Upgrade? Guidance Needed

[drchevalier]

Hello,

 

Our shop is at 1.4.6.2  I see the notice that 1.6.x is available and that an upgrade can be performed.

 

I tried an upgrade a long time ago and the new theme didn't display key elements, and we lost all of our image files which numbered in the hundreds.  

 

Rolling back brought back the old version with the original theme but we still lost all the images.  

 

We have been reluctant to upgrade since then, but know we are in a very old state and also know that there is functionality that we just don't have and want.

 

Is there a best practice guide for upgrades that I can download and review?

I can make a complete copy of the store directory structure on the server, should I do that and upgrade it?

I have tried copying from the host to local to do testing but that really failed badly.  A server side copy takes about 10 minutes.  To download the entire store folder set via FTP takes about nine hours.  We are using Prestashop hosted at Netfirms which may be part of our problem.

 

We do not write code, we do not host and we do not have the skills or cycles to do so.  We are not in a position to pay a professional support organization, we are a very small business, our reason for choosing Prestashop over something like Shopify in the first place.

 

I am hopeful that there be Prestashop experts who can advise on the best practice for an upgrade or where to read how to do this without having the store blow apart.

 

Thank you kindly.

[El Patron]

Create a copy of your production shop.  Here you can try upgrade without fear of losing production shop or impacting visitors.  This is most important thing!

 

Any 3rd party modules and theme will need to be replaced with 1.6 compliant as there are 'major framework' changes between 1.4 compared too 1.5/1.6.

 

And to be brutally honest, this is best left to experts so you may want to consider getting a few quotes, all quotes should include installation and configuration of kick-ass theme.

[bellini13]

We do not write code, we do not host and we do not have the skills or cycles to do so.

 

I'm afraid to tell you, that your store is going to blow apart, and I say this because of what you wrote above

 

We are not in a position to pay a professional support organization, we are a very small business, our reason for choosing Prestashop over something like Shopify in the first place.

 

I would strongly suggest that you follow Fred's advice, and locate some funds and hire a professional to do this.  Get some bids first before you completely rule this out

 

Alternatively, read the upgrade documentation in the "LEARN" menu above.  If you can't locate the upgrade guide and follow it, then you are in no position to attempt this.

[drchevalier]

Thank you to El Patron and Bellini13 for the initial responses.  Your guidance is appreciated.  We will take your guidance under advisement as we decide what to do next, whether to continue with Prestashop or purchase an alternate solution that does not require external consultants or coders to keep it running.

 

 

[El Patron]

Thank you to El Patron and Bellini13 for the initial responses.  Your guidance is appreciated.  We will take your guidance under advisement as we decide what to do next, whether to continue with Prestashop or purchase an alternate solution that does not require external consultants or coders to keep it running.

 

It takes many hats to run an online business.  When you  did your last upgrade, the advice then same as now, do on copy.  Find out what you are getting into.  Note: if you  existing shop is in root, build copy on subdomian, this will keep images all nice and tidy.  But to be honest...last time you did on production,  that is why most of us will tell you to have someone else do it.  As for idea to leave to different platform, that falls on deaf ears here, that is even harder than upgrading..lol