Should I upgrade my Joomla 1.5 website?

Joomla! 1.5 will hit it’s end of life as of August 2012. What this weans for you as Joomla site owner is, after August 2012 there will be no more security updates released by the Joomla development team. Your Joomla 1.5+ website will continue to work but the vulnerability for hacks and other security issues will become greater and greater as time passes.

Between version 1.5 and 2.5 there were stable versions of 1.6 and 1.7 releases also. These where transitional releases and should also be UPDATED to the latest 2.5 It is highly recommended your site be UPGRADED to the latest 2.5 release. UPDATING and UPGRADING are two entirely different processes. For a better understanding of these processes and the differences between the two will be described below.

Updating Joomla 1.5+ to latest 1.5 version

In order to update a Joomla 1.5 website you must:

• Back up your site and database
• download the update from Joomla
• unzip the file
• upload all files in the zipped up folder to your server

Upgrading 1.5+ to 2.5 latest

This process is a more difficult process to execute. There are several components built by developers in the JED to assist in the process. These components DO DOT work on ALL 1.5 websites and there is ALWAYS additional work to perform after the upgrade component is executed.

One issue you will run into is finding all the updated versions of your components, modules and plugins that you have installed on your 1.5 installation for your new 2.5 installation. You will find that some of these will have been either left at 1.5 version only or are no longer maintained. If you have used extensions developed by reputable developers they will most likely have been upgraded to 2.5.

• Back up your site and database
• locate and download all updated extensions needed
• Download and install jUpgrade on your Joomla 1.5 site
• Run the jUpgrade component from your 1.5 site. This will move all your articles into the new site.

All your existing website will stay intact and your upgrade is installed in a sub- directory on your server. Once you have run the upgrade you will find the links at the bottom of the script  for both the upgraded site and the administrative backend.

Now you can log into the new upgrade and re-organize all the categories. Joomla 2.5 uses nested categories instead of sections and categories like Joomla 1.5.

Install and configure all the new extensions on on the Joomla 2.5 upgrade. You will have to move your existing content such as testimonials or other content that was in your old site into your upgrade site.

Once you have everything moved and you have tested all extensions for proper operation you can remove the Joomla 1.5 site from the server and move the new site onto the root of your server.

Updating 2.5 to latest 2.5 version

Once your site is upgraded to Joomla 2.5 the updates become much easier than the Joomla 1.5 updates. All updates can be performed in the administrative backend with a one click installation process. Change the paths in the configuration file and your new site should be in place.

If you would like to have your Joomla 1.5 professionally upgraded to 2.5 you can give us a call at: 716-578-0475 or request a quote here.