Upgrade Question: 14 to 20 template issues, parser problems, product module

[neilwhit]

We have started using VM for our clients after years of using other carts. Like it so far, but am new to this all.

The template we are using for our client was delivered as Joomla 2.5.8 and VM 2.0.14. For security, we wanted to upgrade to the latest Joomla and VM. However, after upgrading to the newest VM (20), it broke the template in several areas. We did the upgrade several times on a clean install using the Extension manager, so think the upgrade process was good.

The Joomla upgrade didn't break anything, so that was good.

The VM upgrade did cause issues. The virtuemart parser file kept telling us that there were old extensions, etc. That was a result of Virtuemart Ajax Search module (Rupos Tel Ajax Search). We had to change that to another search module (RokAjax), which we don't like as well, but it was needed to get past the parser file check.

QUESTION 1: Would it be okay to turn off the virtuemart_parser.php file? With it off, the better (previous) ajax search works fine. Don't notice any problems with parser off and the original Ajax Search working, but, as mentioned in the beginning, we are brand new to VM.

The upgrade also broke the Ajax slide-down Cart module. We reinstalled that module and it came back fine.

The VM upgrade also broke all the formatting for the main page  and others due to the changed VM product module. Reinstalling the original product module (mod_virtuemart_product.zip) that came with the template restored all the correct layout formatting. Solved, I think.

QUESTION 2: Anyone know if there will be issues if we reinstalled the mod_virtuemart_product.zip VM product module that came with the template in order to get the correct formatting back?

Appreciate the advice. As I said, we are new to VM, but pretty impressed so far. We can see doing a lot more of these for our clients, but we do need to get our heads around the peculiarities of VM. Also, we are not coders. We are web designers that use templates and other modules to deliver a website for our clients. We can do light duty php, mySQL, etc., so if we are to patch, upgrade or modify a module, template, package etc., it needs to be simple and well explained. We spent a lot of years doing osCommerce and Zen Cart websites, so we did have to learn some basic coding. But the support community was great and always there to help us. I'm hoping we have the same experience with VM.

Thanks in advance. Any thought appreciated.

[Joseph Kwan]

virtuemart_parser.php is an outdated in vm2. It will load only by outdated plugins/modules. So it won' t cause problem if your site does not complain without it.
Similarly, if your site does not complain, using a previous version of extensions should be ok unless it is a security update. In that case, you should see a notice elsewhere.

[K&K media production]

1. You must also update the aio installer for modules and plugins.

2. You must adapt your template overrides to the new vm version...infos on the update page or you can download the layout changes from http://dev.virtuemart.net/projects/virtuemart/files

[neilwhit]

virtuemart_parser.php is an outdated in vm2. It will load only by outdated plugins/modules. So it won' t cause problem if your site does not complain without it.
Similarly, if your site does not complain, using a previous version of extensions should be ok unless it is a security update. In that case, you should see a notice elsewhere.

That's good news. I had read on another forum for one of the modules in question to turn off the parser file. Everything seems to work and the prior Ajax search is better. Also, it eliminated some jquery conflicts, which cleaned up a lot of issues from the overall upgrade.

I did upgrade the aio, so likely have the correct modules, pluggins, etc from the core VM stuff.

I was most worried by needing to reinstall the VM content module which contained the major formatting mods, but everything seems to work fine.

Little by little, learning the peculiarities of VM.

Thanks for the advice and guidance.