Help finding a Joomla expert to solve my Joomla problem
January 18, 2014 11:08 AM   Subscribe

Short version: My web site needs to be updated from Joomla 1.5 to a newer version. But it's running an old template that isn't compatible with newer Joomla. I'd like to hire someone to fix this problem. Where can I find such a person? What strategies might be possible to approach the problem?

(btw: Asking for a friend)

Longer version:

I have a web site hosted on with Bluehost, running on an old version of Joomla (I think 1.5). Bluehost has just alerted me that I need to update to a new version of Joomla, and that if I do not do so, they will force an upgrade.

The problem is that the existing site uses a template that is not compatible with newer versions of Joomla. The template is a Yootheme template called Shuffle

To my annoyance - Bluehost emailed me yesterday to tell me they'd be forcing the upgrade "over the coming week". Which means my web site will be broken unless I get everything together, like, now. So I'm in a bit of a crunch.

I'm not an expert in any of this sort of stuff, and mostly just want to see if I can hire someone to get my site working. I'd like to see if I can hire someone to help me work this out in a way that, ideally:

a) Can be done pretty quickly.
b) Doesn't cause me too much hassle.
c) Leaves the site looking prety much as it does now, if at all possible.

I don't really know if #3 is possible. I'm hoping it is, and not too hard to do.

I'm looking for thoughts from the green to find out:

1) What's a reasonable way for someone to approach this problem? Might someone with the requisite expertise be able to fix the template so that it's compatible with the new version of Joomla?

2) What might be a good way to find someone who can do this work? I have looked at http://www.joomlancers.com/ . Are there other places to look?

3) Is there some other fast/easy way to fix the problem that I might be overlooking (eg: Move to a host that supports Joomla 1.5?)

Any help much appreciated!
posted by Mayma Hosey to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)
 
Best answer: I don't know where you find someone to do this, but there is a fast path here: Presumably Bluehost is in a position to force an upgrade because you're using a Joomla package they provide. You should be able to run Joomla yourself, meaning that your person simply grabs the existing database and software, and uploads it as a regular instance of Joomla, instead of one managed by Bluehost, in the same place as the last. This is a couple hours, likely, for a competent Joomla or PHP web guy.

Moving to another host is almost certainly a bigger job than that, and Joomla 1.5 is really old now, anyway, and not likely to be supported elsewhere.

Take care of the immediate emergency, and then immediately look to upgrading your version of Joomla in a less forced fashion. Joomla 1.5 is old, likely insecure with holes that won't be patched, and severely restricts you in your choices (as you're finding out now). Software does, in fact, rot, in the sense that software is always dependent upon a supportive environment, and environments keep moving (especially inexpensive hosted ones).
posted by fatbird at 11:54 AM on January 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I happen to know an outfit that does very good Joomla work and could help you with this, reasonable cost. Check your Mefi Mail.
posted by beagle at 1:13 PM on January 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: This sounds like the perfect thing to post on Jobs.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:05 AM on January 19, 2014


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