Upgrading Add-ons by Yourself: Do it Right and Stay Safe

This article will guide you through the upgrade of the add-ons by Simtech Development purchased from the CS-Cart marketplace. If you have some custom add-ons, we would recommend you to contact developers for upgrade.

Why is it important to keep add-ons up-to-date?

CS-Cart is a rapidly developing platform that releases a new version at least every month.

If you update your add-ons regularly, you get:

• Compliance with the latest CS-Cart version;
• Add-on’s code and performance improvements;
• New features.

When is the right moment to upgrade add-ons?

• When you upgrade the CS-Cart store;
• With every new release of the add-on (if you haven’t modified it!).

How to know that an upgrade is available?

1. Monthly changelog

After purchasing an add-on you get automatically subscribed to the news about the latest updates. If you don’t receive them, please check the spam folder. If nothing found, subscribe.

2. Сhangelog on the add-on’s page

All the changes are recorded on the product detail page of all our add-ons in the Changelog section

3. File area of your account at simtechdev.com

Log in and check the left section, if the version is higher than that in the admin panel, it’s time to upgrade.

Are there any risks to upgrade?

An incorrect add-on upgrade, like any other change in the code, can do damage to your store.

Let’s take a look at the most typical situations:

1. Add-on’s database loss

Some add-ons create their own databases or extend default CS-Cart tables. For example, Affiliate and Referral add-on makes records of the affiliates and payouts to them. If you simply uninstall the old version of the add-on and install an archive with the latest one, the affiliates database will be lost.

2. Incompatibilities with 3rd-party add-ons and themes

Even if a previous version of the add-on worked correctly in your store, the new one can be incompatible with your theme and other add-ons. 

3. Incompatibility with CS-Cart or PHP version

The new features and improvements in the add-ons are done only for the latest versions of CS-Cart and PHP. There is no guarantee that the latest version of the add-on will work correctly within an old environment.

4. No testing before installation

There should always be testing on an exact copy of your store before release on the production environment (live store). If you don’t have a development environment yet, contact us for a quote. 

5. Friday release

Never change anything in your store on Friday or before the holidays. Read why.

This is a short list of the things that can go wrong. If you want to focus on your business and not to waste time on technical details, subscribe to the support service.

How to upgrade an add-on?

We highly recommend you to upgrade an add-on on a copy of the store before doing that on production. 

1. Upgrade center (recommended)

Pros:

1. Maximum safety. The system will replace only the required files without losing the data already recorded in the tables of your website.
2. Minimum effort. No technical skills required.

    Cons: 

1. Not available in older versions of the add-ons. 

    What to do:

1. Make sure that there is enough space on your server for a back-up.
2. Back up the CS-Cart database according to the official documentation.
   
3. Check if the version of the add-on supports an automatic upgrade. Open Add-ons > Manage add-ons > Find the add-on on the list and check the version.

Now, find the add-on on our website and open the Changelog section. There should be information on which version the possibility to update automatically was added.

In this example, the 4.5.0.1 version is installed in the store and the automatic update starts from 4.5.0.11 version. It means that the admin should manually upgrade to 4.5.0.11 (see how in the paragraph below), and only after that he/she will be able to use the Upgrade center for this add-on.

If the version you have is the same or higher than the one where the upgrade center was added, follow the official CS-Cart documentation to upgrade your add-ons.

2. Manual upgrade

    Pros:

1.     Available for all add-ons

Cons:

1. All the records in the add-on database can be lost
2. Some technical skills required
3. Access to the server recommended

What to do:

1. Connect to your server
   • Make sure that there is enough space for a backup
   • Check PHP version
2. Log in to your account at simtechdev.com.
3. Click the File area on the left and download the archive suitable for your CS-Cart version. The first three digits stand for the CS-Cart version, the last one means the add-on’s release.
4. Back up the CS-Cart database according to the official documentation.
   
5. Go to Admin panel > Add-ons > Manage Add-ons> select the add-on you would like to upgrade, click Uninstall.
6. Make sure that the files of the add-on have been removed from the following directories on your server:
   • app/add-ons
   • js/add-ons (if any)
   • design/backend
   • var/themes_repository/responsive
   • var/themes_repository/basic (if any)
7. Follow the official CS-Cart user guide to upload the add-on from an archive.
   
8. Clear cache of your store AND browser (e.g. in Google Chrome).
9. Configure the add-on according to the documentation.
10. Test the add-on on desktop and mobile. Check the following pages even if the add-on’s functionality is not related to them:
    • Product detail page
    • Category page
    • Cart content
    • Checkout

What if a problem arises?

If you upgrade add-ons by yourself, you take all the responsibility for possible issues. If you have found a problem, follow the steps below:

1. Make sure that you have cleared the cache of the website AND browser.
2. Contact support.
   
3. Describe step-by-step how to reproduce the problem, attach screenshots/video:
   • If a bug is confirmed on a clean installation of the latest CS-Cart version (Responsive theme, no 3rd-party add-ons), it will be fixed in one of the following releases free of charge.
   • If the issue is not a bug, paid support will be offered.
4. Restore from backup.

Can you upgrade add-ons for me?

Yes, our add-ons department will gladly help you with the upgrade of add-ons made by Simtech Development. The cost is the following:

Incident

Cost: USD 99 (per one request)

When to use:

• You would like to upgrade one add-on to the latest version.
• You tried to upgrade an add-on by yourself and had an issue with it.

Support service

Cost: USD 279 (per one month)

When to use:

• You would like to upgrade several add-ons to the latest version.
• You tried to upgrade an add-on(s) by yourself and had several issues.

Do you need to upgrade the whole CS-Cart store?