CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Can anyone advise us on the best way to upgrade CiviCRM 3.2.3 to the latest version while simultaneously switching from a Joomla 1.5x site to a Joomla 2.5x site?

We've been stuck with an old version of CiviCRM on an old website. Now, we'd like to create a brand-new Joomla 2.5.14 website with CiviCRM 4.4, but we're unsure how to transfer CiviCRM's database (e.g. profiles, message templates, activities, events, and so forth), given that it's in an old database format.

None of us are programmers, but we wondered if it would be possible to hire someone to create a custom program for us to convert the old database to CiviCRM 4.4 format and import it.

Thanks,
Amy

Thanks so much for the reply, Lobo.

If we were planning on keeping our old website, it would make sense to upgrade Civi in stages, but the whole website has to go as it's a customized Joomla 1.5 template and we have to build a new template anyway.  Also, our CiviCRM installation has become so buggy that those of us who work with it (the admin staff) wonder if it might not be better to install the new Civi from scratch and start afresh - which would have the added benefit of allowing us to customize it a bit more for our organisation's new needs.

Is it even possible to convert the old database so that the latest version of Civi can use it?  Or is the ONLY option to upgrade Civi in steps and somehow transfer it to the new site?

-Amy