Joomla 2.5 – What to expect, & how to upgrade Joomla 1.5 or 1.7

The Joomla Project announced on December 22 the newest Beta version for our favorite CMS, Joomla 2.5.  This will be the second release since converting over to their new six month release cycle.  In this article I will outline what you can expect from this new version, how to upgrade to it, and why this version matters to you.

What is the Joomla 2.5 Beta for?

This beta is being released to allow the public to test and play with this new version. Developers can install it and test their extensions to make sure they work. Website administrators can download it and test the upgrade process from Joomla 1.7 to Joomla 2.5.0 on their development sites.
It’s important to note that this version should not be used on a live or a production site. Changes are still being made and running beta scripts such as this on a active site is poor form. Test it, play with it, try and break it, but don’t use it for Grandmas new muffin website.

I like my muffins fresh out of SVN

When will Joomla 2.5 come out of beta?

The Joomla Project people have stated that it will go stable around January 10th, 2012. New releases will come out every six months after that. ex: 2.5.1, 2.5.2 and so on. Of course these are not exact dates, remember Joomla is coded by volunteers.

Will Upgrading from Joomla 1.7 to Joomla 2.5 be hard?

Nope. Remember back a few months ago when Joomla 1.7 was released and we talked about it’s features? The most important new option was upgrades via the administration area. You can safely upgrade from Joomla 1.7 to Joomla 2.5 via a click of a button. Obviously you should test this in your sandbox first and not on a live site, but it will drastically speed up your upgrade process.

How can I upgrade Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2.5?

There is no upgrade path from J1.5 -> J2.5. You will have to migrate. There are a variety of changes from J1.5 to newer versions including changes to tables and the ACL (access control list) so a migration is the only way. If you are comfortable with migrating from different Joomla releases you probably have a system in place. If not, you can try out this extension. I personally have not tried it, but it seems pretty straightforward. Take all the usual precautions and backup your databases and files before doing something like this. Try it on your development site first and test the process before doing it on a live site.

Will iJoomla extensions work on Joomla 2.5?

We plan to keep up with the development and convert all the products that are 1.7 to 2.5.

Have you installed Joomla 2.5 beta yourself?

Let us know in the comments what your experiences have been and if you had any problems. We would love to know what you think.

Tags: joomla 1.5, joomla 1.6, joomla 2.5, joomla 2.5 upgrade