New Tiki releases are announced on https://tiki.org. To keep your Tiki safe, always upgrade to the current, stable release.

Using a Patchset

When patchsets for incremental releases (such as from 9.0 to 9.1) are available, you can download a patchset that contains only the files and database definitions that have been changed.

The diff-9.0-9.1.tar.gz patch set contains only the required changes to move from Tiki 9.0 to 9.1.

To install the patchset:
{WARNING()}Be sure to back up your customizations 'before'' running the Tiki Installer.{WARNING}

1. Download the patchset from SourceForge.net.
2. Unpack the archive into your Tiki directory. The new files will automatically overwrite the existing files.
3. Locate the version-specific .sql file in the ../db/ folder and execute it against your database.
   {NOTE()}Not all patchsets will contain database updates.{NOTE}
4. Use the Tiki Installer and select the Upgrade option, as shown here.

Installing full Version

You can also upgrade your Tiki by installing the latest, full version. You are suggested to install is aside of your former installation, to avoid potential issues with remaining old files not used in the new version but interfering with the new installation.
{WARNING()}Be sure to back up your customizations before running the Tiki Installer.{WARNING}

1. Move your former tiki installation files somewhere else in the server, or move them to your own computer, leaving the installation directory empty on your host.
2. Download the Tiki release from https://tiki.org and expand the archive on your host.
3. Run the Tiki installer by opening your browser to http://YOUR_DOMAIN/tiki-install.php.
   {TIP()}Refer to the Installation Instructions in Tiki for Dummies Smarties for complete details, including how to "unlock" your site and how to complete the Security Precaution page.{TIP}
4. Tiki should automatically detect that you are upgrading an existing site. Click the link to go directly to the Install/Upgrade step.
   
   

   Tiki automatically detects that you are running an upgrade.
   
   {NOTE()}If the Tiki installer does not display the Upgrade link, confirm that the database information in your ...db/local.php file is correct.{NOTE}
5. On the Install & Upgrade page, click Upgrade to upgrade your Tiki database to the current release.
   
   

   Upgrading your database.
   
   {TIP()}In some cases, when a Tiki feature is deprecated or removed, there may be "extra" database tables that remain, after the upgrade. If you do not have any data these tables, you may safely remove them from the database. See https://doc.tiki.org/Upgrade for details of tables can be removed.{TIP}
6. After upgrading the database, confirm that all queries were successful and click Continue.
   
   

   Completing the Installer upgrade.
7. Complete the remaining pages of the Tiki Installer, as needed, then enter your Tiki.

Be sure to read the Release Notes for each to understand the changes in the new release.

Restoring your Customizations

After completing your upgrade, you must restore any of the customizations that you previously backed up. This includes:

• Templates and stylesheets
• File galleries
• Attachments
• Language files
• Plugins and modules

{NOTE()}If you customized any PHP files that were part of the upgrade, you will have to manually copy your customizations to the new version files.

To avoid this issue, consider joining the Tiki Community and contributing your customizations to the Tiki code repository.{NOTE}

If you Experience Issues with Encoded Characters

If you experience issues with some encoded characters shown in your wiki pages after the upgrade, you may need to fix those encoding issues before using the upgraded site for production.

{WARNING()}There are higher changes that this is needed if your Tiki site held non-English content, and you are upgrading from a version earlier than Tiki 5.1.{WARNING}

Follow these steps:

1. Export existing database from earlier releases (< 5.1)
   {NOTE()}When dumping mysql databases from earlier versions of Tiki you should specify "--default-character-set=latin1 " to ensure that your mysql client does not double encode any existing latin1 data.{NOTE}
2. Force connection to utf-8 in db/local.php. Go to tiki-install.php, and follow steps until step 4: "Set the Database Connection".
   {TIP()}Even if you have a local.php file already there, click on "Modify database connection" instead of "Use Existing Connection". This will open a form in the lower part of the window for you. At the bottom, there will be a section called "Character set", with a checkbox called "Always force connection to use UTF-8", that needs to be kept as checked. Fill in your db/local.php details through that form, and click on the "Continue" button at the bottom when ready.{TIP}
   
   

   Screen to set the Database connection parameters
3. Convert database and tables to UTF-8. In step 5 of the installation process, you will be offered the option to "Convert database and tables to UTF-8", and you will be also shown the current encoding of your database.
   {TIP()}Write down the name of the current encoding of your database, because you will need it in the next step below.{TIP}
   You can now click on the button "Convert database and tables to UTF-8".
   
   

   Convert database and tables to UTF-8
   
   {NOTE()}Once successfully performed, you will not see this option anymore, but just the usual question of whether you want to Re-install the database, or "Automatically upgrade your existing database to" your new Tiki version.{NOTE}
   Choose the option "Automatically upgrade your existing database to" your new Tiki version, since you are upgrading.
4. Convert content from your previous encoding to utf-8
   {NOTE()}You need to convert the content from your existing database (content from wiki pages, etc., but also preferences, which include paths to file and image attachments, like in image galleries, etc.) to utf-8.{NOTE}
   You have an option in the final step under the section "Upgrading and running into encoding issues?". In the dropdown called "Previous table encoding", choose the one which applies to your case (you wrote it down in the previous step), and click on the button: "Dangerous: Fix double encoding"
   
   

   Convert content from your previous encoding to utf-8

{NOTE()}Congratulations! You are done. You can now enter Tiki locking the installer (recommended) or without locking it, and continue using Tiki as normally.{NOTE}

{TIP()}Given the nature of this fix, it's best to do some quick verification of the changes.{TIP}

{WARNING()}If you have any issues, provide feedback through the usual Support channels. {WARNING}