upgrading template from hotsportal 1.6

I installed joomla 1.6.3 last summer with the hotsportal template for 1.6. I just installed the updates for joomla 1.6.4, 1.6.5 and 1.7 today. we also updated php to 5.2.

When I installed the hotsportal template, i made alot of changes to the colors what is in the different module positions. Can you please tell me if i need to update my template and install the hotsportal template for joomla 1.7? Is there any documentation you can point me to so i don't overwrite the parts of the template i have updated. I thought there used to be guide that offered suggestions before installing the newer versions of the templates.

I plan on installing to joomla 2.5 in the next week. Should I just skip the 1.7 update and install the 2.5 template first or do I need to do both? Again any recommendations so I don't lose the updates I made will be appreciated.

there were changes in database . Flow version-by-version update. At the end replace only template we have templates for all versions 1.6/1.7/2.5

can you tell me the process after updating joomla to 1.7? do i need to reinstall the template, and if so is there a document or directions to guide me?

i'm not sure what you mean by flow version-by-version update.

Update to 2.5 then replace template.