IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

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Azatotht
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IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Good morning everyone.

I've known this for quite some time but we are now approaching the end of support for our current PHP version on the hosting server.

To make a long story short, MAACA is running an older version of the forum software that is NOT compatible with PHP 7+ and needs 5.6 in order to work properly.
The PHP 5.6 and 7.0 versions are no longer supported by PHP.net, and as such, are no longer receiving security updates or bug fixes which could lead to vulnerabilities.
This means that I need to upgrade MAACA to a newer version of the software which is NOT compatible with the themes and plugins that I was using currently. This is A LOT of work and frankly, I am not really motivated by this, especially since I was slacked on monday and will be working only 1 out of two weeks now because of the crisis.

Yesterday we were upgraded automatically and it didn't work (of course), I knew that. I then contacted the host to see for how long I could use the old PHP version while trying to upgrade this all, here's the answer:
Since these PHP versions are now obsolete they will not be available much longer on your Shared server! Once your server is fully upgraded, which will occur (within the next 4 weeks/on Thursday, 23 April 2020), PHP 5.6 and 7.0 will be fully removed from your server to improve the overall security of your site's hosting environment.
So yeah, just wanted to let you all know that if you depend on this site for communications and have no way to reach someone with an email or a phone number in the next couple of weeks, now is the time to establish contact.

Also, every customisations that I have made to the template and site cannot be upgraded because I have to start fresh since they changed the code architecture in the latest version. It is more than likely that the site will be a bit different at first, since I have to redo everything I have done and I don't remember everything. So be aware of that, don't freak out if the active topics button vanish at the top for example of if the post colors does not alternate. I will eventually get there but I'll start a thread after the upgrade in order to track everything that needs to be done. My main focus will be to convert the database and keep everything that was posted, including pms and images. I've done it before... but it takes time I don't really have or the motivation to do so.

Thanks for your understanding.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Guard »

Thank you for doing all this....folks like you let morons like me stay online and be part of a social circle.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by mdeslaur »

Azatotht wrote: This means that I need to upgrade MAACA to a newer version of the software which is NOT compatible with the themes and plugins that I was using currently. This is A LOT of work and frankly, I am not really motivated by this
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Marc.

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Steph »

This reminds me that it's time to make another donation to the site.
(... hint hint all you MAACA Wacko's ! ;-)

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Dave W. »

Thank you!
Donation made

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Fifty »

PHP is such a pain in the ass. I remember running an old forum that was using it and the same thing happen so I just let it go. What ever happened to new software being added to old software to make it better? Instead they take the Microsoft approach and just release new and stop supporting the old. Bah!

Maybe it's time to move to a different platform? I hear Tik Tok is pretty popular lately. I'm not really keen to start licking airplane toilet seats any time soon.

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

I have 2 weeks left to do that so I've spent the whole afternoon yesterday working on it, trying to upgrade a local copy.

I broke it at my first try but I am currently on my second pass. I have good hopes.

I am writing the steps down properly, to make sure to upgrade the real one successfully.

So far I know that I have to remove ALL extensions and the current theme in order to succeed. The datatabase (posts, private messages, etc..) will convert properly.

After that I will have to add everything that have a compatible version back and work a bit on the theme. Some things won't be like they were but I will try to make it as close as possible.

I will build an online test using another domain before going forward with the real one, I will need help identifying what is wrong and what needs to be done. I'm not there yet but please, if you want to help me with this step (mainly testing and finding what needs to be done) then please msg me and I will let you know once I have something running.

We may be down for a bit when I'll do it for real, we can't escape this, database conversion takes a while and so does the steps to upgrade this all.

Thank you.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by HPR Pinball »

Hey thanks Sylvain for all :)
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Ok guys and girls, I have a dev upgraded version working now on PHP 7.3 (on another domain) with all the posts and accounts (backed up from yesterday).

If you want to help me by testing and listing what needs to be done please pm me.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Chnillapoil wrote:Sylvain j'aimerais ça t'aider mais je suis dans les visières par dessus la tête :FP:
T'inquiètes pas Alain, je pense que je suis bien partie et j'ai déjà eu des offres d'aide.

Lâche pas mon chum!
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

OK, if you want to help, now is the time.

I am almost done converting everything, I have a brand new MAACA running and I made it look as close as possible to this one.

The only thing I need to fix in order to move forward is the iPhone/mobile vertical rotation that I had fixed on this board. The fix is not compatible with the new one...

Other than that, I think I'm ready. It is your last chance to help me find any remaining bug so please do if you can.

PM me for infos. Otherwise, you will eventually wake up to a new site (or a down site, cause the upgrade will take a while so we'll be a few hours down for sure).

I spent way too much time on this already so I am very eager to make the move.. it will happen soon, maybe tomorrow, who knows.

Thanks to those who helped me already, much appreciated.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Well I've just fixed the mobile picture orientation bug... pretty much ready.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by OTTOgd »

Will pin ball games be cheaper? *fingers crossed*

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by foonleclown »

Merci pour ton travail !
Mame (Francis)

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by HPR Pinball »

Ca m'a l'air ok du premier coup d'oeil!
N'oublie pas la section donations :)
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by R.A.B. »

Change is good. Posting works fine and so does the editing which is something I usually abuse.

Merci
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Had to stop in the middle, apparently kids were hungry :oops:

Will reactivate the donation section as soon as I can get back to it.

Ads seems to be acting weird, I will take a look at that too. I had less in the new template but I see more :FP:
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Donation script is back ! Please someone test it :mrgreen:
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Splitskull »

very fast to load like i told ya. look good! thanks

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by HPR Pinball »

Donation done, work nicely!
Hope many will recognize your work and how important is this place for the community.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

Merci Maxime :D
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Azatotht »

So the new board is up and working fine.

All new phpBB 3.3 and PHP 7.3 which should allow us to cruise a few years again without hassle.

Everything is new and up to date. I made sure to make it look as close as possible to the old one but you will notice a few differences.

Interface icons are nicer, the new posts notification besides subjects is red now instead of a flashing arrow. Few colors are different too.

If you notice anything that is not working right please post in this thread for everyone to see (in order to help me fix and test it).

Last but not least, thanks to Dave W. and Fifty who helped me find the bugs before launch. Special thanks to mdeslaur, Sparky and Splitskull for their test drive as well.

Spent a good part of last week working on this, over 40 hours I would say. In the end, the real update took about 1 hour an a half which is not bad at all since it was well planned.

Thanks to everyone for your support, please keep posting and enjoying this site, I do it for you.
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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Dave W. »

Looks great!
Thanks for keeping the site going.

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by DodgeThatOne »

Merci beaucoup!

Tu fais un travail de pro.

Cheers

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Re: IMPORTANT MAACA UPGRADE NEEDED *please read*

Post by Blackghost4 »

Great Job Thanks
Looks great.
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