Joomla 2.5 will reach “End Of Life” at midnight on December 31st. That’s coming up soon! At that time, Joomla will no longer provide bug fixes, features, or security updates for version 2.5. All focus on updates, fixes and security will be on Joomla version 3.
So, for security, compatibility and performance purposes, now is the perfect time to make sure you have the latest available update of Joomla (3.3 or higher). Whether you just need a simple update, or you’re ready for a major overhaul, ‘corePHP’ can handle your Joomla update for you, to help ensure you, your site visitors and customers have as smooth an experience as possible.
The great news is, the Joomla Programming Leadership Team has gone to great lengths to ensure the transition from 2.5 to 3.x will be less the tricky migration path of old (think of the horrors of upgrading from 1.5 to 2.5), and more of an update.
When updating your Joomla site from 2.5 to 3.x on your own, don’t forget, it’s important to make sure your templates, plus all of your extensions — components, plugins and modules — are ready for the update to the new responsive and mobile-ready version of Joomla too. At ‘corePHP’, we always recommend backing up your entire site, and testing the site updates or upgrades on a development (separate, private) server first, to ensure all data and content is intact, and all functionality is properly operating, among other testing methods.
Upgrading From Joomla 1.0 or Joomla 1.5?
You are not alone, but please, don’t find a lot of comfort in that. Unless you really know what you’re doing, or you’re in the hands of a very capable development firm specialized in Joomla, you could find yourself in deep security trouble someday soon. There are currently thousands of Joomla sites still operating on Joomla 1.0, 1.5, 1.8, as well as incremental releases between. That said, we highly recommended you begin taking steps now to move all your Joomla sites to Joomla 3, and stop running without a safety net.
For most sites, the move will be relatively easy. For others, the migration will require a major commitment of resources to get it done right. Either way, smooth and cheap or rocky and expensive, it beats the alternative. It’s critically important to make the move to Joomla 3, and make it soon, to avoid the high likelihood of acute pain and realistic possibility of a total security failure of your site, the longer your site goes without updating.
Make The Change Now, While You’ve Got Resources.
There are exceptions of course, but generally speaking, right after the holidays is usually an ideal time to make the change-over, as site traffic for most businesses and organizations is usually not at its annual highpoint. Another advantage may be the availability of your staff time and resources, to focus on data migrations, which are often necessary when handling software updates.
While the migration from earlier versions is challenging, and should NOT be handled by a “Do-it-yourself” sitebuilder, the good news is, the transition and data migration path is well tested. In other words, here at ‘corePHP’, we’ve got a lot of practice handling the 2.5 to 3.x update successfully, as well as 1.5 and even Joomla 1.0 to 3.x. Every data migration project is unique, but we’ve run across practically every scenario, and know how to handle the data migration right.
There’s truly no better time like the present to make your move up to a fully mobile and responsive Joomla 3.
What Will Happen If You Don’t Update?
No, your website won’t begin to spontaneously combust, it won’t immediately crash or run out of “Joomla juice,” so don’t worry about that. However, we recommend you don’t put off updating or upgrading for long (think weeks, not months). It will keep right on working. That said, the risks you’ll run will be real, and they’ll mainly be three-fold: security, compatibility and performance.
Compatibility and performance are pretty easy and self explanatory, so there’s really little need to say anything more than updating will improve your site at or better than double speed in most cases, plus it’ll be mobile, and it’ll playswell with components and databases; but we can’t emphasize the importance of security enough. Lack of security trumps and negates all features, after all.
Starting in about a week or so, if you do not have version 3.3 or higher installed, your site runs the very real risk of experiencing a security breach. Hackers love neglected websites, and Joomla 1.0 and Joomla 1.5 are two of their favorite targets. Joomla 2.5 will soon be a likely target as well, as more vulnerabilities are found, without support from Joomla to create patches — especially if people are lackluster with other security precautions.
No matter what, be proactive with your security, and be sure to install jomDefender on your Joomla 2.5 or 3.3 site, for a first line of defense, and have a full security audit done at least once a year. If you need a Joomla site security audit, let us know.
Why Take The Risk? Update to Joomla 3 Right Away.
It’s best to bite the bullet and do the work of an upgrade to Joomla 3, rather than run the risk of your site going dark, or worse, losing any or all of your secure data to an automated bot or malicious hacker. For assistance with an upgrade plan to fit your business, non-profit, education or government agency, please contact ‘corePHP’ today.
