Warning when upgrading to 1.3.5 using Fantastico

When upgrading to 1.3.5 using Fantastico, I found that everything appears to work using the normal template override system, BUT there's a subtle problem - new users can't register. I missed this in testing, and no users could buy anything for several days. :-(

I also discovered the hard way that the template override system doesn't work in the admin folders. :-(

I had to do the full upgrade procedure - back everything up, do a clean install, download the original version my templates were based on, run a diff, manually merge all the changes, tweak the new templates to restore the original appearance, etc.

It sounds easy but it took me ALL DAY. And my changes were fairly minimal - just fixing metric units, charsets and date formats for non-American users and removing the Zen Cart logo. I do NOT recommend upgrading until you have a free day to spend on it.

Sorry to hear about that but all ends well for you. Just be more carerful next time.

Sorry to hear you had so many problems but motto when
installing zencart is " Don't use Fantastico".. easy to install
via this method but a nightmare when progressing down
zencart road..

misty:

Sorry to hear you had so many problems but motto when
installing zencart is " Don't use Fantastico".. easy to install
via this method but a nightmare when progressing down
zencart road..

If that is the truth then is becomes unclear why the ZC Team would permit Fantastico to auto install...

Me thinks Misty meant to say> Sorry to hear you had so many problems but motto when

upgrading zencart is " Don't use Fantastico".. easy to install
via this method but a nightmare when progressing down
zencart road..

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?p=269543#post269543
Upgrading an initial Fantastico install, via Fantastico, gives results as outlined in post above

Me thinks Misty meant to say
Misty meant to say exactly what I said..
Fantastico does not always offer latest version of Zencart,
nor do they offer latest patches, neither is optional demo
cart installed, which would save many posts on these forums
about how to configure zencart i.e. downloads.
Am sure zencart team will correct me if am mistaken,
but recommended hosts for zencart are chosen if they
install zencart for their clients manually, and not via Fantastico.

How do people upgrade without using Fantastico? I have had more complete start overs everytime I tried to do it on my own. :lamo: It takes me days to get back to where I was.

One should only use a Script Installer (Fantastico, AutoInstaller, Installatron, etc.) for creating a test area. By default, these script installers install scripts in a sub-directory which is perfect for a test bed. One can then test/play/experiment and only when ready for use on a live site, have a manual install done.

ImpactForGospel - methinks you are not using the overrides system and thus, your customizations always get over-written on an upgrade.

What should be done is either get Zen cart removed from the fantastico package, but this a way to introduce new users to the cart, except for the fact you don't get the demo products load or for the fantastico package to check and see if the cart is installed already and not allow a install. I don't know what influence the development team has with fantastico, but the second option seems resonable to me. The fantastico package shouldn't allow an install if the cart is already loaded and should popup a message to this effect and point users to the zen-cart.com site for upgrade info.
I think I did a 1 paragraph run on sentence up there.......... back to english class for me:lol:

I think that ZC allowed Fantastico for autoinstall for simplicity. Sure.. you get a much better install when you do it manually.. but some people either a) don't have the time to dedicate to that or b) don't have the knowledge to install it manually. By offering Fantastico install, it gives people an easy one click solution. A ton of open source programs do that.. just click fantastico to find out :)

I don't promote fantastico.. but I do like it because of the fact that I don't have to have a test directory on my live site at all times - I can remove it and reinstall as I wish

Also, as far as fantastico having the latest version.. its your hosts fault :). You can ask them to upgrade different modules and cpanel all together.. Fantastico updates aren't more than 2-3 days behind actual software updates. Bugfixes are a different story, however

I agree, though, that fantastico should NEVER be used for upgrades - only for new installs (if you absolutely need to save that extra 5 mins)

get your games,

Also, as far as fantastico having the latest version.. its your hosts fault :).

this isnt exactly true,
Fantastico by default setsup a daily cron to update itself.

so unless the host has chosen NOT to use this feature then netenberg gets behind.

<< thinks fantastico is a waste of bytes. and only has it because clients like it,
however there are a few things that have been stripped down.

Zen cart is NOT available in camelots fantastico

we install it manually and it takes about 10 minutes

^ah, sorry about that. i always thought that fantastico was manually updated, as thats how its set up on the server i use. my mistake :)

I have used Fantastico to set up initial ZC installations. IMO it does a fine job of making an intial install, there's nothing faster.

However, the patches (from Fantastico or from ZC) never touch your custom override files, you have to do that. And it's a no-brainer that any edits you have made to files that are not part of the override system will be overwritten.

So, beware using Fantastico to apply updates if you have any customization in your store.

I don't think ZC should get rid of its agreement with Fantastico. When I saw that ZC was being offered in Fantastico on my web host, that at least told me that the web host acknowledges ZC and works with it. And it does.

When I saw that ZC was being offered in Fantastico on my web host, that at least told me that the web host acknowledges ZC and works with it. And it does.
this isnt always the case,
there have been numerous cases where someone assumed that their host is setup to run zen cart ( e-commerce ) and it isnt,
just because its in fantastico dosnt mean it will run on the server.

there are alot of hosts that just apply everything by default and dont know what does and dosnt work.
the fact that it does work with your host is great,

but the fact remains that it dosnt take much more time to set it up manually than it does to use fantastico,
and you dont have to worry about the issues that are known to happen to a fantastico install.
( oops forgot a file, bad permission sets, corrupt files ets )

Thanks for all your responses - lots of interesting info there. The consensus seems to be that Fantastico is great for test installations but not for upgrades.

That's not unreasonable, but I really think the upgrade option needs to be disabled in that case. Otherwise, the problem's not solved and people will keep wasting time on failed upgrades.

I really don't think it was unreasonable of me to expect it to work. After all, the Zen-Cart developers have gone to a lot of trouble to devise the template override system and produce update scripts etc., and the Fantastico people have gone to a lot of trouble (and presumably been paid) to notify users in a central place when updates are needed to various installed scripts and to make it as easy as possible to apply them. If updates aren't applied promptly the hackers exploit the holes and life is miserable for everyone.

I really DON'T think it's reasonable to expect all Zen-Cart users to troll through every message in the support forums and all the code in the diff files to find the consequences of every change. Hey, I'm a programmer and I actually enjoy this sort of thing, but I just don't have time to do all that every time.

Is there any change of someone contacting Fantastico and advising them how to apply updates properly, or disabling updates?

Speak to Fantastico or to your hosting site ...

We have nothing to do with how software is distributed on servers ... the hosting sites pick what software they wish to off to their customers ... the software, then in turn, is updated by their server software ... we, the Zen Cart Team, are no where in the loop on this ...

on my hosting [krystal.co.uk] the Fantastico package is defualt to show you that the upgrade link is:

"Only manual upgrade possible"

therefore forgoing the possible nightmarish upgrade forcing the user the manually check the files ect.

I have used a fantastico install once, and it was great. (Initial install only). I wanted to install on another site today, but it (fantastico's zen install) is not the latest version. As for only taking 10 minutes to manually install, I'd guess either you have one heck of a throughput on your connection, or you are working directly on your server.
We have a dedicated server, but we rent it from our hosting company. My FTP program tends to choke sometimes when I attempt to upload a full zencart. Maybe I just need a better FTP program. I'll have to get after my hosting company to update fantastico.

upload the folder as a zip and unzip it there