I have some 15 to 20 hacks installed on my board.. No probs whatsoever.. everything is working just fine..

One question? If I'd upgrade then will I be losing all of my hacks, templates and other modification? including posts and replies?

Ah well, guess it's time to renew my license seeing as how it expired last week.. ;)

The new files and templates will overwrite your moded ones, so you will need to redo those file and template edits. Nothing else will change. But remember to revert the templates when you do the upgrade, a list will be displayed with the ones affected.

Bob

OK this makes me rather uneasy... I have a butt-load of hacks and plugins installed on my board, and it has taken me 3 forevers to get my board working just the way I like it and my members are happy. As far as products and plugins, I have everything but the kitchen sink installed, since I haven't figured out how to code the kitchen sink yet. LOL

I have my style backed up, which also took me a long time to get just right. I am more concerned about which hacks and plugins will be affected if I upgrade. Does backing up my style also backup the many templates I have edited, or do I need to back up each template individually?

I've just put far too much time and effort into getting my board to do what it does now, and I don't want to have to do it all over again to fix a few bugs with an upgrade to 3.5.4.

Can somebody please be so kind as to give me some reassurances and or hints, tips, and "do's and don'ts"???

Thanks in advance....this cowardly lion needs some courage...LOL :nervous:

95% of the Plugins will work correct after the upgrade. If you have done any code-modifications, you will need to redo them.

An export of a Style will also include all templates that are edited in that Style (or even in parent styles if you selected that option.

The way i always do this is as follows:
1. Create a Style called "Master 3.5.3", with now Parent set. I try to do ALL template edits in this single style. Not selectable for members.
2. Create Child Styles of the above that will be the styles that members will see. Try not to do any Template edits, just the CSS & color stuff. These will be selectable by members.

Now on a new version, i export my Master 3.5.3 style, and import it again as Master 3.5.4. I go over all modified templates to see if anything needs to be changed. When all works, I change the parent of all member styles to point to this new Master Style.

Styles are not selectable on my forum. I use one that I did with the members input as far as CSS, colors, and layout. Everybody sees the same one and I have it set in the ACP to not allow selection of styles.

Is there a way to back up "code modifications"?
I just do not remember off hand how many of my hacks were ones that were "code-modifications". My forum is a NASCAR driver fan forum, and we are in week 2 of the racing season, and if I screw stuff up on an upgrade and it's not working during racing season, my members will throw me under a bus. I'm just trying to save myself alot of grief...LOL