• Lesson Index:
• Overview
• Installing Joomla
• User Accounts
• Link Management
• Assigning Privileges
• Submitting news
• Media Manager
• Adding New Category
• Admin Messages
• News Feeds
• Syndicate News Feeds
• Update Contact Page
• Page Impressions
• Customizing Templates
• More Joomla Notes
• TextPattern
• TextPattern Notes
• SubDreamer
• About SubDreamer CMS
• General Info
• Open Source Templates
• Upgrading CMS

Content Management System -- Upgrades

Upgrading the version of a Content Management System is not as easy as it may seem. As an example, suppose you have an current Joomla install of version 1.0.12 and want to upgrade to version 1.5 of Joomla.

You can not simply install the new version since that will overwrite your PHP file which most often will contain custom modifications. You need to do a file-by-file comparison of the existing system to track and extract any modifications. Then code-merge those modifications into the new upgraded Joomla. And you want to do the development work not on the live server, but on your development servers to avoid lengthy downtime and potential accidents.

A good process to follow that will provide you with a safe and reliable upgrade with only a short downtime is the following...

1) Full backup of current install and database.
2) File-by-file comparison of all files to track and extract any mods (modifications).
3) Perform an install of new version on development servers.
4) Code merge the mods into the new version on the development servers.
5) Test
6) Turn off your CMS community.
7) Put up a site maintenance page with the same look-and-feel as your site.
8) Perform an second full backup of your current install.
9) Upgrade to new version on live production server.
10) Migrate the necessary files from development server to production server.
11) Turn on your CMS community in the production server.
12) Test
13) Full backup of your new install.
14) Remove the site maintence page.

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