how many working hours needed to upgrade from 1.38 to 1.50? big risk?

Hi,my store is 1.38a zen cart.

Generally, how many working hours needed to upgrade from 1.38 to 1.50?

Are there big risks of upgrading?

any word would be greatly appreciated!!

It's impossible to say without more information, unless an answer like "from 10 minutes to 1 day" is sufficient.

What mods are currently in your store? Do you want/need them all running in your new store?
What template are you currently using? Do you want the same template in the new store?
Was your old store built using the override system? Are there core file customizations?
Are there any admin customizations? An SEO mod?
...? ...?

Rob

Generally, how many working hours needed to upgrade from 1.38 to 1.50? How long is a piece of string? :)
Your answer depends greatly on how complex your existing installation is - how many mods, customizations you have done, what template, languages...

If you have a clean template that touches few core files and you have few mods installed, it could take somewhere between an hour and ten hours depending on your experience and confidence and ability to follow instructions. A site with major customization or a commercial template that is not compatible with v1.5 (a v1.3.8a template would not be) could take a lot longer to get the same appearance and behavior back.

gjh42:

How long is a piece of string? :)

Six inches.

The shorter peices you come across are just a six inch piece that has been cut.
The longer peices are the same six inch peices joined together.

• :wacko:

I personally start by creating a new db and importing the old db into that. Then a fresh installation of 1.5, following the upgrade db option. New template, 1.5 ready mods, etc. Overall I believe this is the fastest and safest method.

jetx:

I personally start by creating a new db and importing the old db into that. Then a fresh installation of 1.5, following the upgrade db option. New template, 1.5 ready mods, etc. Overall I believe this is the fastest and safest method.A fresh installation would wipe out the created database:blink:
While this may work for you, it's certainly NOT the sequence I would use or suggest. Time spent following the instructions is never wasted.

dbltoe:

A fresh installation would wipe out the created database:blink:
While this may work for you, it's certainly NOT the sequence I would use or suggest. Time spent following the instructions is never wasted.Not if you follow the upgrade path versus the new install.. Which you could do if you are familiar enough with Zen Cart to manually create the configure.php files. That said, I do agree with you that not all shopowners are gonna know how to do this and SHOULD follow the prescribed upgrade path..

I always create a new DB, then do a fresh Zen Cart v1.5 install (no sample products). Once I have a looksee to make sure that the new Zen Cart vanilla install works, then I drop all the tables from the DB, import the old DB I wish to convert and run the install again; this time following the upgrade path. What JetX suggests shaves a few steps off of this SAME process, but it ASSUMES you have properly created your admin and store side configure.php files..

"A fresh installation would wipe out the created database
While this may work for you, it's certainly NOT the sequence I would use or suggest. Time spent following the instructions is never wasted. "

I suppose if you're that stupid then yes, your method would be the safest bet.

Further to this discussion I think by far the worst thing one can do is to try to upgrade an old 1.38 template unless you really enjoy pain. There are so many changes you'll probably just end up with a mess. I have provided a solution to this which I personally believe, having done this to all 6 of my stores without a single problem, to be the most effective method at upgrading and ensuring all your code is going to be suitable for 1.5. It is true you'll need to put in a bit of thought before you start and also you'd be wise to make good backups. I always use a test site or a test folder, this is a must.

There are several ways to upgrade using this method. The safest would be to simply create a temporary database which you can use for your fresh 1.5 installation. Once that installation is done you can create another database, import your 1.38 database into that, edit your two configure files with the new db information then type your store url followed by zc_install and do only the database upgrade. Once it is working delete the temp database, zc_install folder, create or add a new template made for 1.5, upload your images, etc, etc.

I use a somewhat different (and faster) method than this myself, but this will get you though it with the least amount of frustration.

Note: this info may well be in the official instructions, if it is follow it. If it's not it probably should be.

jetx:

"A fresh installation would wipe out the created database
While this may work for you, it's certainly NOT the sequence I would use or suggest. Time spent following the instructions is never wasted. "

I suppose if you're that stupid then yes, your method would be the safest bet.:shocking:and so posting an insult in response was REALLY necessary????? Wow... Talk about uncalled for.. SMH:no:

Yes probably not necessary, my response was a trifle brusque. It should be noted that dbltoe's response was quite unhelpful with his recommended advice for the poor OP to blindly follow the official upgrade path (Winmerge). I maintain that method should be avoided if possible.

jetx:

upload your images, etc, etc.

Or you could do a fresh install around your current images folder. I did a quick fresh install of my 1.3.9h not long ago, deleted all zencart folders/files but the images folder. Current images folder could be renamed if you just want to upload the new zencart with its images folder, then delete it afterward. Could save time if have tons of images.

sph
https://www.prommart.com

And keep in mind that you can ask 10 people "how to upgrade" and you'll get 10 different responses.

So ... since the SAFEST WAY is to follow the official instructions, THAT is what you SHOULD do.

If you're going to follow the advice of someone else, then make sure they're willing to hold your hand through every problem you encounter when using their method instead.

DrByte:

If you're going to follow the advice of someone else, then make sure they're willing to hold your hand through every problem you encounter when using their method instead.

IMO, This is the best suggestion so far :)

Cheers
Rod

dbltoe:

Time spent following the instructions is never wasted.
I thought that's what I said.:P

Good on ya mate.

I am running 1.3.9h with 9 mods and with lots of hand coded customizations (starting from proper calculation of items with discounted prices, which was a big issue for exporting data into quickbooks, and finishing with some customizations in admin area to have the authorize.net confirmation code on order page.). i was thinking to do the clean 1.5.0 install and then to load the existing database into it as well then follow the database upgrade, because lots of issues as i can see fixed in new version. But again ill need to know the timing store will be down, because its a very large store, and existing user database counts about 5000 users. I also have couple more questions, such as will user login info remain the same for a user in this kind of upgrade, and also will my pages urls remain the exact same (i have ultimate seo urls installed). any advice would be very appreciated.

Nowhere is it stated that anyone should take down their site to upgrade. You need to take another look at the FAQ.

simpledomaining:

I am running 1.3.9h with 9 mods and with lots of hand coded customizations (starting from proper calculation of items with discounted prices, which was a big issue for exporting data into quickbooks, and finishing with some customizations in admin area to have the authorize.net confirmation code on order page.). i was thinking to do the clean 1.5.0 install and then to load the existing database into it as well then follow the database upgrade, because lots of issues as i can see fixed in new version. But again ill need to know the timing store will be down, because its a very large store, and existing user database counts about 5000 users. I also have couple more questions, such as will user login info remain the same for a user in this kind of upgrade, and also will my pages urls remain the exact same (i have ultimate seo urls installed). any advice would be very appreciated.My advice is to read and follow the upgrade instructions where many of your "how-to" questions are answered..

You do all the work of file merging, custom file transferring, etc. on a test copy of your site, so that when it comes to upgrading your live site (by whichever route of those suggested) you know exactly what to do and have the new files packaged/arranged to make the switchover quickly while the site is down for maintenance. So it could take as little as a couple of minutes if you are well organized.

Your customers' info will be unaffected; you should ask in the Ultimate SEO support thread about maintaining your rewritten URLs.