Why Should You Keep Your Sitefinity CMS Upgraded? Some Good Practices

Most business owners are accustomed to the fact that the content of the site needs to be updated on a regular basis so that the visitors can stay informed and the search engines will also not consider the site as fresh. To maintain the site, modern websites are powered by some type of CMS platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Sitefinity and etc.

For site administrators or developers, upgrading to the latest version of Sitefinity has many reasons like it helps to boost productivity, extensibility and flexibility. It is also a great means to gain access to a wide range of new features. Whether you are looking to optimise the codes, tweak a design or want to craft better digital experiences for your customers, upgrading your site to the latest version helps in adding new capabilities and features that you might be missing on.

Here is How Sitefinity Upgrades can Help:

Bug Fixes and Security Patches: 

Business owners are often concerned about the security of their site. Any bug or issue with the site can make it less protected and more vulnerable to crashes and hackers. Updating the Sitefinity site on a regular basis would help you to fix any bug on time and also update the security patches and make your website safe for use.

Makes Future Upgrades Easy: 

This does not sound very compelling, but it is a fact. If you are using a particular system, then it is best to stay current. Otherwise, any future upgrade becomes nearly impossible or highly expensive. Most companies need to upgrade from the previous 1 or 2 versions, but if you are about 3 or 4 versions behind, then the task becomes difficult because many features or programming changes.

The MVC Framework and Bootstrap4: 

Sitefinity CMS is now an MVC first platform and so whether you are creating a new website or revamping an existing project, the MVC is the way to go. Upgrading the Sitefinity website ensures that you can access multiple benefits that allows full control over the mark up, improved front-end efficiency and also unmatched flexibility.  Using Bootstrap 4 can also help to elevate the mobile first experience, which more and more customers are demanding.

Also Read: Why You Should Choose Sitefinity Cloud CMS for Your Business

Some Best Practices while Upgrading Your Sitefinity Website:

Take a Backup of Your Website, Content and Database:

The first thing that you should do while upgrading your Sitefinity site to a new version is to take a backup of your entire site with the database and content. So, if by change anything goes wrong while updating the system, you will have all the existing data saved, which can be restored easily. Taking a backup of your system can save your business from countless hours of fixing and rewriting the codes.

Use the Migration Module:

Another best option for a smooth migration process is to use the Sitefinity Migration Module and import the website’s content while migrating to the latest version. The migration tool makes it very easy for the users to update their sites and transfer the content and also take advantage of all the newest features.

Consider a Thorough Testing:

The final step is to thoroughly test the site before making it live. For this, you should consider all your widgets, modules, and custom codes and everything else that has been affected by the upgrade. Since after an update, you may have to reset some of your settings, as the latest version may not support some modules. A thorough testing will ensure that there are no broken functionalities and this will ensure smooth functioning of the website after it goes live.