Site/Design Upgrade

[RuralWeb]

Technically you are only running the V8 site in test mode so it is not classed as having a live shop. When you are ready to go live with V8 switch to production mode and refresh.

You then have to retire the V7 licence ie you cannot build another site with it.

As far as design in V8 goes I tend to agree with you on that one, I have spent several months with V8 and attended the design course. The fact that the inner layouts are not editable in Dreamweaver as they were in V7 ie using the template manager is IMO a major step backwards.in ease of design.

I suggest you read the getting started guide AND forget how things were designed in V7 - have fun

[cdicken]

Hi Scott

Sorry you've had a bad experience upgrading your store to v8. Please do post on here if you have any questions, and I and others on here will be happy to help you out. There is a learning curve with v8, which will be frustrating at first, but I hope you'll find that after a while v8 is a lot faster to use than previous versions.

A good place to start is the Getting Started Guide, which includes an overview of the new Design features and how they work. There is also an upgrade guide available (http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=23756) which steps through how to upgrade a design while keeping your v7 business up and running.

[Spitos]

Failed to load the files of theme 'Business'. Upgrader failed

I've been trying to import a snapshot from v7.0.6 to v8.5.1HFUA but both times the upgrade process stopped at the checking themes stage with the following message:
Failed to load the files of theme 'Business'. Upgrader failed.

After upgrading the database and upgrading the payment service providers stage, I am asked:
Do you want to use the default v8 design for the imported site?

I have tried to carry on by selecting both yes and no on separate attempts, but the upgrade process still stops at the same stage

I thought this could have been the cause of my woes but it made no difference.

What could be causing this?

[Bruce]

Known v7 bug, sometimes the theme is not exported to the snapshot.

Work rounds are
1/. Use v8 installer to upgrade
2/. Export the current v7 theme to a custom theme before exporting the
snapshot.

Option 2 would be the best bet...

Please note that it requires the option 'Advanced | Custom Themes | Save Site as Theme' which is only available in Developer.

If this option is used make sure the DB is backed up first as once the design is saved as a custom theme it cannot be changed back to a customised built in theme.

- Close Actinic, selecting to Backup the DB.
- Open Actinic.
- Select Advanced | Custom Themes | Save Site as Theme
- Once the Theme has been saved select File | Snapshot | Export Site
- V8 may now be able to import the snapshot and upgrade the design.

Kind regards,

[Spitos]

Thanks Bruce that seemed to do the trick!

Now the fun starts

[Orchid]

For some reason, Actinic is not finding the original theme information in your snapshot file. Another way you can can try upgrading (if you are installing v8 on the same pc as v7) is to run the v8 'setup.exe' installation file again. This won't re-install v8 - but it will give you the option to upgrade a v7 site into your existing v8 installation.

I'm having this problem too - which version of setup do I run?

Actinic v8.5.1 patchFor v8 users outside North America. To upgrade an existing v8 site to v8.5, download and install this full version. It will upgrade your v8 installation, keeping all your current data intact. Make sure you follow the upgrade instructions above.

NB The patch does not include PayPal Website Payments Pro integration. If this is required use the full v8.5.1 upgrade version (below).
Actinic v8.5.1 upgradeFor v7 users and earlier outside North America. Requires a v8 licence key. To upgrade your site to v8, download and install this full version. It will upgrade your installation, keeping all your current data intact. Make sure you follow the upgrade instructions above.

[wjcampbe]

Current best advise is - always use the full version. I may take a few seconds longer to install (I'm not sure it does), but it guarantees you get everything in the build.