Checking for updates



The phpBB 3.3.x branch is usually updated every couple of months as necessary. Bugfixes, new features and other changes are included in these updates. The minor version number gets incremented each time. It is strongly recommended keeping your phpBB installation up to date. Updating from older versions is more difficult, and you will have a hard time finding solutions to possible conflicts. You should use the Full Package Update to update your board, especially if your board does not have any modifications to core files. Alternatively expert users may want to update with the Advanced Update Package, which is able to merge modifications to core files.

You will be notified in your ACP if a new version is released, you will also have a link to the newest release announcement, which will brief you on the added features and the overall changelog.

Updating with the Full Package is very simple. First, you will go to the linked phpBB.com downloads page and download the full package of the latest version. You will extract the contents on your PC, remove config.php, the images/, files/, and store/ directory from the extracted package, and upload them to the root directory of your board, overwriting any old files and merging directories. The board will be offline for normal users for the moment. Then simply go to the install/ directory and select the Update tab, continue with updating your board by clicking on "Update database only".

Please have a look at the more detailed instructions for the Full Package Update