Project Execution

1. Discovery and Requirement Analysis

The project began with a Discovery phase to fully understand MarkTwo’s business goals, target audience, and technical requirements.

• Conducted an initial technical and design audit of the Joomla setup, infrastructure, and integrations.
• Identified areas for UI/UX improvements, performance bottlenecks, and potential vulnerabilities.
• Collaborated with MarkTwo’s leadership and communications teams to align project goals, content priorities, and sprint deliverables.
• Defined the Agile sprint framework with clearly documented release milestones.Conducted a detailed design and discovery phase to identify core UX/UI pain points and improvement opportunities.
• Reviewed user behavior, navigation flow, and mobile responsiveness to establish design priorities.
• Defined key deliverables and created wireframes and mood boards to align the visual direction with business goals.

This phase established a shared understanding between MarkTwo and Ebizon, setting a solid foundation for planning and execution.

2. Staging Setup

The existing Joomla website was cloned into a staging environment, allowing all testing and upgrades to occur safely without affecting the live site.

3. Compatibility & Environment Check

Before upgrading, Ebizon performed a comprehensive compatibility audit:

• Verified PHP, MySQL, and hosting environment for Joomla 5 readiness.
• Conducted Pre-Update Checks for all extensions and templates to identify incompatibilities early.

4. Incremental Joomla Upgrades

The upgrade process followed a structured, multi-phase approach:

• Updated Joomla 3.x to 3.10.x (latest patch version).
• Migrated from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4, ensuring template and extension compatibility.
• Performed the final migration to Joomla 5.2.3, validating each module, extension, and functionality post-upgrade.

5. Extension Management

Non-compatible Joomla extensions were replaced with secure and updated alternatives:

• Search Plugins → Smart Search
• Captcha → hCaptcha / Cloudflare Turnstile / Friendly Captcha
• JA-T3 Framework → Updated to a Joomla 5-ready framework
• Bootstrap Mega Menu → Replaced with JUX Mega Menu / MaxiMenu CK / DJ MegaMenu

6. Functionality Reconfiguration

Core website functionalities were reconfigured and enhanced for performance:

• HikaShop Integration: Optimized and upgraded for seamless eCommerce management, product display, and checkout flow. 
• Web Links Component: Reconfigured to organize and display partner and resource links efficiently, maintaining SEO-friendly structures. 
• Product Purchase & Program Registration: Integrated with PayPal for secure transactions.
• Leadership Quiz: Configured email-based result automation.
• Member Login & Gated Content: Implemented secure access control for exclusive member areas.
• AI Chatbot: Enabled conversational assistance for visitors.
• Contact Form: Embedded and validated Google Form for inquiries.

7. Quality Assurance & Testing

Rigorous QA ensured flawless migration and user experience:

• Functional Testing: Verified all modules, content, and integrations.
• Migration Testing: Ensured no data or SEO loss.
• SEO Testing: Validated meta tags, redirects, and canonical URLs.
• Cross-browser & Device Testing: Guaranteed consistent experience on all devices.

8. User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

A 1–2 week UAT period was conducted, allowing MarkTwo’s internal team to test the upgraded website.
Feedback and bug reports were collected through ZOHO, reviewed jointly, and resolved before final deployment.

9. SEO Reconfiguration

All SEO attributes were carefully maintained and optimized:

• Recreated 301 redirects, metadata, and structured URLs.
• Tested sitemap indexing and canonical tag behavior.

10. Deployment and Go-Live

After final sign-off:

• Created full backups (Akeeba + Database).
• Redirected domain to the new hosting environment.
• Conducted final sanity and performance checks to ensure a smooth launch.