Pixaria is usually updated about once per month and occasionally more often depending on how much spare time I have to work on it. All upgrades are distributed as the entire Pixaria package as you would receive if you were a new user of the script.
Updates are not usually e-mailed to current registered users because of the number of people involved and the fact that e-mail addresses change with time. If you would like to get hold of an updated version of Pixaria, please contact me directly at upgrade@pixaria.com and I will endeavour to get the updated version of the script to you as soon as possible.
Before upgrading, it's a good idea to take a look at the release notes and file change log so you're fully aware of the changes between versions of the software. These documents list the files that have been added and removed which is important if you've made changes of your own that you would like to keep.
Remember that it's also a good idea to take a database backup before upgrading to a new version of Pixaria. This can be done from the admin area using the link 'Database Backup' on the Dashboard screen. Alternatively, database backups can be made from software such as phpMyAdmin or via your web host's control panel.
When you receive an updated version of Pixaria 2.x, the first step is to decompress the .zip file you were supplied with to see the changed PHP scripts, templates, images and other files in the Pixaria package.
First, using an FTP program, upload all the updated PHP files, images and templates to your web server being careful NOT to overwrite the current pixaria.config.php' file or the 'incoming' or 'library' directories none of which should ever need to be modified.
To see a complete list of all the files which have changed in each release, check out the file change log. This can save you time by helping you identify which files need to be replaced on your server. In many cases, only a few files change in each version of Pixaria and often, you can safely replace the contents of entire directories.
Finally, you need to upgrade the Pixaria database which contains your image library and settings.
In your preferred web browser open the URL http://www.mysite.com/resources/admin/admin.upgrade.php where http://www.mysite.com/ is the URL of your own site. You will be prompted to log in if you're not already and then you will be shown a list of the database changes that have been applied in the upgrade. The upgrade process cannot be undone so make sure you're ready to go ahead with the update before you complete this step.
Whenever you upgrade, it's a good idea to check out the Compare Releases tool to see which template files have been modified since your current version was released.
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