Upgrading the Product

If you are upgrading to v3 from v2, please make sure to start this process by reading the article found here.

Notice: Be sure to backup your site and your database before attempting to upgrade.

This guide will help you through the upgrade process of phpFox.

If you want to save the hassle of upgrading your website, just order the Upgrade Service and our technicians will do it for you!

We advise that you read this entire documentation to get a greater idea on how to handle the package and solve any issues should they occur.

You will need an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client, if you do not have one you can download Filezilla for Windows/Linux or InterArchy for Macintosh.

You do not need an in-depth knowledge of PHP programming to install phpFox, but a working knowledge of FTP functions is a plus.

Note that if at any time you run into any problems be sure to check out troubleshooting section here.

This guide assumes that you have successfully downloaded the latest release from phpFox and have the ZIP file "unzipped".

The upgrade script only works with phpfox version 1.6 build 21 and newer so if you are running 1.6 build 20 or older you will need to upgrade to build 21 and then use this guide to get to version 2. It also will only upgrade content generated by the default unmodified modules. No themes or modifications will be upgraded.

Preparation & Uploading of phpFox

At this point you should have the zip archive "unzipped", which should have contents similar to those shown in this structure guide:

• tools/
• upload/
• readme.html

Go into the folder "upload/", which should have contents similar to those shown in this structure guide:

• file/
• include/
• install/
• module/
• static/
• theme/
• favicon.ico
• htaccess.txt
• index.php
• robots.txt

Next, upload the files and folders within the "upload/" folder to your site using an FTP client. Be sure to overwrite any old files. Some FTP clients may give you the option to "overwrite" or "merge", please be careful and consult the FTP client's documentation to make sure what each action does, the intended result is that existing files get overwritten but folders are preserved.

Once that is completed we can move on to the next step.

CHMOD & File Permissions

With the phpFox package there are certain folders and files that need write permission in order to execute certain tasks.

Below you will find the files and folders that must have full write permission and set to 0777 in order for the script to be installed.

You will notice in the list below we have the file:
If this file does not exist you are upgrading from a legacy version and will have to rename the file:
to Notice: Do not rename the file above if it already exists and/or you are upgrading from v2.0.0rc1 or higher.
Again, if you are upgrading from any v2 to a new v2, do not rename the file above.

• file/attachment/
• file/cache/
• file/css/
• file/log/
• file/music/
• file/pic/ad/
• file/pic/emoticon/
• file/pic/emoticon/default/
• file/pic/event/
• file/pic/group/
• file/pic/icon/
• file/pic/marketplace/
• file/pic/music/
• file/pic/photo/
• file/pic/poll/
• file/pic/quiz/
• file/pic/subscribe/
• file/pic/user/
• file/pic/video/
• file/pic/watermark/
• file/static/
• file/video/
• include/setting/server.sett.php

Once you have completed CHMODING all the needed files and folders continue to the next step.

Using the Web-Installer

An installer is provided to assist you in entering the information phpFox2 needs to connect to your SQL database.

Run the installer file through your web browser by entering the URL into your browser address bar (if you have followed our example, type in http://www.domain.com/install/index.php , naturally substituting 'domain.com' for your web address.)

Then follow these steps:

Step 1: Verification

We first check if the domain you are attempting to install the product on currently has a valid product license. There are several ways you can run a licensed product. You can run it on a licensed domain, which you provide the full path to where the software will be installed. You can also run a test site only for development purposes in a folder, sub-domain or localhost. The folder or sub-domain name must be called "phpfoxdev" or "development" and must be access protected. Here are some examples:

Step 2: License Agreement

Abide to the License Agreement to continue to the next step.

Step 3: Requirement Check

Step 3 will consist of checking your server if it meets the software requirements and all the required files/folders have the correct permissions.

Step 4: Updates

This step is automated and is when all the updates take place. Depending on what version you are upgrading from the time taken to complete the upgrade can differ. The older the version you are upgrading from the longer it will take.

Step 5: Completed

Congratulations your site has been upgraded to the latest version of phpFox.
If you upgraded from version 1.6.21 test your site, and when you can confirm it is working properly you can remove the folders:
/include/settings/
/include/modules/
/site/

Common Pitfalls

- I am upgrading but the site says "Install"
R/ Make sure you did not rename the file /include/setting/server.sett.php.new and that your site was working before uploading any file.

Still not working?

Best would be to get the "Upgrade Service" and our technicians will upgrade it for you.