Webdesign und Webprogrammierung

I. Support

One of the most important reasons to upgrade to Joomla! 4.x is the fact that Joomla! 3.x will no longer receive support from the Joomla! development team from mid-August 2023. This means that any security vulnerabilities or issues that arise in Joomla! 3.x will no longer be patched, leaving your website vulnerable to cyberattacks and other security threats.
Without support, Joomla! 3.x will become increasingly outdated and incompatible with new web technologies. As a result, website owners will experience problems with their websites, such as slow loading, broken functionality, and compatibility issues with newer web browsers and devices.
In addition, without support, website owners will not receive new features or improvements, which may put them at a competitive disadvantage against other websites that have upgraded to Joomla! 4.x.
Using an older version of a CMS like Joomla! 3.x can cause more and more problems over time. With the end of support for Joomla! 3.x, it's more important than ever to upgrade to Joomla! 4.x to ensure your website remains secure, up-to-date and competitive.

Content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla!, TYPO3 or Drupal are programmed in PHP. The open source scripting language is used for the server-side delivery of dynamic web content stored in databases, while other scripting and markup languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript run in the web browser (client).

The PHP 7.3 version was released in December 2018. On 06 December 2021, PHP 7.3 also reached the official End of Life (EOL) and will no longer be provided with security updates. Switching to successor versions in your hosting environment is strongly recommended after each end of support if you want to protect yourself against hackers, fix bugs and optimise the loading time of your website or shop. If you want to plan far ahead, you can now also use the EOL of PHP 7.3 for a major update to PHP 8.0.x or PHP 8.1.x. The 8.0 version was released on 26 November 2020 and offers significant improvements compared to the latest PHP 7.4.x version. PHP 8.1.x offers further improvements in terms of security and performance, PHP 8.1.0 was released on 25 November 2021.

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The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has now put the important topic of Android aftermarket firmware at the top of its agenda in November 2021 as part of its Upcycling Android initiative.

The procedure of flashing an Android device with alternative firmware is not exactly trivial, which is why I have been offering this service to my customers for some time now. Please read more about this here: https://www.webdesign-markward.de/android-custom-rom-installation.html

I am also active for all Oldenburg residents within the framework of the Resource Centre Oldenburg.

Content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla!, TYPO3 or Drupal are programmed in PHP. The open source scripting language is used for the server-side delivery of dynamic web content stored in databases, while other scripting and markup languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript run in the web browser (client), i.e. on the client side.

Version PHP 7.2 was released in autumn 2017. On 30 November 2020, PHP 7.2 also reached the official end-of-life (EOL) and will no longer be provided with security updates. Switching to successor versions in your hosting environment is strongly recommended after each end of support if you want to protect yourself against hackers, fix bugs and optimise the loading time of your website or shop. If you want to plan ahead, you can now use the EOL of PHP 7.2 for a major update to PHP 8.0.x or PHP 8.1.x. The 8.0 version was released on 26 November 2020 and offers significant improvements compared to the latest PHP 7.4.x version. PHP 8.1.x offers further improvements in terms of security and performance, PHP 8.1.0 was released on 25 November 2021.

If you already have a website and online shop, I can bring both up to date for you and optimise them for search engines (SEO).

If you don't yet have a website or online shop, I can realise both for you promptly and help you take your first steps into the world of online retail.

Revise your Google Business account and update the Business entry with further up-to-date information.

I could set up a chat function on your website so that you can also communicate with your customers outside of opening hours.

Android without Google - that sounds like Alster without beer or Windows without a blue screen. Anyone who buys a great new mobile phone with Android also gets Google's apps included without being asked. This convenience comes at a high price: the user pays with their data, and the constant exchange of data with Google's servers also reduces battery life. But it also works without a Google account and Play Store. If you're not afraid of many hours of fiddling and - depending on the smartphone manufacturer - risking the warranty, you'll get a smartphone free of proprietary apps and a Google account with a few losses.

AOSP only contains the open source code of Android

To take back the title of this article: Android without Google does not exist. Even the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) would not be possible without Google's source code. However, AOSP "only" contains the open source code for the software basis of Android. It is therefore not only the basis for alternative Android distributions such as LineageOS (formerly: CyanogenMod) or Paranoid, but also the basis for the "Android without Google" recommended here.

Of course, a custom ROM based on AOSP must first exist for the smartphone that is to be freed from Google. Custom ROMs are not allowed to pre-install Google apps for licensing reasons. Google Apps, or GApps for short, are proprietary software from Google.

On 31 December 2018, all support for PHP 5.6 ended and support for PHP 7.0 ended on 3 December 2018 - but many websites are still using these PHP versions, which are no longer supported. Experts warn of serious security risks.

Official security support for PHP 5.6.x ends on 31 December 2018 and security support for PHP 7.0.x ends on 3 December 2018. This is a major problem, as many websites are still using PHP version 5.6, which was released in August 2014 and will no longer receive security patches in the future. The same applies to the PHP 7.0.x branch released on 3 December 2015. According to ZDNet, around 62 per cent of all websites are still using PHP 5.6.x. Hundreds of millions of pages are exposed to "serious security risks" - a very big problem for the PHP ecosystem, an expert told ZDNet.

The prospect of Joomla 4 should raise your awareness of the need to upgrade to PHP 7.3 in your hosting environment.
Joomla 4 requires PHP 7.1 as a minimum requirement, but this version will no longer receive security updates from 01.12.2019. Most hosting providers have been offering PHP 7.2 and PHP 7.3 in their packages for a long time and it should be fairly easy to change your PHP version in the control centre of your hosting.

There are four good reasons why you should not put off upgrading PHP.

PHP 7.3 is better

Of course, it's easy to say, but PHP 7.3 actually means a performance boost that delivers your website more than twice as fast (compared to PHP 5.6) while using more than 50% less memory. Of course, PHP 7.3 is also more secure and offers many more options for developers too.

In connection with the #NoHacked initiative, Google published the results of a study on website security in March 2017.

The number of successful website hacks in 2016 increased by over 32% compared to 2015.

Google blames this on two developments: on the one hand, hackers are becoming more active and aggressive, and on the other hand, there are more and more insecure websites (content management systems and shop systems) on the internet.

Read five reasons for you to enter into a service agreement...: