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Should I develop on the latest and greatest 1.7 version of Joomla or stick with the well documented version of 1.5?

I'm new to Joomla (and webDev in general), so I bumble around, search online, and ask those wiser then myself. The problem is that the answers are for version 1.5, and don't apply to 1.7, so I'm floundering.

Usually I'd go with using the latest and greatest.

  • It should be supported longer
  • It should have bug fixes
  • New awesome things will be developed won't be backwards compatible
  • The extensions and components for the old version won't be maintained

But I need to crank this site out in a month. And if I'm fighting bad or lacking documentation, it's going to be an uphill battle.

So, stick with the latest and greatest or go install what all the tutorials, guides, and videos are geared towards?

Philip
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3 Answers3

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If there is no compelling reason to use the latest major release (i.e. a must have feature, a must have with no work around bug fix) it is more economical to stick to a well proven version that been around for a while. My rule of thumb is double the effort required when using a Beta version of software. Some software is "released" in Beta form, so unless you know they have a good record, assume anything less than a few months is still Beta.

What I also find is that recent, but not the newest, software has more relevant information on the web. The newest makes lots of noise at a superficial level, but it takes months or even years to get down to all the nuts and bolts. It's easier to find answers to those particularly hard problems when the software been around a while and someone else has been there before you.

We don't call new releases bleeding edge for nothing.

mattnz
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  • At work, develop with well documented versions of anything. This will let you focus on domain issues. You will also get faster and better results.
  • At home, fight against the latest and greatest. This will let you gain non-working but very valuable experience with new tools. You will also get deeper insights and new ideas.
Ando
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I have had to ask myself this very same question only a few days ago to create a site that has to ship in a similar timeframe and I just had to go with 1.5, not just because of the core features but because of the components/modules that are supported in 1.5 and currently not supported in later versions.

AlexC
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