Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

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DrSpooky
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Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

Hi,

I plan to upgrade both the Operating System and Board Software during the Christmas holidays. There has been a major upgrade to the phpBB software we use to operate The Board and it is time we moved to it. With this major upgrade, I am hoping to refresh the look of the site a bit.

So there may be some up and down time but I will try to minimize it. But if I have a bit too much Christmas cheer to drink, there might be a hiccup or two. 8)
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mood swung
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Post by mood swung »

We look forward to it - thanks for all you do.
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migdd
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Post by migdd »

You are the man! Looking forward to the "new look". Thanks for your hard work in keeping our little community afloat!
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verbal gymnastics
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

You certainly am da man.

If anybody deserves a glass or two of Christmas cheer it's you Doc.
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DrSpooky
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Post by DrSpooky »

Thanks for the encouragement. :)

The first project now is just to finish shopping.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Good on you. Many thanks. Looking forward to seeing the new upgrade. Enjoy the Christmas cheer!
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

Well the basic upgrade of The Board has happened and it looks OK from here. There is no customization yet so we will have to wait for that. The default style looks a bit fresher to me. For sure, we could use a replacement for Image for something that is more appropriate.
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

Well Spooky and I have confirmed one thing -- the user uploaded avatars do not appear to have been automatically transferred as part of the upgrade. The easiest option is to upload the Avatar again via the User Control Panel > Edit Avatar menu. If you don't have your avatar image anymore, the old ones are still accessible but you will have to describe it so we can email it to you.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by migdd »

Wow!! Looks fabulous!! Thanks again for all you do, Dr. S.!! And Merry Christmas to you and the family!
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

Check out the new attachments feature. I used it to upload a family Christmas photo in the Photo Gallery. :D
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Looks good! Nice upgrade Spooks. I'm sure a few people will grumble. Pay them no mind. The only minor complaint I would have is the placement of the posters' names/info on the right. I suppose I'll get used to it, but it feels a little strange.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Blimey O'Reilly! Lots of differences. Now it's even quicker to sort out 'total number of posts descending'! (Which, needless to say, I study intently on a daily basis.) Was disturbed to lose my avatar, but it was time for an upgrade. Well done - good Christmas gift to us all I like the post preview option.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by martinfoyle »

Lovely! Loving the new layout, real coat of new paint vibe.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

This could be interesting...
Foes are users which will be ignored by default. Posts by these users will not be fully visible. Personal messages from foes are still permitted. Please note that you cannot ignore moderators or administrators.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by mood swung »

Very cool, Doc! :mrgreen: new emoties too!
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

There are definitely a LOT of new features. The attachments feature should be handy. There is also some chat capability which I need to look into. I noticed there is a check for size limits on signature images. I will be slowly investigating the new features.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by johnfoyle »

Very snazzy - well done!
The search function doesn't seem to be as thorough as before. Looking for the 'day after Christmas' thread I put in 'Irn Bru' and got nothing. Luckily I had only recently got it for the 'seasonal songs' thread so got it via that.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

There was a little time after the upgrade where we didn't have the search index rebuilt. Try your search again and let me know. Maybe I haven't clicked the right boxes. *

<sigh> I was also planning an operating system upgrade for this week but the server only has a CD-RW drive and Fedora Linux now comes on DVD. So until I either download an burn a set of upgrade CDs or buy a DVD for the server, the operating system upgrade is on hold. :(

The best laid plans just derailed.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Fishfinger king »

Can't get my avatar loaded.
Help!
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

Go to the User Control Panel > Edit Profile > Upload from your machine and select an avatar from your local hard disk.

It is possible that the avatar does not meet the current requirements.
  • minimum dimensions - 20x20 pixels
  • maximum dimensions - 80x80 pixels
  • size - 16 Kbytes
Notice the use of BBCode to make a bullet list. :-D
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

After downloading 5 CD images, burning them, and testing them twice, the operating system has been upgraded to GNU/Linux Fedora 8. It appears that the site is back up.

As with any upgrade, there are some things I need to tidy up. I am now in the process of dealing with those. There may or may not be another reboot.

Update: As of 10:35 CST, I think everything is OK, have played Wii Carnival with Spooky and am now heading upstairs for a nice glass of wine. Let Spooky or I know if anything looks amiss.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Thanks for all the hard work. It's looking good to me. All seems to be functioning.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I don't quite get the thread icons, though. I thought I saw a pattern between red ones, black ones with moving text with/without star, black ones with static text, etc., but then on closer inspection the pattern was repeatedly contradicted. Can't see a guide in the FAQs. Is there a simple explanation?
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DrSpooky
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by DrSpooky »

This is new to me as well. :)

The complete documentation is online here: http://www.phpbb.com/support/documentation/3.0/

And there is a Flash tutorial here: http://www.phpbb.com/support/tutorials/3.0/

Maybe one of those will help.
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Re: Upgrade Plans Over Holidays

Post by Mike Boom »

The search function doesnt seem to work too well - but otherwise it looks great.
Dr S - is there a function available to embed YouTube vids into your post? Ive seen this on other boards
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