Upgrade to 1.9.2.3 overwrite theme...

[Stainless007]

So I'm having a MAJOR issue with a programming firm that I hired... First their programmer told me (lied to me) that Static Block can't be in a vertical series... Ie. Static Block A, Static Block B, etc.  I called him out on it. Then he says he fixes it but it's completely messed up... I noticed and performed a backup and then proceeded to update to 1.9.2.3 from 1.9.2.2.  Well, now they are claiming that it's was my fault and that the update causes all of the issues with the theme!? 

They claimed they only programmed directly on the server and don't have any backups.  You can imagine how pissed that I am because it's four months late and they are demanding final payment with a default looking site!?  I told them there is NO WAY that a security x.x.x.+1 update would cause a complete theme failure and reset to default, that the guy at Magento are a little smarter then that.  I tried recovering but it's the same messed up looking home page... I blame the fact their programmer is not as smart as he says he is, they are blaming the UPDATE... Who is right???  Would going from 1.9.2.2 to 1.9.2.3 cause that much issue with a template?  Would any of you create a template that completely over writes the default theme knowing any serious upgrade (ie. 1.9.x-1.9.y) would cause issues?  Would any of you create a custom theme and not perform the programming locally or at the minimum have a local backup?  I'm a single small business and my cash resources are limited, and this is about to completely close me down...

Any input would be insightful.

[dandodd]

This backup you took, was that of the files system and another of the database? or just one of those.

If you have both you could recover is to restore your site from backup.

It is possible that the theme changes were made on the default theme without creating a new theme and editing it.  That could cause an upgrade to over write the changes.

This is a tough situation to be in for sure.

Messed up website and developers you don't trust.

I would add that there is plenty of information online:

making a theme copy to work on

to develop offline and test before going live.

At least work on a copy of production.

Sadly there are still developers that work live.  Might be a good question if you have to go shopping for another developer.

[Stainless007]

Yeah, I don't have both.   I cannot believe that ANY developer would work live and without backups!?  Maybe in 1998, a newbie working on his own site but not in 2015 with all the automation, ease of copying a production server setup, etc.

What I do know is that only two template files was updated with the 1.9.2.3 update, one being RSS and the other was Category Type file for sorting, neither of which would have completely changed home page, product page, etc.  Any thoughts that would be contrary to my stance?

I'm going to cut my losses and move on to another company/freelancer.

Thanks for the input.

- Stainless

[dandodd]

Did you add the home page static blocks to the white-list? White-listing static blocks via System Permissions Blocks...

You must have if you were on 1.9.2.2 and it worked but thought I'd ask

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@Stainless007 wrote:

Yeah, I don't have both.   I cannot believe that ANY developer would work live and without backups!?  Maybe in 1998, a newbie working on his own site but not in 2015 with all the automation, ease of copying a production server setup, etc.

What I do know is that only two template files was updated with the 1.9.2.3 update, one being RSS and the other was Category Type file for sorting, neither of which would have completely changed home page, product page, etc.  Any thoughts that would be contrary to my stance?

I'm going to cut my losses and move on to another company/freelancer.

Thanks for the input.

- Stainless

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