[Update 14th June 2023]
Umbraco have just announced an extended end of life support option that might be of interest to some current Umbraco 7 users who are not confident that updated versions of their sites will be launched and ready for September 2023. This is not a long term option and is expensive but might be a good investment in reducing any security risks as you upgrade your website!
Please reach out to us on the form below if you are interested in more information.
[End Update]
After its launch in 2013, and serving us well for over 10 years, Umbraco 7 will reach its end-of-life (EOL) in September 2023, and will no longer be supported by Umbraco. As nice as it would be – Umbraco cannot support all of its versions forever. All good things must come to an end and this is now the case with Umbraco 7. So if you have a Umbraco 7 website, we’d like to give you a gentle reminder that it’s really important to start planning the migration of your website and a move to a more modern version of Umbraco such as Umbraco 8, 10 or 11 sooner rather than later.
What does end-of-life (EOL) mean?
Umbraco software has a shelf life, just like any other software or technology. Think of phones, they have an average lifespan of around three years before their hardware becomes dated, and CMS software is no different. This is not unique to Umbraco, with many other CMSs such as Drupal and Kentico having major updates released regularly and older versions becoming unsupported. Umbraco 7, however, has been around now for almost 10 years and will officially reach its end-of-life in September 2023.
End of life (EOL) is the last stage in the life cycle of a piece of software, and it means that the Umbraco development team will no longer support the Umbraco 7 software. There will be no further updates to features or patch releases, there will be no bug fixes, and more alarmingly there will be no support for security breaches. Leaving your website potentially vulnerable.
Will my Umbraco 7 website still work after EOL?
Your website won’t shut down come September 2023, so yes it will still work. But if you continue to use a website passed its EOL you are leaving your website exposed to future security issues – which we would not recommend doing
Why should I take action?
There is no guarantee that your website won’t be affected by these issues going forward, and nobody wants a broken website, so it’s best not to take the risk at all and begin exploring the new options for migrating to newer version of Umbraco or re-platforming to new CMS process.
Also, it’s important to note that a new Umbraco upgrade is a great opportunity to review your online requirements in their entirety, so if a re-design is on your radar in the near future it makes perfect sense to complete it alongside your Umbraco upgrade.
How can Spindogs help?
Spindogs are an Umbraco Gold Partner and have an expert team of certified Umbraco developers well versed and experienced all the way from Umbraco 7 to the latest version of Umbraco, currently 11. Depending on your specific website capabilities and needs, we can advise on the next steps, and help plan out a future roadmap for your website that aligns with your business strategy, objectives, future growth and budget. The most important of which is to start the work to get your website off Umbraco 7 before September 2023. Depending on the approach taken, the migration process can take a while, therefore we cannot stress enough how important it is to have a plan in place as soon as possible.
What are the next steps?
If your website is currently running on Umbraco 7 please get in touch with us to discuss your options.
