Joomla!® User Guide

The Wynchcote Joomla! User Guide has been created to help you get the most out of your Wynchcote Website built on the Joomla! platform.

It is in two parts.

 

 

Joomla! 2.5 User Guide - Please Sign in or Register

All Wynchcote Websites created since January 2012 are built on this latest Joomla! platform.

Customers and non-customers alike are invited to become registered users to access the Guide.

Our Joomla! 2.5 User Guide now contains a growing number of video tutorials, accessible here after signing in.

Register to use the Joomla! 2.5 Guide or Sign in.

 

Joomla! 1.5 User Guide

Many of our customers are running websites built on the Joomla! 1.5 platform.

Whether you are a customer or not you are welcome to use our Joomla! 1.5 User Guide.

You may also however wish to register with us to acess the latest Joomla! 2.5 Guide and be kept informed when we add new illutrated guides and videos.

 

The Joomla! Development Plan

The next Long Term Release (LTR) of Joomla! will be Joomla! 3.5, scheduled for release in July 2013.

 

The Present and Beyond

Joomla! 2.5 - LTR - Released January 2012 (Developer Community support ends July 2013).

Joomla! 3.0 - STR - Planned Release July 2012 (Developer Community support ends February 2013).

Joomla! 3.1 - STR - Planned Release January 2013 (Developer Community support ends August 2013).

Joomla! 3.5 - LTR - Planned Release July 2013 (Developer Community support ends January 2015).

 

Previous Versions of Joomla!

Joomla! 1.0 - LTR - Redundant (Developer Community support ended in July 2009).

Joomla! 1.5 - LTR - Current (Developer Community support ends April 2012).

Joomla! 1.6 - STR - Released January 2011 (Developer Community support ends August 2011).

Joomla! 1.7 -STR - Released July 2011 (Developer Community support ends February 2012).

 

Source: Joomla! Developer Network.

 

Can you see a pattern?

The development pattern for Joomla! is now two STRs (example, 1.6 and 1.7) followed by one LTR (example, 2.5).

Short Term Releases are so-called because the period of Developer Community support is for a shorter period than the LTRs.

Long Term Release support periods will not only be longer but also cut across the period of support offered to STRs.

With effect from Joomla! 1.6 the Joomla! Development Cycle is time-based, whereas before Joomla! 1.6 it had been a feature-based Development Cycle.

There will be a new Long Term Release (LTR) made available every 18 months, the next one being 3.5 in July 2013.

A Long Term Release will always be labelled as a .5 release (for example, 2.5, 3.5 and so on).

 

Which version of Joomla! should you use?

Joomla! 1.0 Users

Users of Joomla! 1.0 are running websites no longer supported by the Developer Community and should therefore by now have upgraded to at least Joomla! 1.5.

 

Joomla! 1.5 Users

Users of Joomla! 1.5 websites can safely hold off upgrading their websites until Spring / Summer 2012 unless there is a pressing need for change.

Reason, Developer Communty support for Joomla! 1.5 is available until April 2012.

Joomla! 2.5  was released in January 2012.

 

Joomla! 1.6 Users

You should upgrade to the latest version of Joomla! (currently Joomla! 2.5) as this includes an improvement of website security.

 

Joomla! 1.7 Users

You should upgrade to Joomla! 2.5 as soon as possible. The process of upgrading from Joomla! 1.7 to 2.5 is not onerous.

 

New Joomla! Users

New users of Joomla! should avoid any version of Joomla! which preceded the latest release: Joomla! 2.5.

 

What is the difference between a Joomla! Version and a Joomla! Release?

A version is a significant redesign of the underlying code and resulting improvement in efficiency over a previous version.

Example: Joomla! 2.5

 

A release is the most up to date code for a particular version of Joomla!

Example: Joomla! 2.5.0

 

New releases occur as the need arises, whether to improve efficiency following discovery of a 'bug' in the existing code, or to 'patch' the code to increase your website's security.

You should keep your website as up to date as possible to maintain its security and performance.

You should also ensure you are using the latest version of any third party extensions being used by your Joomla! website.

 

Wynchcote's Joomla! Maintenance Solutions are designed to help keep your Joomla! website up to date.

 

How easy is it to uprade your Joomla! website?

Whichever version of Joomla! is in use it is possible to upgrade to the latest version of Joomla!

Users of Joomla! 1.6 and Joomla! 1.7 can upgrade to Joomla! 2.5 from within their website's Control Panel using the "one-click upgrade" facility.

Users of Joomla! 1.5 will be able to migrate their site directly to Joomla! 2.5. This is unfortunately not a straightforward process for a complex website. Wynchcote can however help. Call us.

Users of Joomla! 1.0 must first migrate to Joomla! 1.5 before they can migrate to Joomla! 1.6, 1.7 or 2.5.

If your website is very old then it may be easiest to start over on the Joomla! 2.5 platform. You could however harm your search engine raanking. If this matters to you, we can help. Call us.

 

Important: always perform a Full Backup of your website before upgrading to a new Release or Version of Joomla!

 

Wynchcote can help you upgrade your website.

 

 

 

The Joomla!® name is used under a limited license from Open Source Matters in the United States and other countries. Wynchcote Limited is not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Source Matters or the Joomla! Project.