So long, old friend, it's been quite a ride!
Umbraco CMS version 7
It’s only 10 months until Umbraco 7 is no longer supported
Umbraco HQ has already announced the date, September 2023. At the moment, the only support they offer for Umbraco 7 are security patches, this too will stop as well in just under one year. Following the release of Umbraco 10 (June 2022) and the future release of Umbraco 11 (December 2022), we’ve finally reached the last lap of a long, long journey.
What does Umbraco 7 end of life mean for your website?
Well, in a nutshell, it means you’ll need to start thinking about a new website since there is no direct upgrade path from Umbraco 7 to the latest version, Umbraco 10 (at the time of writing). The reason is down to the fundamental changes that have taken place in the code and the database infrastructure which means you will need to migrate manually to Umbraco 10.
Why is Umbraco 7 heading for the sunset?
Umbraco 7 was first released in 2013 and is now classed as legacy software. It just isn't feasible to continue to support software when technology has moved on.
Will my Umbraco 7 website continue to work?
Yes, of course. However, you should be concerned that beyond the end-of-life date (September 2023), your website will be vulnerable to security issues and attacks. We would highly recommend that you consider a new website.
How to check if you're running Umbraco 7
Login to your CMS > in the top right-hand corner > Click on the circular icon.
Depending on your login email address, this will appear as initials or an image.
Themes for Umbraco 7
What about uSkinned themes for Umbraco 7?
We first launched Umbraco 7 themes back in 2014 and over a seven year period, we launched 14 theme designs, with the baseline product going through 7 major releases.
Will V7 themes still be available?
Since March 2021, we made the decision to label them as legacy and stopped offering them to new customers. The same month saw the release of our award-winning product uSkinned Site Builder and we haven’t looked back since. So hopefully this means no uSkinned user has launched a new website with Umbraco 7 for a number of years now.
Let's look to the future
What are your options?
We would recommend starting the journey to a new website as soon as you can. Thankfully, this can be a relatively straightforward and cost-effective process if you adopt uSkinned Site Builder for Umbraco.
Why you should adopt uSkinned Site Builder
Other than the ease of use and price tag, Site Builder is a multi-award-winning product for Umbraco 9+. I say 9+, because, unlike legacy themes and Umbraco 7, when you start a website with uSkinned Site Builder you will be able to upgrade to every new version of Umbraco as and when they release a new major version. This means, when Umbraco 11 is out, the upgrade path from 10 is a matter of seconds and does not require starting from scratch.
What can it do?
Everything you could do in our previous theme products, plus a whole lot more. From modular content creation and integrating your favourite third-party providers to adding your own colour palettes and fonts, you have all of the tools you need to launch a successful website direct from Umbraco.
What web design options are included?
We offer 26 pro themes (at the time of writing) that are free to install on top of Site Builder but you can even design your new Umbraco website from inside the CMS thanks to the Visual Designer interface.
Can I download uSkinned Site Builder now?
Of course. Site Builder is available as a NuGet package. Follow this guide to download and install it today.
Please note, whilst Site Builder is available to download for free, in order to run it in full you will need to purchase a website license.
You can get started for free
Sign up for a free trial, hosted securely on Azure. You can start using uSkinned Site Builder for free, we’re certain you’ll be amazed by the flexibility on offer.
What about hosting?
We can take care of that for you too if required. Earlier this year we launched Hosted uSkinned Websites, our aim is to offer “the easiest and most affordable way to launch a uSkinned powered website”.
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If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section or reach out to our team at any time.
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About the author
Marc Love
Co-founder and Technical Lead at uSkinned.