Don't update your Joomla site!

Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 July 2009 13:09 Written by Erik Wednesday, 08 July 2009 12:03

Well, the title is very harsh but in the Joomla world today there are so many people using extensions and templates which just isn't compatible with the latest version of Joomla 1.5.12. Are we really saying you shouldn't upgrade? Of course not. The title doesn't reveal everything we wanted to express with this. What we talk about is that you shouldn't just upgrade your site, without first thinking about it. Here are some "ground rules" for updating your Joomla site.

First of all, make sure you have a backup of your site. Not only the php files and index and stuff. You also have to make sure you have a backup of your sql file(s). Why this is so important is something you'll figure out if you update and don't have any backups. Always backup your site. The best is to have daily, weekly and monthly backups of your site. If your provider doesn't offer this, seriously consider to make backups yourself on your own computer. Should your site get attacked and hacked, then it is sometimes hard to figure out exactly when your site was first attacked and the maliscious code was inserted. Which means you could "restore" your site from yesterdays backup, but still, the next day your site is down again. Because 1 week back the hack was inserted. Which means you would have to apply an even older version of your backup to avoid the maliscious code to be present on your site.

Template overrides
In particular you should be very careful when updating your Joomla website to the latest version, not only of security reasons but also due to the new template overrides. You can read more about this in Brian Teemans excellent blog, well worth a good read.

Good luck with your upgrades. And remember, should you need assistance with any Joomla needs, JoomlaPeople are here to assist you, small or big issues, we work hard to provide the greatest service possible!