Dear Forum,

Can I update from 3.26 to latest version (5.1.13) by simply replacing the old source code with the new one (and leaving the upload folder and the config.php file untouched)? Would that cause major changes in templates or appearance of the surveys?
Or if I just update to current LTS release, what would be the difference? Both releases have same security, right?

thanks,
limesurvey_asker

Would that cause major changes in templates or appearance of the surveys?

Templates are not compatible between LS3 and LS5. However, this is really just relevant if you have a custom template/theme. They standard themes look very similar.

Or if I just update to current LTS release, what would be the difference? Both releases have same security, right?

The difference is, that LS 3 LTS will be probably end of life at the end of this year. From then on it will only receive security updates, but no bug fixes and of course no new features.

You can update from LS3 to LS5 via Comfortupdate, so I assume a manual update should be no problem. However, like always, backup your old installation (download a copy of the installation and all files) as well as the database (save a copy of the database as backup).

As LS is for free, if you are worried, you can always create a copy of your current installation for testing the update. Run the two LS3 versions in parallel, one for production, the other one for testing (use a copy of the database as well!) and then run the update to LS5 and see what happens. Will take you maybe 1h of your time, as installing LS is quick and so is updating.

holch wrote:

Would that cause major changes in templates or appearance of the surveys?

Templates are not compatible between LS3 and LS5. However, this is really just relevant if you have a custom template/theme. They standard themes look very similar.

 

The major issue here is the config.xml compatibility check.
I think a lot of user template can be compatible , just updating config.xml …
 

Thanks for your tips! My survey will only be up for a little after end of 2021, so I will chose to update from 3.26 to LTS.

Question: As I can't do the comfortupdate, I would like to replace the old source code with the new one and leaving the upload folder and the config.php file where they are untouched. Would that work?

limesurvey_asker wrote:

Question: As I can't do the comfortupdate, I would like to replace the old source code with the new one and leaving the upload folder and the config.php file where they are untouched. Would that work?
 

Yes