How To Update My Zenphoto Installation on My Host's Server?

abrogard

Some years ago I put zenphoto on my ghawcroft.com site on awardspace's server.
Now I come to look at it I see I get a big string of errors. Like this:

core/lib-utf8.php on line 37

Deprecated: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; PersistentObject has a deprecated constructor in /srv/disk2/1393753/www/ghawcroft.com/zenphoto/zp-core/classes.php on line 39

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /srv/disk2/1393753/www/ghawcroft.com/zenphoto/zp-core/functions-basic.php:137) in /srv/disk2/1393753/www/ghawcroft.com/zenphoto/zp-core/functions-common.php on line 502

And then the photos are still there but not in any real gallery format.

I don't see any update file on the installation. What should I do?

Tobias

The error message sounds like your hoster has updated its PHP version while you are still running an outdated version of Zenphoto.
You can find the latest setup files on zenphoto.org. Please read the installation and upgrade guide as well.

One thing I can't comment on is if it is feasible to jump from your version to the current version as there might have been quite a few changes to the database structure in the meantime (cp. "Important Note" box in the upgrade guide).
So please make sure to do a proper backup of your current database and files before changing anything. You might also want to try this in a test environment (being a copy of your current installation) first.

acrylian

Thanks @Tobias!

Regarding the database changes: Generally setup does indeed handle all changes from back then but large version jumps are not tested actively. However, I personally did successfully update old 1.0.x version to at least earlier 1.4.x versions in the past. But it all also depends on other stuff: if old third party plugins or old themes or ifcustomizations are used. Database is naturally not the only part that has seen changes, a lot code did as well. Especially if custom themes are used there might be some work to do.

So the most secure is indeed to update step by step on major version (note the version numbering change from 1.4.7 on!). However if the host only supports PHP 7+ by now and now way to switch version back to at leasat 5.6, you need at least 1.4.14 for proper PHP 7 compatibility.