MT 3.2 Installed

The upgrade to MT 3.2 was fairly smooth. I ran into 2 problems before being able to post this entry.

The upgrade is supposed to start when the blog owner logs in to MT after uploading the upgrade files to the server. The upgrade requires some customizing. Older versions had a file called mt.cfg which holds information about paths to system file, and a db password file. The new version has a file called mt-config.cgi which has to have the same information. The upgrade instructions require the new file, as shipped, to be edited in a text editor, renamed, and file permissions set to 755. I got a server error message and had to work through that. My problem probably was a bad editing of the config file, or the file permissions on that file. I had left a stray #character in a blank line in the new mt-config.cgi which could have remarked a line of code, and I had not checked if the permissions on this file as uploaded were 755. In my efforts to fix the problem I also uploaded the upgrade files again – setting my File transfer mode to ascii (except the mt-static/images files which should be binary) instead of relying on the FTP client automatic transfer settings. I also checked that the permissions on all *.cgi files in the mt root folder were set to 755. With those things addressed, I logged in and the automated upgrade ran nicely.
The second problem was that I couldn’t save a new entry. I found a thread in the support forums which suggested two things could be causing the problem. One related to a path statement in the mt-config.cgi for the mt-static files, and the other was cached files in my brower. I cleared the cache and that fixed it. I had been careful with the static files path statement when I had edited the mt-config.cgi file.
Clearing the browser cache was useful. Before I did that, the entry editing screens and the back end had looked strange – not what I had expected from the screen shots on SixApart’s site. Now that I have cleared those hurdles, I can say that the back end is better. The design is more professional and the entry editing screens look better. Under MT 3.1n, some plugins (MT Blacklist, Spamlookup) opened comment listing screens for spam removal. The upgrade has systemwide comment and trackback screens, with junk (moderated material) sorted into a junk folder for review.
I expect to change my templates to the new MT defaults, to take advantage of all the new tags and clear up old code. MT 3.2 comes with a template refresher plugin that will change existing templates (after backing the old ones up) to the new defaults. Running this changes everything to the “Vicksburg” layout and colours. I will have to work the new stylesheet and templates to get my old colour scheme and layout, but it will be worth it. The published site will look a little different as I work through that project.