Nervous about upgrading...

[vbntn]

Hi,
I am running 3.6.8.
I don't have a large forum, but am concerned about the security issues I read.
I also read about people's forums being messed up if they upgrade.
So, I am really wanting to upgrade, but absolutely petrified of loosing everything or messing it up. It works ok right now..
I have made backups of the .sql databases thru my host. I have 4 .sql files backed up. Although, should the upgrade fail, I don't know how to install them.
So there..I'm a big chicken when it comes to this upgrade thing. But, as I see so many frequent upgrades out in the past few months, it apparantly goes smoothe most of the time. I dunno. I just jumped in and started this forum about 6-7 months ago and knew nothing about setting up and running one.
-Where is a list of the upgrades since 3.6.8? Is there a photo album now? I thought somewhere, I read that..but can't find it again.
-What is Impex? I read scattered info about it. Is it to help with the upgrades?
-What is the best way to avoid problems if upgrading? What is the most common mistakes?
-I want a membermap, but was never able to make that mod work. Is the only way to get a membermap is thru a mod? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to reload all the mods with each upgrade?
Thanks!

[jimjam]

I upgraded today from 3.68 to 3.74 It went well. I have had a few niggles, mostly with a third party template, but nothing major.

make sure you have backups of you DB and the site file structure so that you can roll back, if you have to. Go for it, its worth it just to stay on top of the security fixes

[newguy]

Originally Posted by jimjam

I upgraded today from 3.68 to 3.74 It went well. I have had a few niggles, mostly with a third party template, but nothing major.

make sure you have backups of you DB and the site file structure so that you can roll back, if you have to. Go for it, its worth it just to stay on top of the security fixes

ditto :up:

[Lynne]

I have a test site. I always perform an upgrade on the test site first so I can see what sort of issues will come up and fix them before performing the upgrade on the live site.

[UKBusinessLive]

A good tip before you upgrade is spend a little time in preparation, and the old saying is prevention is better than Cure

My tips for an effortless upgrade is..

1. Make sure your style is supported in the new version, if not you may experiance errors and parts not showing correctly, Perhaps its time for a fresh style ??

2. Double check all your mods and template edits, Download the new versions and save them all until your ready to install your upgrade, Then just reinstall the mods again.

3. backup all your data files and always remember to delete any install files you may have accquired during your upgrade.

So basically, to avoid interuption you'll need to do the upgrade when the board is least used, perhaps early one morning or late at night.

The great thing about this method is that you can make sure all your hacks and mods are valid for the upgrade and this is done before you change, this is equally important with the anti spam mods.

So for an effortless Upgrade, prepare then upgrade, Easy

Good luck