I guess I am confused with the upgrade

[Chase]

I recently installed a fresh version of vB version 3.6.5 and I guess I am a little bit lost on the upgrade process. I understand that you have upload all the files from the "upload" folder. However my concern is towards the templates.

At this time I have not installed any plug-ins of any kind. All I have done is modified the navbar template -- by the way of removing some links as well as adding a few.

So I guess my question is... when I run the upgrade to 3.6.6 am I going to lose all the modifications I made to the navbar template? I read in the announcements thread that this would be a mandatory update.

Fill me in here. I am asking this because I want to know what I would be getting myself into rather than it hitting me blind side without knowing.

[Steve Machol]

As per the Announcement, the navbar is a mandatory change. You will need to revert that template then redo your changes.

[Chase]

Alright. With each upgrade that is released am I going to expect the same thing? By that I mean will I have to make mandatory upgrades to my templates in each upgrade?

[Steve Machol]

That depends on the upgrade. Not all templates will be updated with each upgrade and not all will be mandatory changes.

[stonepilot]

I was confused as well.

I was looking for line-by-line changes for each template. It wasn't until I read this thread that I understoood that I have to upgrade the templates and then figure out what changes I have made for each one and re-apply them.

[slappy]

One nice feature, when they release modified templates, is the template compare feature which allows you to look at your current and the new template, side by side, with the differences highlighted for you. This allows you to note what changes you have made and also to see what new materials have been added. It is the easist way I know to put your "old" modifications back into the "new" template.

The main issue you will have is when they have changed something which is actually involved in one of your template modifications. Then you will need some information about what you are trying to change.

Most things, which are just moving position of items or deleting items, such as links on the navbar and such, should be relatively easy to see and change again in the compare process.

Regards,

[Chase]

If I upgrade to 3.6.6 will I lose the color changes in the styles?

[DiSpy]

Just fyi... you could do all this with the built-in functions of the admin cp, however, I have an alternative method that may work for you...

I use a program called Araxis Merge (there are a ton of similar freely available programs, search google for one), then I create a folder on my desktop with 3 sub folders... the last release version templates, the new release version templates, and my customized templates (just copy these to your local machine so you don't mess anything up online). Then open araxis merge (or whatever program you decide to use) and compare all 3 next to each other... it'll highlight changes and let you merge the changes you want.

I find when I have all 3 versions side by side on a per file basis, it's very easy to see changes i've made and changes from the previous release version that the developers have made. (I do this with all my software, not just vB.)

Just my $0.02 cents... hope it helps someone.

[Ohiosweetheart]

One nice feature, when they release modified templates, is the template compare feature which allows you to look at your current and the new template, side by side, with the differences highlighted for you. This allows you to note what changes you have made and also to see what new materials have been added. It is the easist way I know to put your "old" modifications back into the "new" template.

The main issue you will have is when they have changed something which is actually involved in one of your template modifications. Then you will need some information about what you are trying to change.

Most things, which are just moving position of items or deleting items, such as links on the navbar and such, should be relatively easy to see and change again in the compare process.

Regards,

ppffffftt... that template compare thing is confusing.

[slappy]

One of the "features" of the "view history" system, is that it allows you to choose which template is the "old" one and which is the "new" one, by selecting the buttions before you view. This allows you to put the existing template, or the new version, either on the right or the left.

Once you learn the color code you should not have too much problem identifying where your changes occurred, because your changes will almost always be listed in "red," as "code removed" from the new template, "Green" will identify code "added" to the template, and "yellow" will identify code that vBulletin has changed in the template.

However, one can always use programs like TextPad and UltraEdit, or others, which will give you a text view of php files and then, with two templates open, give you a listing of line numbers and a "compare" of the two files, listing,by line number, exactly where, and how the files are different. You can then go to the specific line number and actually see the differences.

Regards,