Dear Vince and the support team,

First, a brief introduction: My name is Jasper, and I recently took over the management of our online store because Rob (the previous manager) unfortunately passed away unexpectedly last year. This means I am now responsible for updates and the system’s maintenance. While Rob was very diligent in documenting nearly everything (something I could learn from myself), I don't have all the information.

I have read through the changelogs and various posts on the forum, and I also came across the instructions and details on the Updater Info page. This has clarified a lot, like that I need to buy an updater licence, but before I do I still have some questions I’d like to get more clarity on.

1. Breaking Changes
In the changelogs, I noticed frequent mentions of significant changes, such as updates to payment providers (e.g., Braintree, PayPal, Square) and improvements to the checkout layout. Could you provide more insight into the biggest risks or issues I might face with these updates? Are there any particular scenarios I should watch out for during the upgrade process?

2. Precautions and Unknown Custom Code
As far as I know, I haven’t found any custom components on the site, but I'm not entirely sure, as this was not documented by Rob. What’s the best way to check for this before performing a major update? Are there specific files or methods to verify if any custom code is in use?

3. CSS and JavaScript Changes
I read that files like ectcart.css and ectcart.js need to be added or updated to ensure proper display and functionality. I’ve read a bit about this, but could you explain what this entails and whether it applies to us? Also, is the update tutorial video still up-to-date?

4. Meaning of License Options "Apply Updater" and "ECTCartFiles"
As a follow-up to question 3: I know I need to purchase an updater licence, but I noticed on the license purchase page that there are options to add "Apply Updater" and "ECTCartFiles." Could you explain what these involve and if they are applicable for us?

I want to carefully go through each step, and I appreciate the emphasis on security and optimization. However, since this is my first time handling the update process, I want to ensure I don’t make any major mistakes.

Thank you very much for your help and for clarifying my questions.

Best regards,
Jasper

Hi Jasper
Firstly I'm very sorry to hear what happened to Rob and all our best to his family and all who knew him.

1. The updaters are designed so that for the most part things work as they did before the update, but new functionality gets added. But what you should do is after updating just have a good look over your site and try the checkout flow, etc.

2. Probably the easiest way is to look for the file modified date of the files in the vsadmin and vsadmin/inc folders. Then look very closely at those that have different modified dates. Normally everything gets copied via FTP in one go and everything has the same date.

3. These were brought in in 2017 and your last update was around 2020 so I would imagine these are already referenced.

4. You don't need the ectcart files added as, as I mentioned in 3. you probably already have these. But if you choose for us to apply the updater we'll do the updating for you. Having us do the CSS check is a good idea as then we'll get any alignment / layout problems in the product listings sorted out.

Vince

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Hi Vince,

Thanks for the kind words, and for thinking along. I appreciate your detailed response, especially as I’m still getting familiar with everything.

Just to confirm, is it possible to purchase the updater license first and try the updater myself? And if I run into issues, reach out to your team for assistance later? Or do I need to include the "Apply Updater" option at the time of purchase?

Also, can I use the same updater license to update a test environment first before rolling it out to production, or would I need to purchase two separate licenses for that?

Thanks again for the help and guidance!

Jasper

Hi Jasper
It's only 5 euros to have us apply the updater so there isn't really an option to purchase that separately. But if you want us to do the CSS check then really the equivalent is an hour's work which is one of these...
https://www.ecommercetemplates.com/Custom-Modified-Code
There is a slight discount purchasing this with the updater but it's almost the same.
> Also, can I use the same updater license to update a test environment first before rolling it out to production, or would I need to purchase two separate licenses for that?
Of course you can and we really try to do what is fair in most circumstances. It would certainly be fair to have a test site.

Vince

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Hi RK, just to add to Vince's replies, there is a good post here https://www.ecommercetemplates.com/support/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=89323
It covers the use of a file compare program to compare, side-by-side, files, or even folders.

If you happen to have a copy of the updater package, for the version your site is on now, you could download a copy of the admin folder, you likely already have this, and run the file compare against the updater files and it will show you if there have been any mods to the files.

Thanks,
David