Why it's time to upgrade from Umbraco 7

Yes, we know. Before knowing whether it’s time for you to upgrade your Umbraco version to a more up-to-date one, you need to know what version your website is currently built on. Having to keep track of this is just another thing to think about, isn’t it? But, we’re urging you to double check because it may not be long before your version becomes obsolete.

To find out what version of Umbraco you are on, you need to do the following:

If you’re using version 7, there will be an avatar that appears in the top left of the screen which you will need to click on. This will then present you with the Umbraco version as shown below:

If you’re using version 8, there will be a question mark (?) icon in the top right. This will then present you with the Umbraco version as shown below:

In particular, you need to know whether your website is on Umbraco 7.

Why?

This version is approaching its end-of-life (EOL) date which is September 2023. Put simply, it means that Umbraco 7 will no longer be supported by the Umbraco HQ development team, with improvements, fixes and patches, for example, not being released anymore. In fact, if your website currently runs on this version, the only updates being made right now are related to emergency security issues.

You may be wondering why this is the case; why can’t Umbraco continue to work on these versions so our website can run efficiently? The short answer is, technology is ever-evolving and changes are constantly being implemented to improve performance. There is a ceiling limit to the number of features that can be added to a version of Umbraco, and that’s why new versions have to be built over time. Unfortunately, there’s not enough time or manpower to work on and maintain features from older versions, as well as updating brand new versions with improved features.

What happens if we don't upgrade?

You’ll be pleased to know that your website won’t disappear into the abyss once the EOL date arrives. But, that’s the only thing you’ll be pleased about. Your website will still be up and running for people to visit, but you may experience the following:

• Having to work with an outdated and unreliable content management system (CMS)
• Being at increased risk of security issues
• Dealing with a slow-performing website
• Not benefiting from new features that Umbraco releases
• Not benefiting from new packages (plugins) that the Umbraco community developers create, as their efforts will be focussing on more up-to-date versions
• Increased development time for tasks compared to a more recent version. Umbraco is constantly improving and making things easier for developers which means development time for tasks can be decreased on new versions

What next?

If your website is on Umbraco 7, or if you’re unsure as to what version it’s currently running on, we thoroughly recommend getting in touch with us to discuss the next steps and how we can help. We wouldn’t want to create unnecessary panic, but there really isn’t a lot of time to upgrade to a better version of Umbraco. We’ll take care of everything here at Brace Digital, making sure the transition is as smooth as possible. To contact us, just fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Umbraco is known as the friendly CMS, but only when it’s optimised and updated for efficient performance.