This was fairly popular last time around, so I wanted to write this up and make sure it was available right away with the new 1.4 release.  The upgrade process is fairly easy but there are a few things to be aware of.  Hopefully, I’ll cover everything you could possible want to know on your journey from BlogEngine.NET 1.3.x to BlogEngine.NET 1.4.

1. Backup your stuff

If you read this last time, you realize that there is no warranty with my guide and you are strongly encouraged to backup your blog and blog data.

At a minimum, please backup your App_Data folder, any custom themes or extensions you may have, and your web.config especially if you are a database user.

2. Download BlogEngine.NET 1.4 (website)

This is likely the step you have already done.  (If not, get it here.)  Once you have it located on your PC, unzip it.  Right click the folder, go to Properties and remove the Read Only check.  (This step has helped some and has never hurt anyone.)

3. Update your database

If you are using the the MSSQL Provider and have your blog data stored in SQL Server, we have an upgrade script for you to run.  It adds a few more tables and some basic data for them.  The script is found in the Setup folder of the blog and it is labeled MSSQLUpgrade1.4.0.0.sql.  Run this against your BlogEngine database.

4. Configuration… as in Web.Config

If you are a database user, you are going to have to make some updates to the web.config that you are about to upload.

First thing, you will want to add your connection string to the new web.config in the connectionStrings section.

Second, you will notice that the MSSQLBlogProvider is gone.  (Its ok.  It has gone to a better place.)  It has been replaced with the DbBlogProvider.  This is your new friend.  Make sure you have your connection string name marked here and set the DbBlogProvider as your default BlogProvider.  Save your changes.

5. Upload your files

This is a little bit tricker this time around so pay attention.

First, make sure you have a good backup from step #1.  This is really your last chance to do that.

Now, you can upload everything except the App_Data folder.  It is important to note that a few things have moved around and if you just choose to overwrite files, you’ll have some left overs.  These leftovers should not cause problems for you (except noted in the troubleshooting section) but they just take up space, most notably the tiny_mce folder under the admin folder has been moved and can be deleted.

Once you have most files moved up, it is time to go into your app_data folder.  In the downloaded project, you will see two new folders, datastore and profiles.  Upload these to your site as well.  (If you use a database for file storage, it isn’t require, but it is consistent.)

6. Security Update

If you use the default XMLMembership provider to store your passwords, this has been updated in in 1.4.  We had been storing the password in clear text and this is no longer the default.  If you wish to continue with clear text, you can set your XMLMembershipProvider passwordFormat to Clear in the web.config, but this is not recommended.

Since BlogEngine.NET 1.4 is looking for hashed passwords by default, you’ll be unable to log in unless we make a change to your user data.  You’ll need to retrieve your users.xml file from your app_data folder.  You should be able to see your users and passwords listed in the file.  Remove the password from each entry user so it has an blank or empty password and save the file.  Upload your newly edited file to your site when you are done.

This will cause BlogEngine to allow you to log in with each user using the password “admin” so that you can then change the password to whatever you’d like.  The new password will be hashed.

7. Fire it up

Ok, now that we have everything out there, let’s run it.  Point your browser back to your blog and after a few moment wait as your site compiles, you should see your blog back as you’d expect it.  (If your blog doesn’t come up, see the troubleshooting section below.)

Now that you are up, first log in and use the change password option on your admin menu to change your password to something secure.

8. Check your settings

Everything is done, but it is always a good idea to Check your settings and make sure everything is configured properly.  This would also be a great time to fill in your profile for FOAF support.

Troubleshooting

Hopefully, you are just reading this because you want to see what other poor souls are struggling with.  The typical things that are going to cause trouble are custom themes and extension that were made prior to 1.4.  If you have any installed remove them and try again.  If you are still having trouble, try going into your settings.xml or be_Settings table and changing the default theme to be Standard.

If you are having trouble logging in to your blog, try an application restart.

If you have more tips or additions, please make them in the comments and I’ll update this post.

BlogEngine.NET 1.4 is here.  It might have seemed like a long time coming to some but we think it will be worth the wait.  In reality, it has been 6 months since 1.3 was released at the end of December, so it hasn’t been all that long.

The latest version of BlogEngine has many very cool features as well as enhanced security and performance.

Here are the highlights:

• Widgets - Widgets are the new way to customize your blog.  Mads first introduced them a few months ago and they have been improved since.  You can quickly add a widget to your blog, drop and drag it to where you want it, edit/configure it right from your home page, and when you log out, it will stay right where you left it.  It is brilliant.  Your customized themes will need reworked to use it, but it will be worth the effort.
• Improved database support – While BlogEngine has support SQL Server since the beginning, we now have updated providers to allow you to use MySQL, VistaDB, and many others along with SQL Server.  This will open up lots of options for storing your blog, membership, roles, and profile data.
• Improved Extensions – Extensions have been one of the best features BlogEngine has and it just got better.  1.4 allows for storing extension data (as well as widget and theme data) in the blog provider model.  This makes it easier for the developers and users of extensions to create, manage, and use extensions.
• Check out the more complete feature list here.

You can download it here.

I recently read that there was an beta version of Windows Live Writer out.  I made a note of it as I wanted to make sure that BlogEngine.NET 1.4 (coming very soon) would work fine with the latest release of this great product.

I had kind of forgotten about the update until tonight as I was working through my testing list and came across Live Writer.  Anyway, once I got it installed and fired up, I was really pleased with what I saw.

The best feature as I see it is the preview tab.  Down at the bottom of the post entry window are 3 tabs.  Edit (which is the typical entry place we are used to), Preview (which shows you what your blog post will look like in your blog), and Source (which as you guessed, shows your html).  The preview worked perfect for me.  I was a bit shocked to be honest.

There is now some image cropping/minor editing as part of the package so I will no longer need to use another program to make minor tweaks to my pictures.  In addition, there are a few new image border options to give things a nicer look as well.

There is a bunch of other things that are new as well.  Lifehacker has a nice overview article that includes the rest of the new features.  It is worth checking out.