Upgrade or migrate joomla 1.5 website to joomla 2.5 or to Wordpress - recommendations

[Bredbury Blue]

Well this topic is getting more interesting than I expected…thanks for all for your comments.

It seems to me that Joomla vs. Wordpress is one of those Pepsi vs. Coke arguments…everyone prefers one over the other.

So over the weekend I came to the conclusion – see my last post above – to try and get someone to upgrade J1.5 to J2.5 for me - though I’m sure there will be issues (first one is Mosets Hot Property I use for jobs directory – yes I’ve let the jobs directory run down in recent weeks – is no longer supported by Mosets and is not workable with J2.5, but I think I’ve come up with a very simple solution for that) - rather than migrate J1.5 to Wordpress, which will require the company quoting to me to that Wordpress work “around 10 days to 2 weeks” to manually data-entry every existing article & directory listing.

As yet no-one has messaged me showing interest to quote to do the upgrade J1.5 to J2.5 work, so I’m currently considering using Odesk (or any equivalent) freelancers to do a task like this – a good or bad idea?

[draftvader]

Well this topic is getting more interesting than I expected…thanks for all for your comments.

It seems to me that Joomla vs. Wordpress is one of those Pepsi vs. Coke arguments…everyone prefers one over the other.

So over the weekend I came to the conclusion – see my last post above – to try and get someone to upgrade J1.5 to J2.5 for me - though I’m sure there will be issues (first one is Mosets Hot Property I use for jobs directory – yes I’ve let the jobs directory run down in recent weeks – is no longer supported by Mosets and is not workable with J2.5, but I think I’ve come up with a very simple solution for that) - rather than migrate J1.5 to Wordpress, which will require the company quoting to me to that Wordpress work “around 10 days to 2 weeks” to manually data-entry every existing article & directory listing.

As yet no-one has messaged me showing interest to quote to do the upgrade J1.5 to J2.5 work, so I’m currently considering using Odesk (or any equivalent) freelancers to do a task like this – a good or bad idea?

How many registered members? How many articles? What extensions (outside of Mosets)?

Are you interested in a new design or just want the same again but with 3 underlying? (no point going to 2.5 unless an extension you specifically need is only available on 2.5).

[Bredbury Blue]

Draftvader – Thanks for your posting, here’s the answers.

How many registered members? = Not relevant. I also intend closing down all member access to the backend (concerned about anybody being mischievous in the backend).

How many articles? = About 1500 articles and several hundred directory listings (directory uses MOSETS TREE)

Are you interested in a new design or just want the same again but with 3 underlying? (no point going to 2.5 unless an extension you specifically need is only available on 2.5). = Same again. Just want to upgrade from old J1.5 now; later will play around with design, etc. If upgrading from J1.5 straight to J3 is possible then I would be interested in this, but if necessary to upgrade from J1.5 to J2.5 and then to J3 then I would be interested in this.

What extensions (outside of Mosets)? = Based upon what I can see in the Extensions Manager – Components, here’s the current website Components/Extensions/Plug-ins list:

Website uses Legacy 1.0 mode Plugin.

1. AcyMailing 1.2.2 April 2010 Acyba
2. Attachments 2.0.2
3. Banners 1.5.0 April 2006 Joomla! Project
4. Chrono Contact 3.1 RC5.5 04
5. Akeeba 3.3.10
6. EventList 1.0.1
7. eXtplorer 2.0.1
8. Hot Property 1.0.1 Mosets
9. JCE 1.5.7
10. JComments 2.2.0.2
11. JForms 0.6 RC1
12. Jobline 1.1.3.2
13. Joomap 2.06 Beta2
14. LyftenBloggie 1.0.4a
15. MorfeoShow 1.2.0
16. mtree 2.1.5 Mosets
17. MT Importer 2.1.4 Mosets
18. Newsfeeds 1.5.0
19. Polls 1.5.0
20. pjinstaller 1.0.9 ProJoom
21. Scheduler 1.3 2009-10 DHTMLX LTD
22. NovaSFH 2.0.2 ProJoom
23. Weblinks 1.5.0 2006 Joomla! Project / Content Page 1.5.0 / Cache Manager 1.5.0 / Configuration Manager 1.5.0 / Contact Items 1.0.0 / Control Panel 1.5.0 / Installation Manager 1.5.0 / Language Manager 1.5.0 / MailTo 1.5.0 / Mass Mail 1.5.0 / Media Manager 1.5.0 / Menus Manager 1.5.0 / Messaging 1.5.0 / Module Manager 1.5.0 / Plugin Manager / Search 1.5.0 / Template Manager 1.5.0 / User 1.5.0 / User Manager 1.5.0 / Wrapper 1.5.0 2006

IF any current website Components and Extensions/Plug-ins have a problem following the upgrade we can work out a solution between us how to fix.

NOTES:

1. Some of the components listed above may have been installed for me but maybe I have never used them or I used an alternative.

2. For the website Directory I use Mosets Tree 2.1.5 – purchased 2010. It is basically ok so I need to retain it/upgrade it. From the following link, it looks like Mosets Tree 2.1.x running on Joomla 1.5 can be migrated to Mosets Tree 2.2 running on Joomla 2.5: http://www.mosets.com/help/kb/mosets-tree/69 . I do not know if Mosets Tree runs on later Joomla versions than 2.5.

3. For the website Jobs listing I use Mosets Hot Property 1.0.1 – purchased 2010. The website Jobs listing isn’t used too much lately (I’ve neglected it) but I never liked the way Mosets Hot Property 1.0.1 worked/was set-up for me for the jobs posting. Mosets have ceased this year with Mosets Hot Property (they suggest using Mosets Tree). So for the website jobs listings maybe I could use a very simple Mosets Tree adapted listing or Jobline 1.1.3.2 (listed above) or for an even simpler option maybe I just ‘blog’ jobs on a daily basis like I do for News or Blog Articles.

Cheers

[Totster]

That's a lot of extensions. Are they all being used/necessary ?

totster

[draftvader]

That's a lot of extensions. Are they all being used/necessary ?

totster

Probably not and most likely mainly redundant. Shall reply further in the morning.

Sent from my phone, hence brevity and gypos

[Bredbury Blue]

Draftvader is probably correct with "Probably not and most likely mainly redundant", but being non-techie I wouldn't honestly know.

[zebrafilm]

Wow I see a whole bunch of rotten apples in there. especially extplorer leaves your site wide open for hackers. I would hurry if I were you.....

Best practice in these cases: setup a brandnew J3 site, import the users and articles, make or find a good template and install the extensions you really need and move your data over as far as possible.

Test the new site and when you are happy you switch from old to new. (1 min with Joomla, 5 min with Workdpress because it does not adapt to new directory locations).

It seems you worry about down time but that doesn't need to be more than the minute when switching. We have a team in Asia and one in Europe so we help each other migrating at night.

Clients never notice the switch.

I will have a proper look at your site and make an estimation but please switch off all those bad extensions. Only keep what you really need.

[draftvader]

Wow I see a whole bunch of rotten apples in there. especially extplorer leaves your site wide open for hackers. I would hurry if I were you.....

Best practice in these cases: setup a brandnew J3 site, import the users and articles, make or find a good template and install the extensions you really need and move your data over as far as possible.

Test the new site and when you are happy you switch from old to new. (1 min with Joomla, 5 min with Workdpress because it does not adapt to new directory locations).

It seems you worry about down time but that doesn't need to be more than the minute when switching. We have a team in Asia and one in Europe so we help each other migrating at night.

Clients never notice the switch.

I will have a proper look at your site and make an estimation but please switch off all those bad extensions. Only keep what you really need.

Precisely. A new build with data migration on a component level is probably the best answer. This is particularly true as your 3rd party component hasn't made it past 1.5. Vertical market specific components died a death (mostly) with CCK (Content Construction Kits) like K2 and Cobalt allowing much greater versatility whilst ensuring enough users for the components to remain commercially viable. The 2 major exceptions are property rental and reservations.

I feel at this stage like you have 2 interested parties who you might want to discuss with in a pm. I'm game and I'm sure Zebrafilm is.

[draftvader]

Just as a quick run-through.

AcyMailing - Are you doing any mailings from the system? Nowadays this is not really needed and I would advise my clients to use a decent contact form component with a MailChimp plug-in. MailChimp's great power is that it will always ensure your business is up to speed with mailing regulations (opt-outs, etc) and takes a bandwidth burden away from your server. In the free version you have to carry a MailChimp ad at the bottom of your mails but I have found people have no issue with this and, for those that recognise the brand, this is seen as a positive as you are using a professional mailing system that they know will opt them out if they ask.

Attachments 2.0.2 - Available for 3. Depending on the CCK you decide to utilise this might be irrelevant.

Banners 1.5.0 - Standard 1.5 component

Chrono Contact - Great system, there are more easily usable components with a larger selection of plug-ins available to allow future integration with your business database, etc

Akeeba - This one should be core, SO important

Eventlist - Excellent component, again might well be redundant with the right CCK

eXtplorer - Perfectly secure if updated. This is still in development with the last update Dec 19th, 2013 (not J!1.5). Maybe not entirely necessary if you use the right content editor tool.

Mosets - We know about this. Main component needing a replacement.

JCE - Content editor. A perennial favourite that I used extensively but have dropped for more usable options. In the back-end I prefer Rokpad2 for my own work and CKEditor for my authors, publishers, etc

JComments - Great component but there are other options that might suit a Thailand based business far better (i.e. using Facebook for commenting?) All depends on that CCK choice.

JForms - The right form/contact component will allow much simplification of your back-end. You have Chrono and JForms. RSForms might well be more useful all round.

Jobline - Out of production. Will need replacing

Joomap - Many more effective tools available

LyftenBloggie - Not needed with the right CCK. Even core Joomla is now more useable as a blogging component if set up properly.

MorfeoShow - Better gallery components available now

mtree - Mosets tool, redundant

MT Importer - Mosets tool, redundant

Newsfeeds 1.5, Polls 1.5 - Joomla core components

pjinstaller - can't find much useful reference out there. The installer for 3.2 is looking impressive and is pushing extension developers towards having extensions that can be installed in the back-end directly from the JED (Joomla! Extension Directory). Additionally, this week, the JED announced new publishing rules for extensions that should cull quite a few poorly executed extensions from their database. All good moves for the future.

Scheduler 1.3 - Still popular but with no support for 3 yet. With 3.2 being launched it is becoming more important for developers to show their support so they are ready for the launch of 3.5 (due this spring). There are plenty of events calendars out there. All depends on how you use your events listings.

NovaSFH (Smart Flash Header) - No need for flash now....static images or rotators with jQuery animations all the way for SEO.

All the rest are standard 1.5

I know that this is zebrafilm's thoughts and support our belief in a new build. Most of your core needs replacing and future-proofing. Now is a good time to clean up the data, review your site and make it viable for the long-term. Joomla 3.5 is due for LTS (Long Term Support) up to Summer 2016 at earliest. Joomla! is now working for a simple upgrade path from now on (no more J!1.5 to J!1.6 to J!2.5/3 leaps (did 1, rebuilt the rest) so choosing the right components and supplier now will provide future proofing as far as any of us would like to sensibly predict. I would guess we're both potentially interested. pm time.