Four update modes are provided and you can update Open Rails with a single click of a button.

"Stable" is the default and recommended mode.

"Testing" is updated more frequently than the "Stable" mode.

If you follow the Open Rails project on the forums, then you will hear about bug-fixes and new features.

These are included in the "Unstable" version for developers and testers to try out.

Once they have been checked and approved, they are published (on Fridays) as the latest "Testing" version.

Any user can easily update to the current weekly "Testing" version and benefit from these improvements.

New versions are advertised and installed using the :ref:`Notifications <notifications>` feature.

You can change your current mode using Options > System > Update mode.

The fourth mode is "none", which does not search for a new version.

.. _notifications:

Notifications

Notifications are brief messages sent to Open Rails when you launch Open Rails.

You can view these by clicking on the notifications icon and stop viewing by toggling the icon again.

.. image:: images/notification-icon.png

Old notifications persist, but when new ones are available, the icon is overlaid with a red indicator showing the number of new notifications.

The icons are presented in date order with the latest one first. Step through them by clicking on the arrows:

.. image:: images/notification-red-indicator.png

Static Notifications

A simple notification may be shown in the same way to all users, such as:

.. image:: images/notification-static.png

Pressing the “Archive” button will launch your default browser to provide extra detail.

Responsive Notifications

Many notifications show differently depending on the user’s installation.

Responsive notifications are used to advise that a new version is available.

If a new version is available, then the notification might be shown as:

.. image:: images/notification-update-available.png

As before, the button “What’s new” will launch your default browser to provide extra detail.

The “Install” button is special and launches a seamless process to download the latest version available and use it to replace the active version.

Once the user has upgraded, the previous message is no longer appropriate and the notification responds to the changes by showing as:

.. image:: images/notification-update-installed.png

Privacy Note

No information is returned to the Open Rails web server.

Update Mode

There are 4 update modes – Stable, Testing, Unstable and None. More details are available :ref:`here <updating-or>`.

Note, however, that previously saved games may not be compatible with newer versions, as described :ref:`here <driving-saveresume>`.

Checking Compatibility

Responsive notifications are also used to check that an update is compatible with your system. For example, you might see useful warnings such as:

.. image:: images/notification-update-incompatible.png

Responding to Routes

These notifications can respond to the routes you have installed, so you can be advised of updates to routes you have already installed. For example, you might see:

.. image:: images/notification-routes.png

But this notification would be missing if you don’t already have the route installed.

Responding to Settings

The notifications can also respond to the settings you are using - see :ref:`Open Rails Options<options>`.

In this fictional example, you might see a message encouraging you to try an improved feature:

.. image:: images/notification-settings.png

However, if you have the option turned on already, then the notification is not shown.

Communication Error

If there is a problem with the Internet then the Notifications are replaced by a single prepared notification which gives a reason for the error and a chance to re-try:

.. image:: images/notification-error.png

Publishing Notifications

The Notifications document explains how to publish notifications and is included in the :ref:`Documents drop-down<documents>`.

.. _documents: