Forum upgrade/downtime?

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Happy New Year to one and all !

A quick "heads up".
================
The forum uses phpBB and this is currently at v3.3.5, which is a few minor versions out of date (the latest is v3.3.9).

And my server uses php v7.4.33, which was "End Of Life'd" a couple of years ago and I now need to upgrade it to v8.x

The last time I had to upgrade the version of php, it broke the forum !!

So, as a "warning", I'll be closing the forum in the next week or so, and I will try to upgrade both the forum software and the server version of php.

Just before it goes offline, I will take some backups "just in case" !!

If you try to log on and cannot, or you find the forum has "vanished" then please don't worry (too much) as it'll be back as soon as the upgrades have been made....and after any "fixes" have been made.

Forum tweak
==========
I've also changed the maximum number of topics/posts that can be seen "per page" (from 25 to 100) so, you'll see more posts on each "screen" before you get to the end and need to click on "next" to get to the following posts (if they exist).

regards
Tim

(PS: You can still email me or send a PM via any of the projects, if you need to )

[UBT - PennyQ]

Thanks Tim! Fingers crossed it all goes well...
Penny

[stephenhunter]

Good luck, I have my fingers crossed as well

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

The forum has now re-opened !

I had a wee "glitch" in the upgrade process, and some feedback from our "honorary member" Janos helped steer me in the right direction such that "part one" of the upgrade process (updating the phpBB forum software from v3.3.5 to the latest v3.3.9) has now been successfuly completed.

The next step is to upgrade the version of php from the now "EOL" v7.x to the new v8.x - this will be done in a week or so's time, just to allow any "bugs" to be sorted out on the first part of the upgrade (should they occur).

regards
Tim

[wbiz]

Well done, phpBB updates are always a gamble, something they go ridiculously simple and others drain the life out of you.

[stephenhunter]

Well done on part 1

[UBT - PennyQ]

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Thanks for the emssages.

I have "re-enabled" two of the phpBB extensions and they seem to be working OK - one is the "logo" at the top of the page and the second is "Stop Forum Spam" which checks and prevents potential known spammers from signing up to have an account.

Obviously, if you spot anything untowards happening (as far as the upgrade goes) then please let me know !!

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

It seems that the forum is behaving itself, after the version of phpBB was upgraded a few days ago, so I've now got to upgrade the server version of php itself (which allows the phpBB software to actually run).

I will take the forum offline tomorrow (25th Jan) and hopefully all will be well and it can be brought back online shortly after (fingers crossed).

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

I decided to make the upgrade earlier than originally planned, just in case I needed any tech support.

And the php upgrade seems to have gone smoothly and we're now at v8.0.27

As is always the case when upgrades take place, please let me know if there are any issues.

FWIW, I do not foresee having to make any further upgrades for a while (unless php or phpBB updates dictate otherwise).

regards
Tim

[stephenhunter]

Well done Tim

[ChelseaOilman]

Why does this site always show as "Not Secure"?

[UBT - Timbo]

Why does this site always show as "Not Secure"?

Hi Carl

It is simply because I have not installed and implemented an SSL certificate on this domain name...

To be honest, it should not be necessary, as this is not a website where any financial transactions take place...so, nothing is stored on the website and the back-end forum database (which stored on a separate server) contains just some email addresses and no other "personal information". And the database server has a fairly bullet-proof access system that is unlikely to be "broken into".

Also, historically, SSL certificates have incurred an annual fee, and as this is just a "hobby" website, I had no reason to buy an expensive SSL cert.

Nowadays, one can get SSL certs for free (Let'sEncrypt, for instance?), so maybe I should get one...but I need to check if this is possible, as this site is hosted on a shared server and, IIRC, only one SSL cert can be issued per IP address...I'll need to look into this and see if this policy has changed recently.

regards
Tim

[wbiz]

There is a very site minor problem ....

If you go to the site home page http://ukboincteam.org.uk then click on the forum link it takes you to http://ukboincteam.org.uk/newforum/index.html which isn't recognised by phpbb, it has to lose the index.html and become http://ukboincteam.org.uk/newforum/

(admin edit - corrected typo on URL)

[UBT - Timbo]

Hiya

Thanks for the message.

Oops - It's the top link, just under the banner, that needs correcting, so I'll sort that out - at least the "auto-redirect" works though !!

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

A quick "tweak" to the phpBB forum software was made today, due to an issue noted here:

https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtop ... &t=2634331

So, again, if anyone spots any issues, please let me know.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

A quick "tweak" to the phpBB forum software was made today...

Just a random selection of emoji's for testing purposes !!