Main Portal Setup help page

Portal Setup Instructions - for an Upgrade

These instructions are for any Portal Setup Choice that involves installing your portal on a server.
If your installation file ends in "_S", then these instructions are not for you

 

1) Print this page - and use it as a checklist

2) Save a copy and a back up of your new master installation files

Archive or destroy ALL copies of earlier version exe files -
so that you don't accidentally install an old version in the future

3) Install the S2winPortal exe to any temporary folder

Do NOT overwrite your original S2winPortal (yet)

Please remind me - what is the S2winPortal?

4) Use the Multi-User Setup Checklist
to ensure that everything gets off to a good start.

5) Required personalization

a) Replace the Document Storage & Naming Conventions document
\S2winPortal\S2winSync\StorageNaming.pdf
with YOUR company's policies

b) Personalize your Systems2winInstallReadMe file to provide the information needed for user installation:

1) your preferred PDF writing software
2) any other installation instructions that are unique to your company (such as proxy settings)

6) Optional personalization

• If you personalize (or have already personalized) any templates,
  then follow the Tips for upgrading your Systems2win templates from an old version to a new one
  
• If you remove (or have already removed) some templates that you don't want to distribute to your users,
  then you might want to remove those same templates from your new portal
• If you add (or have already added) some of your own templates that you want to sync to your users,
  then be sure to copy those templates from the S2winSync folder in your old portal to the S2winSync folder in your new portal

Tip: Refer to your Customization Log to refresh your memory about any personalizations that might have already been made to your templates (that will now need to be recreated in the new version of the same template)

Work with your Continuous Improvement Leader(s) to complete any other optional personalization tasks that they assign from their Multi-User Setup Checklist

7) Move your S2winPortal to its permanent location

Option A) Overwrite your existing portal and templates

Important: If you choose this option, then it is very important to quickly update every user's PC,
because some of your new templates won't work with the old Add-in.

Yes, backward compatibility is supported,
so users can continue to use working documents based on older version templates

• Use My Computer to delete the old folders and templates.

  Do NOT just copy over top of the old folder without first deleting the old files & folders.
  That would overwrite files & folders of the same name, but would leave remnant files & folders that might mess up your new portal.

• Move your new S2winPortal from its temporary location to the exact same place where the old one used to be.
  (so that users' browser Favorites bookmarks will still work)
• Have your IT Dept ensure that your S2winPortal folder is still Read Only for most users.
  (so that users don't accidentally overwrite your master templates)
• If you have multiple copies of your portal, repeat.
  (it is generally a bad idea to have copies of your portal on multiple servers, but might be justified for a company with widely dispersed licensed sites)

Option B) Establish a new portal each time you upgrade - rather than overwriting your old one

This option is especially useful for large companies with unlimited users -
so that you can upgrade batches of users more slowly.
Users with the old version will continue to sync with the old portal - until they can be upgraded.

• Use My Computer to copy all of the files from your temporary /S2winPortal/ folder to the new permanent /S2winPortalYYMM/ folder
  • Suggested naming convention: /S2winPortalYYMM/
    where YYMM = year and month of your most recent upgrade
• Have your IT Dept ensure that your new S2winPortalYYMM folder is Read Only for most users.
  (so that users don't accidentally overwrite your master templates)
• If your new installer has your new portal path as the default -
  then all you need to do is install the upgrade on each user's PC
  • If your new installer does not have your new portal path as the default -
    then when installing the upgrade on each user's PC, you must either:
    1. Change Path to S2winPortal
       Excel > Add-ins > Systems2win menu > Setup and Upgrade > Change Path to S2winPortal > then browse to select the folder path provided by your IT Dept
    2. Or replace the systems2win.ini file with one that has the correct portal path
• Delete your old S2winPortal
  as soon as you are confident that all users have been upgraded, and the Portal Path has been changed on each user's PC

8) Follow the rest of the instructions for regular Portal Setup and Installation on each User's PC

Tip: If you didn't keep a log of users that have this software installed, you will now appreciate why it is a good idea.
(so start one now...)

Another way to identify PC's that need an upgrade is to search their \Program Files\ folder looking for a Systems2win.dll file with a Date Modified that is older than the same file in your most recent upgrade.

 

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More helpful tips...

Tips for upgrading your Systems2win templates from an old version to a new one.

Main Portal Setup help page
Add-in & Portal Home Page