I use content management software (or system) (CMS) to create almost all of my web publications. One of them is called Joomla!. Late last year the organization stopped supporting the version I used to build two of my major (high content) websites. For security, I won’t mention which. They could run for years but there was not going to be any security updates or improvements made on the older version.
All the CMS programs I use are constantly updated and occasionally a major version number change is made. Many web master do not upgrade. I like to remain cutting edge if I can and will do major upgrades.
The issue for me was I was extremely nervous that during the conversion I could possibly loose the entire many year effort it took to populate the contents. Not only was this a major version change in Joomla, but it also required updated versions of basic web server side support software such as PHP. I have to admit I have bombed out minor installs during conversions so I know the pain.
The recovery from these mistakes was possible because I make total back ups of all my files and the SQL database. However, restoration itself is quite painful after things go wrong. I take the necessary safeguards on these major conversions and of course did so on these most recent changes.
To give an idea of the scope of all this conversion, it is not unusual for these big sites to have 40,000 to 60,000 (yes thousands) of individual files traveling back and forth over the internet during backup and restore. It’s that travel time that worries me the most
This time all went well each upgrade after a screwed up the courage to push the “DO” button. The converted sites are now faster and more compatible with handheld devices, so it is a good thing to do. I like large screen old school desk computers. The younger folks are driving websites to be more like social media on small screen carry around devices.