows for tracking deployment duration.

There are some advantages of including a message like that, for example:

• Count the duration of a deployment
• See the fragment progress deployment until it is deployed.

Improved keyboard navigation and column resizing for Miller columns. Users can now navigate between columns both horizontally (deeper levels) and vertically (same level) using the keyboard. Column widths are also responsive, adapting to different screen sizes.

• Boost Liferay’s platform with drag-and-drop, multi-selection, and cut/copy/paste features for easier field and fragment organization.

• Fine adjustments in the User Experience when managing page components through in bulk multiselection

The updated Clay chart colour palette improves accessibility and usability by creating more contrast and adding more variations. Now users can easily distinguish charts, icons, and field sets, reducing confusion and improving clarity.
 

Key benefits:

• Now we have more design flexibility for Liferay’s current and future products.

• Accessible and distinguishable colours that will improve and unify the platform usability and UI.

The addition of new translations and locales ensures that users in regions like Macedonia, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria can interact with the platform in their preferred language or regional variation.

Key benefits:

• Tailors the user experience for specific markets and regions, improving relevance and usability.

• We made the platform more inclusive by expanding language and locale options.

This improvement allows users to customise the appearance of their Liferay instance more effectively with new properties in the .yaml file for Theme CSS and CSS Client Extensions.

Key benefits:

• Admins can personalise the interface for both the admin panel and the entire platform.

• A more cohesive, branded appearance will improve usability and satisfaction for all users.

• Allows fine-grained control over where customisations are applied.

Elasticsearch 8.17 has been tested and added to the compatibility matrix.

Liferay Self-Hosted deployments can update the Elastic stack to this version. For Liferay PaaS projects, as usual, a new Elasticsearch image will be provided under Liferay Cloud’s Docker Hub account.

As it was first highlighted in the Release Notes of 2024.Q3, per Elastic’s product lifecycle, Elasticsearch 7.17.x versions are supported and maintained until Elasticsearch version 9 is released.

While Elastic does not provide specific release dates for future releases, for Elasticsearch 9.0.0, the new release is anticipated in early calendar year 2025.

Compatibility with Elasticsearch 8 is available on Liferay DXP 7.4 U81+: Operating Liferay 7.4 GA/Update 81+ with Elasticsearch 8 - Liferay.

Note: The Elasticsearch 8.x compatibility is provided through the bundled Elasticsearch 7 connector and the REST API Compatibility of Elasticsearch 8.

Official release of Liferay Data Sets, moving from Beta to Release! Data Sets are a powerful and flexible way to retrieve, manage, visualize, and interact with structured data in Liferay DXP. Built on top of Objects and leveraging Liferay’s robust ecosystem, Data Sets exemplify the “build Liferay with Liferay” philosophy. With seamless integration with compatible Headless APIs, administrators can easily configure Data Sets and empower end-users with a rich, customizable experience for consuming and interacting with data.

Key benefits:

• Retrieve Data: Fetch information from any compatible Headless API to use as a Data Set source.

• Manage Flexibility: Administrators can customize what parts of the API response are included, along with filters, sorting options, and available actions.

• Visualize Data: Multiple visualization options make it easier than ever for end-users to consume data meaningfully.

• Enable Interaction: End-users can interact dynamically with data using the filters, actions, and tools configured by administrators.

To ensure the quality, stability, and modernity of Liferay DXP, we've updated to React 18, bringing significant benefits in security, performance, and compatibility. This update is critical to maintaining DXP's status as a robust and future-proof platform.

Key benefits:

• Security Enhancements: Older library versions can expose vulnerabilities. Upgrading to React 18 mitigates these risks by incorporating the latest security patches.

• Performance Improvements: React 18 introduces features like concurrent rendering, which enhances responsiveness and load handling for better user experiences.

• Enhanced Compatibility: Upgrading ensures DXP aligns with modern tools and frameworks, minimizing integration challenges and future-proofing our development processes.

• Continued Support: Staying current with React’s ecosystem ensures ongoing access to community updates, bug fixes, and innovations.

We’ve introduced robust Content Security Policy (CSP) capabilities to enhance the security of your digital experience platform. This feature supports eight key directives, including script-src and style-src among others, ensuring secure handling of scripts, styles, images, and more. By leveraging these directives, developers can mitigate cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks and data injection risks. The CSP implementation aligns with modern web security standards, offering both flexibility and protection. Administrators can now enforce stricter security policies without compromising functionality.

Key benefits:

• Enhanced Security: Mitigates risks of XSS and data injection attacks by controlling resource loading and execution.

• Compliance-Friendly: Aligns with industry-standard security requirements, supporting stricter compliance protocols.

• Customizable Policies: Allows developers to tailor CSP directives to meet specific project or organizational needs.

• Improved Trust: Strengthens end-user trust by providing a more secure and reliable platform experience.

Official release of Liferay Data Sets, moving from Beta to Release! Data Sets are a powerful and flexible way to retrieve, manage, visualize, and interact with structured data in Liferay DXP. Built on top of Objects and leveraging Liferay’s robust ecosystem, Data Sets exemplify the “build Liferay with Liferay” philosophy. With seamless integration with compatible Headless APIs, administrators can easily configure Data Sets and empower end-users with a rich, customizable experience for consuming and interacting with data.

Key benefits:

• Retrieve Data: Fetch information from any compatible Headless API to use as a Data Set source.

• Manage Flexibility: Administrators can customize what parts of the API response are included, along with filters, sorting options, and available actions.

• Visualize Data: Multiple visualization options make it easier than ever for end-users to consume data meaningfully.

• Enable Interaction: End-users can interact dynamically with data using the filters, actions, and tools configured by administrator

Allow users to move web content and document structures between environments

Key benefit:
Addresses a feature gap when moving web content and documents between environments

Allow users to move workflow settings between environments
 

Key benefit:
Addresses a feature gap when moving applications built on Liferay between environments

Allow users to move Object Definitions and Entries between environments

Key benefit:
Addresses a feature gap when moving applications built on Liferay between environments

Previously, when managing complex data models, users must create scripts or code in order to make changes to multiple related objects. Now users are able to configure multiple objects as if they are one object. Related child objects now inherit permissions and account restrictions and more from the top level parent, making object management more convenient.

Key benefits:

Simplifies the management of multiple objects through a configuration on the relationship between objects

• Permissions and Account Restrictions for the child objects are inherited from the Top level parent

• API endpoints are nested under the same namespace of the top level parent

Allow users to move display pages containing Object or Form widgets across environments

Key benefit:
Addresses a feature gap when moving content pages across environments
 

Allow applications built on top of Service Builder to leverage the benefits of the Liferay Objects framework

Key benefit:
Applications built on top of Service Builder can now be migrated to Liferay Objects