Move to Umbraco 17 with FJB Digital

The clock is ticking on Umbraco 13

On 14 December 2026, Umbraco 13 reaches end of life. After that date Umbraco stops issuing security patches, updates and technical support, which leaves any site still running it exposed. If your charity or business runs on Umbraco 13, or on an ageing WordPress site, the time to plan your move is now. Umbraco 17, released in November 2025, is a Long-Term Support version with three years of stability, and paired with uSkinned it gets you to a finished, professional site much faster than a blank-slate build.

What end of life means for you

Your Umbraco 13 site will not stop working on 14 December 2026, but it will no longer be patched or supported. That raises the risk of security vulnerabilities, instability and compliance problems, and Umbraco advises against running version 13 after this date. Umbraco offers paid Extended Long-Term Support (6, 12 or 24 months) to buy time, but it recommends upgrading or rebuilding on Umbraco 17 or later. With only weeks to go, starting the migration now avoids a rushed move in December.

Older Umbraco versions and WordPress carry bigger risks

Version 13 is not the only one past its time. Umbraco 8 reached end of life on 24 February 2025, and versions 6 and 7 went out of support before that. At FJB Digital we still look after sites that date back to version 6, so we know how much risk and maintenance sits behind them. The further back a site is, the harder it becomes to patch, host and extend, and the more it costs to move later.

WordPress sites face a different pressure. WordPress runs on PHP, and in October 2026 two critical PHP flaws (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, nicknamed PHP2Shell) were disclosed that let an attacker run code on a server without logging in. Fixes arrived on 21 October in PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35, and attacks were reported within days.  Umbraco runs on .NET rather than PHP, so these particular flaws do not apply to it.

What is new in Umbraco 17

Umbraco 17 is built on .NET 10 LTS, so the underlying technology is also set for long-term support. For the people who actually use your website, a few changes matter most:

• Safer, more flexible hosting. The editing area (the backoffice) can now run across several servers, as the public site always could. That helps larger or busier sites stay available.
• Reliable dates and times. All dates are stored in UTC, and a new Date Time Picker handles dates, times and time zones. Useful for events, deadlines and campaigns.
• Better accessibility. Many accessibility issues in the editing area are fixed, with more planned for 2026.
• Smoother workflows. Workflow Release Sets are switched on by default, and Umbraco Cloud gains improved deployment tooling.

What uSkinned adds

Umbraco is a powerful foundation, but a site still has to be designed and assembled. uSkinned Site Builder is a ready-made layer on top of Umbraco that lets us build and style pages from reusable blocks rather than starting from scratch. Version 7.0.0 is rebuilt for Umbraco 17 and brings:

• A Page Editor so your team can build and adjust pages visually.
• A Theme Designer for changing colours, fonts and styling without code.
• Block Grid support, so editors can drop any uSkinned content block (a Pod) into flexible page layouts. Existing content from older Umbraco 13 sites is preserved.
• A modern, dark-mode-ready backoffice that matches Umbraco 17.

What this means for your organisation

Together, Umbraco 17 and uSkinned 7 give you a platform that is built to last and quicker to deliver.

• Predictable running costs. Long-term support means fewer forced upgrades and less risk of an unsupported site.
• Faster launch. Pre-built blocks and theming mean less custom development before you go live.
• Easier for your team. Editors build and update pages themselves, without waiting for a developer.
• Room to grow. Add features, integrations and new sections later without rebuilding.
• A clear upgrade path. If you are still on Umbraco 13, we can plan the move to 17 with you, and uSkinned preserves existing Umbraco 13 Grid content.

Ready to move? Migrate with FJB Digital

If your site is on an older version of Umbraco, or on WordPress and starting to feel slow, fragile or expensive to maintain, with Umbraco 13 reaching end of life on 14 December 2026, now is the time to move. Umbraco 17 is a long-term supported release, and FJB Digital can take you there on a platform built to last.

Moving from an older Umbraco site. Whether you are on Umbraco 13 or still running something as old as version 6, we review your current build, plan the upgrade to Umbraco 17, and rebuild or restyle it on uSkinned so your editors get the modern backoffice, Page Editor and Theme Designer.

Moving from WordPress. We map your pages, posts and media, bring your content across, and rebuild the design on Umbraco and uSkinned, so you gain a more secure, structured platform that your team can still edit with confidence.

What you get with FJB Digital:

• A clear plan and scope before any work starts.
• Your content and key URLs carried across, with redirects planned to protect search ranking.
• A site your team can manage themselves, with training and support after launch.

Next step: book a short, no-obligation call with FJB Digital. Tell us what you run today and what you want from your next website, and we will recommend the simplest route to Umbraco 17.