How to upgrade JReviews

What happens to my existing listings, reviews and customizations when I upgrade

Upgrading JReviews does not remove your configuration settings, or any of your existing data such as listings and reviews. These are stored in the database and the upgrades affect mostly the file system. If an upgrade requires database changes, then this is automatically taken care of by JReviews. If you've made any theme or code changes, you should make a backup of your modified files before proceeding with the upgrade.

Upgrading the licensed version

Remote Upgrade

You can do a one-click remote upgrade by using the Installer/Updater menu in the JReviews administration under the Maintenance header on the left column. Always upgrade the s2framework first and JReviews second.

Remember to backup any files you've customized because they will be replaced during the upgrade. You can use the JReviews Code Overrides to move the files outside the core folders to prevent them from being overwritten.

We recommend that you use a development server to test the upgrade first and that you rename the jreviews_overrides folder to something else and clear the file registry before you upgrade.

The upgrade doesn't work, what now?

Enable FTP Layer in Joomla Global Configuration and try again. If that doesn't help, use your ftp client to temporarily modify the permissions of the Joomla /tmp folder to 777 and do the same with the components' administrator and frontend folders. For example /administrator/components/com_jreviews and /components/com_jreviews.

You can also use the regular upgrade method described below.

Manual upgrade

1. If you are upgrading your production server it's always a good idea to perform a full backup of your site, including database and files, in case you need to revert the upgrade.
2. Backup your JReviews theme and other files if you made changes to them. It is not necessary to do this if you are using JReviews Code Overrides feature to put modified files outside com_jreviews folder.
3. Uninstall both S2 Framework and JReviews Component
4. Install new versions of S2 Framework and JReviews Component
5. Re-upload your modified JReviews theme files (only if you are upgrading from a minor release, otherwise your old theme files might not be up to date).
6. Install new versions of JReviews modules and community plugins via Joomla installer. No need to uninstall them first which would require you to setup your modules all over again.
7. Clear the browser cache! Otherwise you may end up with non-working links.

Upgrading to JReviews 2.4 from earlier versions

Since this is a major version upgrade it won't be possible to upgrade remotely from earlier JReviews versions. Once you install JReviews 2.4 you'll be able to continue using the remote updater.

1. Create a development site first to test the upgrade. You can use website cloning tools like AkeebaBackup for this purpose.
2. Uninstall GeoMaps and PaidListings.
3. Remove any overrides. You can do this quickly by renaming the whole 'jreviews_overrides' folder to something else. Never rename this folder back to 'jreviews_overrides' because you will break JReviews. You can't use any old files with the new version.
4. Uninstall the s2Framework and JReviews components.
5. Download the package from the client area, your upgrades need to be valid or you need to order a new upgrades package.
6. Install the new S2Framework and JReviews and CLEAR the browser cache.
7. If you have a GeoMaps or PaidListings license, install them from the remote installer in JReviews and CLEAR the browser cache.
8. Install the new modules on top of the ones you've already installed. No need to uninstall them first.
9. Go to the JReviews remote installer and install the 'Image Migrator' add-on and then follow the instructions. You need to setup the storage settings for photos before you run the migrator.

Upgrading from JReviews 2.2 to JReviews 2.3

1. If you have GeoMaps add-on in JReviews 2.2, first you need to remove it. You can do that on the Installer/Updater page. If that won't work, you can manually delete the "geomaps" folder inside /components/com_jreviews_addons.
2. Follow the Manual upgrade steps from above.
3. Important: Your old theme files will not work in JReviews 2.3 and you will need to re-do the modifications in new themes.

Troubleshooting a broken upgrade

The most important thing to do when an upgrade presents broken functionality is to test the same function without any theme or code changes. If you use the code overrides functionality, you should rename the jreviews_overrides folder and clear the file registry. If the issue is solved, it means you need to update your modified files to bring them up to date with their most recent versions.

If you have made any theme or code changes read What happens with modified files when JReviews is upgraded