Extension compatibility

Explanation

Every extension has a "compatibility" section in its config.xml file. It determines whether the extension is compatible with the LimeSurvey version that is currently installed.
Extensions are: survey themes, question themes, admin themes and plugins.
If the config.xml file has no "compatibility" section, the extension is treated as incompatible.

Valid formats

The "compatibility" section contains one or more "version" entries. Each entry only applies to the major version it starts with, and the installed LimeSurvey version must be equal to or higher than it.

7
If a value of 7 is set, the extension is compatible with all 7.x versions of LimeSurvey.

7.1
7.1.1
If a value of 7.1 is set, the extension is compatible with LimeSurvey 7.1 and all later 7.x versions, but not with 7.0.

An extension that only lists 6.x is not compatible with LimeSurvey 7. To make an extension work with several major versions, add one "version" entry for each of them.

Example:

<compatibility>
    <version>6.0</version>
    <version>7.0</version>
</compatibility>

This extension is compatible with all 6.x and 7.x versions of LimeSurvey.

  Changing the version number only removes the compatibility warning. It does not make the extension work with the new LimeSurvey version. Always test an updated extension on a test installation or with a test survey before using it in a live environment.

Survey themes

To fix an incompatible survey theme, add the correct version number to the "compatibility" section of the theme's config.xml file.

This can be done in 2 ways:

1. Export the survey theme, edit the config.xml file and import the theme again.
2. If you have access to the server, edit the config.xml file in "upload/themes/survey/YOURTHEMENAME" in the LimeSurvey root directory.

Carefully check in a test survey which changes you need to make before using your custom survey theme in a live environment.

A survey theme that only lists versions that are two or more major versions older than the installed LimeSurvey version (for example only 5.x on LimeSurvey 7) is uninstalled automatically.

Question themes

To make a question theme compatible with a new version of LimeSurvey, update the "compatibility" section of its config.xml file.
The file is located in "survey/questions/answer/QUESTIONTYPENAME/config.xml" inside the question theme. On the server, uploaded question themes are stored in "upload/themes/question/YOURTHEMENAME".
An incompatible question theme cannot be uploaded.

Admin themes

  Before updating the compatibility version number in the config.xml file, please be aware that enabling an incompatible admin theme can break the admin interface.
If this happens, set the admin theme back to the default theme "Sea_Green" directly in the database: In the table "settings_global" (usually with a table prefix, for example "lime_settings_global"), find the row where "stg_name" is "admintheme" and set its "stg_value" to "Sea_Green".

To enable an admin theme again, add the correct version number to the "compatibility" section of the theme's config.xml file. Custom admin themes are located in "upload/admintheme/YOURTHEMENAME".

Plugins

An incompatible plugin cannot be installed or activated. The plugin manager shows which plugins are not compatible.
To make a plugin compatible with a new version of LimeSurvey, add the correct version number to the "compatibility" section of the plugin's config.xml file. Plugins that you installed yourself are located in "upload/plugins/PLUGINNAME".
Before doing this, check whether the plugin author has already released a version for your LimeSurvey version.