Joomla 2.5 is obsolete

What‘s wrong with Joomla 2.5? Joomla 2.5.28 is now end of life! At the end of 2014, Joomla 2.5.28 became "end of support" meaning that no new releases in this series will be made. Moving to Joomla 3 is critical.

 "Joomla 2.5 reached its end-of-life on December 31st, 2014. It will never be secure in 2018, and you can be expect to be hacked repeatedly". - MyJoomla https://myjoomla.com/

Our reasons for moving your site to Joomla 3 are to:

STRENGTHEN SITE SECURITY
IMPROVE SITE FORM & FUNCTION
MAINTAIN SITE DATA

Options available to you:

MIGRATE CURRENT SITE TO JOOMLA 3
NEW SITE BUILD WITH JOOMLA 3

The migration from Joomla! 2.5 to 3.x is considered a mini-migration. This is because the Joomla core extensions may upgrade with a “one-click” upgrade via the Joomla. Many third-party extensions are a one-click upgrade too. Some are not. Each one needs to be looked at to determine the best path to get from 2.5 to 3.x. The one-click update will work well for many. For some larger, more complex sites, the one-click update might not. For these sites we may need to carry out a full migration. For this and other reasons we recommend you consider a new website build rather than a mini migration. The time involved and therefore cost between both options may not differ hugely depending on the complexity of your existing site and availability of your old Joomla 2.5 template for Joomla 3.

We begin the process of migration with an initial Site Assessment of your current site. The positive thing about a mini migration is that it is an ideal time to reassess goals, create a new look and feel (template), clean up, and develop other areas/elements of your site. The more organised we are with this the better.

Plan, plan, plan!

We may have more items to plan for depending on the complexity of your site. Every site is different so unfortunately, there is no way we can list every possible scenario. Don’t take our word for it.

Sourced on docs.joomla.org https://docs.joomla.org/Why_Migrate

Undecided if you should migrate or not?

After all, your site is running fine. Why rock the boat? Somehow you’ve heard/learned that you need to migrate to a newer life cycle or version.

Here are all the reasons to take the plunge to Joomla 3.x!

• Revisit site goals and rethink its purpose.
• Clean up “great ideas” that never saw the light of day.
• Ensure your data against security breaches by having all the latest software.
• Inventory third-party extensions that may have been installed but not used.
• Simplify and clean up old articles, menus and other content.
• Create new functionality on the site.
• Change design and navigation.
• Add accessibility to disabled visitors.
• Make the site mobile-friendly.
• Improve search engine optimisation.
• Utilise new features.
• Keeping an outdated site online still costs money.

What is Site Migration?

“You can think of migration like moving from one home to a new home. You filter through your belongings and furniture and pack the important pieces to take with you. You discard lingering trash or eliminate items you no longer need. Once you get into your new home, you may find you need to acquire some new pieces of furniture or fixtures to make your new home operate smoothly.”  Joomla Docs - https://docs.joomla.org/Why_Migrate

Template & Plugin Conflicts

When dealing with old software such as Joomla 2.5 there can often be conflicts that may make an exact replica of your existing site impossible on Joomla 3. Artful does its best to rectify any such issues as they arise and will provide alternative solutions for consideration. On the plus side each new Joomla cycle brings with it new features and usability enhancements which improve many aspects of site performance.

Whether you choose to go with a new build or a migration it will be built and tested on a development domain. Once approved it will be made live overnight on your live domain therefore limiting any downtime in between.

What next?

If you would like some more information please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss. We are here to help make the switch to a more secure and functional website as smooth as possible for you. We can assist in weighing up the pros and cons of migration verses a new website in more detail based on your site’s individual requirements.