Upgrading from IP.Board 3.3.1

[Governator]

Hello,

I need to upgrade from 3.3.1 to the latest version.  I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to what can I expect after upgrading.  Will my current skin be completely removed, will I need to re-create it from scratch?  We have a large board (4 million posts), I believe IPS can upgrade it for us but just want to know what I should be aware of prior to upgrading.

My thought was to install the latest version as a test install and create a new skin for it (i'm assuming I have to anyway), upgrade the current board and then apply the new skin.

We find the 3.3.1 mobile is pretty terrible overall and I believe IPB 4 is responsive and will serve everyone much better.  We've been getting some complaints from users who have unsupported user agents with the old software.

Thanks,
Gov

[Jim M]

No themes or third party add-ons will work in IPS4 from previous versions.

[Joy Rex]

You are probably going to want to upgrade to 3.4.9 before attempting to upgrade to 4.1 - you can open a ticket with IPS and they can get you the installers for 3.4.9 since they are no longer supported/available.

I would do an extensive inventory of any plugins or applications you currently use, and see if there are either 4.1 equivalents, or they've now added them as standard features.

If you are using the old Subscriptions application and haven't updated to Nexus, you will need to purchase that (which upgrades to Commerce in 4.1). I would again recommend doing this on an upgrade to 3.4.9 first, ensure all your subscription info comes over correctly, then upgrade to 4.1 and Commerce.

I highly recommend setting up a test environment, upgrade to 3.4.9, then upgrade to 4.1, tweak and modify as needed (make notes as you go along), then go forward with upgrading your live site to 3.4.9 and then 4.1, noting the issues (if any) you encountered along the way and how you resolved them.

[Governator]

12 hours ago, Joy Rex said:

You are probably going to want to upgrade to 3.4.9 before attempting to upgrade to 4.1 - you can open a ticket with IPS and they can get you the installers for 3.4.9 since they are no longer supported/available.

I would do an extensive inventory of any plugins or applications you currently use, and see if there are either 4.1 equivalents, or they've now added them as standard features.

If you are using the old Subscriptions application and haven't updated to Nexus, you will need to purchase that (which upgrades to Commerce in 4.1). I would again recommend doing this on an upgrade to 3.4.9 first, ensure all your subscription info comes over correctly, then upgrade to 4.1 and Commerce.

I highly recommend setting up a test environment, upgrade to 3.4.9, then upgrade to 4.1, tweak and modify as needed (make notes as you go along), then go forward with upgrading your live site to 3.4.9 and then 4.1, noting the issues (if any) you encountered along the way and how you resolved them.

Great thanks for the advice.  I'll look to upgrade to 3.4.9 as the middleman step first and then to 4.1.  I'll contact support to get the installers.

Cheers!