Question K 1.5.11 -> K . 1.5.12: How to upgrade and keep my customisations

Thanks for the quick response.

I read instructions on kunena docs about upgrading. They sound scary, at least to me. The reason I'm scared is I've customized the kunena template with other extensions and a couple of more minor changes. I keep making changes whenever I feel there is a need, so I don't really keep track of all changes. Upgrading means losing all those changes and starting from scratch.

Is there a way that I can replace a file or two to get this functionality instead of changing the whole kunena? I'm not saying replacing with a new version will incorporate new bugs or something, it's just that I can't afford to make those minor changes again.

Thanks.

nope all files need to be updated and to be very honest once K1.6 is out your change will be useless anyways as K1.6 works completely different.

G'day, ritesh_z, and thanks for your question. You will see that I split your subject from the original topic ( Prevent guests from downloading files ) because the other matter has been dealt with.

The advice we give about upgrading from one version of Kunena to another shouldn't be seen as scary. It's just that we need to warn our users to take certain precautions before they rush into an upgrade, hit problems and then bring their problems to us to solve. You've probably heard the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Anyway, as I've said on more occasions than I can possibly remember, although we're pleased to see users adapt Kunena and customise the product to their website, the number one problem is that most people don't keep good records of the changes they make. As soon as you make a change to any product you're effectively "on your own". It's your responsibility after that to reapply your changes whenever you upgrade that product.

Whenever you make changes, you should always keep handy a copy of the original, unchanged, software just in case your changes don't work. There are a couple of ways you can do this

1. rename your original files with a different extension, e.g. index.php -> index.php_OLD
2. always test any changes you want to make (or upgrades you're considering making) on a test site first; never make changes to your live site until you've tested them to your own satisfaction

If you're interested, you can read some further thoughts of mine on the general subject of changing Kunena (see Jomsocial and Kunena questions , as one example). But let me also add to that you shouldn't be too "obsessed" with perfection for your Kunena 1.5 template. You will need to start all over again when you upgrade from K 1.5 -> 1.6 ... what was the old saying ... "you can't take it with you!"

I take comfort in the fact that web technology is disposable technology: use it one day, throw it out the next, just like you would a Coca-Cola bottle. Would you spend hours washing, cleaning, drying or "redesigning" a bottle of coke? Of course not. And when the Coca-Cola people bring out a new design, do you spend hours trying to change it just so that you can drink from it? No, of course you don't.

As a general statement, K 1.5 templates have more compatibility issues between different versions than, say, some other forum products have. As a general statement, too, the CSS you're using now should work with the next upgrade in the same series (i.e. from K 1.5.11 -> K 1.5.12) but, if you have doubts, you should look at the differences. The most reassuring news is that K 1.6 templates will be compatible with later versions.

It's actually quite easy to upgrade Kunena from K 1.5.11 to K 1.5.12. We had a similar discussion, a while ago, about how to go about this process because, in that case, the user had similar misgivings about losing her changes. See upgrade kunena without loosing custom template .

But always keep in mind the message we've been trying to get across to our users ever since K 1.5 burst out onto the public domain: Kunena 1.5 template compatibility . Nothing to be fearful about ... just a few things to keep in the back of your mind.

Good luck