Unlocking the Future of Content Management with Umbraco 13

In this blog, we will be breaking down the new features of Umbraco 13 and how they can help create a seamless and efficient content management experience. 

What are the new features of Umbraco 13? 

Headless Capabilities with Webhooks 

A headless CMS separates where content is presented (front end) from where it is managed (back end) so that they are connected through API, allowing the contents to be accessible for display on multiple devices by only written once. As they work independently, the term ‘headless’ represents that the front-end (head) does not directly connect to the back-end (body). 

Since Umbraco 12 has introduced a headless API based on Open API, Umbraco 13 is planned to use Webhooks.  

While API provides two-way communication between software programs through request-response progress, Webhooks (reverse API) react to content changes immediately, automatically pushing data to other systems and providing real-time information. It saves significant time as users do not need to send a request each time, increasing efficiency.

Lazy Loaded Content Cache

Umbraco 13 is becoming more enterprise-focused, as many sites contain more content. Lazy Loaded Content Cache is a technique that allows content to be loaded only when it is requested. Compared to the traditional ‘cache all the things’ method, it supports better memory management and benefits all sites with fewer resources allocated, making it more efficient and improving performance.

Block Reuse and Block Level Variations

Umbraco 11 introduced the Block Gird Editor, a tool that helps businesses create content quickly. It provides pre-built content blocks, formatting options, and a drag-and-drop function, enabling users with less technical background to create content. Furthermore, in Umbraco 13, the new concepts of reusing blocks and improving block-level variations are added.

Users can save time by reusing blocks across different instances of the block list and block-based grid. Offering more block variations increases the range of website content and provides greater freedom and flexibility, such as better support for multiple languages. As a result, businesses

Long-Term Support and Release Cadence

For every Long-Term Support (LTS) version, Umbraco will run on the latest version of .NET as Microsoft releases it. For Umbraco 13, which will be released in December with a run on .NET8, which will be released in November.

LTS has 24 months of the support phase and 12 months of the security phase; STS has only nine months and three months, respectively. As Umbraco 13 is an LTS, it will reach end-of-life in 2026, which means your website will be secure for longer.

The introduction of the LTS version of Umbraco creates an easy upgrade roadmap. For businesses trying to reduce upgrade friction, upgrading from LTS to LTS is a smoother path as the version is supported and secure for longer.

How ClerksWell can help

ClerksWell is an Umbraco Gold Partner with over 25 years of experience as a digital agency. We specialise in helping businesses achieve their digital goals with the latest technologies.  

We can help companies upgrade to the correct version of Umbraco for their digital needs, keep them compliant with the latest web standards, and ensure their websites remain relevant and practical. With our expertise and experience, we can help businesses thrive on new initiative CMS. 

Want to learn more about how ClerksWell works with Umbraco upgrade projects? Please read one of our Umbraco upgrade case studies here. https://www.clerkswell.com/work/pmcpa/