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#1 01-05-2017 04:54:20

sdn
Member
From: UK
Registered: 05-29-2007
Posts: 882

V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Assuming we will at some point get our v9 upgrade (paid for 6 months ago) what is the official line on upgrading a live v8 site to v9 without any significant downtime?

It sounds like there are still going to be many issues to contend with in terms of updating skins, database, custom hacks added to v8, etc.

Is there a webpage or something somewhere that details the steps and procedures involved?

I am hoping you will tell me all I need do is run the installer and the importer will do the rest while I enjoy a coffee and 5 minutes R&R...


Simon

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#2 01-05-2017 05:58:44

zanart
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From: bedford
Registered: 04-02-2008
Posts: 1706

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

I would suggest you don't upgrade a live site!
You will want to run v9 in a development environment first, and import/transfer over all the V8 stuff to it before making it live.

After spending a few weeks getting my head around the new way everything works, I am estimating 3  - 6 months of solid work before I get V9 live for my site(and that could be 3-6 months 'Nick Time').

Last edited by zanart (01-05-2017 05:59:18)


Rob

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#3 01-05-2017 07:50:58

sdn
Member
From: UK
Registered: 05-29-2007
Posts: 882

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

3 - 6 months solid! So no R&R but gallons of coffee or maybe something stronger. Is it a big enough improvement over v8 to make it worth the effort?

Last edited by sdn (01-05-2017 07:53:06)


Simon

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#4 01-05-2017 09:29:08

webmaster
Administrator
From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

zanart heavily modifies the software for his custom framing site prior to going live.  Looks like he's gone so far as to integrate portions of bootstrap into the skin, implemented custom filters, programmed a good bit of the custom logic he needs for dynamic pricing of frames, etc.  I think once he gets running with it, he'll find that so much is in there now that required custom code before, even his site won't take 3-6 months, my timing or his.

K9 upgrades are installer/importer type upgrades like V7 to V8.  Install K9, run the importer, and you're 90% done.  You will need to address the skin, as that doesn't import/convert, and you'll likely want to spend time getting to know the new software and making use of at least some of the new functionality, perhaps reconfigure some things, etc. before going live.  I could technically rip an upgrade without mods and a basic skin in half a day, no problem.  Every site has something custom going on though.  How much will dictate how long.

As far as worth the effort, I think there's a ton of evidence there: average 30% bumps in generic incoming traffic, average 35% bumps in conversion rates, large increases in sales/revenues due to the ability to sell on eBay and Amazon channels, large increases in productivity due to new management interface functionality, accounting and batch shipping functionality, better customer servicing, better everything.  This did take three years to build for a reason.


Nick Hendler

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#5 01-05-2017 10:54:59

lgt
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Registered: 11-21-2010
Posts: 272
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Besides the shock & awe of everything being so different, K9 (which I like the name), requires a lot of extra input.

First it takes some playing around to get used to the difference of an inventory item and product offer.  A lot of the data entry details seem trivial or unimportant- they-re not!  As mundane as it is, they play an important part in how it all works.

We didn't think creating vendors was important.  OOPS!  Ties into accounting, purchase orders, searches, and inventory control features.

We didn't think adding barcodes was important.  OOPS!  Ties into Amazon and eBay listings as well as other features.

There's still plenty we have to go back on because of the accounting features.

One thing we did right was enter the shipping dimensions and weights for each inventory item.  Shipping during Christmas was a breeze.

Last edited by lgt (01-05-2017 18:57:52)









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#6 01-05-2017 11:03:23

webmaster
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From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Thanks for the post, lgt.  Yes, there is a lot of stuff that can/should be done post-upgrade.  There was so much added to K9 that's just not even part of V8 to make use of.  You point out some good ones.


Nick Hendler

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#7 01-06-2017 08:42:18

zanart
Member
From: bedford
Registered: 04-02-2008
Posts: 1706

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Looks like he's gone so far as to integrate portions of bootstrap into the skin

Nick, without going off topic, I am using bootstrap as some of the css is easy to use. I am looking at the parts I am using, i.e. buttons, grids and will move them over to the K9 style sheets.

Do you have any notes on the grid system you use - doesn't have to be anything in a proper manual format, just some rough notes?


Rob

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#8 01-06-2017 09:08:03

webmaster
Administrator
From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

I have a PDF I can share with you.  Please post a reply on your custom shop ticket asking for the current grid documentation.  It's about 90% complete, 98% accurate and basically explains how the grid works and most of the modification classes that can be applied to various elements.  It will be part of the manual in a few days.  Thanks.


Nick Hendler

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#9 01-06-2017 09:15:38

zanart
Member
From: bedford
Registered: 04-02-2008
Posts: 1706

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Done - Thank you


Rob

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#10 01-07-2017 03:25:37

sdn
Member
From: UK
Registered: 05-29-2007
Posts: 882

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

It sounds like the best path would be to keep our v8 site live while creating a K9 clone so we can get that setup in the background.

So will the importer offer an option to create a completely new clone including new database while keeping the original site intact or do we need to clone our current v8 site first and then upgrade the clone?

Alternatively, we might clone the current v8 site to a new server as the current one is getting old and cheaper deals are available with better hardware. Please advise on the most suitable server software and versions to run K9. We currently use cPanel so that would be easiest for us.

Last edited by sdn (01-07-2017 06:10:38)


Simon

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#11 01-07-2017 06:52:48

zanart
Member
From: bedford
Registered: 04-02-2008
Posts: 1706

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

You can run K9 on the same server domain. Just create a new folder, i.e. DEVELOPMENT on the server and install K9. K9 will need a new database.

Once installed, you can import V8 to the K9 install without effecting the live site. You can work on K9 until you are happy to switch V8 over. At this point, you can rerun the importer to transfer over all the orders and user accounts.

Nick, My update will take many months due to the way I do things. I always edits jslib.php so that the entire site is nofollow, noindex as the development is mainly a duplicate of the main site. If I didn't do this, i could be penalised by google for duplicate content. Could an index/follow on/off switch be added to the back end??


Rob

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#12 01-09-2017 08:21:18

webmaster
Administrator
From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

@zanart:

Nick, My update will take many months due to the way I do things. I always edits jslib.php so that the entire site is nofollow, noindex as the development is mainly a duplicate of the main site. If I didn't do this, i could be penalised by google for duplicate content. Could an index/follow on/off switch be added to the back end??

Add this to the head of your skin, right before the jslib namespace call:

Code:

$this->globals('core_display.noindex',1);

Also, disable sitemaps and Google Shopping feeds in K9, and add a disallow line to your robots.txt file for the dev directory.  I do all of the above when developing, less the noindex tag in the skin, because I've found disabling feeds and handling robots.txt is enough.


Nick Hendler

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#13 01-09-2017 08:25:00

webmaster
Administrator
From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

@sdn:

It sounds like the best path would be to keep our v8 site live while creating a K9 clone so we can get that setup in the background.

That's actually the only way to do it.  As zanart said, K9 installs side-by-side with V8 (both full installs) and then data/settings/media/etc are imported from V8 to K9 using the importer script (as many times as you want, up until launch date).

Alternatively, we might clone the current v8 site to a new server as the current one is getting old and cheaper deals are available with better hardware. Please advise on the most suitable server software and versions to run K9. We currently use cPanel so that would be easiest for us.

Sorry, I don't have any recommended specs here.  I can tell you if a server is able to run V8 (99% of them out there can), it will run K9 faster and with less resources.  I think newer PHP versions 5.6 and higher are the way to go, maybe even PHP7 (K9 supports this, V8 doesn't) with the mysqli extension in use for database connectivity.  The better your platform, the faster it will be.


Nick Hendler

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#14 01-10-2017 05:38:09

west4
Member
From: UK
Registered: 04-16-2008
Posts: 645
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Hi,

Can I install a Development version 9 on a separate server, and still import from ver8, so when I am ready to go live it is on newer platform software, for instance if I have php7 and mysql5.7 on the new server, would ver9 still need a copy of ver8's site on that server to use?
To clarify, can I import existing data (ver8) from a different server?

Cheers,
Bruce.


I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me, than a full frontal labotomy.

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#15 01-10-2017 08:09:27

webmaster
Administrator
From: York, PA
Registered: 04-20-2001
Posts: 19798
Website

Re: V8 to V9 Upgrade Procedure

Yes, you need them side-by-side to upgrade.  That doesn't mean V8 has to be working, though...

Copy your entire V8 install over to your new server and put it in a /temp directory.  Update the V8 public config.php file to reflect the correct server path for the V8 install (xxx/temp).  Update the V8 private config.php file so it correctly identifies a database on the new server.  Load a backup of your V8 database into the database you identified in the V8 private config file (easiest to do with .sql files).  No need to access V8 at all, or run it's installer - doing so will try to register the software license on the new URL and you don't want that.  Just ensure those server paths, and database connection info is right.  When you run the V9 importer, point it to your V8 pubic config file.  It will do all the work.


Nick Hendler

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