Upgrade Concerte5 CMS website from version 5.6 to Concrete version 8 or version 9 directly!
Before I explain the benefit of upgrading Concerte5 version 5.6 to latest Concrete5 CMS and guide you that how you can save money if you are using a custom Concerte5 theme of functionality. Let me first explain the pain that, why it is not possible to upgrade concrete5 CMS version 5.6 to 5.7 OR to latest concrete5 version. All the website owners who have their sites in concerte5 version 5.6 are finding it hard to upgrade their Concrete5 version from 5.6 to the latest stable version of Concrete5 CMS because The Concrete5 Community released its version 7 in completely new technology and it was not possible for them to provide an “upgrade” bridge between Concrete5 version 5.6 and Concrete5 version 7. If you want to upgrade your Concrete5 version 5.6 to upper version you have to do a “Manual Upgrade” rather than just hitting the Upgrade button. For about 5 years you could just hit update and migrate from version 5.1 to 5.2 to 5.3, etc all the way through 5.6.x.
Now question is that, Why “Manual Upgrade” is required while upgrading from 5.6 to 5.7 or latest version of concrete CMS and why “automatic update” does not work as it use to be ?
Concrete5 community developers have changed the basic core structure of concerte5. When Concrete5 developers released “Version 7” which was a pretty deep rewrite of code to follow modern PHP standards. The core of concrete CMS version 7 is completely rebuilt and it was not compatible with earlier released version of Concrete CMS and thus because of different “Core structures” it was not possible to built an “automatic upgrade bridge” that updates the Concrete CMS version from 5.6 to Concrete CMS version 7 or to any upper latest stable version of Concrete CMS. This is why no upgrade path compatibility can be set between concerte5 version 5.6 and 5. 7.
The Concrete5 community developers when released the version 7 of concrete CMS said that the concrete5 was almost 6 years old and in these 6 years from its birth there were just too many new best practices and handy frameworks that have emerged and it was impossible to make it compatible while the upgrade with the basic core structure of concrete5 version 5.6. The concrete5 version 5.7’s core structure was completely different from the core structure of version 5.6 and hence it was not possible to develop a script that can set compatibility between the two versions 5.6 and 5.7. So they have to take the decision of not providing the automatic upgrade which upgrades concrete5 with few clicks at the back admin. This is why the websites owners can not update their Concrete CMS just by hitting the update button and they have to opt the process of “Manual Upgrade”. Manual Upgrade is really was a process of building a new site and pulling old content into it. All of this action happened back in 2014/2015 and Since those days Concrete5 dumped the leading “5” from its name and now Concrete5 is known as “Concrete CMS”
The Concrete5 community developers when released the version 7 of concrete CMS said that the concrete5 was almost 6 years old and in these 6 years from its birth there were just too many new best practices and handy frameworks that have emerged and it was impossible to make it compatible while the upgrade with the basic core structure of concrete5 version 5.6. The concrete5 version 5.7’s core structure was completely different from the core structure of version 5.6 and hence it was not possible to develop a script that can set compatibility between the two versions 5.6 and 5.7. So they have to take the decision of not providing the automatic upgrade which upgrades concrete5 with few clicks at the back admin. This is why the websites owners can not update their Concrete CMS just by hitting the update button and they have to opt the process of “Manual Upgrade”. Manual Upgrade is really was a process of building a new site and pulling old content into it. All of this action happened back in 2014/2015 and Since those days Concrete5 dumped the leading “5” from its name and now Concrete5 is known as “Concrete CMS”
Manual Upgrade is costly as compare to automatic upgrade.
a) Manual upgrade
As there is no path or script that updated version 5.6 to 5.7 the website owners, web developer have to adopt the path of “manual upgrade”, where Any block, package, and theme used in 5.6.*, also have to be manually re-created to Concrete5 5.7 because the concrete5 community developers have not provided any linking path from version 5.6 and 5.7. The concerte5 guys have left the old and outdated coding framework used in version version 5.6 and completed adopted new technology techniques in version 5.7 and in version 8. so no link was set up in between version 5.6 and 5.7. That is why the developer has always to adopt the manual upgrade while moving the site from version 5.6 to the upper versions. So manual upgrade in simple language means again creating a website from scratch and manually moving its content again.
Automatic Upgrade
b) if you are not using any custom functionality then “automatic upgrades” works fine for you. where you just have to log at back admin and with few clicks you can upgrade your concerte5 site within minutes. As for about 5 years you could just hit update and migrate from version 5.1 to 5.2 to 5.3, etc all the way through 5.6.x.
However a Manual Upgrade of Concrete CMS is really was a process of building a new site and pulling old content into it. as it is like creating a website from scratch again that, is why it is a costly affair as compared to automatic upgrade.
Concerte5 Version 9 is released and its a good news for concrete5 users who are still using concerte5 version 5.6 is that they can Get their Concerte5 website Upgrade from version 5.6 to version 9 or latest concrete CMS version directly at a pay of a single manual upgrade. let me explain in detail…
Now the concerte5 community has released a new Concrete CMS version 9. Which is also a major upgrade from version 5.7. The website users who are using custom themes or custom functionalities on their website. First, they paid for a manual upgrade from 5.6 to 5.7 and with the release of the version they, again have to hire Concrete CMS developer for upgrading their website to latest version of Concrete CMS.
BUT HERE IS A GOOD NEWS FOR WEBSITE USERS WHO ARE USING CUSTOM THEMES AND CUSTOM FUNCTIONALITIES ON THEIR SITE AND ARE STILL USING CONCERTE5 VERSION 5.6.
The good news is in terms of “Cost of upgrade”. They do not have to pay twice for manual upgrading first from Concrete CMS version 5.6 to 5.7 and then from 5.7 to 8. they are in good position when it comes to cost. All such concrete5 users can opt for Concrete CMS website Upgrade from version 5.6 to version 8 directly!. They just have to pay one time for the manual upgrade. such website owners do not have to pay twice a) first for a manual upgrade from version 5.6 to 5.7 and then for upgrading from 5.7 to 8. all such site owners can get their Concrete CMS website Upgrade from version 5.6 to version 8 directly! and can save few bucks.
By upgrading to Concrete CMS version 9 Concrete CMS users can enjoy advanced features. Concrete CMS version 8 and 9 are the securest one, safe and fast is loading. Concrete CMS version 8 and 9 are SEO friendly as compared to previous versions.