Convert 3.7 -> 4.0 CTP

Im pretty sure Im jumping the gun here but I have a large site that I plan on Releasing with 4.0 in July. It has been started using 3.7 and I am just installing 4.0 now. Since there is no included way in the CTP to upgrade 3.7 sites yet, I was going to manually take my 3.7 site up to 4.0 CTP today. Is there any interest in me documenting this process for everyone? Or, alternatively, has anyone else already done this? I didn't see anything in the small amount of 4.0 posts yet.

thanks

jess

Hello Jess Askey,

Since not all features of 4.0 are implemented and there are still bugs I am not sure that you will succeed in your task.  Upgrading 3.x website to 4.0 will be done through wrappers that we will create for the official released of 4.0. Of course we will provide steps-by-step documentation how to do this. The wrappers will ensure that the default code will work after an upgrade.

Best wishes,
Ivan Dimitrov
the Telerik team

I'm going to reply to my own post rather than just editing it now that I have actually looked at the 4.0 database and interface a little.

At this point, it would actually be silly for me to convert my 3.7 database + site to 4.0...

1. 4.0 is a *substantially* different schema and architecture in that it is much more dynamic and data driven. Even looking at the project in Visual Studio, it is pretty bare due to the fact that most items (templates, etc) now exist in the database rather than as physical files.
2. Since this is a CTP, there are lots of features missing still as noted in the docs and other posts on this forum. I need to digest the process of skinning and styling before starting any sort of conversion process.
3. Even tho my site is quite simple, the process of converting will be quite involved.

So my advice to myself and others, keep waiting. The CTP does give an excellent peek into what is to come and you can start seeing how this version will be much more flexible. However, it will certainly have a learning curve.

Unfortunately for me, many of the features that are useful for me in 4.0 are missing in 3.7 but the only way to move forward in 3.7 is to heavily customize pages and templates. These will most likely break any sort of automated upgrade to 4.0 in the future.

I think that what this means for me is that I will just *not* use 3.7 for my current site and create a custom ASPX application for now with everything as static pages and user controls. Once 4.0 is fully baked, I will have to then move in that direction. :-)

Thanks Ivan.... Your post went up at the same time I was writing my response to my first post and it sounds like your advice was right on.

4.0 looks promising tho... very exciting!

kudos to the whole Telerik team... I have used Telerik ASPX widgets since Q1 2006 and have always been impressed with your work and organization.