A new major release of Umbraco will see the light of day in the first quarter of 2019. That is a fact. Being a “major” means that things have changed in Umbraco. All for the better, of course; new helpful features like Infinite Editing, Language Variants and Content Apps will make your own workflow - and your editor’s - smoother and enable you to do things directly in Umbraco which you haven’t been able to do beforehand. On top of that, the overall infrastructure and core code have also been given a good once over and then it will look different and have a crisp new feel to it. Exciting stuff!
But along with the excitement also comes questions regarding Umbraco training and certifications: What will happen to my current Umbraco certifications? And how do I learn the best practices in Umbraco 8? Will there be bridging courses available? 🤔
Luckily, we’ve got the answers for you:
When will Umbraco 8 training be available?
Umbraco 8 will be launched in the first quarter of 2019. In the second quarter, starting April 1st, Umbraco 8 will be the default version for all training. This means that all training taking place following April 1st 2019 will be on Umbraco 8 and give you Umbraco 8 certification points.
Can I keep my current Umbraco certification points once Umbraco 8 is launched?
If you are certified in Umbraco 7, no worries. You are able to keep all your certification points for quite a while yet.
The launch of Umbraco 8 doesn’t mean that you have to use Umbraco 8 from day one. That’s up to you. That is also why it’s up to you when you want to upgrade your skills and certifications to Umbraco 8.
At some time in the future, Umbraco 7 certification points will though be made obsolete. It’s part of the natural process as the software evolves and new features, technology and workflows are introduced. But that’s in the future and we will, of course, give you timely notice once this happens. So if you are certified in Umbraco 7, no rush… however, we do encourage all Umbraco 7 certified developers to up their skills to Umbraco 8 and that is also why we have decided to help you out by offering special, faster, cheaper yet time-limited Umbraco 7 to Umbraco 8 bridging courses (more on those in a minute 😉).
What about Umbraco 6 - or earlier - certifications?
Umbraco 6 was introduced 6 years ago. Umbraco changed a lot from version 6 to 7, so you can only imagine the step from 6 to 8! Back then, certifications were also called “level 1” and “level 2” and the number of available courses was a lot fewer. A lot has changed. That is why all Umbraco 6 certifications will be obsolete by December 31st 2019. Thus, if you are an Umbraco 6 certified developer, you will need to take full Umbraco 8 courses if you still wish to be able to call yourself an Umbraco certified developer. The good news is that you’ve got all of 2019 to make this happen! And unlike back in 2013, 6 out of our 8 available courses are online which means you don’t have to worry about travel or accommodation - you just need a stable internet connection.
Will the requirements for the Umbraco Certification statuses change along with the Umbraco 8 launch?
No.
The Umbraco certification statuses (Professional, Expert, Master) only change along with the introduction of new courses. When this happens, we will give you a timely heads-up in order for you to achieve - or remain - your official Umbraco certification status.
Is there a difference between Umbraco 7 certification points and Umbraco 8 certification points counting towards the official Umbraco Certification statuses?
Nope! Your points will apply for the most recent version that you’ve been certified in, this could be all Umbraco 7, a mix of Umbraco 7 and 8 courses, or (our favourite 😉) all Umbraco 8 certification points.
However, something to keep in mind is that we only accept points from the latest two major versions. Before the launch of Umbraco 8, we considered Umbraco 6 and Umbraco 7 certification points towards your certification statuses. With Umbraco 8 launched we will consider Umbraco 7 and Umbraco 8 points towards your certification statuses (and Umbraco 6 until December 31st 2019 as we mentioned earlier in this post 😉).
But again, while the Umbraco 7 certification points will still count towards your current certification status for the time being, we highly encourage you to up your skills and certifications to Umbraco 8 as soon as possible by going on the special Umbraco 7 to 8 bridging courses. Not only for the sake of knowledge and getting the latest intel, but also because these courses will be the most inexpensive and time effective way to be eligible for any kind of bridging in the future versions of Umbraco.
And speaking of bridging courses:
How do I get myself on the Umbraco 7 to Umbraco 8 bridging courses?
Six of the current Umbraco 7 courses will each have an Umbraco 8 equivalent bridging course available:
- Umbraco Fundamentals
- Extending the Backoffice
- Umbraco, MVC and Visual Studio
- Application Integration
- Searching and Indexing
- Load Balancing in Umbraco
E.g. if you have already passed an Umbraco 7 Fundamentals course and an Umbraco 7 Searching and Indexing course you will be able to buy and take the equivalent bridging courses for these two courses.
Each course is a condensed course that will only teach you all the new things to consider when going from Umbraco 7 to 8, and with each bridging course you complete you get rewarded Umbraco 8 certification points. E.g. after completing the bridging courses for Fundamentals and Searching and Indexing your certification points will be transferred from Umbraco 7 to 8 as the certification points will always apply for the most recent version that you’ve been certified in.
The Umbraco Cloud Developer and the Content Management courses won’t have bridging courses available. The introduction of Umbraco 8 won’t affect the workflow in Umbraco Cloud so there’s simply no need for a bridging course for this course - but we’ll make sure your points will automatically count as Umbraco 8! The Content Management course is the one training course we offer that is not based on points so there is no concept of points to bridge from Umbraco 7 to 8.
When will the bridging courses be available?
The bridging courses will be available by the end of April 2019. Keep an eye on our “Book courses” list or sign-up for the official Umbraco mailing list (find the sign-up at the bottom of umbraco.com) to make sure you get notified directly in your inbox when the courses are available.
What will the bridging courses cost?
Each bridging course will cost between €300-€400 - a fraction of the price of a full course (regular courses: €1000 - €1200)! This is to encourage you to up your skills and certifications from Umbraco 7 to 8 sooner rather than later - and, of course, to encourage you to start creating fantastic Umbraco 8 projects 😃
What’s the format?
Each bridging course will be available as a recorded step-by-step video tutorial. This way you decide when you have the time to up your needed skills. After completing the tutorial you’ll be able to complete a test which you will have to pass in order to gain your Umbraco 8 certification points.
Each bridging course will vary in length depending on the amount of changes made to the Umbraco 7 material. This will range from around 2 - 4 hours - still, a lot faster than going on a full 1-day course!
How long will the bridging courses be available for?
The bridging courses are indeed a lot cheaper and faster - but they won’t be there forever. You’ll be able to buy and complete the Umbraco 7 to Umbraco 8 bridging courses until December 31st, 2019. So if you need to convince someone that you should go on these courses, start now!
I bought an Umbraco 7 course after 1st of October 2018 - how do I get access to the related bridging course?
As promised, everyone who bought and completed Umbraco 7 training courses after the 1st of October 2018 will be given access to the equivalent Umbraco 8 bridging course(s). We will reach out to you with more details via email after the launch of the bridging courses (end April/start May).
What about certification requirements in regard to Umbraco Gold Partners and Umbraco Certified Partners following the launch?
The certification requirements for being an Umbraco Certified Partner or Gold Partner remains the same but follows the overall requirements for certification as stated in this post. Thus, if your company’s total certification points only depend on developers who are certified in Umbraco 6 you have to make sure you gain the needed certification points by the end of 2019 to remain a partner.
If you have a team full of Umbraco 7 certified developers - no worries - but again, why not send them on those upcoming bridging courses now they are here, cheaper, and faster 😉 That way you can add to your company’s skill-set that you are a certified partner who’s also officially qualified in creating best practice Umbraco 8 projects ⭐
So you see, a lot of exciting dates and possibilities coming up following the launch of Umbraco 8. We look forward to showing and teaching you all the fantastic things you can do in this new major version so you can start crafting best practice Umbraco 8 projects for yourself or for your clients.
