Joomla 5 upgrade: developer and web host issues

[daveth]

Hi
I have some Joomla 5 upgrade problems.
Thanks to those who might have the time to read this… (And I hope I’ve posted this is the right forum).

I am a (retired) scientist ethicist content creator for a non-commercial website of my articles. Not a complex site.
I am not a developer, but I have been managing for many years, with some effort, my Joomla site from Joomla 1.5 until Joomla 4.3.4.
I couldn’t upgrade my site to Joomla 5 myself without significant effort because there were a dozen or so problematic legacy and other extensions (like pjmvi component and FOF library which presumably stopped me upgrading), and possibly other problems.
So reluctantly I decided to engage a developer to upgrade the site for me.
I wrote, inter alia:
"I would like a clean, secure, Joomla 5 version of my site to be developed for my localhost Mac (I use MAMP) that is easy for me to both add additional articles to and upgrade to future Joomla versions, using the latest php (in MAMP it is 8.3.14, on live site 8.2 to 8.4).
I then need to be able to upload my localhost files and databases to my live site (which I’ve been doing for 15 years).
The primary objective is a clean, workable, Joomla 5 version of my website that can be easily upgraded in future.”
I also messaged them I want them to upgrade my site to make it future proof wrt php, not change php to suit my site.

Sounds straightforward, I would have thought.
1. Developer said that my web host couldn’t upgrade php. They wanted me to move my site to their web server for a lot of money for 5 years (yet they don’t seem to advertise hosting on their impressive web service website). They hinted early on that I move from Joomla as well.

2. They have upgraded my staging site to Joomla 5 (great), but problematic extensions are still there. They can only run it on php 8.1.
I told them how to change php in cpanel and then work on my site, which they are now doing .
It is peculiar that I can run this site on php 8.3.14 on MAMP on my localhost. Why is this?

3. They have now written that my hosting server (based in Sydney I think) is incapable of running php 8.3. They wanted my web host to add another 38 php extensions (that are included in php 8.1) to what cpanel listed for php 8.3.
Would this make my site non-standard? Is there a standard list of php extensions for php 8.3?
Current web host says they can add about 90% of those extensions, but not the others, and that they would recommend staying on php 8.1 for now.😟

4. I’ve just sent this info back to the developer. They suggested that I change website platform to core php or custom Wordpress. Sigh...


Questions
I want a Joomla 5 version of my site that can run on the latest php so that I can upgrade easily (over next say 5 years).
Any advice given the above background would be very much appreciated.

Q1. Should I move to another web host, even the web host of the developer? (Throw good money after possibly bad, they haven’t got my Joomla working on php 8.1, and a couple of issues to make me circumspect)?
Developer has done great job upgrading to Joomla 5, but has not identified or removed incompatible extensions as requested so far.
Q2. Should I be asking my web host to add php extensions to standard php extension lists in cpanel? Would this prove problematic for future upgrades?
Q3. What should I now ask of the developer? Should I ask them to develop Joomla 5 on php 8.3 on another server if they can’t develop it on my web host? What do I need to say to get the Joomla 5 site on php 8.3?
Q4. The developer doesn’t like talking on the phone. Everything mostly done by WhatsApp. Is this usual?
Q5. Is my web host not up to scratch, or is the developer conning me, or both?
Q6. What should I be expecting the developer to deliver, who might now claim that the web host is stopping them from finishing the job? I paid them a total sum up front; was this imprudent?
Q7. Should I change web hosts (who have been quite OK for me for many years, but clearly have problems now). If so, suggestions appreciated (use developer as web host or not)?
Q8. At this stage, I’m tempted to just have them upgrade Joomla to v5.x, as specified, but sticking with php 8.1 until I research other web hosts who can manage Joomla 5 and php 8.3. Is this a wise strategy?
Q9. Anyone have developer recommendations (for a small non-commercial site), just in case...

Any comments appreciated.

Thanks

Daveth (based in Canberra)

A final rhetorical comment.
Joomla has reached a stage where I daren’t include unusual features through 3rd party extensions lest Joomla requires another upgrade and the extensions will be incompatible. It might be OK for developers, but it is becoming harder for pseudo-competent semi-part-timers...



FPA data below is for the live site (v4.3.4) that works, but can't be upgraded to v5.x. Developer is currently working on the staging site (v5.x) which currently gives a 500 error.

[12-Mar-2025 03:13:09 UTC] PHP Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /opt/alt/php83/var/lib/php/session) in /home/eth47361/public_html/libraries/vendor/joomla/session/src/Storage/NativeStorage.php on line 478

Joomla! Instance :: Joomla! 4.3.4-Stable (Bora) 22-August-2023
Joomla! Configured :: Yes | Read-Only (444) |
Configuration Options :: Offline: false | SEF: true | SEF Suffix: false | SEF ReWrite: true | .htaccess/web.config: Yes | GZip: false | Cache: false | CacheTime: 5 | CacheHandler: file | CachePlatformPrefix: false | FTP Layer: N/A | Proxy: false | LiveSite: | Session lifetime: 200 | Session handler: filesystem | Shared sessions: false | SSL: 2 | Error Reporting: default | Site Debug: false | Language Debug: false | Default Access: Public | Unicode Slugs: false | dbConnection Type: mysqli | PHP Supports J! 4.3.4: Yes | Database Supports J! 4.3.4: Yes | Database Credentials Present: Yes |

Host Configuration :: OS: Linux | OS Version: 3.10.0-962.3.2.lve1.5.87.el7.x86_64 | Technology: x86_64 | Web Server: LiteSpeed | Encoding: gzip, deflate, br | System TMP Writable: Yes | Free Disk Space : 237.29 GiB |

PHP Configuration :: Version: 8.1.31 | PHP API: litespeed | Session Path Writable: Yes | Display Errors: 0 | Error Reporting: 4177 | Log Errors To: error_log | Last Known Error: 12th March 2025 14:13:09. | Register Globals: | Magic Quotes: | Safe Mode: | Allow url fopen: 1 | Open Base: | Uploads: 1 | Max. Upload Size: 256M | Max. POST Size: 512M | Max. Input Time: -1 | Max. Execution Time: 30 | Memory Limit: 1024M

Database Configuration :: Version: 10.6.19-MariaDB-cll-lve (Client:mysqlnd 8.1.31) | Database Size: 82.25 MiB | #of Tables with config prefix:  88 | #of other Tables:  0 | User Privileges : GRANT SELECTUser Privileges : INSERTUser Privileges : UPDATEUser Privileges : DELETEUser Privileges : CREATEUser Privileges : DROPUser Privileges : REFERENCESUser Privileges : INDEXUser Privileges : ALTERUser Privileges : CREATE TEMPORARY TABLESUser Privileges : LOCK TABLESUser Privileges : EXECUTEUser Privileges : CREATE VIEWUser Privileges : SHOW VIEWUser Privileges : CREATE ROUTINEUser Privileges : ALTER ROUTINEUser Privileges : EVENTUser Privileges : TRIGGER

PHP Extensions :: Core (8.1.31) | date (8.1.31) | libxml (8.1.31) | openssl (8.1.31) | pcre (8.1.31) | sqlite3 (8.1.31) | zlib (8.1.31) | bz2 (8.1.31) | calendar (8.1.31) | ctype (8.1.31) | curl (8.1.31) | hash (8.1.31) | filter (8.1.31) | ftp (8.1.31) | gettext (8.1.31) | json (8.1.31) | iconv (8.1.31) | SPL (8.1.31) | pcntl (8.1.31) | readline (8.1.31) | Reflection (8.1.31) | session (8.1.31) | standard (8.1.31) | mbstring (8.1.31) | shmop (8.1.31) | SimpleXML (8.1.31) | tokenizer (8.1.31) | xml (8.1.31) | litespeed () | amqp (2.1.2) | apcu (5.1.23) | bcmath (8.1.31) | brotli (0.5.0) | dbase (7.1.1) | dom (20031129) | fileinfo (8.1.31) | gd (8.1.31) | gearman (2.1.0) | geoip (1.1.1) | grpc (1.60.0) | igbinary (3.2.15) | imagick (3.7.0) | imap (8.1.31) | inotify (3.0.0) | intl (8.1.31) | luasandbox (4.1.2) | exif (8.1.31) | mailparse (3.1.4) | mcrypt (1.0.6) | memcache (8.2) | memcached (3.2.0) | mongodb (1.18.1) | msgpack (2.2.0) | mysqlnd (mysqlnd 8.1.31) | mysqli (8.1.31) | OAuth (2.0.7) | PDO (8.1.31) | pdo_mysql (8.1.31) | pdo_sqlite (8.1.31) | pgsql (8.1.31) | Phar (8.1.31) | posix (8.1.31) | protobuf (4.27.2) | pspell (8.1.31) | psr (1.2.0) | raphf (2.0.1) | redis (5.3.7) | rrd (2.0.3) | soap (8.1.31) | sockets (8.1.31) | swoole (5.1.1) | tidy (8.1.31) | timezonedb (2024.1) | trader (0.5.1) | uploadprogress (2.0.2) | uuid (1.2.0) | vips (1.0.13) | xmlreader (8.1.31) | xmlrpc (1.0.0RC3) | xmlwriter (8.1.31) | xsl (8.1.31) | yaml (2.2.3) | zip (1.19.5) | ionCube Loader (14.0.0) | Zend OPcache (8.1.31) | scoutapm (1.10.0) | xdebug (3.3.1) | Zend Engine (4.1.31) |
Potential Missing Extensions ::
Disabled Functions :: show_source | system | shell_exec | passthru | exec | popen | proc_open | allow_url_fopen | pcntl_exec |

Switch User Environment :: PHP CGI: Yes | Server SU: No | PHP SU: Yes | Potential Ownership Issues: No

Core Folders :: images/ (775) | components/ (775) | modules/ (775) | plugins/ (775) | language/ (775) | templates/ (775) | cache/ (775) | logs/ (---) | tmp/ (775) | administrator/components/ (775) | administrator/modules/ (775) | administrator/language/ (775) | administrator/templates/ (775) | administrator/logs/ (775) | api/ (775) |

Elevated Permissions (First 10) :: includes/ (775) | templates/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/html/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/html/layouts/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/html/layouts/t4/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/html/layouts/t4/block/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/html/mod_articles_category/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/js/ (775) | templates/t4_blank/js/owl-carousel/ (775) |

Database statistics :: Uptime: 34631 | Threads: 24 | Questions: 20267709 | Slow queries: 31 | Opens: 23343 | Open tables: 4669 | Queries per second avg: 585.247 |

Components :: Site ::
Core ::
3rd Party:: WF_PREVIEW_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_VISUALCHARS_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FULLSCREEN_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_IMGMANAGER_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_CHARMAP_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_DIRECTIONALITY_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FONTSELECT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_EMOTIONS_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FORMATSELECT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_LANGCODE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_CLEANUP_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_ARTICLE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_CONTEXTMENU_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_TEXTCASE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_HELP_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_LISTS_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_SEARCHREPLACE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_TABLE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FONTCOLOR_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_STYLESELECT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_LINK_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_WORDCOUNT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_CLIPBOARD_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FONTSIZESELECT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_STYLE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_SOURCE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_NONBREAKING_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_VISUALBLOCKS_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_ANCHOR_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_SPELLCHECKER_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_KITCHENSINK_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_HR_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_BROWSER_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AUTOSAVE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_REFERENCE_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_ATTRIBUTES_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_PRINT_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | JCE - Noneditable (1.0.0) ? | WF_MEDIA_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_LINKS_JOOMLALINKS_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_FILESYSTEM_JOOMLA_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_POPUPS_JCEMEDIABOX_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_AUDIO_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_VIDEO_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_DAILYMOTION_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_[youtube]_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_VIMEO_TITLE (2.9.83) ? | WF_LINK_SEARCH_TITLE (2.9.83) ? |

Components :: Admin ::
Core :: com_installer (4.0.0) 1 | com_privacy (3.9.0) 1 | com_joomlaupdate (4.0.3) 1 | com_fields (4.0.0) 1 | com_mails (4.0.0) 1 | com_login (4.0.0) 1 | com_finder (4.0.0) 1 | com_config (4.0.0) 1 | com_actionlogs (3.9.0) 1 | com_newsfeeds (4.0.0) 0 | com_scheduler (4.1.0) 1 | com_wrapper (4.0.0) 1 | com_contenthistory (4.0.0) 1 | com_categories (4.0.0) 1 | com_postinstall (4.0.0) 1 | com_ajax (4.0.0) 1 | com_media (3.0.0) 1 | com_checkin (4.0.0) 1 | com_guidedtours (4.3.0) 1 | com_plugins (4.0.0) 1 | com_admin (4.0.0) 1 | com_menus (4.0.0) 1 | com_languages (4.0.0) 1 | com_users (4.0.0) 1 | com_content (4.0.0) 1 | com_modules (4.0.0) 1 | com_cache (4.0.0) 1 | com_workflow (4.0.0) 1 | com_associations (4.0.0) 1 | com_redirect (4.0.0) 1 | com_weblinks (4.3.1) 1 | com_cpanel (4.0.0) 1 | com_templates (4.0.0) 1 | com_messages (4.0.0) 1 | com_banners (4.0.0) 0 | com_tags (4.0.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: com_route66 (1.11.2) 1 | jSecure Lite (1.0) ? | COM_JCE (2.9.83) 1 | com_xmap (2.3.4) ? | com_mobilemenuck (1.5.12) ? | System - Mobile Menu CK (1.5.12) ? |

Modules :: Site ::
Core :: mod_breadcrumbs (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_archive (3.0.0) 1 | mod_stats (3.0.0) 1 | mod_languages (3.5.0) 1 | mod_articles_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_popular (3.0.0) 1 | mod_syndicate (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_categories (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_category (3.0.0) 1 | mod_random_image (3.0.0) 1 | mod_wrapper (3.0.0) 1 | mod_users_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_news (3.0.0) 0 | mod_tags_similar (3.1.0) 1 | mod_weblinks (4.3.1) 1 | mod_menu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_footer (3.0.0) 1 | mod_custom (3.0.0) 1 | mod_banners (3.0.0) 0 | mod_related_items (3.0.0) 1 | mod_whosonline (3.0.0) 1 | mod_finder (3.0.0) 1 | mod_login (3.0.0) 1 | mod_feed (3.0.0) 1 | mod_tags_popular (3.1.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: AddToAny Buttons (1.2.0) 1 |

Modules :: Admin ::
Core :: mod_privacy_dashboard (3.9.0) 1 | mod_popular (3.0.0) 1 | mod_post_installation_messages (4.0.0) 1 | mod_version (3.0.0) 1 | mod_logged (3.0.0) 1 | mod_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_submenu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_quickicon (3.0.0) 1 | mod_messages (4.0.0) 1 | mod_title (3.0.0) 1 | mod_menu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_stats_admin (3.0.0) 1 | mod_sampledata (3.8.0) 1 | mod_user (4.0.0) 1 | mod_multilangstatus (3.0.0) 1 | mod_custom (3.0.0) 1 | mod_frontend (4.0.0) 1 | mod_toolbar (3.0.0) 1 | mod_loginsupport (4.0.0) 1 | mod_login (3.0.0) 1 | mod_privacy_status (4.0.0) 1 | mod_feed (3.0.0) 1 | mod_latestactions (3.9.0) 1 | mod_guidedtours (4.3.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: MOD_ROUTE66SEO (1.11.2) 1 |

Libraries ::
Core ::
3rd Party::

Plugins ::
Core :: plg_authentication_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_authentication_ldap (3.0.0) 0 | plg_authentication_cookie (3.0.0) 1 | plg_installer_packageinstaller (3.6.0) 1 | plg_installer_urlinstaller (3.6.0) 1 | plg_installer_folderinstaller (3.6.0) 1 | plg_installer_override (4.0.0) 1 | plg_installer_webinstaller (4.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_content (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_weblinks (4.3.1) 0 | plg_finder_contacts (3.0.0) 0 | plg_finder_tags (3.0.0) 0 | plg_finder_newsfeeds (3.0.0) 0 | plg_finder_categories (3.0.0) 0 | plg_media-action_rotate (4.0.0) 1 | plg_media-action_resize (4.0.0) 1 | plg_media-action_crop (4.0.0) 1 | plg_content_finder (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_pagebreak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_vote (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_pagenavigation (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_emailcloak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_content_confirmconsent (3.9.0) 0 | plg_content_loadmodule (3.0.0) 1 | plg_api-authentication_basic (4.0.0) 0 | plg_api-authentication_token (4.0.0) 1 | plg_sampledata_multilang (4.0.0) 0 | plg_multifactorauth_webauthn (4.2.0) 1 | plg_multifactorauth_fixed (4.2.0) 1 | plg_multifactorauth_email (4.2.0) 1 | plg_multifactorauth_totp (3.2.0) 1 | plg_multifactorauth_yubikey (3.2.0) 1 | plg_user_profile (3.0.0) 0 | plg_user_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_user_contactcreator (3.0.0) 0 | plg_user_terms (3.9.0) 0 | plg_user_token (3.9.0) 1 | plg_actionlog_joomla (3.9.0) 1 | plg_webservices_installer (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_content (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_templates (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_plugins (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_messages (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_redirect (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_languages (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_users (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_menus (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_banners (4.0.0) 0 | plg_webservices_privacy (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_modules (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_config (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_tags (4.0.0) 1 | plg_webservices_newsfeeds (4.0.0) 0 | plg_webservices_media (4.1.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_pagebreak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_article (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_module (3.5.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_image (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_menu (3.7.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_readmore (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_weblink (4.3.1) 0 | plg_editors-xtd_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_filesystem_local (4.0.0) 1 | plg_system_debug (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_webauthn (4.0.0) 1 | plg_system_sessiongc (3.8.6) 1 | plg_system_cache (3.0.0) 0 | plg_system_logout (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_logrotation (3.9.0) 1 | plg_system_httpheaders (4.0.0) 1 | plg_system_redirect (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_accessibility (4.0.0) 0 | plg_system_updatenotification (3.5.0) 0 | plg_system_weblinks (4.3.1) 0 | plg_system_privacyconsent (3.9.0) 0 | plg_system_languagecode (3.0.0) 0 | plg_system_highlight (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_log (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_jooa11y (4.2.0) 1 | plg_system_schedulerunner (4.1) 1 | plg_system_actionlogs (3.9.0) 0 | plg_system_shortcut (4.2.0) 1 | plg_system_stats (3.5.0) 1 | plg_system_sef (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_task_notification (4.1) 1 | plg_system_guidedtours (4.3.0) 1 | plg_system_remember (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_skipto (4.0.0) 1 | plg_system_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_system_languagefilter (3.0.0) 0 | plg_captcha_recaptcha_invisible (3.8) 1 | plg_captcha_recaptcha (3.4.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_phpversioncheck (3.7.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_downloadkey (4.0.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_extensionupdate (3.0.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_privacycheck (3.9.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_overridecheck (4.0.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_joomlaupdate (3.0.0) 1 | plg_behaviour_taggable (4.0.0) 1 | plg_behaviour_versionable (4.0.0) 1 | plg_extension_finder (4.0.0) 1 | plg_extension_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_extension_namespacemap (4.0.0) 1 | plg_privacy_content (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_user (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_message (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_actionlogs (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_consents (3.9.0) 1 | plg_search_weblinks (4.3.1) 0 | plg_task_site_status (4.1) 1 | plg_task_check_files (4.1) 1 | plg_task_demo_tasks (4.1) 1 | plg_task_requests (4.1) 1 | plg_workflow_publishing (4.0.0) 1 | plg_workflow_featuring (4.0.0) 1 | plg_workflow_notification (4.0.0) 1 | plg_fields_calendar (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_url (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_user (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_integer (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_sql (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_color (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_list (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_imagelist (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_checkboxes (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_subform (4.0.0) 1 | plg_fields_radio (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_text (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_textarea (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_editor (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_usergrouplist (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_media (3.7.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: plg_route66_content (1.11.2) 1 | plg_route66_menus (1.11.2) 0 | plg_route66_tags (1.11.2) 0 | plg_installer_jce (2.9.83) 1 | plg_content_route66metadata (1.11.2) 1 | plg_content_route66seo (1.11.2) 1 | AddToAny Share Buttons (1.6.0) 1 | plg_system_route66 (1.11.2) 1 | plg_system_t4 (2.4.5) 1 | plg_system_jce (2.9.83) 1 | plg_system_askmyadmin (1.6.3) 1 | plg_system_route66pagespeed (1.11.2) 1 | plg_editors_jce (2.9.83) 1 | plg_editors_tinymce (5.10.7) 1 | plg_editors_codemirror (5.65.12) 1 | Captcha - Aimy Captcha-Less Form Gu (17.0) ? | plg_quickicon_jce (2.9.83) 1 | plg_extension_jce (2.9.83) 1 | plg_fields_mediajce (2.9.83) 1 |

Templates :: Site :: t4_blank (1.1.5) 1 | cassiopeia (1.0) 1 |
Templates :: Admin :: atum (1.0) 1 |

[Webdongle]

First and formost use Akeeba backup https://docs.joomla.org/Copying_a_websi ... _Method.29
Creates one file of your site that can be used to move and install your site. Install it and keep the backup file safe.

Uninstall com_xmap (2.3.4)

If you are unhappy with your current developer then you can request for a Joomla expert to work on your site viewforum.php?f=177&sid=1eaa02eff6be743 ... 0f9f730813

[ceford]

Find a new hosting service! Find one that allows you to change the PHP version via the cPanel interface. Joomla 5 should work on PHP 8.1. See https://jdocmanual.org/en/jdocmanual?ar ... ting-setup for requirements.

[daveth]

Thank you Webdongle and ceford for considering my issues.

Thanks for alerting me to com_xmap, helps me (and developers) look for other extensions to uninstall, and I note that the FDA data shows 3rd party extensions clearly. Thanks. Engaging a Joomla expert is an option!

A note on Akeeba - from memory, when I used it, the backups usually took up too much of my allotted disc space, probably due to me not deleting older backups. My current regime includes storing backups in the cloud, at home, and off site.

Indeed, Joomla does work fine on php 8.1. The reason I started upgrading is that Joomla alerted me to it being obsolete, see screenshot. I thought I’d be proactive for once! I could even change the php in cPanel myself. Easy I thought! Didn’t count on web host not having necessary php 8.3 extensions though… Hence I engaged a developer.

Thank you.

PastedGraphic-1-1.png

[ceford]

You can ask your host to install missing extensions. It is easy to do and the hosting service may not realise there is a problem until someone asks.

[johnluke32]

It is like a frustrating situation. If your local MAMP setup runs Joomla 5 on PHP 8.3.14, but your host can't, it could be due to server configuration differences. Hosting providers often limit available PHP extensions, which might explain the issues. If 90% of the needed extensions can be added , it might be worth testing performance before deciding. Have you considered a second opinion from another Joomla-friendly host.