Joomla, like any Content Management System (CMS) needs to be kept up to date with the latest version and life cycle in order to be the most secure. Same deal with third-party extensions.
The top two reasons sites get hacked are:
- The server environment (your host)
- Scripts that aren’t kept up to date (Joomla itself and all third-party extensions are scripts)
Here’s the thing, sometimes when you update Joomla or third-party extensions, things break. It’s just part of life. Thus, it’s important that precautions are taken to avoid breakage, potential downtime, and loss of what’s important to you.
Before updating Joomla or extensions, do the following:
- Read: read Joomla forums and extension developer forums before doing the update. If it’s a security update, weigh the risks of doing or not doing the update with potential issues. If it’s a bug fix release, wait and keep reading to determine when it’s best to do the update.
- Take a backup: it’s important to have a backup of your site before doing updates. Best practice is test said backup to make sure it restores. It’s no good having a backup if it doesn’t restore properly. Do not depend on your host to have a backup for you. Make sure that you have copies of your backups stored somewhere other than your server (which is insecure anyways). If something is wrong with your server, having your backup stored there will be sad.
- Dev site: It is recommended to have a dev site that is a replica of your live (production) site to do updates on first. This way you can adequately test the dev site after an update to make sure it’s working fine. That said, it means you also have to keep the dev site up to date or it too can become a security vulnerability.
Most sites can be properly maintained in less than an hour a month. Some clients can do so in 15 minutes per month. The amount of time depends on how many third-party extensions are running on the site and how complex they are, as well as how often the developer releases an update.
Many of my clients do not enjoy the process of keeping their sites up to date. They have businesses to run. They may be perfectly fine adding and editing content, but updates scare them. They don’t want to do the heavy lifting that may come with doing an update and doing maintenance.
Thus, I offer a service to do Joomla Maintenance for clients.
Here’s what’s included:
- Update Joomla whenever they release an update (sometimes it’s more than once a month, other months there are no updates)
- Update third-party extensions at least once per month
- Take at least one backup per month
- I’ll add a monitor on each site so we know if the site is going down or up often for long periods of time so that something can be done about it
- Priority over those clients/sites not on the monthly update plan
The following is not included:
- Migrations from one life cycle of Joomla to another
- Major life cycle version changes on third-party extensions if applicable
- Time it takes to fix problems that an update to an extension or Joomla might have created
- Time it takes to resolve issues as a result of the monitor that might say something is wrong and needs to be addressed
- Server maintenance (like changing PHP versions or updating .htaccess files as a recommendation of the JSST (Joomla Security Strike Team)
- Costs for commercial third-party extensions
- Fixing hacks
If your site is running only basic normal extensions (editor, backup, template) it can be maintained in about 15 minutes per month. If more than that, it will be 30 minutes or more depending on the type and number of third-party extensions. The cost is whatever my hourly rate is by the number of quarter hours. Please contact to discuss.
If I did not build your site, an initial set up fee may be required depending on how much needs updating and how old the version of Joomla is that you’re running.
How do I get started?
- Get in touch
- We’ll set up a virtual meeting so I can see the backend of your site and evaluate extensions
- I’ll come up with a price and determine if an initial set up fee is required
- I’ll communicate this with you and you’ll choose
Joomla Maintenance is important. It’s a commitment you make when you build a website. It’s not “build it and forget it.” It’s a living thing (I know that sounds weird) that needs committed attention to keep it alive and happy. Commit to your website and get started on the Joomla Maintenance Monthly update plan today.
