[rocky]

Regarding the 4.4.5 -> 4.5.0 upgrade.

4.5.0 is a major release due to significant changes and improvements implemented in the new version (please refer to the first post in this thread for more details about these changes and improvements). That is the reason to release the database upgrade only, as it always used to be for the upgrades within major X-Cart branches.

The thing is that you should separate two different entities:

1. Current X-Cart 4.4.5 version which can be adjusted to meet PCI requirements. For this case we will prepare a special patch which will cut all the background methods off your site
2. X-Cart 4.5.0 with its new features and skins. It has always been so that only database upgrade is released because of the major changes between the two branches.

Fortunately, most development implemented on 4.4.5 can be seamlessly applied to 4.5.0 store. Here are some tips for upgrading your X-Cart from 4.4.5 to 4.5.0 as painlessly as possible:

1) Upgrade your X-Cart database from 4.4.5 to 4.5.0 using a special database upgrade script, and set up a fresh X-Cart 4.5.0 installation with the upgraded database.

2) If your customization or add-on module for 4.4.5 was implemented as a set of new files, diff files and SQL queries - you should be able to install your customization/module on 4.5.0.

3) If you implemented a custom skin for your X-Cart 4.4.5, and it was implemented as a separate templates set in skin directory - you should be able to install your custom skin on 4.5.0.

4) If there are any customizations applied to templates/css files in common_files folder, you can create a diff between your customized and default template files, then apply the diff on 4.4.5.

Be aware of the fact that if your customization or add-on module for 4.4.5 was implemented using SQL queries to xcart_products and xcart_products_lng tables, you will have to re-implement those queries to meet the improved data structure for 4.5.0 (Multi-language stores performance optimization). We will provide a detailed developer instruction concerning this improvement in our Knowledge Base soon.

Please also note that if you are not confident on how to upgrade your store we can always offer you the Upgrade service. Our professional engineers will apply the necessary changes and update your store to the most recent version for you.