Maintenance

• Dolphin - Dolphin upgrades will probably take about 10 minutes if all goes well. You have to manually change the version number and you must update the database. If you have made any changes to the core code, you will need to use a diff program as the upgrade is simply copy new files on top of the old ones.
• phpFox - phpFox requires uploading a copy of the entire product again and going through the installation process. If the change made to get the install to work initially bit you, prepare to get bitten a gain by the upgrade process.
• Joomla - Joomla provides an upgrade pack as well as the full install. If you haven't made any changes to the core files, you are in for an easy time upgrading your Joomla installation. However, you have to ensure the extras you have installed are also compatible with the new version of the core Joomla you are upgrading. If they are not, the add-on will need to be upgraded as well. Many of the extensions you install in Joomla provide their own upgrade process which can be inconsistent across modules, components or plugins. So learn the extensions you install and you will need to be familiar with what it takes to upgrade them. The upgrade pack can also be used along with a diff program to perform the upgrade. We achieved great results upgrading core Joomla this way.
• Drupal - If you have not modified the Drupal core, deleting all the core files and laying down the new upgrade files will work. The main gotcha with a Drupal upgrade is to ensure you have backed up custom files and uploads due to the fact you will delete the core. Once files are replaced, the update.php script is executed in your browser and the upgrade is complete. Learn the files and folders you should backup before upgrading and a Drupal upgrade will involve very little pain.
• Ning - Remotely hosted solutions are maintained by the remote host, not you, the site owner. Any bugs fixes or upgrades are handled by Ning. Be sure you have some sort of backup of your site because Ning has been known to roll out new code with customers as guinea pigs.
• Kickapps - Kickapps is generally good for fixing bugs. However, they fix the bugs without much testing and negative side effects are not uncommon! During this experiment, Kickapps rolled out a brand new version of their code right on top of us and broke vital pieces of the test site. The renamed api method calls which crippled our custom application! Luckily it was only a test site!