High Pulse Changelog

Updated 6 November 2026 · in Changelog

• 6 November 2026

  Version 6.2.0

  First Joomla 6 native release. High Pulse has been rebuilt for Joomla 6.2.0 + PHP 8 + Bootstrap 5. The previous download is the vendor's 5.3.0 package (highpulse.zip, version string 25.06.2025 5.3.0, a Joomla 3 template), and every “before” number below is measured against it. Joomla 3 class calls are gone (66 → 0), the template options use Joomla's own on/off switches and colour pickers, every template setting written into the page is escaped, the template's custom colour scheme works again, the log-in pop-up opens on Bootstrap 5, the footer custom code box now prints, and there is a new phone layout with a slide-out menu and a row of fingertip-sized buttons. Joomla 6's Bootstrap 5 replaces the template's Bootstrap 2; the template's own markup keeps its Bootstrap 2 classes and renders through a compatibility stylesheet. The Camera slideshow stays. Template files: 245 → 209, with 10 added, 46 removed and 36 modified. The template version is now 6.2.0, matching the Joomla version it ships with.

  Added

  Bootstrap 5 rendering through a compatibility stylesheet

  • index.php loads Joomla 6's bundled Bootstrap 5 (/media/vendor/bootstrap/css/bootstrap.min.css, plus the RTL sheet on right-to-left sites) in place of the template's own Bootstrap 2 sheets (css/bootstrap/bootstrap.min.css, bootstrap-responsive.min.css, bootstrap-extended.css).
  • New css/bs2-bs5-bridge.css, revision 2026-10-24.163, linked after the template's own sheets, with a file-time version marker. It lets High Pulse's Bootstrap 2 markup (row-fluid / spanN columns, the hidden-phone family of responsive classes, tab panes, .well, .page-header) render correctly on Bootstrap 5, maps Joomla 4+ icon classes (pagination arrows, the password eye) to Font Awesome 6 glyphs, and fixes the log-in pop-up, which Bootstrap 5 would otherwise open invisible. High Pulse's own additions to it are kept as marked blocks: the desktop header icon box sizes (highpulse-desktop-header-controls-live), the header icon midline (highpulse-header-icons-midline), the phone drawer's mega-menu panels (highpulse-drawer-megapanel-menus), the phone band edges, testimonial and social icons (highpulse-phone-testi-social-20261020), the second phone menu panel (highpulse-secondary-panel-format-20261020), the log-in page and pop-up fields (highpulse-login-fields-20261020, highpulse-login-modal-fields-20261020), the feature-box headings on phones (highpulse-feature-heading-inset-20261020), the testimonial dots (highpulse-owl-dot-box-20261020), the phone side inset (highpulse-phone-inset-20261031) and the log-in pop-up width (highpulse-login-popup-20261031).
  • New css/legacy-extras.css (the few rules of the removed Bootstrap 2 and IE sheets that the template still relied on) and js/cs-jq-compat.js, which restores the jQuery 1.x calls that Joomla 6's jQuery 3.7 removed but the bundled Camera slideshow still makes.
  • Font Awesome 6.5.2 (all.min.css + v4-shims.min.css from cdnjs) on the front end. The template's fa fa-* class names keep working through the shims. The old Font Awesome 4 link pointed at MaxCDN, which no longer serves it, so the icons on the template's Options screen were missing; they load again.

  New phone layout

  • New js/cs-mobile.js. On phones (up to 767 px) a menu button in the header, filled in the template's blue (rgb(7, 120, 185)) with white bars, opens the main menu as a slide-out panel. Submenus open in place behind visible “+” buttons. This replaces the old selectnav drop-down and jquery.mobile.customized.min.js.
  • The logo and the menu button sit 30 px from the left and right edges of the screen.
  • A row of 44×44 px buttons under the header in the same blue, for the account (log-in), search and second-menu panels. Opening a panel dims the page below the button row only, so the logo and menu button stay clear, and tapping outside an open panel closes it.
  • New module position cs-secondary (declared in templateDetails.xml, output in a hidden holder in index.php). Any menu module published there is what the second phone menu button opens.
  • The page has no 20 px side gutter on phones (cs-no-bs2-gutter on <body>); the full-width bands (feature boxes, testimonials, the bottom bands) no longer overhang the screen, and headings, the breadcrumb and footer titles start at the same 20 px inset as the page text (two paddings had stacked). The four feature-box headings line up with their text.
  • The log-in pop-up shows the whole form instead of scrolling inside itself.
  • The print and pop-up view (component.php) now prints a phone viewport tag.

  Favicon

  • New Favicon tab in the template options (fieldset faviconsettings, fields favicon, faviconspacer and favicontool, field class fields/favicontool.php). Pick one image and the template outputs the icon set (phFaviconSet(), phIcoBytes() in index.php); the template's own favicon.ico remains the fallback. With thanks to Gianluca, whose favicon question inspired this tool.
  • 10 new language strings (TPL_HIGHPULSE_FAVICON_*, TPL_HIGHPULSE_FAVICONTOOL_*). The language file goes from 68 to 78 strings.

  Modern social network support

  • Five new social services, each with its own URL field and show/hide switch: Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok and Discord. New fields default to #TYPE-URL-HERE and off.
  • The Twitter slot is now X (formerly Twitter) with the X logo (fa-x-twitter). The full set in the footer is X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, Pinterest, Discord and RSS. Links open with rel="noopener".
  • The footer social icons are 36 px cells (44 px on phones) with 20–22 px glyphs in the template's grey, lightened to keep them readable on the dark footer band, and white on hover. Before, they were 14 px link-blue glyphs packed edge to edge, with tap targets of 9–15 px.

  Template options (administrator)

  • Custom CSS field (customcss), and support for a css/custom.css file. Both load after the compatibility stylesheet, so your rules win. The file is deliberately not listed in templateDetails.xml, so a template update can never overwrite or remove it, and the field is stored in the database.
  • New fields/colorpicker.php with the Coloris picker (js/coloris.min.js, css/coloris.min.css) for the template's colour settings: 62 colour fields now use it, where they were plain colour boxes.
  • New fields/adminui.php: help rows in the options run the full width of the form, and the template's Details panel follows Joomla's light or dark admin theme.
  • Template options: 184 → 181 fields, 8 → 9 tabs.

  Changed

  Joomla 6 platform

  • Built for Joomla 6.2.0 (previous download: Joomla 3.10), with no need for Joomla's Backward Compatibility plugin.
  • templateDetails.xml version 25.06.2025 5.3.0 → 6.2.0, creation date 22/02/2016 → 2026-11-06, extension version 3.10 → 6.1. The version shown in the template description and the @version docblock in index.php match. method="upgrade" is kept, so an existing install updates in place.

  J3 → J6 API migration

  • 66 Joomla 3 static class calls → 0. Each moved to its namespaced Joomla 4+ form (JText → Text, JFactory → Factory, JHtml → HTMLHelper and the rest). The log-in override html/mod_login/default.php held 20, the error page 13, index.php 9, component.php 2, html/mod_menu/default.php 2, and html/mod_breadcrumbs/default.php and html/mod_search/default.php one each; the other 18 were in the K2 slider override that is now gone.
  • The search override reads the module class suffix from the module's parameters instead of a Joomla 3 variable.
  • 18 of the 29 PHP overrides changed.
  • The print and pop-up view (component.php) loads Joomla's own jQuery (jquery.framework) instead of the template's bundled jQuery 1.8.1 and its noConflict script.

  Template options (administrator)

  • The on/off settings that were legacy type="checkbox" fields are now Joomla's radio switcher (44 checkbox fields → 0, for example logoLinked, RSSON, usetheme, cam_turnOn, cam_autoAdvance, cam_navigation). The template has no legacy checkboxes left.
  • Colour settings changed from plain colour boxes to the colour picker (62 fields, for example cam_loaderColor, cam_loaderBgColor).
  • Defaults for a fresh install: the site name / logo links to the home page (logoLinked), and the built-in slideshow is switched on with autoplay on desktop and phones (cam_turnOn, cam_autoAdvance, cam_mobileAutoAdvance). Before, they were off. Existing sites keep their saved settings.
  • color25, which also colours the testimonial dots, is relabelled “Carousel Pagination Dot Color” (it was a K2 slider colour).

  Menus and scripts

  • The desktop drop-down menus are driven by CSS and a small built-in hover script in js/cs-mobile.js (with a short delay before closing) instead of the Superfish / Supersubs scripts, and drop-downs are wide enough for their labels, so menu items no longer wrap onto two lines. The settings that went with the old script are gone (see Removed).
  • The section background images use plain CSS backgrounds (background-size: cover) and a small helper in index.php instead of the jquery.backstretch plug-in, and the select-box styling plug-in (dropkick) is no longer used.
  • The Google font (Roboto) is linked directly in the page head instead of loaded by the WebFontConfig script.
  • js/: 27 → 8 files. Scripts no longer loaded: html5.js, jquery-1.8.1.min.js, jquery.noConflict.js, jquery.backstretch.min.js, jquery.mobile.customized.min.js, modernizr.js, selectivizr-min.js, selectnav.min.js, superfish.js, supersubs.js. Scripts newly loaded: cs-jq-compat.js and cs-mobile.js. Note that jQuery itself is still used on the page (Joomla's copy, 3.7.1) by the Camera slideshow, the carousels and the template's own scripts.

  Module styles and layout

  • Module positions meant to sit side by side (the two footer columns) were chosen with a Joomla 3 expression, countModules('footer-left && footer-right') (twice). Joomla 4+ reads that as one position name, so the test always failed and the columns stacked. Each position is now checked on its own.
  • Two module styles Joomla 4+ does not have, testimonial and vmdefaultlogin, are set to none, which prints the same output the page already had.
  • The desktop log-in pop-up now sits on a white panel. The pop-up's Username and Password fields are properly sized with a light grey border.
  • Log-in and registration fields are all one height, and the show-password eye sits inside the password field. On the log-in page the password field was 53 px tall under a 33 px username field.
  • The testimonial slider's active dot is a full-size ring again; Bootstrap 5's box sizing had shrunk it to 12 px, smaller than the inactive dots.
  • The phone menu button is filled in the same blue as the button row below it; it was a see-through outline.
  • Drop-down menus no longer close before you can reach them: moving the mouse from a menu heading down to its drop-down crossed a gap where neither was hovered. The whole path is now hoverable; the menu's spacing and appearance are unchanged.

  Fixed

  Custom colours

  • Custom colours work again. With “Built-in Theme” switched off (the template's default), every colour option printed an invalid value such as #ffffff#ffffff, so the whole custom colour scheme was ignored: body text fell back to Bootstrap's grey, and the testimonial band, buttons and footer lost their colours. 85 colour declarations in index.php now fall back to their default properly.

  Footer custom code

  • Footer custom code. Code entered in the template's “Insert code into template footer” box (footercode) was saved but never added to the page; index.php only printed the header box. It is now printed just before the closing </body> tag, the same way the header box works.

  Logo and slogan

  • The logo and the slogan both link to the home page. The slogan had no link at all, and the logo's link setting did nothing unless the template style had been saved once. The link is now on unless you switch the logo link off (logoLinked).
  • On a site installed at the domain root, the logo link pointed at the current page; it now always goes to the site's home page.

  Pages that failed on Joomla 4+

  • Error pages: error.php used JError and JText, which Joomla 6 no longer provides (and 4.x and 5.x only with the Backward Compatibility plugin). With them gone, Joomla could not render any error page, so every “page not found” became a 500. It is rewritten on the namespaced API, so “page not found” and “access denied” show inside the template's own error page (css/presets/style-error.css: 1,052 → 2,429 bytes).
  • Error pages and server details: an error caused by a missing item no longer prints the server's file paths and a technical trace, and a missing article or contact answers with the proper 404 page.
  • Print and pop-up views: component.php called the Joomla 3 JFactory class, which Joomla 6 no longer provides, so print and e-mail views could stop with a fatal error. It now uses the namespaced class.
  • Log-in pop-up: the header's log-in link and the pop-up's Close button used Bootstrap 2 attributes (data-toggle, data-dismiss) and an inline jQuery modal('hide') call. They now use data-bs-toggle, data-bs-target and data-bs-dismiss. The pop-up also closes on an outside click.
  • Slideshow and parallax: the Camera slideshow and the section bands call jQuery 1.x functions that jQuery 3.7 removed. js/cs-jq-compat.js restores them.

  Page layout and content

  • Testimonials centred: the testimonial column (col-md-6 offset-md-3) sat at the left of the band, because the bridge's column gutter beat Bootstrap 5's offset class. It is centred again.
  • Sample article: the “Cras euismod sodales” article showed a broken image (an old K2 sample picture, images/blog/k3.jpg, that was never shipped). The article now opens on its text.
  • Template Options screen: the icons load again (see Font Awesome 6.5.2 above).

  Maintenance pass

  • The @font-face in css/template.css pointing at Joomla 3's media/jui/fonts/ IcoMoon font, which Joomla 4 removed, is switched off (commented out), which ends four failed requests on every page.
  • Pagination arrows: Joomla 4+'s icon-angle-left / -right / -double-left / -double-right buttons had no mapping in the template's icon CSS, so they showed no arrow. They now show Font Awesome 6 arrows. The password eye (icon-eye, icon-eye-slash) is mapped the same way.
  • Featured articles: in a one-column featured (home) view, tall intro articles were clipped to their title. They now show in full.
  • Search button: a global button margin could pull a search button away from its box; search buttons now have margin:0.
  • With thanks to Michael Mullan, whose Expression bug report led to this maintenance pass across our templates.

  Removed

  Files removed (46)

  • Bootstrap 2: the css/bootstrap/ folder (bootstrap.css, bootstrap.min.css, bootstrap-extended.css, bootstrap-responsive.css, bootstrap-responsive.min.css, bootstrap-rtl.css, bootstrap-tooltip-extended.css) and js/bootstrap.min.js. Joomla 6's Bootstrap 5 and the compatibility stylesheet take their place. css/bootstrap.css stays for the print and pop-up view (component.php) only.
  • Internet Explorer and old-browser files: css/ie.css, css/ie6.css, css/ie9-10.css, css/reset.css, js/selectivizr-min.js, js/modernizr.js, js/flexibility.js, js/imgSizer.js.
  • jQuery plug-ins and old copies (js/ 27 → 8 files): jquery-1.7.1.js, jquery-1.8.1.min.js, jquery.noConflict.js, dropkick.js, jquery.dropkick-1.0.0.js, jquery.selectric.js, jquery.backstretch.min.js, jquery.mobile.customized.min.js, jquery.nicescroll.min.js, jquery.elevateZoom-3.0.8.min.js, jquery.equalHeights.js, jquery.plusanchor.js, jquery-eu-cookie-law-popup.js, easypaginate.js, selectnav.min.js, superfish.js, supersubs.js.
  • K2 leftovers (K2 is not part of the template): css/k2.css, css/k2.print.css, the html/mod_k2_content/ slider override (3 files) and images/system/k2CalendarLoader.gif, plus a K2 pagination selector in index.php and the css/template.css block for the K2 items slider.
  • html/modules.php: Joomla 3-style module chrome functions; Joomla 4+ uses the layout chromes in html/layouts/chromes/.
  • utils/admin-js.js (a Joomla 3-era admin script for the old checkbox switches) and the old utils/js_colourchanger/ colour picker (jscolor.js and its four images).

  Stylesheets no longer loaded

  • bootstrap-extended.css, bootstrap-responsive.min.css, font-awesome.min.css (Font Awesome 4 from MaxCDN), ie.css, ie6.css, ie9-10.css, k2.css and reset.css. Newly loaded: all.min.css, v4-shims.min.css, bootstrap.rtl.min.css (right-to-left sites), bs2-bs5-bridge.css, legacy-extras.css and, when present, custom.css.

  Retired settings

  • Four social slots removed with their switches: Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg and Blogger.
  • The settings that went with the old drop-down menu script: usedropdown (ON/OFF drop down menu), dropheight, dropwidth, dropopacity, dropspeed, plus megamenuwidth and responsivemenuon, which nothing read.
  • Two K2 colour options, color23 (K2 Items Slider Item title) and color24 (K2 Items Slider Item Mouse Over Background), and colours_handlers, the help row that fed the old colour picker.

  Security

  • Output helpers added in index.php: 215 occurrences of the ph* helpers across the template, counting their definitions. Every template setting written into the page is escaped for where it lands:
    • phEsc(): HTML text and attributes (36 occurrences in index.php).
    • phRichText(): the site-name and slogan fields, which may contain simple markup. Joomla's input filter keeps the markup but strips scripts, styles, iframes and on* event handlers.
    • phHexColor(), phCssToken(), phCssNum(), phCssDim(), phCssFont(), phCssSelector(), phCssUrl(): colours, sizes, fonts, selectors and image URLs written into the page's CSS.
    • phJsStr(), phJsLit(): values written into the slideshow's inline JavaScript.
  • Raw echo $this->params->get(…) output in index.php: 162 occurrences (on 156 lines) → 2, the Header and Footer Custom Code fields (headcode, footercode), which are administrator-only by design.
  • Module titles, menu items and module content written into attributes are escaped in the module chromes (megamenu, slides, vmdefault, vmdefaultStyle3) and in mod_menu, mod_login, mod_search and mod_custom; the category, featured and archive article overrides escape their output too. htmlspecialchars / escape calls in the template: 37 → 77.
  • The social links open with rel="noopener".
  • Every PHP file in the template stops unless Joomla loads it (defined('_JEXEC') or die): 34 → 36 files.

  Quickstart

  The quickstart is now a complete Joomla 6.2.0 site with High Pulse pre-configured as the active template. It replaces the previous quickstart, an Akeeba Backup archive (.jpa) restored with Kickstart.

  • Bundled extensions: Akeeba Backup Core 10.5.0, StageIt 6.6.2, Web Links 5.2.0 and the en-GB language pack 6.2.0.1.
  • The demo content comes to 31 published modules, 39 published menu items and 67 published articles.
  • The Smart Search index is built (159 indexed links), so the site search returns results from the first visit.
  • The logo link is saved on in the template style (logoLinked).
  • A menu module is published at cs-secondary, so the second phone menu button opens the Built-in Features menu (Slideshow, Testimonials Slider, Community Links, Mega Menu, Pop-Up Login Form and Color Picker Tool).
  • The sample-content menu item that was called “K2 Slider” is now “Testimonials Slider”, and the duplicate “K2 Items Slider” item is unpublished.
  • The “Cras euismod sodales” sample article no longer shows a broken image.
  • VirtueMart and K2 are not installed; High Pulse is not a shop.

  Package

  • Standalone template: now a Joomla package, pkg_highpulse-6.2.0.zip (pkg_highpulse.xml), that installs the High Pulse template (tpl_highpulse.zip) and registers it in the package manager. It declares method="upgrade", so an existing High Pulse updates in place, and <blockChildUninstall>true</blockChildUninstall>, so the template is removed through the package rather than on its own.
  • Quickstart bundle: a complete Joomla 6.2.0 install with High Pulse pre-loaded as the active template, replacing the Akeeba .jpa quickstart.

  Earlier history and version numbering: the previous download was the vendor's Joomla 3-era package, version 25.06.2025 5.3.0. From 6.2.0 the first three digits of the template version match the Joomla release it is built for; a later fix on the same Joomla release adds a fourth digit (6.2.0.1).