Software update? Forum is clunky and missing features

[troebia]

Hello admins(?),
I'm enjoying this forum but running into a lot of snags, like not getting notified of new replies despite having configured it, constantly having to log in again despite having checked "remember me", not being able to quote posts easily etc. The mobile interface also has these issues, and it also defaults to an awful barebones skin. I know all of this may not happen on all browsers, but it does on at least a couple of major ones on Windows.
The version of PhpBB of this forum is 3.0.10 which is about 10 years old and severely outdated: docs/CHANGELOG.html. Newest version is 3.3.2 and you can see the demo here: http://www.try-phpbb.com/33x/
It should be possible to install a parallel updated version on the server and import all the data from this version to a new database. And once everything is working, just redirect the root address. I have some experience with this if you need any help

[manuel_moe_g]

Hello Troebia,

I will research more, and I will try to get Paul to sign off on the plan (Paul is kind of hard to get a hold of, he has his own life and his own struggles, I try to be very gentle because treatment-resistant depression is terrible, is my understanding)

Let me see if I can find the export data feature...

oh I am only a global moderator, not an administrator...

let me try to get all my ducks in a row and compose a gentle email to Paul with your suggestions

thanks!

[troebia]

Thank you Manuel for putting this forward to Paul,

An upgrade like this is a bit daunting of course, but I believe it's worth it. There's some documentation in the support notes:
https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3 ... -of-phpbb3
in the section "I am on 3.0.x and I want to update to the latest stable version."

However instead of following these instructions to the letter and overwrite the old files directly, I think it's safer to:

• First install the new version in a separate folder on the server, for example "3.3", and also create a new, separate database.
• Export the data (as you say) from the old version, and then import it into the new database of the new version.
• Copy images (headers, user icons etc) from the old forum to the corresponding folders of the new one.
• Test-run the new forum and make sure everything works as it should. If the site has had some custom scripting or mods through the years, errors will show up. If there are any issues that take time to resolve, the database could be re-imported from the old site before going live so that any new posts don't get lost.
• Then redirect the root address of the website (https://mentalpodforum.com) to the subfolder, by editing the root .htaccess file (backup first!). If the forum already is in a subfolder (for example "/forum") and root already is being directed there, instead change the name of the folders.
• Finally, there may or may not be some phpBB-specific quirkiness that requires an edit of the .htaccess file (backup first!) inside the new subfolder, so that it doesn't make a wrong redirect from there.
• If any other unforeseen problems arise, it's easy to revert to the old version by restoring the old root .htaccess file or renaming the folders to their original names.

The above is a more fail-safe way of upgrading. Btw I don't know what your cPanel and website control panel looks like. Maybe there's an automatic script tool to install the new version of phpBB, and you may also be able to use cPanel to edit the .htaccess files through some kind of interface.
Hope this helps

[oak]

Thanks to Mr. Gilmartin, Manuel Moe, and the mods.

And thanks to Troebia. You know your PHP. I knew cPanel was going to enter this discussion soon. Even the .htaccess!

btw, though I am not as accomplished or skilled as Troebia, I'll be glad to offer my assistance.

(I thought this was just a matter of updating the PHP BB, but I can understand now why you'd want to go through PHPMySQL.)

[troebia]

Hi all,
I just wanted to know if there's any news on this. Btw I have more time on my hands than usual now, since my area has gone into complete COVID lockdown and curfew -- so I'd be glad to assist in any way regarding the update

[manuel_moe_g]

Hello Troebia,

Paul's web guy hopes to update the forum either this week or next week, and he found you tips and procedure to be very helpful! Thanks for your great contribution to the forum!

[troebia]

Hi Manuel, I'm glad that it's happening! If the "web guy" needs more assistance I'd be happy to help him out as best I can

[snoringdog]

I'm eager to see the upgrade as well!

On a maybe-not-so-related-tangent, here's an interesting study on coding and the activation of different brain areas..

https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading ... -code-1215

[oak]

Look at this fresh, modern, responsive update! Very clean and surely more up to date under the hood.

I appreciate the effort to update.

[troebia]

I appreciate the effort to update.

Yes, well done! Some minor issues:

• The top banner image is missing.
• Are you guys able to do persistent logins? One of the minor reasons I suggested the update was to avoid having to log in every time I visited the forum, but it still doesn't seem to work.

Thank you Manuel for making the update happen!