Joomla 4 vs. Joomla 5: Seeking Advice on New Site Build - Compatibility & Reliability Focus

[RobertoDrago]

Hey everyone,

I'm about to start a new website project and I'm at a crossroads regarding which Joomla version to use. I'm trying to decide between building with Joomla 4 or jumping straight to Joomla 5.

My main concerns are compatibility and reliability. I want to ensure that whatever version I choose, I'll have a stable foundation and good compatibility with extensions and templates in the long run.

For those of you who have experience with both, or have recently made this decision, I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice. Specifically:

• What are your experiences with the stability and reliability of Joomla 5 in a production environment compared to Joomla 4?
• How is the current state of extension and template compatibility with Joomla 5? Are there any significant hurdles or widely used extensions that aren't fully compatible yet?
• Given my focus on long-term compatibility and reliability, would you recommend starting with Joomla 4 and then upgrading later, or is it better to just begin with Joomla 5 now?

Any insights, pros, cons, or personal experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[pinter]

As I've posted previously, I usually wait a long time before moving up a Joomla version for the exact concerns you have. In my opinion, you can comfortably move forward with Joomla 5. It's been out for quite a while and developers have had plenty of time to upgrade their extensions. Security patches and support for Joomla 4 end in October.

I have upgraded about 25 sites and all are running well.

I hope this helps.

 

[Beegart]

As I've posted previously, I usually wait a long time before moving up a Joomla version for the exact concerns you have. In my opinion, you can comfortably move forward with Joomla 5. It's been out for quite a while and developers have had plenty of time to upgrade their extensions. Security patches and support for Joomla 4 end in October.

I have upgraded about 25 sites and all are running well.

I hope this helps.

 

[a2skuared]

As a rule, it’s never a good idea to use production sites as a testing ground for new versions of anything. That said, you’ve got to understand that updating is a must—every day you don’t update is just one more day of unnecessary risk. My advice? Wait for one or two versions after all the addons you use are compatible with the new Joomla release before making the switch. But like it or not, you’ll have to update eventually. So, make your backups, fire up your virtual machine, run all your tests and experiments there, and only when you see everything running smoothly—then go ahead and update.