Upgrade From JomSocial 2.8.x to JomSocial 3.0.x on Joomla 2.5

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IMPORTANT!!! This page explains how to upgrade by using the installation package. If you want to learn how to upgrade using patch files, please click here
Note: You can not upgrade from version to version using patch files. Patch files are used only for updating within the branch

Upgrading to JomSocial 3

Before doing anything major to your site, always create a full site backup (files + database). A few minutes (literarily) can potentially save you hours of headaches and a poorly- or non-functioning site until the issues have been resolved. We recommend that you use this extension for maintaining backups: Akeeba Backup. We have prepared a short tutorial video (under 6 minutes) showing how to backup your site and restore it in case of emergency.

You can learn more about creating a Joomla backup by reading this documentation. If you find it too inconvenient to do a complete backup of all your files, at the very least, please have backups of:

  • {root}/components/com_community
  • {root}/administrator/components/com_community
  • {root}/templates/mycurrentdirectory/html/com_community
  • {root}/plugins/community

Make sure you are running at least PHP 5.3 Joomla 2.5.6 or above, the max_upload in php.ini is greater than 4MB, and most importantly Joomla! is running well, i.e. regular installation of other extensions work flawlessly. Read our system requirement before you proceed.

Go to Administration -> Help > System Info -> Directory Permission and make sure everything is Green.

Directory.jpg

Be assured that

  1. Upgrading JomSocial will never delete community information that is stored in the database, such as profile fields, friends, avatars, images, videos, etc. In other words, everything on your community will stay as is.
  2. It will not interfere with non-JomSocial database tables.

WARNING

  • All template customizations which do not follow our template override instructions will be deleted.
  • All template overrides need to be updated; otherwise you will have a crippled JomSocial with limited JomSocial 3 functionality. Please consult your template developer(s) for updates.
  • All modifications to any file in /components/com_community and /administrator/components/com_community will be deleted.
  • Third party extensions that rely on hacking JomSocial template/core code to work, will likely fail after the upgrade. You will have to redo the hacks (documenting your hacks for personal reference would always help you greatly in the future).
  • Always consult third-party developers for updated version of the plugins that are designed to work with JomSocial.

Starting the Upgrade

  1. Uninstall the older JomSocial version by going to Extensions > Extensions Manager, select Manage, select JomSocial/Community, click Uninstall. Make sure that all JomSocial related modules, plugins, extensions are uninstalled.
  2. Go back to 'Install', upload the JomSocial installation package and follow the onscreen instructions (press 'next' a lot).

It really is that simple! ;)

Here's a video of the upgrade process:

Third Party Modules and Plugins

Please consult the developer for an updated version, if necessary. Always good practice to check whether there are updated versions available.

Translations

With the new features and enhancements which are part of the new JomSocial releases, there will be a number of new language strings in JomSocial and perhaps changes to the already existing strings.

The Frontend language file is stored in:

  • /language/en-Gb/en-Gb.com_community.ini

The Backend language file is stored in:

  • /administrator/language/en-Gb/en-Gb.com_community.ini

The Modules language file is stored in:

  • /language/en-Gb

The Applications & Plugins language file is stored in:

  • /administrator/language/en-Gb

Known Upgrade Errors

There was an error uploading this file to the server.
Some shared servers limit the size of uploaded files to a mere 2MB. The JomSocial component exceeds this limit so you will have to increase two (2) php.ini settings to be at least 6MB. If you are not sure on how to do this, please consult your webhosting provider for assistance.

  1. upload_max_filesize = 6M  ; Maximum allowed size for uploaded files.
  2. post_max_size = 6M ; Maximum size of POST data that PHP will accept.