Major Update Planned
Posted: June 23rd, 2009, 3:06 amHi guys, this announcement is a bit technical. As some of you may know, I try to keep these forums as updated as possible. Currently, the forum software which makes the MLK network possible, phpBB, is at version number 3.0.4. But, recently, the phpBB group came out with a new version, 3.0.5. When I tried to update the software, it told me that I had too many modifications installed. This is completely true, I have modified these forums and installed modifications and messed with every little detail. Now it won't let me update because it's not compatible with the latest version. It's important to keep software updated to the newest version because they fix a lot of bugs and security vulnerabilities in new versions. The faster I update the less of a chance there is that someone would hack the forums, which is always a possibility. Although I backup the forums regularly, a full recover from a break in security is never guaranteed.
To update to the latest version, I have to write over the forum files on the webserver, which would mean that all the modifications I had installed (stuff like quick reply, the nifty hover thing, the title of the last post, etc) would be erased. I would also need to update the MLK Classic theme ONCE AGAIN to make sure it is compatible with the latest version.
Now, the phpBB group has already announced that phpBB version 3.0.6 is on it's way and will be here soon. The planned version will have a few great new features the greatest of which is a built-in quick reply. We'll no longer need to depend on a modification, even though it was flawless. Unfortunately, the quick reply box will be quite bare-bone, not having smilies, BBCode buttons, or options. But, if you need to use such features the posting page is always available. I mean..."quick reply" is for quick replies, right? ^^ The rest of the features are those that only I will care about xD Stuff like ATOM feeds, CAPTCHA plugins, caching plugins (makes the forums faster...sort of), log searching (I've been disappointed with phpBB's logging system. As an admin I want to know when stuff happens and it's tough to know unless I dig deep which is annoying, so any improvement on the logging system is a big plus for me ^^).
I am planning on leaving the forums alone until phpBB version 3.0.6 is released. When that happens I will begin the painful update process and the board will be offline for a few hours. I'll try to pick a time that not many are online, but with the board so active that time is tough to find :)
Just wanted to let you know what's going on.
To update to the latest version, I have to write over the forum files on the webserver, which would mean that all the modifications I had installed (stuff like quick reply, the nifty hover thing, the title of the last post, etc) would be erased. I would also need to update the MLK Classic theme ONCE AGAIN to make sure it is compatible with the latest version.
Now, the phpBB group has already announced that phpBB version 3.0.6 is on it's way and will be here soon. The planned version will have a few great new features the greatest of which is a built-in quick reply. We'll no longer need to depend on a modification, even though it was flawless. Unfortunately, the quick reply box will be quite bare-bone, not having smilies, BBCode buttons, or options. But, if you need to use such features the posting page is always available. I mean..."quick reply" is for quick replies, right? ^^ The rest of the features are those that only I will care about xD Stuff like ATOM feeds, CAPTCHA plugins, caching plugins (makes the forums faster...sort of), log searching (I've been disappointed with phpBB's logging system. As an admin I want to know when stuff happens and it's tough to know unless I dig deep which is annoying, so any improvement on the logging system is a big plus for me ^^).
I am planning on leaving the forums alone until phpBB version 3.0.6 is released. When that happens I will begin the painful update process and the board will be offline for a few hours. I'll try to pick a time that not many are online, but with the board so active that time is tough to find :)
Just wanted to let you know what's going on.
It really sucks that you've to redo all the modifications all over again once the newest version is released. =\ Like Mike said, thanks for the heads-up.