The challenge
A fresh look without losing what readers know
Reel Reviews publishes film, home video and music reviews. We first moved the site from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 in 2022; in 2025 it needed a modern design, better mobile performance and a supported Joomla and PHP version.
The owner had clear rules for the redesign: keep the category structure, keep the orange and blue brand colours, and show existing article photos at their natural size instead of stretching them.
Goal: refresh the design, improve Core Web Vitals and move to a supported Joomla version – without changing how readers find reviews.
What we did
A redesign, two upgrades and a clean-up
- Redesign on JA MoviemaxA refreshed film-review design that keeps the categories and brand colours, with Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook panels at the top and bottom.
- Photos at natural sizeExisting article images are no longer stretched; recommended sizes set for new articles.
- Joomla 5 and PHP 8Upgrade for security, performance and long-term support, with work on Core Web Vitals and mobile.
- Security audit & hardeningMalware scan and clean-up, protected admin access and two-factor login for administrators.
- Joomla 6 and a lighter siteUpgraded to Joomla 6, extensions updated, legacy extensions such as K2, JoomSEF and Xmap removed, unused files and database items cleaned up.
- New XML & HTML sitemapSet up with JSitemap Pro for search engines and readers.
Screenshots
The new Reel Reviews
Home page
Review slider and new 4K releases.
Review category
Same categories, natural-size photos.
Review page
Full review with trailers in the sidebar.
Morbidly Hollywood
The site's own feature section.
Timeline
Key dates
2022Joomla 3 → 4First migration of the site.
Sep 2025Redesign kick-offJA Moviemax design and Joomla 5.
Jun 2026Joomla 6 & securityClean-up, hardening and upgrade.
Tech stack
What we worked with
Joomla 6
JA Moviemax
JSitemap Pro
JCE Editor
