Cautious Upgrade 1.5.1 to 1.5.5

[jodean]

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I am investigating upgrading my version 1.5.1 to 1.5.5 to catch up with various enhancements and security. 1.5.1 was my first version and with various plugins have made it a good site. Coming from the IT Industry I understand the risk in letting applications get out of date.

I am considering creating a new out of box 1.5.5 version and update only the necessary plugins.

Is their a way to upgrade my database to adapt to 1.5.5?

How close is 1.5.6?

[carlwhat]

i can not say how close the next version is.

as far as upgrading, you can read recommended way here:

https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?140

if you enter everything correctly, the ZC will ask to upgrade your DB v doing a clean install.

the DB upgrade is, for me, the easiest part and rarely presents problems. re-installing plugins, modifications, and templates always takes the majority of the work.

good luck.

[schoolboy]

We've just accomplished this (1.5.1a to 1.5.5d) - and did it slightly differently from what is advised in the literature. BUT... I have access to some pretty skilled MySql people who know how to whizz around php-my-admin.

First - and ALWAYS rule 1: Backup everything.
Second - create CLONES of existing site and database. This is where the "upgrade" happens first.

Once steps 1 and 2 are accomplished, the method used to get the "live" site onto the latest version really depends on levels of skill and knowledge of the ZC structure.

One of the things we decided to do was to "go lean" on plugins... With mobile browsing now dominating web use, many of the features of "traditional" plugins are either inappropriate for mobile UX, or are simply "redundant". Things like "sliding banners" are pointless. Not only do most shoppers not bother with them, but the resources they need to operate (heavy JS, lots of CSS and big image files) are massive drawbacks to page speed, above-the-fold rendition, general navigability and, most important, page clutter.

Additionally, as semantic search (through structured data markup) now presents search results that are more PAGE-SPECIFIC, a website's "Home Page" is less and less likely to be a main landing page. People using search engines will go straight to the page that the search engine believes (through its assessment on the structured data) best represents the semantic result(s).

So... PRODUCT PAGES are now the key to good "SEO" - and here one must again be careful to keep them "lean". Compressed images and minified CSS, JS and HTML - along with proper browser caching features, gzip and all the rest... will make the page score well on speed and UX - the two most important criteria Google now applies to search ranking.

If you're upgrading, have a "house cleanout" like we did. Over the lat couple of weeks we are already seeing great improvements in search ranking AND... customer visits and checkout.

[schoolboy]

Just to add to what I say above...

PLUGINS that we use for the catalog (customer facing) pages..

1. Responsive Template - we use Picaflor Azul's stuff, but get rid of all the sliding banner stuff and silly pop-outs.
2. One-Page checkout - currently using lat9's One Page Checkout and while it's had a few bugs, we see a definite increase in checkout when it's on, compared to traditional 3-page checkout.
3. Image-handler... very good for image compression, but we are seeing a few minor hassles with ZC 1.5.5d.

For ADMIN...
1. Super-data plugin to render Structured Data Markup using JSON/ld protocol - essential plugin for structured data markup. We also apply the BREADCRUMBSLIST structure as described and coded by Melanie Prough - again, a vital "SEO" feature
2. MOD - by swguy... tells you what plugins are installed.
3. EasyPopuate V4.
4. Sitemap-XML (by Andrew Berezin)
5. CEON URI MAPPING

[jodean]

Just to add to what I say above...

PLUGINS that we use for the catalog (customer facing) pages..

1. Responsive Template - we use Picaflor Azul's stuff, but get rid of all the sliding banner stuff and silly pop-outs.
2. One-Page checkout - currently using lat9's One Page Checkout and while it's had a few bugs, we see a definite increase in checkout when it's on, compared to traditional 3-page checkout.
3. Image-handler... very good for image compression, but we are seeing a few minor hassles with ZC 1.5.5d.

For ADMIN...
1. Super-data plugin to render Structured Data Markup using JSON/ld protocol - essential plugin for structured data markup. We also apply the BREADCRUMBSLIST structure as described and coded by Melanie Prough - again, a vital "SEO" feature
2. MOD - by swguy... tells you what plugins are installed.
3. EasyPopuate V4.
4. Sitemap-XML (by Andrew Berezin)
5. CEON URI MAPPING

Do you have a link to "MOD - by swguy... tells you what plugins are installed"?

[mc12345678]

Do you have a link to "MOD - by swguy... tells you what plugins are installed"?

Mod List plugin available from the ZC Plugins area.