PHP update....

[insitu_az]

So...
The version of PHP that this board is using is going obsolete and has to be updated. The host service will do the PHP upgrade on April 22. Hopefully it will work out okay. I am a bit concerned, but they indicate that they will try to recover the site if the update fails.
There is an update available for the site software (we are on version 3.25, and current version is 3.3) but when I attempted to do the update on our mirror site, I succeeded in crashing it. Hopefully the PHP upgrade will proceed without my having to attempt updating the primary board software. If that update is required, hopefully it will go better than the mirror site.

-Guy

[Randalla]

Guy, do we need to solicit some more donations so you are not out of pocket for any associated costs having to do with this?

[insitu_az]

Randy,
Should be no cost involved, the host provider does the update as part of their service. I just hope that they can get it done without needing to do an update on our site software. I think we will be okay, but having crashed the mirror site while trying a site software update there is not a big confidence builder.

.... fingers crossed....

-Guy

[insitu_az]

I have a small plan to reduce our risk during the PHP update on the 22nd....

The evening of the 21st I will turn off all of the modifications on the board, and reduce it to the vanilla phpBBS. This will include things like the banner, menu bar, gallery, photo correction and a few other items.

On the 22nd, as soon as I get notification that the host has completed our php upgrade, I will check to be sure everything in the basic package still works, then if good, I will return the modifications one at a time to try to get the system back to its current configuration. If this all goes smoothly we should be back and running by the evening of the 22nd. I think that the board will accept the php upgrade, but I may have to work on some of the modifications to accomodate the change.

-Guy

[Randalla]

I only wish I knew what you are suggesting

[L320-Dale]

I only wish I knew what you are suggesting

I agree Randy, its over my head too. I'm glad we have Guy, and appreciate what he does!

[insitu_az]

So...
The site php update from version 7.2 to version 7.4 did not go well. It appears that the software we are using ( phpBB version 3.2.5 ) is not fully compatible with the php version 7.4 that we need to upgrade to. PHP is the hypertext processor that our web site software is based on, and the oldest version now supported is 7.4.
I have temporarily reverted our site back to php version 7.2, and disabled all the add-on modifications that I did earlier to make the site more user friendly. The biggest change you will see is that the banner at the top of the page is gone.... I added the banner to the site using a modification.
I am working with our site host to get the site software updated, but for the mean time, we will remain on the vanilla unmodified version of the software using php version 7.2. This is only temporary and I should be able to start restoring our add-on modifications in a few days. Note that the banner at the top of the page may not be one of the things we can recover right away, as the programmer that developed that modification has not released a version that will work with php 7.4. If any of you log in to "The 510 Realm", you probably have noticed that the blue Goon that used to be at the top of their pages is gone right now.... they have the same issue there.

Let me know if you have any questions,
-Guy

[insitu_az]

Update....

I think we are in the clear now. I have the board software updated to the current version, and have done the upgrade to the PHP version. There are a couple of extensions that are still down, but I think I can get things back to normal soon.

Let me know if you find any major issues.
-Guy

[L320-Dale]

Thanks AGAIN, for all you do. Nice job!

[Turboman280]

Thanks for all you do Guy.