Update to CMSB v. 8 from 3.56
5 posts by 3 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: April 11 (RSS)
I am going to have to update an old, complex application for a medical institution from v. 3.56 to the most current 3.8 version. Part of the change needed on the server is to move from PHP 7.4 to 8.1.
Also, the site depends upon a number of plugins to include createPDF, csvImport, formGenerator, newsletterBuilder, QRCode Generator, reportBuilder, showHideDependedentFieldsPlus, showHideFieldsForUsers, and websiteMembership. Can anyone share any problems they may have encountered with similar upgrades?
The hospital using this application depends upon it daily, and I will need to accomplish the change over a weekend and have a working version on the following Monday. I confess to being a bit nervous.
Hi pgplast,
First, make sure your database is supported by the latest version - you'll want MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.2+.
But in general, it's pretty straightforward. Backup everything (files and MySQL), upload the new CMSB files over top of the old ones, then upgrade any plugins that need upgrading.
If you run into any PHP 7 to 8 coding errors in your custom code, any of the AI coding agents (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) can help you come up with a fix pretty quickly.
That said, feel free to fill out a 2nd-level support request if you'd like me to take a look either before or after: https://interactivetools.com/support/request/
Also, feel free to email me at dave@interactivetools.com if you run into any issues. I'll be around this weekend and can help make sure you're back up and running by Monday if needed.
Hope that helps, let me know any questions!
interactivetools.com
Hi pgplast,
Okay, perfect. Since you've done the CMS upgrade before, the CMSB side should be straightforward.
For any custom PHP code or plugins, the most common issue is type handling. PHP 7 was more forgiving - it would silently accept `null` where a string was expected. PHP 8 throws deprecation warnings (and PHP 9 will make them errors).
An example might be @$_REQUEST['city']; if that form field wasn't submitted, it would return null.
So if you see warnings like `trim(): Passing null to parameter #1` or `strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated`, the fix is usually one of:
// Option A: null coalesce to set a default for null values
$value = trim($record['middle_name'] ?? '');
// Option B: cast to string
$value = strlen((string) $record['notes']);What I recommend is upgrading, then clicking through all the pages and checking the CMS Developer for any errors.
Let me know if you run into anything specific, and we can help you sort it out.
interactivetools.com