Is upgrading easier than I am making it?

I am trying to upgrade just to see how hard it is, and I read the upgrade instructions in the docs section and am trying to follow it step by step. So I installed a whole new install into a differnt directory so I have the new version there with a new database file. I am to the point now where it says to compare the files using WinMerge. This seems like a lot of work and I want to make sure I am doing it right. I thought the whole point of the template overrides was to make upgrading easy. I thought when it came time to upgrade, you would just upgrade the current version and all your custom template directories you created would stay and not get overwriten by the new version, and it would make it easier. I don't really get the point of comparing these files because a lot of them just seem to be minor things that would not effect anything. This just seems a lot more time consuming and difficult than I thought and I just wanted to make sure I am doing this the right way.

I wasn't sure about how to upgrade either but what I'm going to do is using my ftp I'm going to overwrite the old files, then check any mods that I've installed, then if necessary fix any mods. Shouldn't take to long and it should be easy ....... I hope.

There were a lot of changes in the new 1.3.8. One thing that helps me is to print
out the Changelog from 1.3.7 to 1.3.8 in the docs folder, so I can pretty quickly identify which files were used in my template or installed mods and need to be compared/updated.

dman76:

I thought the whole point of the template overrides was to make upgrading easy. I thought when it came time to upgrade, you would just upgrade the current version and all your custom template directories you created would stay and not get overwriten by the new version, and it would make it easier. I don't really get the point of comparing these files because a lot of them just seem to be minor things that would not effect anything.The point of the over-ride system is top prevent your changes from being over-written. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that your changes are compatible with the latest version. Even aparently minor changes can have a dramatic effect if not merged into your customised files.

For example, there is a new security token created when a visitor first arrives at your site and checked at key times such as when they login. If you've changed the login page and don't merge in the code to pass the security token (one line), then your customers will be blocked from logging in.

So what if I did it this way...

I copy the entire folder structure of the store to a new directory (say at www.domain.com/test). I backup the database and copy that to the store in the test directory. So then I should have two identical stores. Then, can I just unzip the new fileset and copy the entire contents to that test directory? Will that just overwrite all the system files and leave any template overrides I made?

dman76:

So what if I did it this way...

I copy the entire folder structure of the store to a new directory (say at www.domain.com/test). I backup the database and copy that to the store in the test directory. So then I should have two identical stores. Then, can I just unzip the new fileset and copy the entire contents to that test directory? Will that just overwrite all the system files and leave any template overrides I made?

Yes, that'll work. If you've used the override system correctly, your changes will be kept intact, but you should merge them with latest version of the same files. Something like WinMerge is helpful for that.

Is it possible to just do a new install and then export and inport the database or did you guys change the database also?

I think that you have just lost about 10,000 users.

Ok I have been messing around with Winmerge a little and it appears pretty straightforward. So when I go through each file, and I see minor things (things that I havent changed), I just leave these alone and use the whole new file? And then for stuff where I have added code or something that is totally different, do I just copy that over? Is there anyway I can copy something over that will do me harm in that it disables any thing on the new version that should belong there? I guess what I want to know is how do you know what should be copied over and what shouldnt?

Steps for updating your override folders:

Make a list of all files in your override folders (this is something you ought to keep current whenever you do work on your site.)

Compare the changelog with your list and note any files that match. There will be a bunch of files in your overrides that will not be in the changelog. These haven't been changed in the new version and can be left as is.

Files that have been changed will need to be winmerged. This may require a two-step process, depending on what the changes are. To be safe, you should first compare the new version file to the original old version file to see what was changed in the new. If the changes are not in the same part of the file as your custom changes, it may be ok to simply copy the changes into your custom copy.

You do need to understand what you have done and what the new version has changed, as sometimes there can be conflicts. If the new version has changed lines that your custom copy has also changed, then you may need to do some recoding to reconcile them. Obviously this has to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

I have found in previous upgrades that only a few of my custom files had to be compared, and hardly any conflicts arose. We'll see how it goes this time.

What is the changelog you mention? Is it a file somewhere?

You'll find it in the docs folder that comes with the release package.

Oh, so it it just the list of change from the previous version then? It has nothing to do with you changed then, right?

The changelog in the /docs/ folder is the files that Zen Cart has changed for the new version.

You should keep your own changelog for files you have changed in your custom template.

edit: did not see glenns post so I'm removing mine