Joomla 2.5 Migrator Review SP Upgrade

Ok, remember when I said J2XML seems to be the cleanest? Well, SP Upgrade on the other hand seems to be the easiest. I was first reluctant to try this migrator given its cost (Euro 25), even more so when I notice how tiny the migrator is. At 13kb, it is certainly the smallest migrator, and component that I have ever encountered! Boy I was fooled. It packs a punch for its size. If you are willing to spend a bit, this migrator is certainly the one.

How it works

Contrary to the two other migrators, SP Upgrade does not require any installation on the original Joomla 1.5 site. The migrator, once installed on a fresh Joomla 2.5 site, will ask you for a direct access to the old Joomla 1.5 database, and will replicate it into the Joomla 2.5 database ‘using core Joomla 2.5 functions. By utilizing the Joomla core functions the loaded components are built in the database, as if you create them manually, but keeps the same ids. That means 100% compatibility, stability and utilization of the new Joomla features’ – unabashedly copied from its JED description. 

Setting it up

1. A fresh Joomla 2.5 website has to be ready for deployment, on the same server either as a separate directory within the live site (for example http://www.domain.com/joomla25), or a separate directory within the local site. 

2. Splash out some bucks for this migrator at the developer's site.

3. Wait for the confirmation email. Get some coffee if you will.

4. Once you have downloaded the migrator, install it through Joomla 2.5 Installer.

5. Head over to Components > SP Upgrade. The component is so small that it does not even have any options or pages to play around with!

6. Submit the requested information, and you are good to go!

7. Be vigilant on possible errors, particularly with regard to user information and content structure. Go to Joomla 2.5’s User Manager, Article Manager, Categories, Plugins and Modules, and play around with them. In User Manager, locate some users that you know and check whether their information is correct. Try updating some users, see whether they are saved. Poke here and there. :)

8. You are now done! If you wish upload the migrated files into the live site, please follow Part 6 onwards.

Navigation. You are now reading Part 5 of a series of 7.
Part 1: Migrating Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2.5, a guided tutorial
Part 2: Preparing Joomla 1.5 site for Joomla 2.5 migration
Part 3: Comparison of Joomla 2.5 Migrators. In review: jUpgrade
Part 4: Joomla 2.5 Migrator Review J2XML Importer
Part 5: Joomla 2.5 Migrator Review SP Upgrade
Part 6: Moving Joomla 2.5 from localhost to live site
Part 7: Migrating JomSocial Data into Joomla 2.5