What steps and preparatory actions should be considered when updating a software product to a new version?

When updating a software product to a new version, the following steps are important:

1. Planning: define update goals, assess risks.
2. Backup: create a backup of the current version and data.
3. Testing: test the new version in a test environment, ensure there are no critical errors.
4. Updating dependencies: update libraries and components if necessary.
5. Deployment: deploy the new version to production.
6. Monitoring: monitor the operation after the update, respond quickly to issues.

In PHP projects, it is also important to check compatibility with the PHP version and server settings, as well as database migrations if they exist.