The Joomla Project is pleased to announce the availability of
Joomla 2.5 Beta 2
for download. Version 2.5 is the second release made
within the new six-month release cycle that started with the delivery of Joomla
1.6 in January 2011.
How does this affect your website if you are running Joomla! 1.5, 1.6 or 1.7?
Joomla 2.5.0 GA (general availability) is due to be released on 24 January 2012. The planned milestone after this date are:
- 24 February 2012 - Joomla 1.7 reaches end of life and is no longer supported
- April 2012 - Joomla 1.5 reaches end of life
- September 2012 - Next version of Joomla is released
How do I upgrade to Joomla 2.5?
According to Joomla: upgrading from Joomla 1.7 to Joomla 2.5.0 will be very easy. Most users can use the automatic update or install the update archive using the Extension Manager: Install option. If you are using Joomla 1.5 then you will still be required to migrate your site using the jUpgrade component.
What you must know before upgrading
Our Note on this: This is not the case! Simply upgrading Joomla Core Architecture from one version to another causes problems. This is not a simple upgrade. We have seen sites upgraded from 1.5 to 1.7 go out of compliance and loose their rankings within the search engines overnight. Not to mention, massive website problems once the upgrade is complete.
Most noticeable problem is site load speed degradation and major page rank decrease.
If you have a website that has 1.5, 1.6, or 1.7 you must establish a development site from a backup of your current live site and then have a Joomla Developer upgrade your site, test for problems, run speed reports to make sure your upgrade does not KILL YOU SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS and that your website is still within compliance.
