Upgrading hacked forum and adding new skin

[arob42]

I'll be upgrading vbulletin from 3.6.8 to 3.7.2 soon and have some hacks that I want to keep that have modified the database. I also want to ditch the existing skins and add a new one. So, can I do this:

1. Delete the old styles I don't want anymore.
2. Upgrade to 3.7.2.
3. Revert all mods to templates in the Default Style.
4. Install the new style.

At this point I have a database with additional fields, tables, data for my hacks but no support in the templates. To add back template support, can I simply re-install the hacks choosing the upgrade option, and then manually apply any template edits that are needed?

I guess the alternative is to leave an old style in place that contains the hacks I want to preserve, upgrade to 3.7.2, check the differences in templates that need to be reverted, apply those differences to the new style.

--Robert

[Opserty]

Upgrading to 3.7.2 will only add extra fields/tables to your database, it won't touch anything that belongs to a modification.

Either one is do-able. Do which ever you feel more comfortable with. Personally I would have opted for the second approach, though it is more time consuming option and you need to know some level of HTML to see what is a modification and what may be just a upgrade change from 3.6.8. > 3.7.2.

I'd probably recommend the first option for yourself.