On a regular basis, Arts Management will make updates to Theatre Manager available for all organizations that maintain a valid support agreement. There is no set schedule for updates as the development team is continually working to improve the software.

You can review the release notes for your current version and forward. There are a number of general steps you can follow for each upgrade. If there are any specifics for an upgrade, you will find that noted for that version.

Version numbers will be the best way to determine the amount of information in the update. An example of a version number would be 9.05.06. In this example, the 9 refers to Version 9, the .05 refers to the last major update, and the .06 refers to the last minor update. How this affects the organization is dependent on the version number that is currently being used. For an organization that is already running version 9.05.00, the upgrade to 9.05.06 would be minor. For an organization that is running version 9.01.00, the upgrade would be major to 9.05.06. The difference between a major and minor upgrade is the amount of time that it takes and the priority of the upgrade.

Upgrades of the Theatre Manager software should always be done during down time for the organization. Depending on the size of the database, the number of users, and the update, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to a number of hours. During this time, no one in the organization will be able to use Theatre Manager.

Finally, all upgrades are cumulative. For example, if you are upgrading from version 9.00 to 9.06, read all the release notes for each version in-between and follow all steps for each version.

When downloading any update for Theatre Manager, please make sure your personal firewall is turned on per PCI requirement 1.4

Preparing for an Update

Theatre Manager will:

• Upgrade the database with any new database fields
• Move or migrate any data where possible to provide suitable defaults in new database fields
• Implement any new stored procedures in the database server

The venue will need to

• Download all updaters in advance of doing the upgrade. Save this on a shared directory or a USB key so that you only need to download once. If you use both Mac and PC, make sure to download the update for both platforms.
• Read the release notes for any prior version and make note of any directions you need to follow that are pertinent to your operation.
• Quit Theatre Manager on all workstations, including all web sales listeners and close all shopping carts.
• Complete your end of day. Deposit all funds, create all sales entries and post to the GL.
• Make a backup copy of the database
• Install the upgrade to Theatre Manager on one of the machines and start the application.
  • You will be asked if you want to start the upgrade.
  • Click to Continue if you have done your end of day an made a backup.
  • The upgrade time varies form version to version. Do not abort it even if the screen appears non-responsive
  • When you see the login screen, the upgrade is done. You can allow others to log in.
• Follow any of the upgrade instructions pertinent to this upgrade you noted from the release notes.

After an upgrade:

• If you need to make any changes to the web pages, make a backup of the web pages before changing anything.
• Always verify that your web listeners are running after any minor or major upgrade. TM automatically stops them when it notices a new version.
• Once the listeners are restarted, please go to your web site and try finding an event to but online. This is a further confirmation to yourself that you are satisfied the upgrade is complete.