Backdrop 1.34.0 Release checklist

[quicksketch]

Scheduled for May 15, 2026 8pm - 11pm PT

Pre-release tasks

• If this is the Jan 15 release, ensure that the end year in the "All Backdrop code is Copyright..." section towards the bottom of the README.md file has been updated to reflect the new/current year.
• Merge commits (@quicksketch)
• Move all unfinished issues to the next bug-fix release milestone (@quicksketch)
• Review all closed issues in milestone:
  • Issue titles should include a complete, but very brief summary of the problem.
  • Bug issue titles should start with Fix or Fixed,
  • New feature issue titles should start with Add or Added.
  • Each issue should have accurate labels, especially the "type - " labels.
• Close the milestone (@quicksketch)
• Draft Release notes (@quicksketch)
  • Copy Preview release release notes, update as follows
    • Include a short, descriptive summary of the release, for example:
      • The Backdrop community is proud to release version 1.xx of Backdrop CMS, following our 4-month release cycle.
    • Include a section heading ## Notes for updating*
      • Note if any changes were made to files outside the core directory, for example:
        • - No changes have been made to the `.htaccess`, `robots.txt` or default `settings.php` files in this release. Updating customized versions of those files is not necessary.
        • See this example for updates to .htaccess
        • See this example or this example for updates to settings.php
      • Note if updates (update.php) needs to be run, for example:
        • Use the text The database update script does **not** need to be run.
        • or **It will be necessary to run the update script** (located at /core/update.php) for this release.
    • Include a section heading ## Changes since version 1.xx.x
      • Note: you can use this command to see if any install files were changed:
        ls -1 core/modules/*/*.install | while read filename; do echo "$(git log -1 --pretty="format:%ad %f" --date=format:"%F %R" -- $filename)" $filename; done|sort
      • Navigate to Actions
      • Select the most recent time "Release Notes Generator" has been run.
      • Download the release-notes artifact attached to the generator.
      • Unzip the file, and copy/pate contents into release notes draft.
        • Move the headings to H3, add another # before the ## to get ###.
      • Re-word issue titles to indicate that the problems have been fixed.
      • Note: This list can also be copied from the list on the preview release, but review closed issuses in the milestone
    • Verify the list above matches all changes since the most recent bug-fix release

Release tasks

• Update bootstrap.inc with version number (@quicksketch)
• Tag for release, and push tag to GitHub (@quicksketch)
• Branch for new minor number (e.g. 1.10.x) and push to GitHub (@quicksketch)
• Revert version number back on 1.x branch with minor number increased (e.g. 1.11.x-dev) (@quicksketch)
• Revert version number back on new minor number branch (e.g. 1.10.x-dev) (@quicksketch)
• Create release notes on GitHub, and publish release (@quicksketch)
• Unpublish preview release on backdropcms.org (@quicksketch)
• Create a new language template file for the translation server @olafgrabienski

Immediate Post-release tasks

Publicity tasks (Immediate - see also "2-week Post-release tasks" below)

• Social Media: Post/Tweet/Toot/Skeet that a new version is out (assignments below)
  • Use text like "We're thrilled to announce Backdrop version 1.18. This is the 19th new feature release of #BackdropCMS. https://backdropcms.org"
  • Post to Bluesky @stpaultim
  • Post to Mastodon @stpaultim
  • Post to Twitter @stpaultim
  • Post to Facebook @stpaultim or @cellear
  • Post to LinkedIn @yorkshirepudding
• Publish blog post created with Preview release (assign to stpaultim / jenlampton / yorkshirepudding)
• email katie@phpweekly.com for a note in the PHP Weekly Newsletter (assign to stpaultim / klonos / jenlampton)
• Update the project history page on b.org (assign to stpaultim / klonos / jenlampton)
• Update the roadmap page on b.org (assign to stpaultim / klonos / jenlampton)
• Update list of modules included in backdrop core (assign to bugfolder / klonos / jenlampton)
• Update list of modules included in backdrop_upgrade_status module @jenlampton
• Update the Wikipedia articles (assign to stpaultim / klonos / jenlampton)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:BackdropCMS_version&action=edit -
    • Auto applied to:
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backdrop_CMS
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems

Code tasks (Immediate)

• Update Tugboat @klonos
• Update Composer @herbdool
• Update Docker @Wylbur
• Update Pantheon @herbdool
• Update Platform.sh @herbdool
• Update Amezmo @jenlampton
• Update DrupalForge @izmeez

Backdrop Website updates

• beta.backdropcms.org @bugfolder (or jenlampton)
• docs.backdropcms.org @jenlampton (or bugfolder)
• events.backdropcms.org @jenlampton (or bugfolder)
• localize.backdropcms.org @jenlampton (or bugfolder)

2-week Post-release tasks

Backdrop Website updates (2-week Post-release)

• backdropcms.org @jenlampton
• forum.backdropcms.org @jenlampton

Publicity tasks (2-week Post-release)

• Add a Public Notification on BackdropCMS.org and link to the blog post (assign to stpaultim / klonos / jenlampton)
• Send a newsletter to subscribers (assign to stpaultim / jenlampton)

See Also

• Bug-Fix Release Checklist
• Preview Release Checklist

[quicksketch]

Release notes draft:

---

The Backdrop community is proud to release version 1.34.0 of Backdrop CMS, following our 4-month release cycle. This is one of our biggest releases with several major new end-user features. Thank you to the Backdrop CMS community for the incredible work in this release!

Notes for updating

No changes have been made to the .htaccess, robots.txt or default settings.php files in this release. Updating customized versions of those files is not necessary.

It will be necessary to run the update script (located at /core/update.php) for this release.

Changes since version 1.33.2

New Features

• Issue #440: Support "Multiple" attribute on file uploads.
• Issue #7083 Add an Icon browser to the Reports section.
• Issue #7075: Add options for URL history for AJAX views.
• Issue #3656: Views table UI for setting responsive class.
• Issue #6993: Allow file entity fields to be inline on a form.
• Issue #7093: Update CKEditor5 to version 48.0.0
• Issue #6404: Add jQuery 4.x as additional option.
• Issue #6808: Allow to specify a layout template type.
• Issue #7071: Drag icon improvements.
• Issue #7081: Add hook to allow other permissions on node type form.
• Issue: #7080: Disable author and date by default on new content types

Bug Fixes (within 1.x branch)

• Issue #7114: Views AJAX history only save views config if changed.
• Issue #7117: Fix console error when opening editor dialog.
• Issue #7120: Make sure selectable event is not lost when using pager in dialog.
• Issue #6184: dialogClass deprecated in jQuery UI, core usages need to be updated
• Issue #7117: Regression: JavaScript error in console when opening CKEditor 5 image dialog
• Issue #7119: Regression: Multiupload when uploading more than allowed - TypeError when saving node
• Issue #7122: Follow-up: Selecting multiple images from library allows too many items
• Issue #7126: Responsive field classes via table settings don't work for all views of existing sites

Bug Fixes (since 1.33.2)

• Issue #7062: Removed duplicate #process callback from the password element.
• Issue #7112: Fix unconstrained join in comment module update 1009.
• Issue #5942: Remove "database" from the hook_user_role_() and hook_node_type_() documentation.
• Issue #7029: Add Display type into Views UI.
• Issue #6981: Make token names wrap when very long.
• Issue #7130: Fix incorrect permission checks for 'access site reports'.
• Issue #6953: Added zip PHP extension not loaded warning to system update page.
• Issue #7127: Make sure markup prepended to bulk tables is valid.

[olafgrabienski]

I've created a language template file of Backdrop 1.34.0 for the translation server, available at https://localize.backdropcms.org/translate/downloads.

[laryn]

I've updated Pantheon upstream with the 1.34.0 tag.

[quicksketch]

The Tugboat Demos are updated.