Upgrading old CMS Made Simple versions

If you have not kept up with upgrading your CMSMS site and it is now multiple versions behind, the following will help you to upgrade to the latest version.
Please be sure to read all of the release notes up to, and including, your targeted release. There may be additional steps to perform when upgrading to specific versions of CMSMS.

In all 1.x versions, Module Manager will no longer connect to the Forge. You will need to look at the date of the CMSMS release you are installing, then manually find the closest module version from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder on your server.

Upgrading very old versions can be quite complicated if you are not experienced with both CMSMS and web server troubleshooting. If you need assistance, various free and paid support options are available at https://www.cmsmadesimple.org/support/options/.


Upgrade steps and actions

  Your CMS version is now 1.0.7 or before (June 2007)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.0.8

  Your CMS version is now 1.0.8 (June 2007)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.1.4.1

  Your CMS version is now 1.1.4.1 (October 2007)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.2.5

  Your CMS version is now 1.2.5 (May 2008)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade the CMS Made Simple to release 1.3.1

  Your CMS version is now 1.3.1 (June 2008)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.4.1

  Your CMS version is now 1.4.1 (August 2008)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.5.4

  Your CMS version is now 1.5.4 (April 2009)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.6.7

  Your CMS version is now 1.6.7 (February 2010)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.7.1 (important: requires PHP version 5.2.4+)

  Your CMS version is now 1.7.1 (May 2010)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.8.2

  Your CMS version is now 1.8.2 (August 2010)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.9.4.3
Necessary follow-up actions and known issues
  • The {stylesheet} tag was deprecated in 1.8. Change all of your templates to use {cms_stylesheet} instead. Be sure to use absolute urls in your css (see Stylesheets for more info).

  Your CMS version is now 1.9.4.3 (August 2011)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.10.3
Necessary follow-up actions and known issues
  • Some Admin themes (including the "default" theme) no longer work in CMSMS 1.11+, before upgrading better change your admin theme to NCleanGrey now.
  • Before proceeding to upgrade read this post from Calguy.
    His popular modules now require PHP5.4.3+!

  Your CMS version is now 1.10.3 (January 2011)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.11.13
Necessary follow-up actions and known issues
  • An upgrade process that stops in step 5 indicates that there is a problem with a third-party module.
    Rename the third-party module folder(s) (e.g. /modules/Guestbook_temp) and continue the core upgrade process.
    When the upgrade is finished, rename the module's folder back and try to find the cause of the problem. Hint: Search the CMSMS forum.
  • The {stylesheet} tag was deprecated in 1.8, and completely removed from 1.11. If you haven't already, change all of your templates to use {cms_stylesheet} instead. Be sure to use absolute urls in your css (see Stylesheets for more info).
  • CMSMS 1.11 uses the Smarty 3 engine. Errors in templates are now caught and offer a warning, but this may break previously working sites.
    Some examples of typos which are no longer allowed:
    • {foo bar='baz} <- missing quotation mark
    • {foo bar="baz'} <- inconsistent quotation marks
    • { foo bar='baz' } <- redundant space at the beginning and/or the end of the tag
  • Also, due to the upgrading of the Smarty Template Engine, the requirements of Global Content Block (GCB) names have been changed.
    Only letters, numbers and an underscore are allowed now:
    • {global_content name='SomeName'}
    • {global_content name='some_name'}
    • {global_content name='somename1'}
    If you have other characters in your GCB names, no warning will be given while upgrading. You will notice it when you change and save the GCB. To avoid problems later, check the names after the upgrade process is complete.
  • (Optional) Change Admin theme to OneEleven to get the latest functionality

  Your CMS version is now 1.11.13 (February 2015)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.
  • Upgrade CMS Made Simple to release 1.12.2

  Your CMS version is now 1.12.2 (March 2016)

  • Upgrade all third party modules and plugin tags.
    Download the files from the Forge and upload them to the corresponding folder at the server.
    For modules, start the upgrade procedure in the admin panel at Extensions >> Modules.

You can read CMSMS 2.x upgrade instructions in this section »