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Need to change my site - new or amend?


warrenerjm

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Hi

 

This has all changed again, so I'm not sure if I have put this in the right place!

 

I was going to close my site a while back, but have decided to change direction, so I need to change the site a little. Now I think I am on 2.2 but can't be sure? How can I tell? All is working well, so do I start again with v3.0 or just amend a few things? I have notes for the contributions I used & 80% I still want, but would these still be available for the newest stable version? I guess if I have more I want to keep then I am luckily talking myself into trying to amend the existing one. :) Can design come after, or should it be first?

 

It is mostly design side but I also want to remove a couple of add-ons/or disable & add a couple like a coupon/code contribution, tabs at top with drop down (not categories though) & wish list. Check for seo/security updates. Front page loading time etc

 

I need to ask seperate questions for some of the things I am unsure of, but what do I need to think about to come up to speed with osc please?

 

Thanks

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Thanks for the reply. I am on 2.2 so do I need to upgrade to 2.3 or can I leave? How & where is the upgrade files? Is it a quick easy job or long hard one? Where will I find out what differences there is between them?

 

I'm looking around trying to get my feet back.Found up dates for some of my add ons.

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Thanks for the reply. I am on 2.2 so do I need to upgrade to 2.3 or can I leave? How & where is the upgrade files? Is it a quick easy job or long hard one? Where will I find out what differences there is between them?

 

I'm looking around trying to get my feet back.Found up dates for some of my add ons.

 

If you download 2.3 you will find the upgrade guide in the install package. I would personally recommend rebuilding your store from scratch onto a 2.3.1 installation and then importing your old database records into the new one.

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Julie,

 

There are still less than 20 contributions for v2.3.1, if you want to retain some of the functionality of your old cart, you will have to use v2.2 RC2a.

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Thanks

 

I am getting confused here :(

 

I have 2.2-MS2 & PHP 4.4.9

 

I see I need to upgrade from this to v2.2RC2

All I can find is a contribution to do this? http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/6654

 

In the upgrade from 2.2 to 2.3.0 it says I need to upgrade to 2.2RC2 first & then what looks like a long list to get to 2.3.0 BUT it will not be a fully upgraded version.

 

Then the next upgrade to 2.3.1 shouldn't be recommended.

 

So do i upgrade as far as v2.2RC2 only?

 

Reading the upgrade to 2.3.0 I cannot see what I have to do? It only have a file title & snippets of code, so I'm not sure what I'd need to do if I needed to.

 

The last upgrade I did was much easier than what it appears now. Why does everything have to get more complicated? Is it to discourage us?

 

Looking at my installed contributions I really don't want to do them all again on a mew install. I'd rather upgrade the contributions I need to & then work on the design side. I also don't understand some of my own notes!! :lol:

 

Thanks

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Julie,

 

If you want to use ANY of the contributions currently in your store, then you should use V2.2 RC2a. Atleast until the contributions are updated to be compatible with v2.3.1.

 

If you can't find upgrade instructions from your version to the next, check the GITHUB Repository for prior versions and upgrade instructions.

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Hi Chris

 

That is the site I haven't seen before today & don't understand?

 

I will hopefully be able to upgrade to v2.2 RC2a from the contribution & then leave it at that for the time being.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

ps my daughter is studying in London, Ontario at the moment. Loving it. She was gutted we got snow before you did though! :lol:

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Thanks

 

I am getting confused here :(

 

I have 2.2-MS2 & PHP 4.4.9

 

I see I need to upgrade from this to v2.2RC2

All I can find is a contribution to do this? http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/6654

 

In the upgrade from 2.2 to 2.3.0 it says I need to upgrade to 2.2RC2 first & then what looks like a long list to get to 2.3.0 BUT it will not be a fully upgraded version.

 

Then the next upgrade to 2.3.1 shouldn't be recommended.

 

So do i upgrade as far as v2.2RC2 only?

 

Reading the upgrade to 2.3.0 I cannot see what I have to do? It only have a file title & snippets of code, so I'm not sure what I'd need to do if I needed to.

 

The last upgrade I did was much easier than what it appears now. Why does everything have to get more complicated? Is it to discourage us?

 

Looking at my installed contributions I really don't want to do them all again on a mew install. I'd rather upgrade the contributions I need to & then work on the design side. I also don't understand some of my own notes!! :lol:

 

Thanks

 

If you are looking to upgrade at this time, you should be looking to do so to V2.3.1

 

V2.2Rc2 is old, has code compatibility issues now, and has security holes which are fixed in V2.3.1

 

The number of contributions for V2.3 are growing by the day if that is a concern for anyone.

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And a couple of those 15 are not contributions, but are 1 line "tips/tricks".

 

But, anyway, Jim - you asked; "what do I need to think about to come up to speed with osc please"

 

1. download and install 2.3.1. Install it on localhost.

2. I made about 20 or so blog posts on my blog (linked on my "about me" page) - reading these will give you a bit of a head start.

3. play with 2.3.1 for a week

4. Hunt the net for any tutorial on "960 grid system" - have fun with that.

5. Decide the contributions you need, and know that the vast majority of 2.2 contributions are fine to use in 2.3.1 (though some may be referencing files that do exist in 2.2 but don't exist in 2.3.1)

 

And remember, if it's all too much, get someone to do it for you. There are at least 3 people in the forum who are able to recode anything from 2.2 to 2.3.1.

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My opinion is that the correct forum advice to give anybody asking for it here, should be to upgrade to V2.3x

 

Anybody looking to use V2.2 now, is just leaving themselves a ton of work later to get up to speed with the improvements made in 2.3

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Hi Guys

 

Thanks for all the advise. It seems that there is a even split with all all being suggested? See how a girl can get easily confused! :lol:

 

It is a live shop but from 31st december I want to concentrate on making it better & hopefully getting that done in a couple of months.

 

Should I keep it viewable to keep the site linked for when I open? Before I made a site & had it password protected but links were still listed? I also did a second one & this "test" site was also password protected & again I saw some links showing up. I don't know how they got there? I don't know how to make a test site with server on my computer, or how to have a landing page to say "I'm shut for a few months"?

 

With the communities help adding contributions is OK, but I have also added things like a title for customers on all necessary pages & invoices etc which i had trouble with. I don't fancy doing all that again! Does the new 2.3.1 have this simple function included as default? (always should have been in my eyes but probably not thought of as important?)

 

Maybe I could install 2.3.1 on the server under .../test or another word/..., password protect it & start adding the contributions I want... & hope they work. Would all the important seo type ones be compatible & the minor ones may be a case of luck or leave?

 

My front page seemed quite slow at loading & so I wonder whether we don't need too many add ons & concentrate on seo & design layout?

 

Please could you advise how to get my site into a good position so I can do the work & secure it from unwanted listings until I am open, without harming my site too much. I know that last time I moved everything about it took a while for the links to come back & I was quiet!

 

I'll list which ones I am thinking I need to put back on & whether you think I could do them on 2.3.1 & if I have missed any from being absent for a while.

 

Thanks so much for your input. Much appreciated. :)

 

Julie

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And a couple of those 15 are not contributions, but are 1 line "tips/tricks".

 

But, anyway, Jim - you asked; "what do I need to think about to come up to speed with osc please"

 

1. download and install 2.3.1. Install it on localhost.

2. I made about 20 or so blog posts on my blog (linked on my "about me" page) - reading these will give you a bit of a head start.

3. play with 2.3.1 for a week

4. Hunt the net for any tutorial on "960 grid system" - have fun with that.

5. Decide the contributions you need, and know that the vast majority of 2.2 contributions are fine to use in 2.3.1 (though some may be referencing files that do exist in 2.2 but don't exist in 2.3.1)

 

And remember, if it's all too much, get someone to do it for you. There are at least 3 people in the forum who are able to recode anything from 2.2 to 2.3.1.

 

Thanks

 

I don't fully understand localhost, or "960 grid system" :blink: but i will read your blog posts thanks.

 

Wish i could pay someone else but financially not possible & I want to learn ... if people are willing to teach.

 

Just having this forum to talk things through helps.

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If your want to preserve your SEO position, then the idea is to build and test an exact replica of what you have currently onto a test database, and then run it live when you feel that you have achieved that.

 

V2.3.1 has some SEO features out of the box, like in built header tags for some pages. I see there is a contribution for V2.3 that extends this for more pages than the default out of the box installation.

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Please could you advise how to get my site into a good position so I can do the work & secure it from unwanted listings until I am open, without harming my site too much.

 

Julie

 

While you are working on your site, set robots.txt to Disallow All. This will prevent new pages from being indexed, and it won't cause your old pages to drop out of the index.

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While you are working on your site, set robots.txt to Disallow All. This will prevent new pages from being indexed, and it won't cause your old pages to drop out of the index.

Ohh OK thanks. Do i leave my existing site as is & start a new one in a test area? I take it I don't password protect either? I can just add a note on the index page of the existing site to some back soon!

 

I actually want a different site, as in the design which won't affect seo I know, but also the products will all change. I have been deleting them as they have sold out & will add new ones to my site as soon as possible.

 

Just listed the contributions I have 41 (9 i don't want but 10 extra ones)Hoping the main ones work with 2.3.1 like Header tags seo, Ultimate SEO URLs, Dynamic Sitemap, Google XML sitemap SEO, spiders txt, 'on the fly' auto thumbnailer using GD library? Want to add site monitor, security pro, CCGV or similar, Google analytical, wishlist & easy populate maybe?

 

Any advise on these please?

 

Thanks for help getting back into osc. :)

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Ohh OK thanks. Do i leave my existing site as is & start a new one in a test area? I take it I don't password protect either? I can just add a note on the index page of the existing site to some back soon!

 

 

Ideally you do not want to be working and testing on a live site. Preferably in a password protected folder, then you don't need to worry about robots.txt

 

 

 

 

 

Just listed the contributions I have 41 (9 i don't want but 10 extra ones)Hoping the main ones work with 2.3.1 like Header tags seo, Ultimate SEO URLs, Dynamic Sitemap, Google XML sitemap SEO, spiders txt, 'on the fly' auto thumbnailer using GD library? Want to add site monitor, security pro, CCGV or similar, Google analytical, wishlist & easy populate maybe?

 

Any advise on these please?

 

1) V2.3.1 has inbuilt header tags code. You can use that together with a contribution in the add-on section to get header tags for your store. Alternatively, you can get Header Tags SEO to work on V2.3.1 if you wanted to.

2) Ultimate SEO URLs work with V2.3.1.

3) Spiders.txt work with V2.3.1.

4) Don't know about this thumbnailer, but oscthumb works with V2.3.1

5) Security Pro works with V2.3.1

6) Easy Populate works with V2.3.1. Just change the HTML in the admin to get the javascript menu to work if you need that.

7) Google Analytical - If you mean the tracking code, yes it works no problem.

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Fab. That will do me to start with! :lol:

 

I will leave my live site up, & maybe add the code to robots.txt and put my test site in a different directory with password protection.

 

Before I chose to make Header Tags Controller the first contribution so I could upload easily, but as I want to have a discount code system instead of points & rewards this time should I upload CCGV first as it seems hard & unfortunately not supported? I just want a system that I can use discount codes for %off or free P&P etc. It will help with promotions & see where the advertising is best working. Points is popular but everywhere seems to offer discounts now.

 

Just downloaded the 2.3.1 & been reading the manual. Some changes but still basically the same. Can't see what the front end looks like but the admin side looks similar.

 

I do wonder about the download side, as it didn't work properly in ms2 so I used super download shop contribution. Is that the same with 2.3.1?

 

Now to remember all the details to upload & create a new database!

 

:thumbsup: Thanks

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