Joomla 3.8.x update progress
We've gotten almost all web sites now upgraded to the latest version of Joomla (3.8.x). This has taken a bit longer because the initial versions of 3.8.x had some conflicts with some extensions.
Also, there have been several 3.8.x releases over just the past few weeks, which required us to go back and re-update ones that we had previously updated, slowing the overall process.
We've been generally very pleased with the 3.8.x updates of Joomla. This update mainly provides 'under the hood' improvements. It also is intentionally designed as an 'upgrade path' to Joomla 4.x which is expected to be out sometime in early- to mid-2018.
Joomla 4 News
Just like Joomla 2 and Joomla 3, Joomla 4 brings a LOT of changes (one of them being a completely de-designed administrative interface). It will take some time to upgrade any site from 3.x to 4.x; however, the Joomla team is planning a 3.9 release that will be designed only to prepare web sites for migration (it's a bit geeky and hard to explain how it will do that, but it should be helpful).
The biggest issue with any upgrade of Joomla, big or small, is to make sure that the extensions installed are up-to-date and compatible with the new system. We had some issues with 3.8 (per above), so we'll be watching this as we move forward toward 4.x release and upgrading.
When will it happen
We don't ever update live sites to any X.0 version, so there will likely be some time to get your site upgraded. At this point I am expecting that we will need to upgrade your site sometime in mid-2018, probably in May or June. As we get closer to that date I will let you know a more accurate ETA.
We will be installing 4.0 as soon as it is released (actually we will be beta testing 4.0), so that we know what to expect before upgrading your web site.
Got questions?
If you have questions about Joomla 3.8.x, 3.9, or 4.x please drop me a note and I'll try to find the answer to it.