Should I upgrade?

I have a client running 1.3.8a who I upgraded in November from 1.3.6. Because of a complete lack of documentation of the site's development (previous developer was lazy) and the fact they had 20 add-ons (that I had to piece together like a sleuth), along with a couple dozen core file modifications it took me approximately 30-40 hours to upgrade their store.

Now, I have complete documentation of the site and all mods so future upgrades should go much quicker. HOWEVER...

They still have 20 add-ons, none of which have been updated to 1.3.9. So I don't want to start down this road, get a few hours in and realize that one or more of the add-ons are deal breakers and have to go to the client and either have them deep six an add-on they've been using for years or wait indefinitely to upgrade until their add-ons are compatible (and pay me for essentially doing nothing of benefit to them or worse, take a loss on my time).

So my question: what's the chance that add-ons developed for 1.3.8 won't work in 1.3.9. Has the structure of the app changed that much? I know it's a difficult question. Just trying to get an approximate read....

My alternative strategy is to apply to the list of patches for 1.3.8a and wait until add-ons are updated. Is that the best course?

Thanks!
John

Anytime someone asks the question "Should I upgrade?" the answer is pretty much always "Yes".
Esp when your current site is only v1.3.8, which had some seriously unpleasant security problems.

There is interactive discussion about the many more popular addons and their compatibility with v1.3.9. You might want to re-check your list, as many of them are probably just fine.

And, if you find one that's not, feel free to upgrade it so that it is, and share that back with the community from which you've received so much for free. :blush: