History of bitweaver R1 to R2 Upgrade

{r2}

Important

Please note that bitweaver version 2 has not been released yet and this is currently a page to collect notes about the upgrade procedure. Please do not use any of the informtion on this page yet!

Why we need this

We haven't had a release of bitweaver in a very long time. This is largely down to the fact that we want to provide you with a solid product. Also, we don't allow database changes between major releases, which means that we have to get the database just right. This provides you with a stable environment to work with but unfortunately means that release cycles can be slower.

Due to the long time, an uncountable number of things have been improved, but it also means that the upgrade process might be a bit more hands-on depending on your setup.

Generic Upgrade Instructions

Database and Files

To upgrade the filebase from R1 to R2 please follow the steps outlined on the bitweaverUpgrade page. There you will find instructions on how to backup your database and how to replace the old files with the new ones.

Installer

Once you have completed the above, please point your browser to:
http://www.cooldomain.com/install/install.php.
The installer will guide you through the upgrade process. Once the upgrade is complete, you can view instructions on what further steps are required below. depending on your setup, you might already be done!

Package Constellation

Due to the unnumerable changes, updates and improvements we have decided to modify the included packages in our bitweaver distribution. If you have been using one of the packges we have not included, you can get updated versions here:
http://www.bitweaver.org/builds/packages/HEAD/

R1	R2	Comments
ArticlesPackage	ArticlesPackage
BlogsPackage	BlogsPackage
CalendarPackage	CalendarPackage
CategoriesPackage		This package has been removed in favour of the PigeonholesPackage
ChatterboxPackage		This package was never used much and probably needs a javascript update
FisheyePackage	FisheyePackage
GalaxiaPackage		This is a very specialised package and has to be installed manually if needed or required
Gallery2Package		We now only support FisheyePackage
GatekeeperPackage	GatekeeperPackage
HotwordsPackage		This package isn't used much and we thought we'd keep bitweaver slimmer
MessagesPackage	MessagesPackage
MultisitesPackage		This is a very specialised package and has to be installed manually if needed or required
NewslettersPackage	NewslettersPackage
NexusPackage	NexusPackage
PdfPackage	PdfPackage
PhpbbPackage	BoardsPackage	This has been replaced by our inhouse forum package BoardsPackage
PigeonholesPackage	PigeonholesPackage	This package was available in R1 as well but now is the only categories package available
QuicktagsPackage	QuicktagsPackage
QuotaPackage	QuotaPackage
RssPackage	RssPackage
SearchPackage	SearchPackage
ShoutboxPackage	ShoutboxPackage
SmileysPackage	SmileysPackage
	StarsPackage	A ratings package that allows users to rate all available content
StatsPackage	StatsPackage
StickiesPackage	StickiesPackage
	TagsPackage	A Package to tag content - similar to categorising but allows everyone to very easily tag content
TinymcePackage	FckeditorPackage	The verdict isn't out yet on what WYSIWYG package we'll bundle with bitweaver
	TreasuryPackage	Finally we have a file gallery that ships with bitweaver
WikiPackage	WikiPackage
XmlrpcPackage		We don't have any use for this package and thought we'd remove it until we do

Package specific notes

Themes

Themes have undergone some fundamental changes. We now allow for dynamic layouts and for modules in all 4 areas around the center content. These changes might cause minor issues with your existing custom themes. We will try to put up a page about the details of the changes soon or you can visit us on ConnectingToIRC.

NexusPackage

If you are using nexus on your homepage and you are using a nexus menu in the top bar, upgrading to R2 will probably cause some problems. the easiest way to resolve these is to go to the Administration > Nexus > Settings screen and rewrite the menu cache. This will not restore the menu yet though. Now you need to go to the Adminstration > Themes > Manage Layouts page. Here you need to enable modules in the top layout area in the Column Control tab. After that you can assign your nexus menu to the top bar. Now you should have the old menu back in the top bar.

CategoriesPackage

Categories are now no longer part of the default bitweaver release. If you want to continue using categories, please download a version here.

ArticlesPackage

Images for topics will unfortunately not be displayed in the articles page. there is a very easy fix to this. Please go to the article topic administration page and edit every topic and reupload the topic images. if you still have original versions of the topic images, we recommend you use those since image processing has been improved. if you don't have the original files, please copy the original ones and re-upload those. Once you have done that, your topic images should display as before.

phpBBPackage

If you have been using phpBB so far, we have some good news. we finally have our own boards package called BoardsPackage. you can find upgrade instructions on the phpBB to Boards Upgrade page.

Themes and Styles

If you have a custom theme, your theme might not be compatible with the new version of bitweaver. Please make sure you compare your custom templates with the new versions of the templates to make sure that your custom templates still work with the new bitweaver. many variables and other things have changed, so it might be easiest to copy a version of the new templates to your custom style directory and apply the changes there.

Final note

We do appologise that the upgrade process is so tedious but there will be no database changes for a while and future upgrades will be very safe, easy and quick. If you liked bitweaver R1 we can guarantee that you will love bitweaver R2 and the upgrade process will be worth the hassle.

Important

We don't allow database changes between major releases, which means that we have to get the database just right. This provides you with a stable environment to work with but unfortunately means custom term papers that release cycles can be slower. Due to the long time, an uncountable number of things have been improved, but it also means that the upgrade process might be a bit more hands-on depending on your setup.

Major Revision Upgrade Instructions

Database and Files

To upgrade the filebase from R1 to R2 please follow the steps outlined on the bitweaverUpgrade page. There you will find instructions on how to backup your database and how to replace the old files with the new ones.

Installer

Once you have completed the above, please point your browser to:
http://www.cooldomain.com/install/install.php.
The installer will guide you through the upgrade process. Once the upgrade is complete, you can view instructions on what further steps are required below. depending on your setup, you might already be done!

Package Constellation

Due to the unnumerable changes, updates and improvements we have decided to modify the included packages in our bitweaver distribution. If you have been using one of the packges we have not included, you can get updated versions here:
http://www.bitweaver.org/builds/packages/HEAD/

R1	R2	Comments
ArticlesPackage	ArticlesPackage
BlogsPackage	BlogsPackage
CalendarPackage	CalendarPackage
CategoriesPackage		This package has been removed in favour of the PigeonholesPackage
ChatterboxPackage		This package was never used much and probably needs a javascript update
FisheyePackage	FisheyePackage
GalaxiaPackage		This is a very specialised package and has to be installed manually if needed or required
Gallery2Package		We now only support FisheyePackage
GatekeeperPackage	GatekeeperPackage
HotwordsPackage		This package isn't used much and we thought we'd keep bitweaver slimmer
MessagesPackage	MessagesPackage
MultisitesPackage		This is a very specialised package and has to be installed manually if needed or required
NewslettersPackage	NewslettersPackage
NexusPackage	NexusPackage
PdfPackage	PdfPackage
PhpbbPackage	BoardsPackage	This has been replaced by our inhouse forum package BoardsPackage
PigeonholesPackage	PigeonholesPackage	This package was available in R1 as well but now is the only categories package available
QuicktagsPackage	QuicktagsPackage
QuotaPackage	QuotaPackage
RssPackage	RssPackage
SearchPackage	SearchPackage
ShoutboxPackage	ShoutboxPackage
SmileysPackage	SmileysPackage
	StarsPackage	A ratings package that allows users to rate all available content
StatsPackage	StatsPackage
StickiesPackage	StickiesPackage
	TagsPackage	A Package to tag content - similar to categorising but allows everyone to very easily tag content
TinymcePackage	FckeditorPackage	The verdict isn't out yet on what WYSIWYG package we'll bundle with bitweaver
	TreasuryPackage	Finally we have a file gallery that ships with bitweaver
WikiPackage	WikiPackage
XmlrpcPackage		We don't have any use for this package and thought we'd remove it until we do

Package specific notes

Themes

Themes have undergone some fundamental changes. We now allow for dynamic layouts and for modules in all 4 areas around the center content. These changes might cause minor issues with your existing custom themes. We will try to put up a page about the details of the changes soon or you can visit us on ConnectingToIRC.

NexusPackage

If you are using nexus on your homepage and you are using a nexus menu in the top bar, upgrading to R2 will probably cause some problems. the easiest way to resolve these is to go to the Administration > Nexus > Settings screen and rewrite the menu cache. This will not restore the menu yet though. Now you need to go to the Adminstration > Themes > Manage Layouts page. Here you need to enable modules in the top layout area in the Column Control tab. After that you can assign your nexus menu to the top bar. Now you should have the old menu back in the top bar.

CategoriesPackage

Categories are now no longer part of the default bitweaver release. If you want to continue using categories, please download a version here.

ArticlesPackage

Images for topics will unfortunately not be displayed in the articles page. there is a very easy fix to this. Please go to the article topic administration page and edit every topic and reupload the topic images. if you still have original versions of the topic images, we recommend you use those since image processing has been improved. if you don't have the original files, please copy the original ones and re-upload those. Once you have done that, your topic images should display as before.

phpBBPackage

If you have been using phpBB so far, we have some good news. we finally have our own boards package called BoardsPackage. you can find upgrade instructions on the phpBB to Boards Upgrade page.

Themes and Styles

If you have a custom theme, your theme might not be compatible with the new version of bitweaver. Please make sure you compare your custom templates with the new versions of the templates to make sure that your custom templates still work with the new bitweaver. many variables and other things have changed, so it might be easiest to copy a version of the new templates to your custom style directory and apply the changes there.

Storage

Storage now requires a bit_setup_inc.php file. Please make sure you copy accross the file storage/bit_setup_inc.php from the clean filebase to your existing storage directory.

Final note

We do appologise that the upgrade process is so tedious but there will be no database changes for a while and future upgrades will be very safe, easy and quick. If you liked bitweaver R1 we can guarantee that you will love bitweaver R2 and the upgrade process will be worth the hassle.