Joomla! is one of the top 3 most popular website content management packages in the world by being free and relatively easy to use. However, it is Open Source software and subject to attacks from hackers all over the world. In order to keep your website secure and also patch any bugs, you need to keep it up to date with the latest version. This also means you need to update any extensions and templates you have installed.A good article titled Why Migrate is published here- https://docs.joomla.org/Why_MigrateThe current versions of Joomla! are 3.3 (3.3.6) and 2.5 (2.5.28). Support for version 2.5 ends on December 31, 2014 and all prior versions (1.5 and 1.0) have not been supported since September 2012. You can check current downloads for each version at http://www.joomla.org/download.html.Here are the steps you need to take to upgrade Joomla! to the most current version of 3.3.1. Check your current version of Joomla! Login to the administrative area of Joomla! and find your version.1.5- it will appear in the top right corner of your screen2.5- it appears at the bottom middle of your screen3.3- it appears under System->System Information 2. Follow the preparation stepsFull instructions for planning your migration from version 1.5 to version 3.3 are located at https://docs.joomla.org/Planning_Migration_-_Joomla_1.5_to_3Full instructions for planning your migration from version 2.5 to version 3.3 are located at https://docs.joomla.org/Joomla_2.5_to_3.x_Step_by_Step_Migration3. Backup your website.Be sure to make a complete backup of your website before beginning the upgrade process. You never know when a process might fail and leave your website a mess. Backups are not a feature of Joomla!, so you need to either add an extension for it, or your web hosting control panel might have an option for it. We support and recommend Akeeba Backup- www.akeebabackup.com.4. Upgrade your Joomla!.Version 1.5 to 3.3- https://docs.joomla.org/Joomla_1.5_to_3.x_Step_by_Step_MigrationVersion 2.5 to 3.3- https://docs.joomla.org/Joomla_2.5_to_3.x_Step_by_Step_Migration5. Test your website.Now go to your website and click around to all the pages to make sure everything still looks and works properly. You may have an instance with an extension or template that you would have to do some tweaking because of new features or enhancements.7. Backup your website.It's always good to make another backup! ;-)Please understand that if your site gets hacked, it is your responsibility and cost to have it repaired and cleaned up. This usually would cost at least $100 per instance.Also, it you do not wish to do the updates yourself, we offer services to do this for you. Please contact us for pricing.
