Upgrade to 1.5.5 or 1.5.7b?

[Mel Stanley]

I am seeking advice regarding upgrading ZC 1.5.1 so that the hosting server PHP can be upgraded. It appears that my upgrade targets are either 1.5.5 or 1.5.7b. The developer that implemented custom changes to this current ZC is not available, and the only documentation is the Data Base fields and the PHP code. For example there are undocumented revisions to includes/classes/order.php to add additional fields to the orders_products table in the DB.
My concern is if 1.5.7b can be modified the same as 1.5.5 or are there enhancements within 1.5.7b that would make it much more difficult to customize?

Thanks

[swguy]

You always want to use the latest and greatest release.

[lat9]

There are additional notifications provided in zc157b over-and-above the zc155 series that make it easier to add functionality without 'carving up' Zen Cart core files.

[davewest]

My concern is if 1.5.7b can be modified the same as 1.5.5 or are there enhancements within 1.5.7b that would make it much more difficult to customize?

I'm using a template originally designed for ZC1.3.9, modified for HTML5 responsive design added and mods doing all kinds of additional fields working with ZC1.5.7b and PHP7.4x.. Working with ZC enhancements was the easy part, getting my skills up to PHP7.4 and HTML5 was the fun part..

[Mel Stanley]

While using WinMerge to compare the Zen_orig files to Store I have found huge differences. It so confusing as in Apples to Oranges so I decided to narrow the compare down and chose page_not_found.php in the root directory of each zencart that i am using in my compare.


From Zen_orig:
* @version $Id: page_not_found.php 3159 2006-03-11 01:35:04Z drbyte $

From store:
* @version $Id: page_not_found.php 2742 2005-12-30 21:12:44Z wilt $

I'm confused why the version numbers above aren't matching, and what that could mean as far as the true zencart version i am trying to upgrade.

Any ideas of what i am dealing with here?

Thanks

[dbltoe]

If you are upgrading from 1.5.1 to 1.5.7b, there are so many changes that you would be better off to rebuild and mod rather than attempt to upgrade. Especially if you're not familiar with winmerge.

Scroll down to rebuild at this link https://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3...d-of-upgrading

[DrByte]

To clarify what dbltoe is saying:

Use WinMerge to compare your old 1.5.1 against the original Zen Cart 1.5.1 to identify the things you've altered from the originals.
Then use those customizations as a guide for building a new site on 1.5.7.

When comparing your own 1.5.1 you shouldn't find many differences unless you've made a lot of customizations or installed a lot of addons. Or unless you actually weren't using 1.5.1 (you can check that in the /includes/version.php file)

[mc12345678]

While using WinMerge to compare the Zen_orig files to Store I have found huge differences. It so confusing as in Apples to Oranges so I decided to narrow the compare down and chose page_not_found.php in the root directory of each zencart that i am using in my compare.


From Zen_orig:
* @version $Id: page_not_found.php 3159 2006-03-11 01:35:04Z drbyte $

From store:
* @version $Id: page_not_found.php 2742 2005-12-30 21:12:44Z wilt $

I'm confused why the version numbers above aren't matching, and what that could mean as far as the true zencart version i am trying to upgrade.

Any ideas of what i am dealing with here?

Thanks

While it looks to me that the recommended comparison process is being followed (Zen Cart original 1.5.1 code compared to the store that is considered/thought to be 1.5.1), note that the above specific information is captured in the "comments" of code. This "code" doesn't affect how the program operates and is "intended" to help those actually reading the information. Whomever performed the install/upgrade from a previous version may have omitted updating those comments, further 1.5.1 had a few "updates" as well which would explain why the "released" version has a newer date. Seeing the relative short time period between those two comments (~3 months), one should not be overly concerned about what that relatively unimportant information says... Focus on the code that changes what is displayed, calculated and/or stored...