Since support for Joomla 2.5 ended some time ago, hundreds of older Joomla websites have fallen victim to hackers. We have helped many people restore their websites, upgrade them to the current secure version of Joomla 3.x, and we also provide dedicated secure hosting for Joomla 3.x websites that includes automatic minor updates to the latest Joomla version. Blacklight productions have been leading developers with Joomla since version 1.0. We are Joomla 3.x experts and have helped many clients with their Joomla 3.x upgrade. If you have a Joomla 1.0, 1.5 or 2.5 website and are considering your options for migrating to Joomla 3.x, we can help. Here are some answers to common questions about Joomla 3.x upgrades. Of course, if you need any further information, please contact us. What is Joomla 3.x? Joomla 3.x is a mature release of the Joomla platform that has been completely redesigned from the ground up. Major new features include unlimited nested content categories, and access control to site content and functionality through custom user groups. The admin interface has been compleely revamped, an under the bonnet everything is shiny and new, and built with the developer in mind. For custom built web application development, Joomla 3.x is simply unsurpassed by any other open source platform, and rivals most proprietary solutions as well. The price of this leap forward is backward compatibility. Moving from Joomla 1/2 to Joomla 3.x is a big migration, and will involve conversion of templates, components and plugins as well as all content. Depending on the complexity of your website, this could be a very involved process. How difficult will it be to move my website to Joomla 3.x? 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 3.x 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 3.x 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 site to Joomla 3.x? Your older Joomla 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.
