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Can I get away with no upgrade? I am on 1.3.9 and wondering if I should just get over the pain of it all now and do upgrade because I guess upgrades are quite often?
If so, what is my best option for not stuffing it up!- which instructions are best for someone highly likely to stuff it up!?
So far instructions I've read are complex, if you forget one little thing it will come back to haunt you!
There must be a simpler way......
If you're running 1.39h you're probably good for a while. There are some cool new features in 1.50, but some of the mods have not yet been updated to work.
good to know, thanks. in that case , will continue to avoid :)
Using 1.3.9 until your comfortable with your upgrading inside a testing site would be fine..Quote:
Originally Posted by charliepingpong
There is a couple of options you could follow.. Not trying to be a alec on the question you asked.
1. Never do an upgrade on your live store, doing so and if you happen to mess up then you may effect your business and customer relations. When upgrading on a test site (Non Live Installation) would be your best option..
If you have mods installed simply take note which they are and copy your database over to the test site and work with it and then if you mess up you can always tear it down and start over leaving your live site in tact without effecting your live productions.
2. You could hire a developer to save yourself headaches. There are many out there that know Zencart well and will do the hard work for you and it is upgraded off site where your live site is running during the process.
Upgrading is not that bad if you take your time.. Rushing it could cause mistakes and frustration which makes you tired of the upgrading before it even starts. Patience is a virtual on this field. Not only can you say you did this and made it but you can look back and say wow, did I do that? Always think positive regardless how hard it may seem. Of course option 2 above is still available.
NOTE: upgrading Zencart is a different statement then upgrading an addon or module.. My remarks are targeted on upgrading zencart out of the box..
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Zencart does not upgrade its version that often last time they upgraded anything was about a year ago. 1.5.0 is a targeted version to meet PCI compliance in which over 86% of the world accept credit cards and sooner or later if you accept credits or already do, will be forced to have PCI solution.. 1.5.0 does just that. Regardless, all merchants and retailers should want more security for their customers if you are forced to have PCI or not it is just good practice. for your business.
At some point we all been there in the same place you are.. It will work out for you if you take your time.
Again, as a reminder install a brand new store using 1.5.0 into a directory that is not effected with your live site and this way you will save tons of headaches the haunting will not exists..
The cheapest way is do it yourself on a test site, 1.3.9 as your live store will be good for a little while as long as there is no security vulnerabilities severe enough to effect your customers and your data.
Wish you the best of luck.
Amanda
There's no question I'd do it myself but really there's no such thing as doing it yourself when nearly everyone like myself relies on forums and tutorials and instructions at the very least.
So I'm thinking I will do this in a careful manner when I get around to it because actually I can't remember using any mods for current version, I remember downloading and installing a couple but can't remember what they are and if I've ever used them!
Sounds the only way to go, upload new version to new folder and not make it go live- suppose will have to work out how to do that with the database and all(?) Then copy all changes to the new one but how would you test it out if not live? I think the part I don't look forward to is all the ins and outs of linking up to paypal which even with current version I'm not sure I have right.
Thanks for reply. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by charliepingpong
The good and overall thing about it is you learn every step better and better and the more you do perform it the easier it gets.. I never said it would be like candy but a test site would be your best bet to make sure you do not mess with live production and sales.
These forums have ton of information to go by and if you weed out the bad from the good make your own little guide sometimes that helps a little more then following someone elses..
As for installing the Install guide in the tutorials is step by step.. Practice it a little and get to know the install process first here is some links I dug for you in case you do not have them already
Upload Files: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=107
Create Database: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=268
Tip After upload and Database is created: Just make the two configure.php files writable one located in /includes/configure.php and admin/includes/configure.php
Depending on your web host it is either 0777 for writable or 0755. Once these are set the zencart installer script will fill these files in with what you place in the fields in the installer pages and then all you have to do take the write permissions away.
Again depending on your host non writable is either 0644 or 0444.
--- PayPal configuration is fairly easy even though I like PayPal Express over IPN as IPN is semi obsolete in my opinion of course Express is much more secure.
This link is step by step how to configure PayPal IPN and this link is for PayPal Express. if you following every single step one by one starting with the first you should have this correct without problems..
If I over did the help explanation I apologize I am just trying to guide you the right way..:blush:
of course you can always post in the forums if you run into a snag..
Actually NO this is NOT the only way to go.. Follow the upgrade FAQ.. Seriously..:smile: It's really NOT THAT HARD to do and it is the ONLY way to ensure that your database get's converted properly from one version to the next..Quote:
Originally Posted by charliepingpong
After that THEN you can carefully re-install all of your add-ons and restore your other customization..Quote:
How do I upgrade my site?: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=98
How do I Upgrade My Zen Cart site?: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=108
Plus if you look through this topic: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=156, there's a TON of posts answering upgrade questions.. A little research will go a long way to preparing you..
There are two other things I will suggest:
- When creating your test/development store, create a sub-domain for your store.. Make sure your subdomain follows the same path as your live store.
For example:
if your live store is: http://yourdomain.com
your subdomain test store will be: http://yoursubdomain.yourdomain.com
if your live store is: http://yourdomain.com/shop
your subdomain test store will be: http://yoursubdomain.yourdomain.com/shop
If you do not know what a sub-domain is or do not know how to create one, contact your webhost for help with this) IMHO this is an IMPORTANT step and the correct way to do an upgrade.
Using a sub-domain will make transferring your test/dev site MUCH easier as you will not have to worry about updating filepaths when you move your test/dev store to your live store. (you will of course need to upgrade your configure.php files to point to the right DB for your live site)- Update your store's database to UTF-8 if you haven't done so already. There is a cool script in the free downloads that will take care of this for you..
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...oducts_id=1937
If you are doing your upgrade in a TEST/DEVELOPMENT environment and NOT on your live store, then if you mess up, you can wipe out everything and start over again until the process is successful.