Joomla 2.5 Upgrade FAQ
Blacklight productions have been leading developers with Joomla since version 1.0. We are Joomla 2.5 experts and have helped many clients with their Joomla 2.5 upgrade. If you have a Joomla 1.0 or Joomla 1.5 website and are considering your options for migrating to Joomla 2.5, we can help. Here are some answers to common questions about Joomla 2.5 upgrades.
Of course, if you need any further information, please contact us.
What is Joomla 2.5?
The new major release of Joomla has been named version 2.5. This follows a very confusing path from 1.0, to 1.5, to 1.6 and then 1.7! The important thing to note is that versions 1.6 onwards represent an important benchmark in the Joomla development roadmap, and many third party extensions that worked with Joomla 1.5 won't work with 1.6+. And what's really important is that Joomla 2.5 marks the beginning of a new era for Joomla, and the beginning of the end for Joomla 1.5, which will be no longer supported after April 2012.
What is happening to Joomla 1.5?
Joomla 1.5 is being phased out, and will no longer be supported after April 2012. This means that there will be no further security releases after this point, and website using Joomla 1.5 will be vulnerable to attacks from hackers and phishers. Accordingly it is recommended that all Joomla 1.5 sites be migrated to Joomla 2.5 as soon as possible.
How difficult will it be to move my website to Joomla 2.5?
This will vary from site to site, but migration is basically a complete rebuild. At minimum, your website template will need to be converted to a Joomla 2.5 compatible format, and all content and menu structures moved over. This is a small to medium task. An audit of third party extensions currently in use on the site will need to be carried out, and suitable Joomla 2.5 compatible replacements found. The extent of work required will vary greatly depending on how complex this task is, and this can only be assessed after a site audit.
Given the amount of work required, many customers might seriously consider completely redeveloping their website from scratch. If you've been considering giving your website a facelift, or introducing new functionality, now might be a good time to start finalising the project requirements.
What will happen if I don't migrate my Joomla 1.5 site to Joomla 2.5?
After April 2012, your Joomla 1.5 site will continue to function normally. There will be no change in functionality or loss of service. However there will be no ongoing support from the Joomla development team, and the site will no longer be considered secure.
What if I'm already running Joomla 1.6 or Joomla 1.7?
Joomla 1.6 and Joomla 1.7 can easily be upgraded to Joomla 2.5 through a simple patch.
My site is too complex to upgrade and I can't afford the expense, what can I do?
Best practice is to upgrade any Joomla 1.5 website to Joomla 2.5. However we understand that this may be a significant expenditure for many clients, and it simply may not be possible in the short term.
For these customers we recommend locking down their Joomla 1.5 installation as tightly as possible. Existing customers will already have a number of added security features running, however it would be important to go over the site with a security audit and come up with a list of recommendations to harden security further.
Contact us for more information.
