Craft CMS 5.9 Released: New Possibilities for Authors and Editors
With the release of Craft CMS 5.9 on January 27, 2026, Pixel & Tonic has once again demonstrated why this content management system stands among the most innovative of its kind. The update brings a wealth of new features that will significantly streamline the daily work of content authors and editors. As a long-standing Craft CMS Premium Partner, I observe this development with great enthusiasm – because precisely these improvements make the difference between a good and an outstanding CMS.
Custom Index Pages for Entries
One of the most exciting innovations is the ability to divide entry sources into multiple index pages. Each of these pages can have its own unique name and icon. What might seem like a minor feature at first glance has enormous practical implications for control panel clarity. Especially in projects with hundreds or thousands of entries, navigation was often overwhelming before. With Craft 5.9, developers and administrators can now create tailored workspaces for different editorial teams or content types.
Matrix Fields Become Even More Powerful
Matrix fields have always been one of Craft CMS's strengths. With version 5.9, they become even more flexible. When a Matrix field contains multiple entry type groups, these are now displayed as grouped buttons for new entry creation. Each entry type group receives its own menu button. This visual separation significantly reduces the cognitive load for authors and makes working with complex content structures more intuitive.
Also new are bulk actions for Matrix fields. In both the Cards and Blocks views, multiple nested entries can now be selected simultaneously and then duplicated or deleted. What previously required tedious individual clicks can now be accomplished with just a few actions. For editors who work with extensive content daily, this represents genuine time savings.
Inline Lists and Flexible Display Options
Relational fields now offer a new display mode called "Inline list." Selected entries are displayed side by side – similar to Tags fields. This compact presentation is particularly suitable for relationships where visual context is less important than quick comprehension of connections. Additionally, there's a new "Card grid" display mode that replaces the previous "Show cards in a grid" setting and offers more flexibility in visual design.
Multi-line Titles and Custom Labels
A feature many authors have been waiting for: Entry types can now allow multi-line titles. With the new "Allow line breaks in titles" setting, line breaks in titles are possible. This sounds simple but solves a real problem with longer headlines or multilingual content, where line breaks can improve readability.
Furthermore, custom UI labels for entries can now be defined in the control panel – independent of the actual title. This opens new possibilities for clearer communication between the system and the editor.
Security and Performance
Beyond the visible improvements, Craft 5.9 contains important under-the-hood updates. The new sandboxed template rendering for system messages significantly limits potential damage from malicious Twig code. Several security vulnerabilities have been addressed, including XSS vulnerabilities and an SSRF/SSTI issue.
Composer integration has also been improved: Automated changes to composer.json requirements now include the caret operator, simplifying updates to Craft and plugins via composer update.
New Export Options and GraphQL Extensions
Elements can now be exported as XLSX and YAML files from index pages – a welcome addition for teams that need to process data in other systems. The GraphQL interface has also been expanded: It's now possible to create unpublished drafts via GraphQL, and API requests can identify themselves as preview requests.
Conclusion
Craft CMS 5.9 isn't a revolution but a thoughtful evolution. The improvements show that Pixel & Tonic listens carefully to the challenges editors and developers face daily. As someone who has worked with Craft since 2015 and implemented countless projects, I can say: Precisely this continuous refinement makes Craft the best CMS for demanding web projects.
The new features for content authors lower the barrier to entry and increase efficiency – and that's ultimately the core of a good content management system. Anyone who hasn't updated to Craft 5.9 yet should do so promptly.