It is incredibly important to keep your Joomla up-to-date. Why? Because all newest versions of Joomla brought the latest bug fixes in website security.
You will see that the migrating within the same major version is very simple, at the same time, the process of migration from one major version to another is more difficult process. Follow our tutorial and you will get the answer on question "How to upgrade Joomla?", furthermore the updating process will become the simple task for you.
Table of contents:
Nowadays Joomla has two officially supported major version: Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3.x. Developers of the Joomla project are working hardly on security updates and bug fixes for both of the versions. So if you are using one of these versions you should watch for minor release (like Joomla 2.5.x or Joomla 3.x). Upgrading in the same major version to the next release can be easily done through the Joomla admin panel by two clicks.
But Joomla also has more older major versions like Joomla 1.0 or Joomla 1.5, they are no longer supported. If you are using one of this "oldies" Joomla strongly recommends to upgrade to newest versions as soon as possible. Also, once Joomla 3 branch reaches its 3.5 release it will become the recommended version for all existing website and all Joomla 2.5 users should upgrade to new version. Note, that moving from one Joomla major version to another is not so simple, but if you follow our advises, you will get the knowledge about how to upgrade Joomla in most easiest way.
We strongly recommend to create a backup of your website before you start Joomla update.
You need to access the admin panel of your website (by default http://yourdomain.com/administrator) to update your Joomla manually.
Joomla 3.x will automatically start looking for updates at its official repository. If there is new version available, you will get the notification right in your admin panel. Just click on "Update now" and go to the next step.
After you clicked on the button you will be redirecting to the Joomla update page. Here, you will find the information about your current Joomla version and the latest one you will be upgrading to, the updated URL and the installation method. You shouldn't make any changes there, the upgrading process will go by default and all have to be fine!
In a few seconds, your Joomla website will be upgraded to the latest version and you will be brought to a screen with confirmation of the successful update!
In this part of our tutorial we will describe the question "How to move from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x". Migration to new major version is slightly "dangerous movement", because you have to be sure that all your Joomla extensions supporting the latest version of Joomla. This means that after you finish the installation some parts of your website can be inoperative.
Never start migrating without making a backup of your current Joomla website! Because you can lose everything.
You need to access the admin panel of your website (by default http://yourdomain.com/administrator) to migrate from one major Joomla version to another.
Go to "Components" -> "Joomla Updates" or simple past this link http://yoursite.com/administrator/index.php?option=com_joomlaupdate into your browser, this will take you directly to "Joomla updates".
Because there is still no long-term release of Joomla 3.x branch, you will have to switch to short-term release settings for the update server. For that click on "Options" and from the drop-down list on the "Update server" choose "Short term support" and click "Save and close".
After saving Joomla will automatically start searching for available updates. Press the "Install" button to start the migration. Joomla will take a few seconds to migrate your content. After migration finished, you will see the new Joomla 3.x admin panel.
If after switching to short-term you see message that you have the latest version of Joomla you have to make this steps:
Go to System ->Maintenance, Clear Cache and Purge it!
Go to Extensions ->Extension Manager, then on the "Update" tab press "Purge cache".
Repeat the migration process again.
Find more tips and tricks in our Joomla tutorials section