What is Version 4.5.2?

This version is the first maintenance release in the 4.5.x series. It includes numerous bug fixes as well as some interface improvements, and modules and mambots. It also includes the recent security patch for a bug in PHP.

This version does not have any upgrades to the database. However, there are some new modules and mambots, the data for which needs to be inserted in your existing database.

What versions do I need to upgrade?

Version 4.5.2 allows you to upgrade from version 4.5.1, 4.5.1a or 4.5.1b. If you have an earlier version (4.0.x or 4.5.0) you must incrementally upgrade to 4.5.1 first.

Is 4.5.2 backwardly compatible with version 4.5.1?

As far as we can know, version 4.5.2 is fully backwardly compatible with third party addons for Mambo 4.5.1. However, there are new features in 4.5.2 which are not available for previous versions. Therefore, some new third party addons that take advantage of these features (like the patTemplate templating system) will not run on Mambo 4.5.1.

However, addons that modify core files, such as Mambelfish, may not work properly after you upgrade to 4.5.2.  Please consult the author for advice on how to upgrade these addons for your site.

Obviously, you will also have to reapply any customisations you have made by hand to the core files.  For example, you may have slightly altered the Latest News module provided with Mambo.  You will need to back this up, upgrade to 4.5.2 and then reapply your customisations.

Is it worth upgrading?

Definitely yes!  The usuability enhancements and bug fixes make this one of the best ever versions of Mambo.

How do I upgrade my site?

1. Read all of the following points before you start.
2. If you are in any doubt about what to do, ask a knowledgable friend or post a question on the Mambo forum.
3. Backup the files on you site. Create a tarball or zip file of your entire Mambo directory and name the file with today's date.
4. If you have direct access to your host's file system (via Telnet, SSH, etc) unzip the 4.5.2 files into your Mambo directory (eg /usr/local/apache/htdocs/mambo/ or c:\apache\htdocs\mambo\). If you only have FTP access, unzip the 4.5.2 files into a temporary directory and transfer them to your server.
5. Use you Database Administration Client (for example, Webmin or MyPHPAdmin) to run the database upgrade script (located in the installation/sql directory of the zip file). Mambo will still run if you skip this step, but some new modules and mambot will not be available for your use.  Note that you will have to change the prefix (mos_) by hand in this file if you use a different one.
   
6. Go to your Mambo site in your browser and test that all is working. If it is, enter the administrator and have a look at some of the new improvements.

Is there an incremental patch file to upgrade 4.5.1 to 4.5.2?

No, there is not. Almost every file has been changed in some way, even if it is only a change to the year of the copyright statement or package name.

Accessing on-line help for 4.5.2?

This version includes the ability to link to our help site, help.mamboserver.com. To allow the help system to target the help site, do the following:

• log into the administrator
• edit your Global Configuration (from the administrator menubar select on Site -> Global Configuration)
• click on on the Server tab
• in the text box for the Help Server, enter the url for our help site, http://help.mamboserver.com

 Offline help files are still available. To access these just leave the Help Server url blank in Global Configuration.

Will my configuration file be overwritten?

No.  The Mambo download does not contain a configuration.php file so it won't be overwritten.  The file is called configuration.php-dist deliberately so that you don't accidentally overwrite an in-use configuration file.  It is recommened that as soon as you update your site that you log into the administrator, enter the Global Configuration screen, run a quick check on the values and then simply save it.  This will update your configuration file with any new variables.

Troubleshooting

Here are some hints for some common and not- so common problems.

Template File Not Found

Something funny has happened with the active template.  Log into the administator.  Got to the Site Templates Manager.  Select a template and make it default.  You should be able to see you site again.

Buttons not working

This is due to one of two things.  Either some files have not been copied properly to your server (for example, permissions conflict  may prevent a file from being overwritten) or your browsers's cache is holding old copies of javascript files.  For the latter, try clearing your browser cache and reloading Mambo.