I have been slowly updating deninet over the course of the last few weeks. I was hoping to be at v5.3 by now, but the process has been meandering in practice. Originally, I had intended to practice a complete backup on the test server prior to running a complete upgrade on the production server. I've gone through this process before -- from 5.0h to 5.0r, and again from 5.0r to 5.1. Not only can it be disruptive, but tedious.

Adding new features has been foremost on my mind. Making upgrades doesn't rank all that high on my scale of enjoyable tasks. I have a day job to support and a rigorous workout schedule to support leaving me little time for deninet or fun. Deninet can actually be a great deal of fun for me, but I have to pick my battles in the 2 or 3 hours I have free each night. Developing new features is simply more fun.

This is not to say that some upgrade work hasn't been done. I have updated the modules that power the website backend. The content manager core has yet to be upgraded, a task I should complete sooner rather than later. The module upgrade process is actually quite time consuming itself.

Each upgrade requires a review of all modules powering the site. If some didn't work out, or were underused, they may be removed in the next release of deninet. Furthermore, alternatives need to be researched and tested for each module. Newer modules may implement features in a more efficient way, or provide a better user experience.  Once reviews are complete, updates for each module are downloaded, installed, migrated, and finally tested. This takes a lot of time. Furthermore, as the sole developer for the site, I'm the only one available to test. This can result in missed details or use cases that I wouldn't have imagined.