Earlier this week, Joomla released 2 updates: Joomla 2.5.23 and Joomla 3.3.2. Less than 24 hours later, Joomla released another 2 updates, Joomla 2.5.24 and Joomla 3.3.3. It turned out that the first 2 updates had issues: they were causing problems with email obfuscation. It’s really hard to imagine how come no one tested email obfuscation before releasing those updates (which contained some changes in that particular area).
But, this post is not about criticizing Joomla’s quality assurance, but it’s about conveying a message to all Joomla administrators who are so eager to click that update button without even backing up their website first. That message is:
“Wait a couple of weeks after the update release to update your Joomla website.”
Every time there’s a Joomla update, we have an influx of new clients asking us to fix their websites. Now, while we make money out of this, we’d rather be making money creating more features or enhancing Joomla websites.
But, what if Joomla’s update is a security update? Should you also wait a couple of weeks? Well, in this case, you shouldn’t, and that’s why we will need to slightly modify our message above to the following:
“Wait a couple of weeks after the update release to update your Joomla website, unless that update is a security update, in which case you should only wait 24 hours”
But why wait a full 24 hours if it’s a security update, we hear you wondering. Wouldn’t that put the Joomla website at risk of getting hacked? Well, yes, this is true, but also updating it within 24 hours will put it at another risk: crashing. So, it’s up to you to choose which risk you prefer to take. Note that you can always lock down permissions on your Joomla website to completely protect it, which makes waiting for 24 hours a better option.
So, if you’re tempted to update your Joomla website the moment an update is announced, then it would be wise to consider the disastrous consequences of a buggy update before doing so. If you have already done so and your website (and yourself) is now suffering, then do contact us. We are here to help, our prices are affordable, and we’ll ensure that everything’s back to normal in no time!