Best way to update to latest version

I have been keeping a very close eye on all of these posts and wondering the same thing. I cant afford a lot of downtime with my site and none of the previous attempts I made to update worked.

Are people having more success now?

There is no quick, automatic upgrade path from UM1 to UM2 because core functions and database of the UM program have changed. Assuming the UM2 update installs smoothly, you will still need to modify and reset user roles, set up email functions with custom content, and adjust your content restriction settings. If you have customizations, you may need re-create them. If you think of this as an installation of a new program, rather than an update of an old program, you’ll do fine. Allow some time.

Is there a way to maybe export the users from the old version and then import them on the new one ? Or would that me more of an import export wordpress users option ?

The only thing I am concerned with with losing user/member data and profiles. Hoping I can export that data for back up. I see a lot of posts where user profiles are blank, not showing up and that concerns me.

Yes I just saw that when I did a test from a production site to test site.

Your user data will migrate automatically from the UM1 DB to the UM2 DB, so there is no reason to export/import data. The challenge is that there is no way to migrate a deprecated user role or custom email settings, etc. into the new UM2 environment because they are handled differently in UM2. That you must do yourself after the update. Remember also, that you should disable UM extensions prior to the update, and remember to also update the extensions afterword.

Of course there were bugs with the new release, but some of the problems were not bugs at all. Most of my problems were merely surprises, because I was not aware I had to also make changes in settings after the update. When things did not work, I did not know I could fix them myself with simple changes in the settings.

If user profiles do not show up, it is most often a display issue. The profiles are still in the database. You should still be able to view user profiles in the WP Admin > Users > View/Edit Profile. Display issues could occur for many reasons, e.g., plugin conflicts, theme incompatibility, and, yes, bugs.

Thank for the help and advice