How long will VM 2 be supported?

[Anthweb1]

Hi,

I currently run Virtuemart 2.6.8 on my site. Somehow some of my vm files were modified a little over a month ago by outsider and my developer at this point is not sure if the vulnerability came from Virtuemart or another plugin. However he suspects VM.  We are doing what we can to beef up the sites security. We also added the security patch which we found on the forums. http://virtuemart.net/news/latest-news/462-security-release-of-vm2-6-10-and-vm2-9-9b  At this point I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to move forward with my site and get to a more stable version. I was thinking about upgrading to VM 2.6.22 because I read it is stable. (FYI, I'm currently using Joomla 2.5.28). Unfortunately, due to some major code my distributor added to my VM its not any easy task to update to other versions. Therefore I need the questions below answered before I can make a decision.

1) How long will VM 2 series be supported. Is there a date in the works where it will no longer support. (Similar to what happened to Joomla 2.5) If there is an end date then I might just jump to VM 3 series.

2) If I upgrade from VM2 to VM3 will it mess with my store template, layout etc. My point being that I just got done paying my developer to make everything responsive and look great in my store. I don't want to have to pay to have my entire store coded again to fit my sites design.

3) Is there a way to make VM 2.6.8. stable in regards to security?  I don't think patch I added covers everything. I'm willing to pay for someone to collaborate with my developers if it makes sense.

I appreciate the help.

Anthony

[GJC Web Design]

First I don't understand why you are even risking using 2.6.8?

The current stable and safe release is 2.6.22...  2.6.8 is around 1.5 years old.. would you use XP without Service Packs for example?

Software is updated for a reason... 

The only way to know if some template changes are required on YOUR install is to test..  make a copy.. install 2.6.22

see what happens ..  if your VM template files are reasonably standard then the changes required will be none or very few

at worst u can dump any VM over rides you have and use the standard ones provided

If your using a template from a developer that loves to over ride everything then they may be more substantial

IMHO if your site works on 2.6.22 then the upgrade to VM3.0.12 will be easy... except you will need VM3 versions of any extensions

[Anthweb1]

Thanks for the reply. As I mentioned my distributor added to a ton of code/hack to my VM for the orders, products, feed and processes etc. Its not the best way and makes it very difficult for me to upgrade because I have to rely on their developers to make the upgrade, not mine. They need to install their code and do testing which could unfortunately drag out for a month or two because they are so busy.  I don't want to be on 2.6.8 which is why I'm just trying to see my all my options. It would be somewhat easier to go to 2.6.22 because I don't think it would affect my site as nearly as much as VM 3 would. However,  I just don't want to spend the money and time and upgrade to 2.622 to find out they will no longer be supporting it.

[GJC Web Design]

by support do you mean further developed? possibly not.. up to Max

but where we are now is a rock solid (barring any new security holes which you can never say never to.. but unlikely) VM2.6 cart

but the exact same situation applies to J2.5.. apparently not supported either.. but as we have seen.. as soon as the dev's leave it alone it would appear the problems stop 

FYI I have plenty of clients still happily and safely on J1.5/VM1.1...  of course last stable versions