Joomla 1.6 has been released! What about Joomla 1.6 Templates?
Joomlashack would like to congratulate the Joomla project, the community, and the volunteers who have worked so hard to get Joomla 1.6 ready and available. We recognize the dedication and tireless work put into the release, and we want to express our gratitude.
With the release of Joomla 1.6 stable, we wanted to give you our team's advice on what this means for you, as well as what we are doing with our products.
What products does Joomlashack have for Joomla 1.6? What about Joomla 1.6 templates?
Right now we are working hard to get our most popular Joomla Templates running on Joomla 1.6. Products that support Joomla 1.6 will have a badge next to them in our product pages. We have already marked Joomla 1.5 support, so you can easily determine which versions of Joomla that particular template or extension will work with. We are also rushing to release several free Joomla 1.6 templates.
We will be working to update our most popular templates and extensions first, and you will see more supported over the next few weeks. We want to ensure they work with the stable version and it takes some time considering that patches and fixes for Joomla 1.6 are being released regularly.
When should I start using Joomla 1.6?
Since Joomla 1.6 was just released, it hasn't been as well tested as Joomla 1.5. The first version may still be buggy and it needs help being tested. However, caution should be taken when using it on a live server. When Joomla 1.5 came out, many cautious designers and web masters waited up to 6 months to upgrade. Generally its a good idea to wait a little while before using new software, to make sure bugs and security issues are cleaned up if they were not caught before the release. We recommend waiting at least a couple weeks, when the code has been tested by many people and is proven to be stable. On the other hand, we suggest you also take the time to download and test it on your local computer, reporting any bugs and getting a good feel for the new platform before putting it on a live site.
There are currently only a few Joomla 1.6 extensions, out of thousands, and Joomla 1.6 templates out of tens of thousands that are compatible with Joomla 1.6. Extensions will have to be updated for 1.6, which is going to take some time, and a lot of work. It will likely be months before you'll see many of the top extensions released in a 1.6 compatible version. If your site relies on any extensions for it's functionality, the best bet is to wait until your extensions are released in a 1.6 compatible version.
Templates will also need to be 1.6 compatible. While there is less work involved in translating a 1.5 template into a bullet proof Joomla 1.6 Template (less work than re-writing an extension for 1.6), there will still be work involved, and not all templates from a given company will likely be ported into 1.6 versions.
Once the extensions and templates you want to use are ready for Joomla 1.6, then you can certainly start using it once its been available for a little while.
Should I upgrade my site to Joomla 1.6?
The biggest additions to 1.6 are the Access Control List, or ACL, and infinitely nest-able categories. If you really need nested categories, or if you need the benefits that the new ACL system provides, then you should consider using 1.6. However, it doesn't make sense to upgrade to Joomla 1.6 if your existing Joomla site is running fine.
Upgrading to Joomla 1.6 will require migrating your data, which means its not as simple as just uploading the new files. There are some changes to the way the database is structured, which will require you to convert your database to the new structure. There isn't an official migration path to Joomla 1.6 from Joomla 1.5, but at least one unofficial resource is out there. Migration can be tricky, so you should be sure to read up on how to do it, and of course back up before doing so!
Furthermore, many experts have told us that they are considering going from Joomla 1.5 directly to Joomla 1.7.
The bottom line
There does not seem to be one right answer. When it comes down to it, you should stick with your existing 1.5 site and not upgrade to 1.6 immediately. Let the extensions and templates catch up, and let Joomla 1.6 settle a little bit before rushing to update your 1.5 site or use it to build a new site. Do download and test Joomla 1.6 and get to know the differences so you can be ready to work with it when the time comes!
