How do I update my Family Tree PHP installation to the newest version?

The easiest and quickest way:

• Upload all files of the new version to your server.
• Open in your browser the file ‘/update.php’.
• Follow the instructions.

The safest way:

• Backup all tables via the backup module and download the backup files to your computer.
• Backup all files from the older, current version on your computer.
• First upload the file ‘/index.php’ (since version 1.5 ‘/paths.php’) of the new version to your server. (Now your site is blocked until the update is complete.)
• Upload all other files of the new version to your server, except for the file ‘update.php’.
• Upload the file ‘/update.php’ to your server and open it in your browser.
• Follow the instructions.

If the update goes wrong, just re-upload the files from the older version and restore the tables from the backup files.

It is not necessary to delete the files from the older version from your server. They will just be overwritten with the newer versions. If you do delete the older versions, make sure that you DO NOT DELETE the files ‘/.htaccess’ and ‘/includes/config.php’. These files will not be overwritten during the update and if these files get lost, your installation will be broken.

IMPORTANT: if you use other template sets than the ‘Default’ template set, you also have to update these. Otherwise your site won’t work properly anymore. If you have made your own template files, you will have to edit these too. (Tip: use WinMerge to compare your own template files with the new files from the set you started with.)