Our team is hard at work on Divi 5, a massive update to Divi’s foundation that will improve performance, reimagine its API, and give our team and the community the springboard we need to propel ourselves into the future. It’s no easy task. We’ve been at it for a while now, and we still have work to do, which is why I like to publish these updates every month to give you insight into our progress.
Last month, we talked about how Divi 5 will move away from shortcodes, and the various benefits of the migration, so be sure to check out that post if you missed it.
What We Accomplished This Month
This month, we continued our progress toward the Public Alpha. We are finishing the core set of Divi’s features necessary to make this first alpha version applicable to a broad spectrum of users.
We converted new modules, such as the Heading, Menu, and Post Title modules. We integrated new option types, such as the Divi icon selector. We fixed more bugs, added more docs, and implemented a new system for automatically generating module settings that further simplifies the module creation process so that we can speed up our Divi 5 workflow and provide the community with some even easier module creation tools.
Here are the latest Divi 5 changelog entries. 👇
- Implemented auto-generate module settings on search, section, pricing tables, pricing table, and column modules.
- Added group-item and group-items group type + module level group settings.
- Passed auto-generated module settings configuration into panel component.
- Added enhancement for the modal-library store.
- Fix the admin bar and window scroll behavior on UI Enhancement.
- Improved Enhanced Page Bar Markup and State Management.
- Refactored typedoc-plugin-markdown plugin to improve TypeDoc output.
- Refactored docusaurus-plugin-typedoc plugin to improve Docusaurus navigation for TypeDocs.
- Updated TypeDoc generator to create reference links between packages.
- Updated TypeDoc generator to group Dispatch and Selector functions into Data Store.
- Improved “Table of Contents” output for Data Store functions to match sidebar navigation.
- Improved Namespace output for TypeDoc packages.
- Improved Sidebar navigation for docs per package.
- Added @divi/colors package to TypeDocs, and updated documentation with examples.
- Added Fullwidth Map module for Divi 5
- Implemented advancedStyles on VB module styles declaration for Accordion, Audio, Button, Circle Counter, Code, and Countdown Timer modules.
- Added Menu module for Divi 5
- Added Heading module for Divi 5
- Added Post Title module for Divi 5
- Added initial version of typedocs
- Added missing PHPDocs
- Added auto-generate module settings mechanism
- Added UI Enhancement for Page Bar
- Added UI Enhancement for Builder Bar
- Added `divi/icon` module options
- Added `elementType` called `content`
- Updated doc declaration for JavaScript filter hooks.
- Updated doc declaration for JavaScript action hooks.
- Introduced advancedStyles for element styles in the VB part of the Blurb module.
- Fixed hover style issues in some Button module settings. Affected settings Background color, Text color, Text size, Border width, Border color, Padding, Margin, Scale, Translate, Rotate, Skew, Button Icon, Button Icon color, and Button Icon placement.
Let’s Talk About The Public Alpha
In this post, I also want to address the questions: What is the Divi 5 Public Alpha, and when will it be ready? We are releasing Divi 5 in five phases. We already released the Dev Alpha and Dev Beta versions, where we focused on solidifying the backend framework and giving developers in the community a head-start on converting their custom modules before moving on to user-facing features.
The Divi 5 Public Alpha will be the first version of Divi 5 intended to be used and tested by a broad audience, which means it needs to have enough of Divi’s core features working to make it worthwhile.
What Is The Public Alpha?
The Public Alpha will be a stable but unfinished version of Divi 5 suitable for building new websites. It will work as intended, but it will be missing some of Divi’s features and, therefore, won’t be compatible with all existing Divi websites. Divi 5’s remaining features will be finished for the Public Beta, serving as a release candidate for Divi 5.
So, what features will the Public Alpha be missing, and when will it be ready?
When Will The Public Alpha Be Ready?
In the screenshot below, you can see our internal Divi 5 roadmap. On the right is a list of everything we have finished so far. In the middle, you can see what we are actively working on during the current 2-week sprint, and on the left is a list of items we need to finish, grouped by the versions in which they will be released.
Less essential features, such as Quick Actions, Find And Replace, Extend Styles, and WooCommerce Modules, are on the Public Beta list. We’ll finish them, but we will release the Public Alpha first to get an early version of Divi 5 into your hands as soon as possible. If the missing features aren’t something you miss, you can use this early version of Divi 5 and enjoy its benefits immediately when building new sites.
We are far into this project. There is much more behind us than in front of us. At the beginning of the year, we set a goal for ourselves to get the first public version of Divi 5 into your hands before the year was over. With two months left in 2023 and looking at the items remaining in the Public Alpha list, we are within striking distance of that goal, but a safer bet would be to expect the Public Alpha in Q1 of next year.
There’s More To Look Forward To!
We are working on exciting things outside the scope of Divi 5, and some examples of that have been the release of Divi Cloud, Divi Teams, Divi VIP, and Divi AI. We’re finding creative ways to bring you more value, even while Divi 5 is in development, and we have some more surprises in store that I think you will love.
In other news, we recently released Divi Code AI, a new arm of the Divi AI toolset that can write code, generate CSS, and help customize your Divi websites inside the Visual Builder. It’s like always having an expert front-end web developer at your side who knows the ins and outs of every Divi module.
We also started our Black Friday countdown. We have many amazing things planned for this year’s Black Friday sale, beginning early on November 21st. Head to elegantthemes.com/blackfriday to get all the details and enter our Black Friday giveaway. We are giving away a free iMac and fifty free Divi AI memberships while we count down to the big sale day.
Stay tuned for more Divi 5 updates, and I’ll see you in the next update. Follow us by email and subscribe to our YouTube to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Why does visual builder still use react1 7?
We are wrapping up the end of Q1, where are you all at on the DIVI PUBLIC ALPHA?
The absence of reference to WCAG and openness is troubling to the designer’s risk, however, there is idealism for significant improvements in availability in various contexts.
Can’t wait! Have been a Divi/ET customer since you launched!
Happy to beta test anything any time – I have several domains that we use just for testing purposes, so if you ever need anything – I happily volunteer.
And I agree – the sooner the better!
Really appreciate the update on timeline — I usually once a year offer a class walking dog trainers through building their own brochure style website with Divi. It’s 6 weeks long and I’m just trying to plan to avoid having the new public beta / final version released in the middle of the class, which would create mass chaos 😀
Is there any way to find out if I’d be save to run it Feb 1 – mid-March? IE. once the Public Alpha is released, do you anticipate it being at LEAST Q2 before the final public version / upgradeable version is available?
Is there a way we can sign up to be part of the public alpha?
Doesn’t bode well for developers liability-wise that nothing about WCAG or accessibility is mentioned.. but hoping accessibility is finally improved for modules, navigation, etc.
Hey Nick and Team,
Of course, I will be anxious to help out testing the Alpha of the fifth flavor of Our DIVI!
I have been a vocal fan and supporter of the entire Theme/Builder for a long time and encourage all who will listen to find THE way to build a website through WordPress/Elegant Themes.
I will throw up a test site on my GoDaddy or other accounts and help my Elegant Team get the Elegant Theme out even quicker.
And … Thanks for making me look good on the web!
Tom Mariner
Keep the good work, but go as fast as possible, your competitors are killing it and you are getting really behind.
Thanks for the effort to get up to date. I love DIVI