[gb2world]

I've not preformed a 4.4.x upgrade, but it would seem to me that upgrades associated with the template files requires extra care if you followed a strategy where you created your own skin directories and avoided editing anything in the common_files.

On pre 4.4, you would run the upgrade patch, and you would get a report of all the files that could not be patched. You would work from that "could-not-patch" list to make your updates.

On 4.4, if the QT upgrade method is the same, you could get a report that all files are patched successfully - but it might not know about the changes in your skin directories.

If the upgrade script is not aware that you have used a strategy where you did not modify common_files, but instead created your own skin directory, then it seems you would need to review all those files against the upgrade list file, and hand patch any that changed. (Changes in skin files could be dependent on changes in core php files, and vice versa.)

As I understand it, there have been no improvements to the architecture (until v5), so upgrading is as it always has been - even if you separated your changes to new skin directories. Even upgrades within minor versions can be complex and require careful review of all impacted template files that you have modified.

---