As I'm sure most will be painfully aware, there have been a lot of site errors and so on recently. Much like the government in the current covid crisis, I have a plan to resolve this over the next while:
1. Back up the database to get a base for testing. After having to do a lot of cleanup (25k temporary tables had been created somehow and needed deleting), this step is complete.
2. Set up a test site where I can test upgrades to see if they work, to see if there are errors, etc. This is almost complete after a lot of googling and trial and error, just one minor (I hope piece to do). This test site has same features and data as this one, as of the data cut time from yesterday, but won't be accessible to anyone to post in, other than me if I need to test something.
3. Purchase vbulletin 5 (version 5.6.1 is the latest one). Not done.
4. Upgrade test site to vbulletin 5.6.1 and see if it works, etc. Not done.
5. If step 4 works well I will then look to take the main site offline for a while. I should know timings better from upgrading test site, and can let people know what to expect then.
I'm not an expert in vbulletin 5 and while I know it'll look and feel very different to what we are used to, I don't know how different really as I've only used it a little. if it can be customised to look a bit nicer (although that is subjective) or add features, I'll try them out in the test site first.
I'm sure some will complain it looks bad, but at the end of the day it shouldn't matter. I don't really want it to look too different either, but if it helps fix the problems that's the main thing. The version of vbulletin we're using is years out of date (3.8.11) and parts of it are causing problems for server software that is getting upgraded to versions that don't play nice with it.
On the plus side there should be some better features available if we upgrade, such as proper mobile apps for ios and android. We'll find out what else is available if/when the upgrade happens. If I upgrade the test site though and still see errors in logs similar to what we have now, the upgrade might not happen. We'll see how it goes. Just wanted to let ye know what's going on. I think(hope) I have the most awkward bits out of the way almost, but famous last words and all that.
1. Back up the database to get a base for testing. After having to do a lot of cleanup (25k temporary tables had been created somehow and needed deleting), this step is complete.
2. Set up a test site where I can test upgrades to see if they work, to see if there are errors, etc. This is almost complete after a lot of googling and trial and error, just one minor (I hope piece to do). This test site has same features and data as this one, as of the data cut time from yesterday, but won't be accessible to anyone to post in, other than me if I need to test something.
3. Purchase vbulletin 5 (version 5.6.1 is the latest one). Not done.
4. Upgrade test site to vbulletin 5.6.1 and see if it works, etc. Not done.
5. If step 4 works well I will then look to take the main site offline for a while. I should know timings better from upgrading test site, and can let people know what to expect then.
I'm not an expert in vbulletin 5 and while I know it'll look and feel very different to what we are used to, I don't know how different really as I've only used it a little. if it can be customised to look a bit nicer (although that is subjective) or add features, I'll try them out in the test site first.
I'm sure some will complain it looks bad, but at the end of the day it shouldn't matter. I don't really want it to look too different either, but if it helps fix the problems that's the main thing. The version of vbulletin we're using is years out of date (3.8.11) and parts of it are causing problems for server software that is getting upgraded to versions that don't play nice with it.
On the plus side there should be some better features available if we upgrade, such as proper mobile apps for ios and android. We'll find out what else is available if/when the upgrade happens. If I upgrade the test site though and still see errors in logs similar to what we have now, the upgrade might not happen. We'll see how it goes. Just wanted to let ye know what's going on. I think(hope) I have the most awkward bits out of the way almost, but famous last words and all that.
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