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IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

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IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Mon May 16, 2016 11:06 am

In the light of the problems that have been occurring on the forum with errors such as "This page cannot be reached" or similar, I have decided to attempt to update the forum's software.

I have spent considerable time in the past 24 hours or so in looking at this and trying to familiarise myself with the procedure for carrying out this task and so far I think I am 90% of the way there. It's just the final 10% which is mainly being confident that all will go according to plan.

When I have decided to do this, I will post on here advising when it will be done a couple of days in advance giving an approximate time. During the process of updating the forum will go off-line for a period of time (I don't know for how long, but hopefully for no more than a couple of hours at the most). I will also send out an email to all members advising of this for the benefit of those who may not see the post.

In the meantime, I would ask you to bear with me on this and I hope the recurring errors aren't too much of an inconvenience for you all. Of course the update may not resolve the issue but I need to try that before proceeding in other directions.

Many thanks for your patience.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Tue May 17, 2016 12:49 pm

You may have seen in the Computer Chat topic that the error issue has now been resolved. The update referred to in the above post will still be going ahead as planned, although now not as urgent, and details will follow in due course.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Fri Jun 17, 2016 6:14 pm

FORUM SOFTWARE UPDATE - SUNDAY 19th JUNE 2016

I am aiming to perform the software update this weekend and the forum will go off-line on Sunday night at approximately 11-00 pm BST, (10-00 pm GMT). As this is the first time I will have carried out this operation I am unsure as to how long this will be for, but expect it to be at least 2 hours and hopefully you will find the board up and running again by Monday morning.

A reminder of this will appear in the header banner over the weekend.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:00 am

Tonight I carried out the forum software update and all appeared to go smoothly.

However, I later discovered (as you probably have) that the five important links at the top of the board *** are throwing up an 'Internal Server Error' rather than connecting to the requested link. Also, when submitting a post I have found that the same error is occurring although the post is actually made. This is something I will have to look into although this may take some time.

I can only apologise for this and ask for you to bear with me and hope you can manage to access what you want until the matter is resolved.

***The links in question: View unanswered posts - View active topics - View unread posts - View new posts - View your posts.

edit @3:00am: I spent a considerable amount of time online to the hosting company and it does not appear to be a server problem. I will endeavour to find out from phpBB if they can give some indication where the error could be coming from. Failing that, I do have a 'PLAN B' - but more of that later. :D
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:02 pm

GOOD NEWS!

I have successfully installed the latest version of the phpBB software.
There is even more good news. There are numerous different board themes available for it and I will add some additional ones in due course.

At the moment you are unable to access the new board until I make some changes on the server and check out some of the important function but I hope that will be done in the next hour or so.

You're board theme preference may have been changed when you log in but that is easily changed by yourself in the User Control Panel. The default style for guests is the Prosilver and for Members the Subsilver 2.

There are some slight difference is both the current themes so you may just have to explore a little. :D

Thank you all for your patience over the past 12 hours or so.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:49 pm

The new board is now up and running with the "mylowestoft.com" domain.

I hope you find your way about OK.

I will upload some more themes to give you a wider choice later and will advise when this has been done and you will be able to access them through your User Control Panel - Board Preferences tab.

Good luck.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Thu Jun 23, 2016 3:39 pm

With the new forum software now up and running, I thought I should let you know one or two of the new things that are available on the forum (if you haven't found them already) and some differences that will affect how the forum will operate certain things in the future compared to how it was run prior to the update.

Firstly there is now a new facility, which I have activated today, for members to 'soft-delete' their own posts if they deem it necessary to do so. What this means is that you delete the post from the forum but it leaves a 'note' in the topic stating that you have done so. However, the posts are still stored in the database for the Moderators to see and for them to decide if the deletion is justified. If so then the post can be deleted permanently from the forum, otherwise the moderator can restore the post to its original position in the topic. At the time you delete it, you will be asked to give a reason for wanting to do so. You are requested to use this facility only if really necessary as doing so in certain circumstances MAY affect the context of the topic it was in.

You will probably have noticed at the top of the board there is a 'Notifications' link which is self-explanatory. However, when you go to the settings for it in the User Control Panel, there only appears to be a facility for marking them as read. I don't know if it auto-deletes them after a period of time or if they stay there forever. I haven't seen anything in the board's settings but will endeavour to find out more and advise if I do. *see update in the next post

At the foot of the board is now a 'Contact us' link which shows irrespective of being logged in or out.

As the method for showing the site logo in the different board themes is different, for the time being it may not be possible to display the 'Picture of the Month' directly on the forum. However, during the periods when there is no voting taking place for the 'Picture of the Month', I will link the logo so that by clicking on it, you will be taken to an HTML page which will display the current 'Picture of the Month' image, with a link on that page back to the forum index page This is something I have yet to develop myself so at the moment the logo points to the normal monthly 'POTM' page.

Obviously there are many difference from the old forum software, too numerous to mention them all, but I am sure you will eventually find them all, as I am. Please don't hesitate to ask if there are things that may not be clear, or if you can't find anything that was on the old forum.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:52 pm

*With reference to the 'Notifications' in the previous post, I have now located a setting where this is controlled and was set to a default to purge any notifications after 30 days. I thought that was a bit long so have reduced it to delete them after 7 days. If you think it should be longer then just say so.


Note for admin: ACP/General/Load Settings/
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by SL-Dave » Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:50 am

Any chance the language can be set to English UK? Seems - as per spell checker - to be set at English US.

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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:10 am

The language pack IS British English - it is the only one installed. Check your computer's settings.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by SL-Dave » Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:17 am

Strange, as my PC is the same. Yet another weird thing to ponder upon!

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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:32 am

The board's language pack is solely for the language displayed in the forum and is not a spell checker. Things like BB Code are created in US English and are unaffected as otherwise they wouldn't work - e.g. 'color' instead of 'colour'.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:48 pm

The new 'Picture of the Month' HTML page is now up and running and this will be changed/updated monthly. It is only accessible by clicking the site logo (including the different style logos on some of the other themes) or on the appropriate 'Picture of the month' link at the top of the forum. The page also has a link to the full POTM page on the forum board and one back to the main 'Forum Index'.
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Sun Jun 26, 2016 1:43 pm

Deleting of own posts.
boatbuilder wrote: ...........there is now a new facility, which I have activated today, for members to 'soft-delete' their own posts if they deem it necessary to do so. What this means is that you delete the post from the forum but it leaves a 'note' in the topic stating that you have done so. However, the posts are still stored in the database for the Moderators to see and for them to decide if the deletion is justified. If so then the post can be deleted permanently from the forum, otherwise the moderator can restore the post to its original position in the topic. At the time you delete it, you will be asked to give a reason for wanting to do so. You are requested to use this facility only if really necessary as doing so in certain circumstances MAY affect the context of the topic it was in.
With reference to the above paragraph in an earlier post, it should be noted that this function will only work if there has not been a post made in the topic after the post you wish to delete. To delete any post that you are unable to yourself, you will need to make a request to a member of the team,
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Re: IMPORTANT! Forum Software Update.

Post by boatbuilder » Fri Oct 14, 2016 11:26 pm

On October 12th phpBB issued a further minor but important update to the version of the software which runs this forum. I therefore intend to carry out this update very soon and will advise in this topic when this will be carried out. Whilst the update is in progress, the forum will be off-line for a period of time. I will try and keep the downtime to a minimum.
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