Planning Migration and Step by Step- Joomla 1.0 to 1.5

The following planning and step by step instructions are to migrate your website from Joomla 1.0 to 1.5. Once you get to Joomla 1.5 you can follow the migration step by step for Joomla 1.5 to 3. It is recommended to read the steps of this documentation and the 1.5 to 3.x migration before taking action.

Intro

The migration from Joomla 1.0 to 1.5 is a major migration. There are many changes in features and database tables between these two versions. You will be building/installing a fresh Joomla 1.5 installation and importing data into it. If you haven’t already, you may want to start with the Migration Step by Step Self Assessment to assess your skillset for this task.

Planning Migration - Joomla 1.0.x to 1.5

The migration instructions will allow you to migrate:

• Articles
• Users

That is all you will be able to migrate because once you go from 1.5 to 3.x it becomes chaos to migrate any more than that. The reason for this is that in Joomla 1.0 (and 1.5) there are both Sections and Categories and in Joomla 3.x (and 2.5) there are no Sections and only Categories and Nested Categories.

Thus it is recommended to recreate navigation (Menu Items) as it will be easier. You can do that at the same time that you install and set up a new Template (after going to Joomla 3.x - more on this below).

That is all. No menus, no modules, no categories. Those will all have to be manually entered after the migration from 1.5 to 3.

The large majority of extensions or templates that are compatible with Joomla 1.0 won't be compatible with Joomla 3. You will need to find replacements. There are a very small number of exceptions, so research extensions well.

Planning Steps

1. Go through all your extensions that are in use. Find replacement extensions in the Joomla! Extensions Directory
2. Find a new template
3. Evaluate how much time it will take you to copy/paste data from modules or other extensions so you plan accordingly.

Step by Step Joomla 1.0 to Joomla 1.5

The following is the step by step instructions for migrating articles and users from 1.0 to 1.5.

Prepare Your Current 1.0 Site

1. Backup your 1.0.xx site. (See below for suggested tools.)
2. You may want to clone it on a subdomain or subdirectory to work off of.
3. Upgrade your Joomla 1.0.xx site to the latest version of 1.0.15.
4. You must login to Joomlacode.org from the release section ().
5. Then download the 1.0.15 package.
6. Extract the package on your local device.
7. Use FTP to upload and overwrite (in binary mode) all files and folders of the package to your Joomla 1.0.xx website.

Download a working Joomla 1.0.x to Joomla 1.5 migrator script from this forum post (migrator.zip link in 3rd paragraph).

1. Install the migrator script into your Joomla 1.0 website as a component via the Extension Manager.
2. Go to Extensions and then to the migrator script in the drop-down for extensions, check all boxes on the extension, then click Run. Do not worry about the above mentioned warning about menus, modules, etc. Just check them all.
3. Download/Export the sql file to your computer. You will need this file in the next steps with the installation/upgrade process to Joomla 1.5.26.

Prepare a Location for Joomla 1.5

1. Make sure your server environment meets the technical specifications for Joomla! 3 before proceeding since ultimately you will be going to Joomla 3.
   Note: If your host does not meet the technical requirements, you will need to change hosts after you get your 1.0 site to 1.5. If you need to change hosts, then set up a new hosting account on a host that meets the technical specs and install your fresh Joomla 3.x site in the root of the server on a temporary domain. This will make it easier when it’s time to go live. Alternatively, you can set up a development location on a local device (see below).
2. Create a new database and new user for your Joomla! 1.5 site. Document the database name, database username and database password as you’ll need it when you install Joomla 1.5.

Set up a Development Location

1. Create a testing site or build area to work in with one of the following:
   • A subdomain
   • A subdirectory
   • A local device via WAMP, MAMP, LAMP, XAMPP. (See below for suggested tools.)
   • A new hosting account on a temporary domain in the root (if you would like to change hosts in the process of migration)
     • Restoring a site on a local device. See Installing Joomla locally and Setting up your workstation for Joomla development.
     • Restoring a site with Akeeba Backup (read the developer documentation or videos for how to restore a backup of an Akeeba Backup file).

The Installation and Migration of Data happen at the same time!

1. Install a fresh installation of the last version of Joomla 1.5.26 into your testing site location.
2. Use your new database name and database username created in item #2 in the “Prepare a Location for Joomla 1.5” above.
3. Instead of selecting “Install example data” while running the Joomla Installer, select ***“Use Migrator Script”***.
4. Upload the sql script you downloaded from the 1.0 site in the previous section.
5. Give the correct prefix as in your new sql (probably jos_).
6. Tick the “This script is a Joomla! 1.0 Migration Script” box and click Install.

If all goes well, the next screen will show that the installation is successful. Follow the next steps and you will be running Joomla 1.5. ***Take a backup as a final step. Test that it restores***.

You won’t be able to see much on the frontend of your site, but do not fret. Once you get to Joomla 3 and install a template and start inputing the rest of of your data it will look better.

Migrate from Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 3.x

Follow the directions at Joomla 1.5 to 3.x Step by Step Migration to migrate your 1.5 site to Joomla 3.x. Then come back here to finish up.

Finishing up your Migration

Once you get to Joomla 3.x, you will need to add your frontend template, modules, menus, and third-party extensions back in. This process follows what you would follow if you were doing a fresh build. Because you still have your 1.0 site live (because you did all of this on a dev site), you can copy and paste what you need to from your 1.0 site to your Joomla 3.x site. Tip: this might be a good time to invest in a second monitor. It will go much faster this way.

Congratulations! That was a huge jump! Welcome to Joomla 3!

Suggested Tools

If you use cPanel, you might want to do a full cPanel backup.

Or you can use a very old version of Joomlapack by going to Joomlacode (Joomlapack zip file), logging in and downloading it. Joomlapack creates a full backup or your site files and database. Note - this version of Joomlapack is no longer supported.

You may want to use http://uniformserver.com (wamp). Many use this and find it works very well right out of the box.

You may want to use jUpgradePro which will take you from Joomla 1.0 to 3.4. See developer documentation. (Joomla! does not maintain this third party extension.)

There is one other extension to migrate from Joomla 1.0 to 1.5 called mtwMigrator you can also use. See developer documentation. (Joomla! does not maintain this third party extension.)