We all have software. Whether it be a native program or web software, we are faced with the option to “upgrade” pretty often. Yesterday the Joomla team released version 1.7 of their fantastic software. I admin many installations of Joomla all over the web and upgrading them can be a hassle. Whenever an upgrade/update is released, I’m faced with the decision if I should run the update. This does not only apply to Joomla, there are tons of other software platforms like WordPress that are constantly getting updated.
When is it the right choice to upgrade your software? In the case of Joomla, after reading the FAQs on 1.7 it is clear that the development team will no longer support 1.6.x after August 2011. This is a very good reason why you should update your 1.6.x installations to 1.7.
Before updating any software you want to make sure of the following:
- Your server environment meets the minimum requirements
- Your 3rd party extensions/plug-ins are compatible with the upgrade
If you update without checking you run the risk of breaking your site. Once you run your checks and you know it’s safe to update, it’s best practice to take the following steps to make sure you’re safe if anything goes awry:
- Make a backup of your files
- Make a backup of your database
By doing this, you ensure that you have the latest copy of your site on hand in case the site does break because of the update. Of course, it’s optimal to have a development environment available to do the upgrade on first to make sure it works.
It’s not always necessary to run the latest software. Sometimes updates are deployed for features and minor bug fixes; however, if the release is due to a security flaw or major bug fixes it is a good idea to do what you can to install the latest version.
