Why did I bother - 8.5.1

[nik-ret]

Guys sorry to butt in but Jo and Lee seem the perfect ones for this question.

We've got a pretty solid v7.0.6 site running doing great business but was planning to migrate to v8 MU. Have the software in hand but am now somewhat worried about upgrading. We could really do with the ability to change components on duplicate products hence the move however, we don't need that feature as much as we need a working site. Should I

a) stay put for now
b) upgrade
c) face starting the layouts from scratch and import products
d) look forward to working Lee's hours

Nik

[Darren B]

If you are thinking about it

try it, you can run V8 on the same m/c a V7 import it and run in test mode to see how it go's, i had no problems with all but 1 site which is still stuck on V7 until i get some time to sort it out.

Most of the problems are around customisation problems rather than V8 itself. Actinic struggles with things it did not do

just my opinion
Darren

[leehack]

Nik

Its such a subjective answer. How amended is you current store? the more the worse it will be. Why not approach it from a different angle and see it as an opportunity to get the site freshened up and have a new design. You don't need to worry about how it upgrades then.

Try the upgrade and see what it does, i just think sticking to the same design for your V8 is a bit....well boring really, it's a great chance to freshen things up, you won't do it again for another 18 months at least.

You won't mess anything up trying it anyway, that's for sure.

[nik-ret]

Thanks Lee and Darren

That's what I thought. To be honest the site is in serious need of a refresh. Looking dated and the templates are soooo badly modified/coded by myself as a first attempt but it just grew and grew.

I think the best plan will be to leave v8 in it's box until I have the time to start from scratch on the design. Is it fairly straight forward to just import the content after that?

[leehack]

Getting the content in, is a piece of p..... Thats the easiest bit of it all. You can use both versions simultaneously on the same web server, there is no reason to delay unless you have no time at all to spare. They will work independently of each other.

[Jan]

We could really do with the ability to change components on duplicate products hence the move however

You can't do this in V8, sorry.

Regards,

[nik-ret]

REALLY?

Well that changes things a bit! I was told by Actinic that it would! Still this was a while ago and it was the sales dept!

That's not good news at all......

What about CUSTOMVARs?

[leehack]

I thought it was strange when you said it, however i put it down to something i hadn't picked up. I don't think they will ever be able to do that because of the link between them. You could always get it to where you want and then pass onto sales to do it for you, if they're so sure.

Also forget all you know about V7, V8 is a new beast, no such thing as a customvar anymore. You can still create variables, though so dont panic. Perhaps you could have a variable bringing in the text on both products and have separate components then.

[Darren B]

I Actually find the variables easier to set up in V8 than V7 so they have my vote

Cheers
Darren

[pinbrook]

OK, BACK TO TOP.......

post 1..... i removed the folder from my laptop that was causing the conflicting filenames and re-imported my snapshot, chose the top option ie "do not mess with my design" and the upgrade went like a baby.

So it seems there is definate leakage somewhere. I do actually need that folder on my laptop as it contains all the admin for the business.

Any ideas?

[los_design]

OK, BACK TO TOP.......

post 1..... i removed the folder from my laptop that was causing the conflicting filenames and re-imported my snapshot, chose the top option ie "do not mess with my design" and the upgrade went like a baby.

So it seems there is definate leakage somewhere. I do actually need that folder on my laptop as it contains all the admin for the business.

Any ideas?

Jo, when you upgraded after removing your files, which version were you upgrading from again?

I have tried this with V7 just now and the site went a little bit mental (straight to v8.5.1) and there were no duplicates present.

[los_design]

Guys sorry to butt in but Jo and Lee seem the perfect ones for this question.

We've got a pretty solid v7.0.6 site running doing great business but was planning to migrate to v8 MU. Have the software in hand but am now somewhat worried about upgrading. We could really do with the ability to change components on duplicate products hence the move however, we don't need that feature as much as we need a working site. Should I

a) stay put for now
b) upgrade
c) face starting the layouts from scratch and import products
d) look forward to working Lee's hours

Nik

Stay put, update the site design from scratch with a clean 8.5.1 on test (seperate installation), test til it drops and then publish.

v8 is a big change as mentioned from v7 and all the major issues seem to be from bringing old sites into v8 not clean sites.

We have almost completed a few v8's from scratch without hassle to date(fingers crossed) but upgrading....thats another story as I am sure you have seen around the school yard postings.

HTH
Regards
Daren

[pinbrook]

Jo, when you upgraded after removing your files, which version were you upgrading from again?

it was 8.0.4 to 8.5.1

a) stay put for now
b) upgrade
c) face starting the layouts from scratch and import products
d) look forward to working Lee's hours

yes to all 4

[cdicken]

Jo - I'm really glad the upgrade worked for you in the end.

On the subject of upgrading, I'm currently putting together a list of improvements we need to make to the process of upgrading for the next version of Actinic.

Your comments here have been very useful, but if you could send anything you think is relevant to me at cdicken /at/ actinic /dot/ co/dot/ uk, I'll be sure it gets put in front of the people that matter.

[pinbrook]

Jo - I'm really glad the upgrade worked for you in the end.

Well yes and no Chris, we still have the issue of the folder that i do want to have on my laptop. At the mo I have a copy of this folder on a different PC, each time I move the folder onto my laptop I lose my design.

Your comments here have been very useful,

Why don't you have a developer day at actinic (or Devon!), invite 6 developers to thrash thing out for a day.I am sure there are a few community members who would come, and you probably have a few developers who you speak too on a regular basis who aren't active in the community. We can all then voice our concerns