How easy is it to upgrade from VBB3

[amacfly]

I have a website that I was totally unable to get upgraded from 3 to 4 and keep the same look, feel and functionality, is that any easier in 5?

Also do you offer a service to handle the upgrade?

www.bmwz8.us

[TheLastSuperman]

Yes vBulletin Solutions does offer an upgrade service :D.

1) Please login first at https://members.vbulletin.com and then click on "Purchase" in the top navigation. If you have not purchased yet you can add these "add-ons" while addint other items to cart etc etc.
2) From there click on "Get Add-Ons" at the bottom. Here is the page link - https://www.vbulletin.com/addons.html
3) Select the license your associating the "add-on" with and yes that includes services such as a site install/upgrade.
4) Now select the service which is "Professional Installation/Upgrade"

*Please note the description:
"Professional Install/Upgrade only includes vanilla install with no customization"

So with that being stated ^ I can tell you that if you're running a custom style on your vBulletin 3 or 4 forum you will need to remake it in 5.x format, also custom modifications will need to be reviewed as well. If you do want to purchase 5.x then I suggest doing so and setting up a clone of your current live site and testing the upgrade and preparing the style/other before you plan the actual live site upgrade that way you can sort any and all issues if any arise far far ahead of time ;).

[BirdOPrey5]

I have a website that I was totally unable to get upgraded from 3 to 4 and keep the same look, feel and functionality, is that any easier in 5?

Also do you offer a service to handle the upgrade?

www.bmwz8.us

To be honest it would be even harder to keep the look and feel of VB3 in VB5 than VB4. VB5 was a major change to the software, it makes the change from VB3 to VB4 look like nothing.

[amacfly]

Wow, that sounds daunting, so would you suggest I just keep going with 3, as we're all really happy with it.

I just realized that you guys are running 3.6 here too, is that because you like it better too?

[BirdOPrey5]

The version of 3.6 here has been custom edited beyond belief. It would be a giant project to upgrade this site so we haven't. The version number doesn't really matter at this point, so much code has been changed.

[amacfly]

That's great to know, and it sounds like there isn't really a compelling case to upgrade if the current VBB is working fine and everyone is happy with it. Maybe I should just find someone who can do all the latest security updates to 3.

[final kaoss]

You should have no issues applying updates. It's as simple as running the upgrade script for a few minutes and it does all the work for you.
That's great to know, and it sounds like there isn't really a compelling case to upgrade if the current VBB is working fine and everyone is happy with it. Maybe I should just find someone who can do all the latest security updates to 3.

[BirdOPrey5]

You should have no issues applying updates. It's as simple as running the upgrade script for a few minutes and it does all the work for you.

He would have issue if he doesn't want to actually download (buy) 3.8.7 but have all its security updates. He would need an expert (far beyond me)

[Max Taxable]

Wow, that sounds daunting, so would you suggest I just keep going with 3, as we're all really happy with it.There's no compelling reason to go to 4 or 5. None whatsoever. If you and your members dig 3, stay with it is my advice. They will have to pry MY version 3 out of my cold, dead hands.

--------------- Added 1379024275 at 1379024275 ---------------

He would have issue if he doesn't want to actually download (buy) 3.8.7 but have all its security updates. He would need an expert (far beyond me)He's got 3.8.7 already, if that is his site linked in the OP.:)

[Princeton]

for security reasons, I recommend upgrading to at least vb4

plus, the latest release (currently in BETA) is optimized to take advantage of the latest PHP and MYSQL updates

[Max Taxable]

for security reasons, I recommend upgrading to at least vb4Rather hilarious to see the words "security" and "vb4" used in the same sentence.:D

[AusPhotography]

We have a heavily modified vB4 site.
It took me about 30+ hours of work to plan, test and execute the upgrade of our site from 3.8 to 4.0.7
The actual upgrade only took 1.5 hours.

The biggest effort was the upgrade of plugins etc. Then making them work in the test site.
Only once I had the test site working correctly did I backup and upgrade the main site.

Kym

[AuroraStorm]

I need to upgrade from 3.7 but I have no idea on how to do that because I simply can't pick up the instructions. They read like "you know you should do this" or something to that effect. I would like to upgrade to 4 but I can't find where to have someone at vBulletin perform the upgrade. It's to the point where we get 404 errors when we try to post a new thread...

For instance:

The config.php file is commented throughout, so you should be able to work out what values to enter for the variables yourself. When you have finished, save the file and then upload the entire contents of the 'upload/' folder to your web server.

When this is done, point your browser at http://www.example.com/forums/install/install.php (where www.example.com/forums/ is the URL of your vBulletin) and proceed to click the Next Step buttons until the script asks to fill in some addresses and names for your board.

No clue as to what these mean...

[Brandon Sheley]

I would strongly suggest not to upgrade to vb 5.. it's a mess and will be for some time still.
vb 4 is okay, vb 3 is the best product out by vb right now though.


Do your research :)
Check out the alternitives

[Max Taxable]

I need to upgrade from 3.7 .Why?

The "need to upgrade my vBulletin" myth busted. - OzzModz.com (http://ozzmodz.com/showthread.php/1367-The-quot-need-to-upgrade-quot-myth-busted)

^^ A Must read.

[AuroraStorm]

Why?

The "need to upgrade my vBulletin" myth busted. - OzzModz.com (http://ozzmodz.com/showthread.php/1367-The-quot-need-to-upgrade-quot-myth-busted)

^^ A Must read.

Because when we try to create posts, we get errors like this:

"Not Acceptable

An appropriate representation of the requested resource /newthread.php could not be found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."

If I could just fix this I'll be happy but I really think I should upgrade to at least 3.8 but I'm not computer code savvy and have no idea on how to do this...

[BirdOPrey5]

Why?

The "need to upgrade my vBulletin" myth busted. - OzzModz.com (http://ozzmodz.com/showthread.php/1367-The-quot-need-to-upgrade-quot-myth-busted)

^^ A Must read.

I have a lot of respect for Ozzy but staying on a version like 3.7 with known security exploits is bad advice, from anyone. You might not need to upgrade from VB 3.x to 4.x or 5.x but you must definitely be running the latest 3.x version to be safe since it is the only one (well 3.8.7 and 3.8.8 beta) patched against all know exploits.

[BirdOPrey5]

. I would like to upgrade to 4 but I can't find where to have someone at vBulletin perform the upgrade.

You can order the Professional Installation service from the Members Area. The cost is $149. You can order this by going here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/

Click on the 'Login' link at the top, log into your account, then press 'Purchase' and then under vBulletin Add-Ons, click on 'Shop Now'. You will then be taken to another page where there is a dropdown that you should select the domain/license you wish to purchase services for. You will then see the option 'Professional Installation/Upgrade'. Select to purchase that and then click the 'Go to Cart' and complete your purchase.


That said an upgrade isn't going to fix the errors you reported anymore than simply re-uploading a fresh set of your existing files will and disabling modifications, most if not all will break during the upgrade to VB4 anyway.

[ozzy47]

Just as a FYI I did not post that, it was one of the other members on the site. :)

[Max Taxable]

I have a lot of respect for Ozzy but staying on a version like 3.7 with known security exploits is bad advice, from anyone. You might not need to upgrade from VB 3.x to 4.x or 5.x but you must definitely be running the latest 3.x version to be safe since it is the only one (well 3.8.7 and 3.8.8 beta) patched against all know exploits.Odd that none of the top ten sites running vBulletin have these issues. Odd that vBulletin dot org doesn't have these issues. It's a myth. But I DO recommend the latest version of vB 3 and always have. I sort of confused where you were getting from that article, that people shouldn't upgrade to version 3's highest tier. Of course they should, but no further IMO.

Because when we try to create posts, we get errors like this:

"Not Acceptable

An appropriate representation of the requested resource /newthread.php could not be found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."

If I could just fix this I'll be happy but I really think I should upgrade to at least 3.8 but I'm not computer code savvy and have no idea on how to do this...This sounds more like having to do with your host, not your software.

I DO recommend upgrading to version 3.8.7 however, but no "higher" until 3.8.8 is released.

[BirdOPrey5]

Odd that none of the top ten sites running vBulletin have these issues. Odd that vBulletin dot org doesn't have these issues. It's a myth. But I DO recommend the latest version of vB 3 and always have. I sort of confused where you were getting from that article, that people shouldn't upgrade to version 3's highest tier. Of course they should, but no further IMO.

This sounds more like having to do with your host, not your software.

I DO recommend upgrading to version 3.8.7 however, but no "higher" until 3.8.8 is released.

Large sites, and sites like vBulletin.org likely have staff capable of fixing security holes themselves and do not require patches from vBulletin. Obviously if you have a capable PHP/vBulletin coder on staff and can fix your own security exploits it's not as critical- but for most- it is.

3.8.8 Beta is as stable as any other version. I myself will be upgrading to 3.8.8 Beta once Beta 3 is released. It's time.

[Max Taxable]

Large sites, and sites like vBulletin.org likely have staff capable of fixing security holes themselves and do not require patches from vBulletin. Obviously if you have a capable PHP/vBulletin coder on staff and can fix your own security exploits it's not as critical- but for most- it is.

3.8.8 Beta is as stable as any other version. I myself will be upgrading to 3.8.8 Beta once Beta 3 is released. It's time.Of course, me too. I wasn't arguing against that. The meter from the OP was, "upgrading" to vB4 from vB 3.8. I strongly advise folks merely to think about it really hard, take their time making such a decision, ask themselves what is the compelling reason, and research it before doing so. And wish them luck if they do. I'm sure as hell never doing it.