upgrading / Templates outdated ? How to deal with that ?

erich37

Well-known member
I just upgraded to RC2, but I do not have the "Share This Page" showing up in the Sidebar.
It is probably because it says: "There are Templates that may be outdated. Click here to review them".

Then when clicking this link, I see "sidebar_visitor_panel" , not sure why ?
Maybe becaue I have the plugin named "Xen-TR" (Top Posters) installed ?

How do I update this template?
Do I need to click onto "Revert Template" in order to get the default template of RC2 back ?

Many thanks!
 
Any templates which are showing as outdated must be reverted.

Revert them by clicking on the red X or opening the template and clicking on the "Revert Template" button.

Then reapply any changes made previously, whether that be as part of your own style or related to any add-ons.
 
That just complicates the issue for the average site administrator really.

Most people won't know which changes have been made or why so it's recommended to just revert all outdated templates and reapply any edits.
 
i wouldn't say that the templates "must" be reverted. (for example if somebody doesn't use add-ons he doesn't have to revert many templates, because they have no real changes (only new hook positions..)

But anyway, that's why i'm working on the template compare add-on http://xenforo.com/community/threads/super-secret-ninja-stuff.11979/ to make the comparing/editing/reverting easier
If templates have been customized, they must at least be inspected when the system says that they are outdated, or you could be missing complete areas of new functionality or missing important bug fixes.
 
I reverted all templates, but then I was actually wondering why the plugin of "Xen-TR" has been removed from the sidebar. I guess there were some template-edits for this Plugin.

Do I understand correctly that all Plugins do have Template-Edits ?
I mean: are properly coded Plugins having template-Edits? So Plugins will not be upgraded/edited on XF-software-upgrades ?

What about custom Styles/Desings installed, like e.g. the Valentines Style from Dragonfly?
Would a custom style have to be updated/installed again when doing another XF-upgrade?

Just curious....
 
Not all add-ons have template edits but those that do will require the edits to be reapplied.

My advice would be to make a list of all templates you have edited and why.
Then if any of them need to be reverted after an upgrade, you will quickly and easily be able to reapply the edits.
 
That is a developer dream :)

Also it would be nice for developers when xenforo could detect which calls are missing (for e.x. you forgot to place some hooks)
 
If there were manual template edits performed when installing the add-on then they will need to be done manually again after reverting.
 
When I moved from RC2 to RC3, the two templates I had modified showed as outdated. Both were templates I had modified. I simply reverted the templates, re-added the minor modifications and thought I would be all set until XF 1.0.0 when into production.

Over the past couple days I installed the Flexile style and a friend who is a web developer for AMD made a lot of changes to help improve my site. Well today I noticed 22 templates show as outdated. Having to revert all these templates...err...wont be fun. Some thoughts/questions:

1. What is causing these templates to show as "outdated"? What's the trigger?

2. At this point, I would think my best option would be to perform a test install of XF on my local pc, install the add-ons, then manually compare those templates to the current ones. It's the only way I can think of to identify the changed code. If I can make a suggestion...perhaps have any template changes be highlighted or identifiable somehow. Clearly there is a record of the original template. Perhaps a button can be pressed and then any "foreign" code is highlighted. For now...note to self...clearly comment any template modifications.

3. Any add-on or other tool to help make this process easier would be extremely useful. I currently have 2 dozen modified templates and I foresee that number growing.

4. I understand templates which show in red are ones which I modified. What is the significance of templates that appear in gold color?
 
What causes a template to be considered outdated?
If a template is changed between releases, i.e. from RC2 to RC3, and you have made changes to it, then it will be marked as outdated.
This is done because the software doesn't automatically overwrite those templates thereby causing certain functionality which you have added to be lost; it is an indication that the core code has changed and you need to take action.

The alternative would be to automatically overwrite all templates and I'm sure that would be much less preferable to all concerned...

For any templates you have edited which have not been changed in the new release, then they will not be marked as outdated.

3. Any add-on or other tool to help make this process easier would be extremely useful. I currently have 2 dozen modified templates and I foresee that number growing.
Use Notepad++ and the compare function.
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/view-original-template-comparison.9331/#post-128070
 
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