version 6.15 update - what was fixed?

[Great Teacake]

Hi - I have been using Actinic Catalog 6.14 for ages and ages - i am just wondering what was fixed in version 6.15 and whether it would be safe to apply the 6.15 patch (downloaded from Actinic's website) to my version.

I see there are warnings about upgrading and that you should suspend orders etc. and this scares me a bit - i am tempted to just keep things as they are because it all seems to work fine...... or is it likely to be OK if I apply the upgrade? Or is it not even worth upgrading?

Thx!

[NormanRouxel]

Here's the Change log from the 6.1.5 release notes.

Enhanced FTP is now available (in 'Advanced | Network Settings') to allow a more reliable form of uploading for stores that are experiencing difficulties. Ref: a_c/1329

When you copy and paste a product with a pop-up window, Actinic will now always assign a unique filename for the pop-up page. Ref: a_c/1324

Using NQV:VARIANTLABELn and VARIANTSELECTORn for laying out attributes separately will now include the component information into the HTML. Ref: a_c/1321

If the value of the order is zero (because you have added an adjustment) Actinic will no longer crash when you try to open the order again. Ref: a_c/1322

Within Shipping and Handling, if you had one class containing 2 zones, with each zone having a different US state within it, a warning message appeared about "The following regions have been defined in more than one zone for the same shipping class". This is now fixed. Ref: a_c/1326

When placing an order for a customer account, the buyer's email address and phone number were always used within the 'invoice' details on the receipt - even when they should be using the main contact details. This is now fixed. Ref: a_ss/378

When you de-select 'Enabled' for a price schedule price, Actinic will no longer allow you to order the item. Also you will no longer have 'NETQUOTEVAR:PRICEPROMPT' appear when you de-select 'Enabled' for a retail price row. Ref: a_c/1323

The link from the product name in the shopping cart now works correctly in FreeTrial mode (i.e. when evaluating the software). Ref: a_ss/379

When using a store that had either PayPal or NoChex configured, there would sometimes be up to a 20 second delay in first creating the session file. This is now fixed. Ref: a_ss/380

A change to the actinic.css style sheet has been made whereby it will no longer cause an error about 'secure and insecure' items to appear in the checkout - when the checkout is running under SSL. The variable 'NETQUOTEVAR:BODYBACKGROUND' is now used within the css file. Ref: a_c/1325

The PREVQUERY parameter has now been removed from the scripts. This sometimes caused bounce pages to hang. Ref: a_ss/382

Actinic now sets permissions correctly on perl scripts that are in the SSL cgi-bin. Ref: a_c/1328.

A Perl function that is not supported in Perl versions earlier than 5.00.5 has now been removed from Actinic.pm. Ref: a_ss/377

[Duncan Rounding]

Rather than looking to see what has changed perhaps look from other way and think of what you else you would want it to do.

If you're happy with your current v6 and don't intend upgrading to the latest versions then I would leave it as it is.

[Great Teacake]

Thanks a lot for the replies

How likely is it that updating with the 6.15 patch will muck things up in some way?

[Mike Hughes]

How likely is it that updating with the 6.15 patch will muck things up in some way?

Very unlikely. I haven't heard of any new problems with 6.15.

The sensible thing to do is make a snapshot and store it somewhere before upgrading. That way you always have a backup solution just in case.

Mike

[pinbrook]

go with the old adage of it is aint broke don't fix it

but you will need to upgrade to v8 or 9 at some stage soon so its better to get thinking obout this

[Great Teacake]

go with the old adage of it is aint broke don't fix it

but you will need to upgrade to v8 or 9 at some stage soon so its better to get thinking obout this

oh no! why?

Would my current setup with v6.14 (snapshot) be load-able into these versions?

[cdicken]

Would my current setup with v6.14 (snapshot) be load-able into these versions?

Absolutely. We've had a few problems with v5 and earlier, but v6 will upgrade as well as v7.

[Great Teacake]

but you will need to upgrade to v8 or 9 at some stage soon so its better to get thinking obout this

why will i have to upgrade?


and if I do...is it simply a case of installing a newer version of Actinic and importing my snapshot? No need to edit / adjust ANYTHING??

[RuralWeb]

No need to edit / adjust ANYTHING??

Highly unlikely but you will need to try it and see what happens - use the 30 day trial

[Great Teacake]

But surely images and customized templates / html pages aren't saved in a snapshot are they? If I upgraded wouldn't it be a case of having to seek out images and other bits and pieces?
(The snapshot files just seem to be TOO small!!)

[NormanRouxel]

Everything that's needed for a site is in a Snapshot. Snapshots are compressed Zipfiles so are smaller than the sum of the bits within them.

[Great Teacake]

ok thx

and is there some technical reason i will be forced to upgrade soon? (would like to stick with v6 as long as possible really)

[leehack]

Technically, you may want to experience better SEO, better marketing features, better site architecture and just an all round better package really. If we liken the same to TV's, you will see where you are:

V6 - Standard 24" TV
V7 - Widescreen 32" TV
V8 - 40" Plasma/LCD

You can stay on what you have for sure, there is at least a couple others with the same idea. Not sure if it works with Vista, so make sure you keep the same PC or buy XP OS.

[NormanRouxel]

The Best Sellers and New Products capability in V8 alone, should be enough to recoup the upgrade investment.

As to being forced to upgrade, it's more likely to come from outside the control or remit of Actinic. The web is ever evolving and new browser, firewall, legal changes to how payments can be processed, etc may make what you're happily using now not work someday. Actinic support the current and immediately prior release so it's unlikely that there will any effort spent on keeping V6 and earlier compatible with the rest of the world forever.

As said earlier there's no risk to installing a V8 trial and importing your current site for a look. You could switch V8 to Test mode where it can upload onto a test area on your server while V6 carries on a s before.