One month ago I looked at everything I had planned for Total CMS through v3.6 and made a decision — instead of shipping incremental updates for the rest of the year, I was going to take all of it and put it into a single release. I have a lot I want to accomplish in 2026 and Total CMS 3 is just the opening act.
So that’s what I did. I had AI analyze every release I’ve shipped for Total CMS over the past 18 months. This update is 6 times larger than my average release. We’re talking 30+ new features, 20+ enhancements, and 30+ fixes. 
Let me walk you through the highlights.
The Rich Text Editor is Completely New
I threw out the old one and rebuilt it from scratch. Your clients can now embed images, videos, and files directly into their content, build tables, apply custom inline styles, add anchor links, and flip into a code view when they need it. Auto-markdown shortcuts work exactly as you’d expect.
This was one of the most requested improvements and I think you’re going to love what it feels like now.
Passkeys — No More Passwords
Standard Edition and above now supports WebAuthn passkeys. Touch ID, Face ID, hardware key — whatever your client uses on their device. Login is instant, secure, and requires zero password management.
This is a genuinely great feature to hand off to clients. Set it up once and they’ll never have to deal with a forgotten password again.
Push Notifications
Forms can now trigger Pushover push notifications — including image attachments and group messaging. The moment a client’s contact form fires, you (or they) get a notification on your phone or desktop.
Simple to configure, and honestly a feature I’ve wanted in here for a long time.
Content Import — WordPress, RSS, JSON Feeds
You can now import content from WordPress installations, RSS feeds, and JSON feed sources directly into Total CMS. Full security validation on the WordPress side.
If you’ve been trying to pitch clients on moving away from WordPress, this just removed one of the last remaining objections. Bring the content over and let them keep building on infrastructure you control.
Load More Pagination
Progressive content loading is now built in. Drop a loadMore setup on any collection and your pages load content on demand — no page reload, no complex wiring. Includes empty state handling and ready-made blog templates.
Bulk Mailer
Send emails to a targeted group of content objects straight from the admin. Build the template, filter your audience using collection data, hit send. User data is available directly inside your templates so personalization is straightforward.
The Admin Now Speaks Your Language
Dutch, German, Spanish, and UK English are now available in addition to US English. If you’re building for international clients, they can now manage their own content in their own language.
Two-Tier Caching — Sites Just Got Faster
Under the hood, the caching system has been completely redesigned. APCu runs as a blazing fast L1 cache with Redis, Memcached, or filesystem as L2 behind it. Cache TTLs are significantly longer, and the cache clears itself automatically when the CMS updates.
There’s also a sizing advisor in the admin to help you tune things for your server. If your sites have felt sluggish, this is going to make a noticeable difference.
Data Views
A new way to expose collection data through the API with edition-gated access — auto-created on install, no custom code needed. If you’re building anything headless or need structured data out of your collections quickly, this is your new best friend.
Gallery Performance
Large galleries are significantly faster. EXIF and color extraction can now be toggled off per-field too — great for performance, and also handy for GDPR compliance.
Also in 3.2
- Setting Presets — set default values for any field with per-field overrides
- Collection Reports — filterable, exportable data reports right in the admin
- Twig Adapter Namespacing — cleaner macro organization across templates
- Autogen for Deck Items — auto-generate field values when creating deck items via API
- SVG Field — dedicated field with editing and drag-and-drop
- Deck Table View — horizontal table layout for deck items
- Orphan Scanner — find and clean up orphaned files and data
- Total CMS 1 Import — migrate content from old T1 installations
- Gallery sort options — configurable per-gallery sort order
- Deck min/max item counts — enforce limits on repeating blocks
nextandprevTwig functions — navigate between collection objects in templates
Ready to Upgrade?
Head over to the product page to grab 3.2. As always — take a server snapshot before upgrading. Full upgrade instructions are in the docs.
If you’re not yet on Total CMS 3, now is a really good time to make the jump. This release makes the case better than any I’ve shipped.
Drop your questions, reactions, or anything you’re excited to try below — I’ll be in the thread. 