Proposed update path to 2.1 ?

[landyvlad]

Sorry if I've missed the answer elsewhere.

Will there be a simple upgrade path to the all singing all dancing solid gold release version (when that becomes available) -

For those with 2.0.15 ?
For those with 2.1 beta3

or will it be a matter of doing a fresh install and then importing the existing database... ?

[Illori]

as with all versions of SMF, there is an upgrade script.

you cant just import the database due to database changes.

[landyvlad]

Ah OK thanks.

So in fact you won't be able to do a fresh install for this at all (if you have an existing forum) the only way is via the upgrae path. Do I understand correctly?

[GL700Wing]

So in fact you won't be able to do a fresh install for this at all (if you have an existing forum) the only way is via the upgrae path. Do I understand correctly?

If it's like previous major updates the upgrade process will result in your existing database being converted to the new database format with a fresh install of all the core (ie, Sources and Themes) software files.  What you'll lose are all the mods you've installed and any other custom changes you've made.

[landyvlad]

OK thanks mate, so probably some pretty major work post upgrade to get things up and running looking the way i want.   Sound like a way to kill a whole day or so....

[GL700Wing]

OK thanks mate, so probably some pretty major work post upgrade to get things up and running looking the way i want.   Sound like a way to kill a whole day or so....

Oh how I wish it only took a day or so!!  I usually spend 2-3 months preparing for a major upgrade like this so that the updated forum has, as far as possible, the same look and feel as the current forum (lots of users dislike change!).

With the previous major upgrades I've done I've usually waited until a few months after the final version has been released before upgrading for two reasons:
1.  Fixes to significant bugs that weren't identified until after the final release; and
2.  The mods I need have been upgraded to work with the new version or I've worked out how to implement the mod changes myself.

[GigaWatt]

@GL700Wing: Exactly my thoughts. I've upgraded from 1.1.16 to 2.0.15 about 2 months back and I still haven't finished tweaking the forum.

[landyvlad]

I usually spend 2-3 months preparing for a major upgrade like this so that the updated forum has, as far as possible, the same look and feel as the current forum (lots of users dislike change!).

That's a long time - aside from the time you spend editing mods tomake them work for you (not something I;d tackle myself) what else do you do in these 2-3 months?

With the previous major upgrades I've done I've usually waited until a few months after the final version has been released before upgrading for two reasons:
1.  Fixes to significant bugs that weren't identified until after the final release; and
2.  The mods I need have been upgraded to work with the new version or I've worked out how to implement the mod changes myself.

Yep I won;t be upgrading my forum until after the final released has settled down happily.  But I will be updating a test forum for my members to familiarise themselves with, so I'm hoping that the mods I use are updated for compatability by the authors.  I have 21 mods installed. Likes and mentions are core features of 2.1, so that leaves 19 mods. Of those, 8 currently have 2.1 b3 compatible versions available.

I gather that with the upgrade from 2.0.15 to 2.1 teh mods will be 'lost. I presume that essentially means uninstalled, but with the mod data directories etc remaining.   Is it best to do it that way, or better to uninstall all the mods first and then apply the upgrade?

[GL700Wing]

That's a long time - aside from the time you spend editing mods to make them work for you (not something I'd tackle myself) what else do you do in these 2-3 months?

It seems like a long time until you've been through it once or twice - when it comes to upgrades like this the old adages of 'think of a number and double it' and 'it'll take as long as it takes' seem to always apply!

What do I do?  Setup a test forum - or sometimes two - to run a test upgrade on to see how it now looks, learn how it now works and get an in-depth understanding of the changes.  The most time consuming part is incorporating all the mods and themes I use (and finding or developing alternatives if necessary) and all the custom changes I've made.  I also try and get members using the test forum so that they can help identify issues.  And do lots and lots and lots of testing ...

Also, and I know it's a little bit different, but it took me almost 4 months of full-time work last year to migrate a vBulletin forum to SMF (and in the end I had to do it in several stages due to PHP compatibility issues) and when I first embarked on the project I thought it would only take 6-8 weeks as I'd already been using SMF for almost 10 years.

I have 21 mods installed. Likes and mentions are core features of 2.1, so that leaves 19 mods. Of those, 8 currently have 2.1 b3 compatible versions available.

I manage two forums - once has more than 110 mods and the other has more than 130 mods (and I've read about other SMF forums with more than 150 mods) - and I haven't event started looking to see how many of the mods are already 2.1x compatible.  In addition I have also implemented some extensive code changes of my own, I use a portal on both forums and I use custom themes on one forum.

And although the more mods you have installed the more involved a major upgrade will be we may both encounter a major issue with a mod we are both using and it may be a showstopper for each of us.

I gather that with the upgrade from 2.0.15 to 2.1 the mods will be 'lost. I presume that essentially means uninstalled, but with the mod data directories etc remaining.   Is it best to do it that way, or better to uninstall all the mods first and then apply the upgrade?

When you do a major update (eg, from 2.0 to 2.1) you start with a fresh install of all the core (ie, Sources and Themes) software files for that update and these replace all the core software files (ie, all the 2.0 files would be replaced with completely 'unmodified' 2.1 files).

[landyvlad]

Makes sense.

My problem is that I am using >1/2 the space available to me on my server, so I'm unable to duplicate teh existijg forum to test an upgrade of the forum.

And I can't do it off-line because I only have a 1 mbps internet speed and it would take about 3 weeks to download it....

[GL700Wing]

Makes sense.

My problem is that I am using >1/2 the space available to me on my server, so I'm unable to duplicate the existing forum to test an upgrade of the forum.

That will be challenging for you although to do the test upgrade you don't need to use a full copy of the database - you could, for example, just keep the last 60 days worth of messages and you don't need a second copy of all the external stuff like images.

Fortunately I have lots of space - and lots of free space - on both hosting plans I use which enables me me to have the main SMF forum for the website, a copy of the main SMF forum which I use for testing (it contains a subset of all the messages from the main forum), a vanilla SMF 2.0.15 forum and a vanilla SMF 2.1.x forum.

Might be worth considering a different hosting plan when renewal time comes or maybe even before hand if you can find a deal like this (15Gb of storage is good - you can currently get 12 months on the Freedom plan for less than $125).