Joomla 3 to Joomla 4

It's Time To Upgrade Your Joomla Website

Joomla 4 was launched in August 2021.  This is the first major version release since Joomla 3 back in 2012 which in internet terms is a couple of lifetimes ago.

What is a Joomla Major Version Release?

The Joomla development team have a policy of backward compatibility "within a major series".  That means a website developed in Joomla 3.0.1 in 2012 is able to be upgraded with each new release through to 3.10.10 in June 2022.  All of the plugins and extensions in the original site will still work in 3.10.10.   

A Major version release introduces new technologies and drops some older technology support.  It is identified by a changed first digit in the version number.  ie. Joomla 4 is a major version upgrade from Joomla 3.xx

You may wonder why they don't go with a policy of "always backwards compatible".  This sounds great in theory and is the policy of some platforms like Wordpress, however it has some major drawbacks.

The big drawback is, technology doesn't stand still.   

"Backwards compatibility forever", stops the platform from taking advantage of new technologies.  Imagine a car manufacturer announcing they want to build Electric Vehicles, but keep them compatible with old fuel types.  It would mean having to maintain two entirely different engines, one electric and one petrol.  The extra weight being dragged around by either engine means that neither works efficiently.  Website technologies are like that.  If Joomla had to maintain compatibility with outdated technologies, they could never take full advantage of new, better technologies.  That is why a major series release is not 100% compatible with the previous release.  Fortunately the developers announce compatibility changes well in advance, so most plugin providers will have made the necessary changes well before the major series is released and major series updates are always a number of years apart.

Why Should I Update Now?

As mentioned, Joomla 4 was released in August 2021. There are a number of reasons why site owners should be looking to upgrade now.

1. No major software release is 100% bug free, so it is always safer to hold back on upgrading until someone else has found any problems.  Bugs found in the initial version are well resolved with minor updates and we are now up to version 4.2.6
2. The previous version, Joomla 3, is supported with security updates for 2 years so it was not an urgency to upgrade in 2021.  That support ends on 17 August 2023 and while that doesn't mean Joomla 3 sites will stop working, it does mean that any security issues found after that could mean your site becomes vulnerable very quickly.
3. Joomla has some very powerful extensions that can take time to be made compatible with a new major series.  Most extensions that are going to be Joomla 4 compatible are now updated.  At time of writing there are only two that I can think of that are still being made compatible.  That doesn't mean all of the plugins and extensions in your Joomla 3 website will work in Joomla 4.  Some developers are not updating all of their extensions.  Sometimes the market for an extension is simply not big enough to justify the time and expense.  Fortunately, Joomla 3.10.10 has a compatibility checker and where an extension is not compatible an alternative can be found.
4. If your website has been around since 2012, or even half that time, it is likely that you have a number of extensions installed that are no longer used.  They are just taking up space, increasing the opportunities for hackers to find access, and slowing the site down. The major upgrade is an opportunity to do a spring clean of your website.   

Why Get An Expert To Upgrade Your Joomla Website?

We have actually been around since before Joomla existed, and have been using Joomla since version 1.0.6 way back in 2005.  We have successfully upgraded hundreds of websites from

• Joomla 1 to 1.5 (the very first major series upgrade),
• Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2,
• Joomla 2 to Joomla 3 and
• Joomla 3 to Joomla 4

Yes, you can upgrade your website yourself.  The upgrade process for Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 is relatively easy compared to earlier upgrades, as the developers have focused on improving the process.  Remembering the experience of upgrading from Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2 still gives me nightmares!  It does require some knowledge though and an analysis of the current site's extensions before the actual upgrade.  When an upgrade to Joomla 4 goes bad, it is usually because an incompatible extension has not been upgraded or replaced.

We have been doing Joomla upgrades for 16 years, so we know what traps to look for.  Upgrades start from as little as $399 (all dependent on the complexity of the site).

We will take a backup of your website and install it on a development server to analyse the site, update or replace extensions as necessary, and then do a test upgrade before touching the live site.  This ensures no expensive downtime for your site.  We will then give you training as required on the new Joomla 4 administrator dashboard and any new extensions.