Less than 2 months until Umbraco drops support for version 7
All good things must come to an end. Whether you think that Umbraco 7 was good is another thing but its time as Umbraco's "best of breed" CMS is well and truly over.
18,000+ commits
15 minor versions
8+ years
You've had a good run version 7 and you'll undeniably be missed by some of us.
Interested in where I got my stats? Check out the script I used here.
But there must be loads of v7 sites still out there?
That's true. Umbraco 7 still competently powers thousands of digital experiences across the globe.
So how do we upgrade?
Simply put, you don't.
There is no official upgrade path to take your Umbraco 7 solution into version 10 and beyond.
Why not? It gets technical...
Umbraco 7 (and 8) was built to run on Microsoft's "old but gold" .NET Framework 4.
Swapping to .NET 5 (or .NET Core as it was known back then) was a massive step forward for Umbraco. I recall being cautiously excited at the prospect of moving into modern .NET development.
Umbraco 9 was released with support for .NET 5 bringing with it a vastly better performing platform for developers to work on while unfortunately leaving most, if not all, existing code from previous versions broken.
There is a way out
While there is no official method for upgrading your solution, it is possible to migrate your CMS content from version 7 all the way up to the latest version! This makes it a lot easier for developers to port across existing templates into the new solution.
I must caveat this with the following:
- Custom property editors will cause issues
- You will find varying levels of support online
- Old versions of property data will cause issues
- Large Checkbox Lists break the migration
- Ask me how I know?
- No code can be automagically migrated
- You must address each template, controller, and integration code
But we can't call this an upgrade
And that's absolutely fine. Consumers of the digital world need to accept that things change, code becomes obsolete and the latest security practises are old news the moment they're implemented. It's a rapidly moving space.
The simple fact is that Umbraco 7 is going very soon and site owners need developers to get their sites into a safe and secure version as soon as possible.
The future looks bright
Things have improved greatly over the last few years with deterministic release dates, long term support versions, a myriad of performance and UX improvements.
First party commerce with Umbraco Commerce.
The Content Delivery API was recently released for Umbraco 12.
The new Backoffice is on its way in Umbraco 14
There's a lot going on in the Umbraco world!
Conclusion
So in short, Umbraco 7 is about to hit end of life. If your site is running version 7 then it is absolutely necessary you reach out to your supplier for advice.
Don't be surprised if a rebuild is the only option offered.
Thankfully Umbraco and its community is stronger than ever and I am confident we'll continue to see this CMS grow and improve!
Umbraco Version Information
For up to date information on past, present and future versions of Umbraco check out my post Umbraco Version Information