install upgrade from mt
Users of Movable Type 4.x and earlier should know that they will be able to upgrade to the latest version of Melody without a problem, but they should also expect that the initial upgrade process will require a little extra time due to certain changes that have been introduced to the platform. Once one sees however, what is being asked of users to successfully upgrade to Melody, we believe people will agree that there is nothing technically difficult or complex required to upgrade.
Why is the upgrade "difficult?"
The Melody community sees the initial launch of Melody as an opportunity to make certain long-deferred changes to Movable Type's packaging and distribution methods. These are changes that were planned by the Movable Type team, but never executed. The Open Melody Software Group regards Melody 1.0 as the ideal opportunity to do things right going forward.
Users of Movable Type 4.x and earlier and 0.9.x versions of Melody should use the following instructions to upgrade to Melody:
1. Backup Movable Type.
The first step for anyone in conducting an upgrade to Melody is to backup your old system. Upgrading should be something that is relatively painless, but every system is different and it is impossible for the developers of Melody to fully account and plan for the unknown. So please:
- Take a database snapshot of your old Movable Type installation.
- Make a zip archive of your Movable Type application directory in your
cgi-binfolder or equivalent. - Make a zip archive of your website's published HTML.
2. Remove and Re-organize Your Movable Type plugins.
Melody has made significant changes to how plugins are organized and which ones are available right out of the box. Therefore, it is essential that you pay close attention to the plugins that you have installed in Movable Type, and remove any plugin that is no longer necessary, or has been moved.
The following Movable Type plugins have been removed from the core distribution. We recommend you remove them, unless you are actively using them, in which case, it is safe to leave them in the $MT_HOME/plugins folder where they currently reside.
$MT_HOME/plugins/Textile$MT_HOME/plugins/Cloner$MT_HOME/plugins/spamlookup$MT_HOME/plugins/StyleCatcher$MT_HOME/plugins/feeds-app-lite$MT_HOME/plugins/mixiComment
Note about StyleCatcher: This plugin is at best redundant in Melody, as it has been superceded by Theme Manager. If you are using the Movable Type "Classic Blog" templates, the process for upgrading Classic Blog from a Movable Type template set/style combination to a Melody theme goes like this:
- Remove StyleCatcher.
- In blog view, navigate to Design -> Theme Dashboard.
- Click on "Change Theme."
- Find the same Classic Blog style you were using.
- Click on that theme and apply it through the dialog.
The following plugins are now a part of the core distribution of Melody and must be removed if you are using them:
$MT_HOME/plugins/WidgetManager$MT_HOME/plugins/ThemeExport$MT_HOME/plugins/ThemeManager$MT_HOME/plugins/FullScreen$MT_HOME/plugins/AjaxPublish$MT_HOME/plugins/SearchMenuOption$MT_HOME/plugins/WidgetsSystemMenuOption$MT_HOME/plugins/AutoPrefs
Config Assistant is another plugin that is now a core part of Melody. It may be installed in different locations depending upon what version you have installed. Please remove any of the following if they are present in your installation:
$MT_HOME/addons/ConfigAssistant.plugin$MT_HOME/plugins/ConfigAssistant
The following Movable Type plugins have simply been moved to a new location and can be safely removed from your plugins directory:
$MT_HOME/plugins/Markdown$MT_HOME/plugins/MultiBlog$MT_HOME/plugins/TypePadAntiSpam$MT_HOME/plugins/WXRImporter
You may be using some older MT3 plugins, or plugins that don't conform to development "best practices," and these plugins will require some additional effort to use. Specifically, if you have any .pl files in your $MT_HOME/plugins/ folder, they will cause trouble. Plugins need to be placed inside a plugin "envelope" (a folder for the plugin within the $MT_HOME/plugins/ folder.
For example, the old MTCollate plugin still works fine with MT, and works with Melody, too. However, this plugin needs some special handling. It's probably currently installed at $MT_HOME/plugins/MTCollate.pl. It needs to be installed in its own folder: $MT_HOME/plugins/MTCollate/MTCollate.pl is a good choice, for example.
There may be some plugins that simply don't work. At this point, the list of known plugins is short:
- Acronym (an old MT3 plugin)
3. Rename config.cgi file
In Melody, we have renamed a lot of primary CGI files to eliminate the platform specific prefixes of mt-. This includes Movable Type's config file mt-config.cgi. Please rename mt-config.cgi to simply config.cgi.
4. Remove the mt- files
As noted in step 3, the primary CGI files have been renamed. You can safely remove the mt- files; notice they have a counterpart without this prefix. For example. mt-comments.cgi has been superseded by comments.cgi. Also note that mt.cgi has been replaced by index.cgi.
5. Continue with the Typical Upgrade Procedures.
At this point your Movable Type installation should now be ready to upgrade to Melody. Please follow the official upgrade documentation.
Questions, comments, can't find something? Let us know at our community outpost on Get Satisfaction.
- Authors: Byrne Reese, Dan Wolfgang
- Edited by: Violet Bliss Dietz